conditions the club announced
with much of the northwest of england covered by thick blanket of snow and
evening temperatures set to fall well below freezing it was decided that fans
would be unable to get to the ground safely
manslaughter charges filed over india chimney collapse
raipur india jan afp
indian police have filed manslaughter charges against three local managers of
the britain based vedanta mining group in connection with an industrial chimney
collapse that killed workers
the three men all employed by vedanta india subsidiary balco were charged in
court with culpable homicide not amounting to murder police officials said
tuesday
another man working as project manager for the indian company contracted to
build the chimney at vedanta owned power plant in the central state of
chattisgarh was also charged
the partially built metre foot chimney collapsed in bad weather on
september burying labourers under tonnes of concrete
ratan lal dangi police chief of korba district where the plant was located
said the charges were backed by expert reports alleging the use of sub standard
materials and inadequate soil testing
dangi said the reports contradicted claims that the weather conditions had
caused the collapse
lightning and bad weather were not the reason rather workmanship was poor
and also the supervision and monitoring were poor he told afp by phone
jal wins backing from workers for pension cuts
tokyo jan afp
japan airlines said tuesday that it had won vital backing from its workers to
slash their pensions as tokyo signalled that bankruptcy was possibility for
the debt ridden carrier
about of jal workers have agreed to reductions in their
corporate pensions more than the percent legally required for such move
spokesman for the airline said
however only about of jal retirees had accepted cuts in their
pension payments as of monday evening he said adding we are continuing to
try our best to gain their understanding
jal huge pension obligations are seen as major reason for its financial
troubles which were aggravated by the global recession
transport minister seiji maehara indicated tuesday that bankruptcy proceedings
were still an option for the money losing airline saying the priority was to
keep it flying
specific measures are more important than the form of jal restructuring he
told press conference
the focus should be on how jal can be revived as it continues its flight
services he added
jal private lenders favour out of court restructuring fearing legal
bankruptcy would damage the airline reputation and make it harder for them to
recoup their investments
the airline president haruka nishimatsu has told local media he also opposes
bankruptcy filing
jal shares closed up percent at yen tuesday extending rebound seen
after the government pledged over the weekend to expand an emergency credit line
to the airline
the stock had surged percent on monday after plunge of almost percent
on the last trading day of
battered by the global recession the carrier is seeking its fourth government
bailout since
as temporary stopgap cabinet ministers agreed sunday to double loan from
the state backed development bank to asia largest carrier to billion yen
billion dollars
the airline which lost about billion dollars in the six months to
september has said it plans thousands of job cuts and drastic reduction in
routes as part of its efforts to return to profitability
jal will receive fewer flight slots than its smaller rival all nippon airways
for new runway at haneda airport tokyo busiest air hub which serves mainly
domestic routes report said tuesday
the government has traditionally given equal treatment to the two major
carriers but judged that jal could not cope with sharp increase in flights
given its deep financial troubles the nikkei business daily said
officials at the transport ministry jal and ana declined to comment
jal has been offered financial assistance by both american airlines and delta
air lines which are competing to take stake in the japanese carrier as way
to expand into the asian market
the airline is reportedly leaning towards forging capital tie up with delta
air lines and joining the skyteam global alliance leaving the oneworld group
which includes american airlines
jal sees tie up with delta as way to fend off calls for it to end its
international service the nikkei reported
jal hopes that presenting its alliance with the us carrier as done deal will
allow it to keep its international routes and avoid court led bankruptcy it
quoted an unnamed person familiar with the matter as saying
from long term earnings viewpoint there are more benefits for jal to team up
with delta which has many flights between japan and the us as well as service
throughout asia it quoted transport ministry official as saying
dow jones newswires contributed to this story
german unemployment resists recession in
frankfurt jan afp
german unemployment is rising official data showed on tuesday but short work
schemes and start ups might have averted feared surge after the country
worst post war recession
unemployment averaged percent of the workforce in with total of
million unemployed in europe biggest economy the federal labour agency said
that was an increase of from trend mirrored in monthly data
in december german unemployment crept up to an unadjusted level of percent
from percent the previous month the agency said while the raw number of
jobless the headline figure in germany climbed to million
after three months of declining unemployment numbers it was only matter of
time before german unemployment would increase again ing senior economist
carsten brzeski noted
unemployment should continue to increase until mid and should peak at
around million the economist forecast well below the million jobless
generated by germany last recession in
in addition to short time work scheme that has million workers on state
subsidised reduced hour payrolls official data shows that germany benefitted
from net increase in new companies last year
the ifm institute that follows small and medium sized enterprises for the
economy ministry said monday that the economic crisis had spurred salaried
workers who were laid off or who expected to be fired to start their own firms
