high risk since the volcano erupted tuesday
the meter foot volcano last erupted was in
alert
eurozone unemployment rate hits percent eu
rt pvh hd
alert
suspected car bomb explodes in northern ireland policeman wounded spokeswoman
iran opposition leader karroubi car hit by gunfire web
tehran jan afp
the armoured car of one of iran opposition leaders mehdi karroubi was hit by
gunfire in the northern town of qazvin his party website reported on friday
but only the windows were damaged
karroubi was in the town to attend mourning ceremony for slain opposition
protesters organised by reformist former member of parliament sahamnews org
said
around basiji members of the basij islamic militia and residents of
nearby villages surrounded the place where he was and attacked the building with
stones breaking windows it said
after four hours anti riot police finally intervened to get karroubi out of the
building
as his car was pulling away it was attacked and hit by gunfire but as it is
an armoured car only the windows were damaged
there was no immediate word from the authorities on the incident
the website quoted karroubi as saying there had been no return of fire by his
guards
my bodyguards did not return fire as unlike the assailants they would have
been brought before the courts and faced prosecution karroubi said
the attackers chanted slogans in support of the islamic regime and supreme
leader ayatollah ali khamenei the website added
our town is not place for hypocrites they reportedly chanted using the
regime standard term of abuse for the outlawed rebel people mujahedeen
reformist former speaker of parliament karroubi stood against hardline
president mahmoud ahmadinejad in june election along with moderate former
prime minister mir hossein moussavi
both men have charged that the vote was marred by massive fraud and have led
series of mass protests over the months since
cricket review system boon for spinners tufnell
london jan afp
phil tufnell believes cricket new decision review system has increased the
importance of spinners in the game by making umpires more willing to give tight
leg before decisions
in the old days batsmen used to put their front foot down the wicket and you
never get an lbw tufnell the former england spinner said
must admit you do sit there and think crikey have another
wickets if was still bowling but there you go times move on and the game
has changed you take what you get
england graeme swann who has taken wickets in the first three tests of the
current series in south africa is one spinner who appears to have benefited
from the new system and tufnell has been impressed with his contribution
he has done very well said tufnell he had fabulous past year with bat
and ball he backs himself plays with smile on his face like the way he
plays he is bit of character and he enjoys it
he has come in and performed brilliantly the spot was there and he was
determined to go in there
senegalese ex soldier killed in suspected rebel attack
ziguinchor jan afp
suspected rebels in senegal restive casamance region killed former
government soldier as they thought he was an army informer military source
said on friday
the soldier was shot dead on thursday afternoon in the village of bourafaye
bainouk near ziguinchor casamance main town by men thought to be members of
the casamance movement of democratic forces mfdc the source said
he was former corporal who was suspected by the rebels of being an army
informer the source said
little before the attack two soldiers were injured when an army vehicle hit
landmine in the village of emaye kilometres miles southwest of
ziguinchor another military source said
casamance which lies south of the rest of senegal and is separated from it by
the gambia river and country of that name has been beset by violence between
rebels and government forces since
violence eased with the signing of an accord between dakar and the mfdc in
but clashes have broken out again in recent months
serbia dinar sinks to record low against the euro
belgrade jan afp
serbia currency the dinar hit record low point on friday dropping to more
than dinars to the euro for the first time since the european currency
launch in the central bank said
in order to prevent daily fluctuations on the foreign exchange market the
national bank of serbia sold total of million euros the nbs said in
statement on its website
the official currency rate for friday is dinars for one euro according to
the central bank website
last year the national bank sold more than million euros million euros
from its foreign currency reserves in efforts to halt the slide of the dinar
which has been hit by the flight of foreign funds linked to the global financial
crisis
in january the official currency rate for the dinar was for one euro
the fall of the dinar compared to the euro was caused by the increased amount of
the serbian currency on the market nbs vice governor bojan markovic said on rts
state television
he explained that the state had received funds from the international monetary
funds imf in the last days of december prompting it rapidly to pay pensioners
people on welfare state employees and others who receive government money
because the imf loan is paid in euros the state scrambled to convert the money
into dinars and temporarily flooded the market with the local currency
however markovic assured serbs that he expected the exchange rate to remain
stable in coming days
on december serbia adopted the budget meeting imf conditions for
second instalment million euro million dollars from
billion euro loan approved in may
the government has already drawn the first instalment of million euros
europe bitter winter sparks energy alert
london jan afp