when adjusted for seasonal factors meanwhile the number of unemployed in
germany fell by in december its sixth decline in row
the labour market is very robust despite the deep recession labour agency
head frank juergen weise was quoted by statement as saying
germany pulled out of its worst recession since world war ii in the second
quarter of but economic activity is nonetheless expected to have shrunk by
almost five percent last year
german firms have learned the lesson of quite well when premature
redundancies caused shortage of skilled labour in the ensuing upswing said
timo klein at ihs global insight
the country relatively rigid labour market and the government boost thus
appears to have averted an explosion in unemployment despite the slowdown but
whether such labour market can be growth driver during the recovery is
another story brzeski said
the german data was also affected by an accounting change since may that does
not consider those undergoing job training by private agencies as unemployed
but the economy now has high excess capacity in the manufacturing sector that
could prevent new jobs from being created even as global trade increases and
order books fill up
unicredit economist alexander koch highlighted consumer recession around the
corner and subdued outlook for corporate investment and estimated
unemployment of close to four million this year
alert
iceland president says he will not sign bank payout bill
football bahrain look to asia to bury world cup heartbreak
manama jan afp
bahrain will qualify for the asian cup should they beat already eliminated
hong kong here on wednesday going some way to making up for the disappointment
of missing out on the world cup
milan macala men suffered crushing loss to new zealand in the asia
oceania world cup play off in november which deprived them of place at the
showpiece tournament
it was the second time they have fallen at the final hurdle having lost to
trinidad and tobago in the play offs four years ago
but the bahrainis will be looking at the group qualifying match against hong
kong as one step towards some sort of redemption and place in the asian cup
to be hosted by qatar
the bahrainis have perfect record of three wins from three matches in this
group which also includes japan and yemen
the japanese who qualified for this year world cup in south africa are also
unbeaten and lead the group on goal difference
but bahrain still have match in hand yemen are in third position with three
points from three matches and hong kong are already out of the running having
lost all their four matches so far
bahrain will be without four of their key professionals but coach macala is not
losing any sleep over it the czech tactician confident of getting the job done
with the available players
midfielders abdulla omar and abdulla fatai who play for swiss club neuchatel
xamax defender mohammed hubail of saudi arabia al qadsia and striker jaycee
john of belgium excelsior mouscron are the players not named in the bahrain
squad as all four are busy with their respective league engagements
bahrain faced similar problem in their previous match against yemen in
november last year but still won quite comfortably scoring an emphatic
victory just four days after losing their world cup playoff against new zealand
in wellington
we will have the services most of our team members for the clash except for
few of our professional players acknowledged bahrain football association
official younes manssor told gulf weekly
although we only need one point to make it bigger win is always better
wish my team all the best as will be on the sidelines cheering my brother
mohammed and the rest of the squad
the hong kong team under coach kim pan gon arrived in manama on monday and will
be looking to end poor run of four successive defeats during which they have
conceded goals and scored just one
nine migrants drown off greece police
athens jan afp
greek harbour police said tuesday they had found the bodies of nine asian and
african migrants over the past five days who drowned while trying to enter by
boat from turkey
the bodies of the six men and three women were discovered off greece
northeastern port of alexandroupolis they said
police said the nine had travelled by boat from turkey and were trying to enter
europe either by aegean sea or through the evros river which exits near
alexandroupolis
greece is one of the main points of entry into the european union for would be
migrants and asylum seekers from war torn countries in africa and central asia
who often make the crossing in small boats or inflatable dinghies
in october last year nine afghans most of them women and children drowned when
the boat they were in sank off the greek island of lesbos in poor weather
around people have drowned in the agean sea trying to enter greece most
often from turkey over the past three years according to ahmet moavia head of
the greek migrants forum
us rally boosts asian markets
hong kong jan afp
strong rally on wall street spurred by positive economic data in the united
states and china helped asian markets power ahead on tuesday
commodities stocks were the main gainers as crude oil pushed well past the
dollar mark on the back of upbeat sentiment over the global recovery as well as
the onset of winter in the northern hemisphere
tokyo shares closed up percent at while hong kong finished
percent up at
singapore was up percent at an month high
overall sentiment is upbeat tsuyoshi kawata senior strategist at nikko
cordial securities in japan told dow jones newswires
shanghai closed percent up on and sydney was percent higher
at pushed by resources firms thanks to the rally in crude
however seoul bucked the trend closing percent lower on concerns about
earnings prospects for local exporters as the south korean won gained against
the greenback
hours after the tokyo market closed kyodo news report said that finance
minister hirohisa fujii had offered to resign over health reasons but had been
asked by premier yukio hatoyama to stay on
questions have surrounded the year old fujii since he was rushed to hospital
last week with fatigue
on monday wall street jumped percent on the first day of trade for the new