europe was blasted by more snow on friday as britain endured its coldest night
of the winter and fears for energy supplies intensified
britain in the grip of its worst winter in decades saw overnight temperatures
plunge to minus degrees celsius at altnaharra in the scottish highlands
manchester in northwest england and the brecon beacons mountains in wales hit
minus degrees while glasgow recorded minus eight
temperatures will struggle to rise above freezing across most of the country by
day with severe and penetrating frosts at night said chief forecaster richard
young at the met office national weather service
the conditions sparked concern for energy supplies in britain as gas was cut
off on thursday to almost major firms in bid to avert crisis
we ve got plenty of supplies the gas storage is about percent full
environment secretary hilary benn told gmtv television in bid to reassure the
public
with supplies from the north sea supplemented by imports there absolutely no
need for any domestic customers to worry at all he insisted
air travellers in europe waited anxiously to see if flights would depart
pan european low cost airline easyjet cancelled flights largely to and from
britain london gatwick and liverpool airports
flights between belfast and london stansted and milan malpensa and rome
fiumicino were also scrapped
london heathrow the world busiest international passenger airport said it
was open but warned travellers to check with their airline
our airfield team has worked round the clock to keep both runways clear but the
threat of further snow and ice remains it said
the beleaguered eurostar train service linking britain with france and belgium
faced further disruption after train got stuck on thursday in the undersea
channel tunnel
because of the current severe weather conditions eurostar will continue to run
restricted service up to and including sunday the rail operator said
in norway temperatures hit minus degrees celsius in the central village of
folldal
the plunging temperatures forced rise in electricity demand sending prices up
too
germany already gripped by freezing temperatures braced for up to
centimetres inches of fresh snow later friday accompanied by gale force
winds
what is being forecast for the weekend could lead to chaotic traffic conditions
and potentially leave large parts of germany completely paralysed the autoclub
europa warned
airports drafted in extra personnel while rail operator deutsche bahn warned of
delays from snowdrifts and frozen points
ten homeless people have so far frozen to death in germany this winter
most of mainland spain was put on alert for fresh snowfalls strong winds and
low temperatures while heavy rain caused several floods in the southern
andalusia region
snow caused the closure of section of the main highway linking southwestern
france with barcelona in northeastern spain
the route crossing the pyrenees mountains was reopened early on friday but
line of trucks seven kilometres four miles long was waiting in france for
weather to improve further highway authorities said
in france departments were put on orange alert with heavy snowfall expected
the amount of snow expected is significant exceptional even meteo france
warned
several towns in southwestern provence notably orange and avignon woke up
under up to centimetres of snow major train delays and power cuts
china boy recovering after chopstick hit brain hospital
beijing jan afp
month old chinese toddler that had dirty chopstick rammed up his nose and
into his brain is making recovery after doctors in beijing dislodged the
utensil hospital official said friday
li jingchao fell on the chopstick while playing in his hometown in eastern
shandong province in late december and was driven hours to beijing as local
doctors were afraid to remove it state press reported earlier
after the operation we are rather optimistic about the child situation and
he should be able to leave the hospital in about week chen yawei spokesman
for beijing bo ai hospital told afp
right now doctors are giving him anti inflammatory medicine because the
chopstick was rather dirty and caused some infection in his brain
chen said the boy was not likely to suffer any long term damage as result of
the freak december accident
the child who was just starting to walk fell down while playing with the
chopstick the beijing news reported
local doctors said the injury was serious and could lead to paralysis or even
death and had urged the family to take the child to beijing where medical
facilities were better equipped to handle the case the report said
after the long drive during which li began to have an irregular heart beat and
fever doctors pulled the stick out of the boy brain and were surprised and
encouraged over the lack of bleeding from the wound the report said
japan finance chief talks down yen
hong kong jan afp
japan outspoken new finance minister drove the yen lower friday boosting
japanese exporters as asian stocks in general benefited from wall street best
finish since october
day after rattling markets with call for weaker currency naoto kan cooled
his rhetoric friday saying that markets should determine foreign exchange rates
but added tokyo would intervene over strong yen if needed
basically the market determines foreign exchange rates kan said at news
conference as finance minister however it was his duty to take action on
foreign exchange when necessary he added
the dollar rose to yen in tokyo afternoon trade up from in new york
late on thursday when the japanese currency had fallen sharply in response to
kan remarks
the euro was little changed at dollars after and at against
stock markets in tokyo and sydney hit highs not seen for more than year in
tokyo the nikkei closed up percent or points to the
best finish since october
sydney closed up percent or points with the amp asx at
after peaking at its highest level for months intraday
chinese shares rebounded late to close up points or percent at
in choppy trade which saw selloff in metal companies on lower
commodity prices as beijing reportedly warned state run companies about
investment risk
sentiment was also hit by the central bank surprise hike of the auction yield
on three month bills shifting the balance of fears from monetary policy being
too loose to it being too tight ing tim condon said
hong kong closed up points or percent at on bargain
hunting following earlier falls
wall street had earlier prompted strong start in the region after the dow
jones industrial average closed up percent to its highest level since
october on better than expected sales results from retailers
however gains were capped by caution ahead of friday key unemployment data
seen as barometer of any us recovery
kan remarks thursday in which he said he wanted to see weaker yen prompted
thinly veiled rebuke from japan prime minister yukio hatoyama who warned him
not to comment publicly on currency levels
it nevertheless signalled that tokyo was toughening its stance against the
unit strength which is bad for exporters
the market confirmed the new finance minister stance of favouring weaker
yen so the dollar is staying higher said hideaki inoue chief foreign
exchange manager at mitsubishi ufj trust and banking
in november the dollar fell to around yen its lowest level since the mid
raising fears for the country export led economy
exporters such as toyota and sony were boosted by the weaker yen but japan
airlines plunged more than percent as fears grew that it will be forced to
file for bankruptcy
there is no point in holding jal shares any longer trader at japanese
brokerage firm told dow jones newswires
seoul was percent higher at due to bargain hunting after day of
sell offs brought about by the central bank holding interest rates steady for
the th consecutive month
crude oil prices were lower in asian trade after overnight falls following
recent rally new york main futures contract light sweet crude for february
delivery shed cents to dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for february dropped cents to dollars
hong kong gold closed lower at us dollars an ounce down from
thursday finish of dollars
in other markets
taipei stocks closed up percent the weighted index added points
to buying focused on select old economy sectors in particular steel
firms on continued recovery in product prices dealers said
singapore straits times index closed up points or percent
higher at
malaysian shares finished percent or points higher at
earlier gains were pared back by profit taking dealers said
profit taking reversed earlier gains dealers said
bangkok ended percent or points higher at
coal producer banpu shed baht to baht but ptt plc added baht to
baht
in jakarta indonesian shares gained points or percent to
coal miner bumi resources climbed percent to while rival adaro energy
rose percent to
in manila the composite index closed flat down points to as
investors took profits after three day rally
new zealand closed up percent the nzx index rose points to
close at
media groups slam sri lanka over murdered editor
colombo jan afp
international media rights groups criticised sri lanka on friday for failing to
identify the assassins of top anti establishment editor who was killed exactly
year ago
the paris based rsf reporters without borders said the authorities had failed
to make any headway in solving the killing of lasantha wickrematunge the chief
editor of the sunday leader who was killed near his office
the anger is being sustained by the government flagrant obstruction of the
investigation rsf said in statement lasantha wickrematunge name and
memory will not disappear and in that sense those who were behind his murder
made mistake
rsf asked candidates at the january presidential elections to pledge to probe
the editor murder and other serious press freedom violations in recent years
the government of president mahinda rajapakse has denied involvement in the
killing although his newspaper has said the administration was responsible
the new york based committee to protect journalists cpj also used the first
anniversary of the death of wickrematunge to draw attention to dozens of
killings and attacks against journalists under rajapakse rule
there is no official censorship in sri lanka but many mainstream media
organisations censor themselves for fear of reprisals from the authorities
many defence columnists stopped writing during the height of fighting between
troops and tamil tigers earlier this year
in september tamil editor was jailed for years of hard labour on charges
of supporting terrorism
government figures show nine journalists have been killed and another
assaulted in the past three years while activists say over dozen journalists
have been killed
oil prices dip as dollar strengthens
london jan afp
crude oil prices fell gently on friday as the dollar strengthened and on signs
of easing energy demand in the united states the world biggest oil consuming
nation analysts said
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for february delivery eased
four cents to dollars barrel
the contract had topped dollars on wednesday for the first time for months
before closing lower on thursday for the first time in ten trading sessions
brent north sea crude for february delivery nudged down five cents to
dollars barrel in london trading early on friday
trade in oil is reasonably thin so we re not reading too much into the price
movements but in terms of the daily movement lot of it has to do with the us
dollar said ben westmore minerals and energy economist for the national
australia bank
the weakening of the us dollar was something that helped oil rally over mid
december as the us dollar strengthens that has an opposite effect on oil
prices he added
the dollar firmed after japan new finance minister naoto kan spooked
financial markets with call for weaker yen raising speculation about
government intervention in the market
stronger dollar often tends to dampen demand for dollar priced crude oil and
other commodities as they become more expensive to holders of weaker currencies
us energy inventory data showing easing demand in the world biggest economy
also helped push down prices analysts said
part of the downward correction in the oil prices has to do with the high
level of stockpiles at the moment and the fact that the outlook for global
growth is still reasonably uncertain westmore said
weekly report by the us department of energy released wednesday showed that us
crude oil reserves rose by million barrels in the week ending january
instead of the expected drop of some barrels
stockpiles of distillates including heating fuel and diesel fell by
barrels in the week sharply below the average analyst forecast of
drop of million barrels amid cold weather across sections of the united
states
virgin steps up bid to become major british bank
london jan afp
virgin money part of richard branson virgin empire took big strides on
friday towards becoming major british retail bank able to compete within
sector rocked by the financial crisis
virgin money said it had agreed to buy regional private bank church house trust
for million pounds million euros million dollars
it plans to use the lender as platform to offer savings and mortgage products
to customers under the virgin money brand which is known for its popular credit
card and insurance offerings
the purchase is also seen as providing platform for virgin money to buy an
even bigger bank providing true competition to britain biggest retail
lenders
the church house trust business offers us strong platform for growth
branson said in statement announcing the deal
virgin money aims to bring simplicity to the uk banking market which has
traditionally been complex sector he added
virgin money said it would inject million pounds of new capital into church
house trust
britain retail banking sector was thrown into chaos by the credit crunch
resulting in the nationalisation of northern rock and multi billion pound
bailouts of royal bank of scotland and lloyds banking group
lbg was created last year following government brokered deal to merge ailing
hbos bank with its stronger rival lloyds tsb while virgin money failed in bid
to buy northern rock before it fell into state hands
the financial crisis has tarnished the reputation of many uk banks virgin
money chief executive jayne anne gadhia said on friday
virgin money will provide better different form of banking to its customers
increasing competition in the sector
gadhia added our approach to banking is founded on developing sustainable
savings based business we see the acquisition of church house trust as strong
and sensible first step in delivering virgin money banking ambition
meanwhile church house trust chairman david batten said virgin was set to
benefit from the bank conservative business model
church house has about private customers and million pounds in deposits
double its million pounds loan book
virgin money has more than million customers and already offers credit
cards as well as savings investment and insurance products
virgin deal comes after finance minister alistair darling last year called for
greater competition across britain troubled retail banking sector
britain biggest retailer supermarket giant tesco has made its own recent
moves aimed at attracting more customers away from traditional lenders
last october tesco relaunched its financial services division as tesco bank
across britain meanwhile there has been widespread public anger over the global
financial crisis and subsequent recession
the country begins as the only top economy officially in recession after
the eurozone france germany japan and the united states last year each
emerged from the most severe downturn since the
however official data due later this month is expected to show that britain
returned to growth in the fourth quarter of last year
china overtakes germany as top world exporter
frankfurt jan afp
china and its population of billion has overtaken germany population
million as the world top exporter trade figures released on friday by the
german national statistics office show
from january to november chinese exports were worth trillion dollars
while german data showed that exports from europe biggest economy amounted to
billion euros or trillion dollars
the widely expected crowning of new export champion should be confirmed when
germany releases full year trade figures on february
economic growth in both countries depend largely on exports which critics claim
contributes to overall global imbalances urging germans to consume more and
chinese authorities to let the yuan float freely against the dollar
in november the german trade surplus climbed to billion euros seasonally
corrected figures from the destatis service showed from billion in october
amid pick up in global trade
the german product specialisation with high share of capital goods and high
presence in asian markets make germany one of the main beneficiaries of an
investment led global recovery ing senior economist carsten brzeski said
he noted that german exports to china had increased by almost percent from
november and that the unadjusted german trade surplus of billion
euros was the country biggest since june
global trade was slammed in september of that year following the collapse of the
us investment bank lehman brothers
china meanwhile expects its share of global trade to exceed nine percent in
vice commerce minister zhong shan said late last month from percent
in
chinese exports include items such as electronic goods and clothing while those
from germany include automobiles chemical products and specialised machine
tools
on december china and southeast asian nations established the world
biggest free trade area in terms of population and one which rivals the
european union and north america free trade area in terms of value
germany benefits greatly from eu trade which accounted for percent of its
exports in november and provided billion euros in revenues
it is good to know that the german economy can at least rely on good old
friend its strong export sector brzeski said
europe biggest economy is slowly recovering from its worst recession since
world war ii and its economy is estimated to have contracted by around
percent in
the german central bank has forecast growth of percent in
china economy likely grew by percent in senior official zhang
xiaoqiang has said and could expand by another percent this year
most experts say increased trade benefits everyone in the end but efforts to
boost global commerce remain deadlocked and the economic slowdown has
fuelled fears of increased protectionism
the doha round of trade liberalisation talks has dragged on since its launch in
dogged by string of missed deadlines and setbacks
world trade organization chief pascal lamy has suggested that members decide in
march whether they can strike an agreement this year
golf royal trophy foursomes results
bangkok jan afp
results of the opening foursomes in the royal trophy team competition between
asia and europe at amata spring country club on friday
asia europe
ryo ishikawa koumei oda jpn jpn bt colin montgomerie pablo martin sco esp
and
jeev milkha singh gaganjeet bhullar ind ind halved with peter hanson soren
kjeldsen swe den
robert karlsson alexander noren swe swe bt charlie wi liang wen chong
kor chn and
prayad marksaeng thongchai jaidee tha tha bt simon dyson henrik stenson
eng swe and
factfile on croatia
zagreb jan afp
croatians go the polls on sunday to elect their third president since the
country proclaimed independence from the former yugoslavia in
geography croatia borders slovenia hungary serbia montenegro and bosnia
hercegovina and has maritime border with italy it has long coastline on the
adriatic with islands mountains in the interior and flat plains in the
northeast it covers square kilometres square miles of land
population according to the census the population was million
minorities make up percent of the population serbs accounting for
percent
capital zagreb
language croatian
religion percent of the population are roman catholics
history croatia proclaimed independence from the former yugoslavia in
after which war broke out with rebel serbs backed by the former yugoslav
people army jna who captured almost one third of the country territory
most of this area was recaptured in by the croatian army with the
exception of eastern slavonia bordering serbia which was put under the
temporary administration of un force the area was peacefully reintegrated
into croatia in
following independence croatia was ruled for almost decade by nationalist
leader franjo tudjman croatian democratic union hdz tudjman died in
december and month later centre left coalition inflicted crushing
defeat to his hdz
the moderates election triumph was milestone for croatia after tudjman
authoritarian policies isolated it worldwide and devastated the economy already
hard hit by the war
the country democratic landscape was completed in february when stipe
mesic centrist was elected as tudjman successor
since january the country has been put on fast track to europe while
mesic was re elected for his second five year term in
after victory in november elections conservative prime minister ivo
sanader transformed the hdz into modern pro european party during his rule
the country opened eu membership talks in and hopes to join the bloc by
january sanader whose party won the elections unexpectedly stepped
down in july without providing clear explanation for the move he was succeeded
by his deputy jadranka kosor the country first woman prime minister
armed forces zagreb joined nato in april its armed forces number
personnel obligatory military service is abolished since
political institutions parliamentary democracy since
economy and resources
currency kuna hrk
gdp euros per capita
unemployment percent november
growth percent forecasts of between minus and minus
percent for
inflation percent
external debt billion euros billion dollars or percent of
gdp september
voters including some abroad
gay africans face prison death penalty and intolerance
cape town jan afp
matuba mahlatjie is gay african and married an unheard of status beyond the
borders of liberal south africa where governments are clamping down on
homosexuality across the continent
gay pride parades same sex marriages and the famously gay friendly pink city of
cape town puts south africa way ahead of countries such as nearby malawi where
gay couple was last week thrown in jail for trying to marry
but scratch the surface and sexual intolerance and hate crimes still plague the
continent powerhouse
we still have hate crimes perpetrated against gay and lesbian people in our
communities the legalization of same sex unions did not make our life any
easier said mahlatjie who feels gays are still under siege in the country
across africa governments are laying down the law against homosexuality and