year as dealers welcomed december manufacturing data showing the strongest pace
of activity by us industry since april
the institute for supply management said its manufacturing index also known as
the purchasing managers index pmi climbed to in december from in
november for fifth consecutive month of expansion any number above
indicates growth
that followed news on monday that two pmi surveys in china had shown strong
growth
after the pace of global expansion in manufacturing activity cooled in november
it has accelerated again in the final month of raising hopes that growth
in will be much better than last year nab capital analysts wrote in
note
this has buoyed stock markets pushed commodity prices higher and increased the
likelihood that global economic growth will continue to exceed that in the us by
comfortable margin weighing on the greenback
in london trade tuesday new york main futures contract light sweet crude for
delivery in february was up cents at dollars barrel in the
afternoon brent crude gained cents to dollars
reports that russia had cut fuel supplies to belarus helped pushed up prices
overnight despite denial from minsk dealers said
the dollar fell back slightly as the positive economic outlook led investors to
seek out riskier plays in asian trade the greenback fell to yen from
in new york late monday
in hong kong gold was at us dollars an ounce up from monday close of
dollars
in japan troubled japan airlines jal was given boost when of its
workers agreed to cut in their pensions lifting big burden on the
carrier
however only about of its retirees accepted cut while the
government warned the airline could still face bankruptcy
jal shares closed up percent at yen after percent surge on monday
following the government pledge to double state funded loan to the cash
strapped carrier
elsewhere wellington stocks ended percent stronger at month high of
while manila added percent to and kuala lumpur rose
percent to jakarta added percent to and taipei closed
flat at
in bangkok the stock exchange of thailand set composite index also ended flat
at points
indian shares closed up percent their third straight day of gains led by
metal and commodity stocks
the share benchmark sensex closed up points at month
high with india largest aluminium producer hindalco up percent or
rupees to
britain iraq inquiry restarts ahead of blair evidence
london jan afp
britain public inquiry into the iraq war resumed tuesday after the christmas
break as questions grew about the looming appearance by tony blair who led the
country into the controversial conflict
blair is expected to give evidence to the inquiry in the second half of january
or early february while his former communications chief and close ally alastair
campbell will appear on january
labour figures are reportedly worried blair appearance could cause problems
for the ruling party as struggling prime minister gordon brown starts
campaigning in earnest for britain general election to be held by june
and an internet campaign has been launched to ensure blair faces tough questions
about why he took britain into the unpopular war amid criticisms the probe led
by retired top civil servant has gone too easy on some witnesses
blair stood shoulder to shoulder with then us president george bush over the
invasion but faced major backlash in britain he resigned in
despite having led his party to three election wins
britain justified the invasion at the time by arguing that iraq had weapons of
mass destruction wmd but these were never found
blair insisted last month he would have supported the war which did not gain
explicit united nations approval even if he had known there were no iraqi wmds
would still have thought it right to remove him saddam hussein obviously
you would have had to use and deploy different arguments about the nature of
the threat he told the bbc
saddam was threat to the region who used chemical weapons on his own
people blair added
inquiry representatives have fought back against claims blair might not face
rigorous questioning
its spokesman insists blair will be appearing very much in public despite
fears some of his evidence will be heard privately for national security
reasons
the first witness to give evidence to the resumed probe tuesday was william
patey britain ambassador to baghdad between and
he told of his fears at the time that iraq could break up in the aftermath of
the conflict there was forces pulling iraq apart said patey now ambassador
to saudi arabia there was constant danger
sri lankan opposition vows to end emergency laws
colombo jan afp
sri lanka main opposition vowed on tuesday to immediately end the state of
emergency that has been in place on the island for years if its presidential
candidate wins this month election
the opposition candidate sarath fonseka will scrap the tough laws that have
been in effect almost continuously since to deal with the separatist tamil
tiger rebels who were defeated in may last year
we already have plan to amend laws and lift the state of emergency in the
event of general fonseka winning the election on january spokesman mangala
samaraweera said
samaraweera said the opposition alliance had also secured the support of ethnic
minority parties whose votes may be crucial in close fight between fonseka and
his former political boss president mahinda rajapakse
fonseka led the army in its victory over the tigers before he quit and launched
his bid to unseat rajapakse
rajapakse called the poll in bid to capitalise on the end of decades of bloody
fighting against the tigers
fonseka and rajapakse have been at loggerheads since the end of the conflict
fonseka moved into politics after accusing the government of sidelining him and
falsely suspecting him of trying to stage coup
taiwan scientist discovers strawberry crab
taipei jan afp
taiwanese marine biologist said tuesday he had found new species of crab
which is coloured like polka dotted strawberry
professor ho ping ho of national taiwan ocean university said he made the
discovery while carrying out research on the environmental impact from
shipwreck last year on the beaches of southern kenting national park
one was dead while the other was dying when they were found on beach of
chialoshui ho told afp referring to scenic coastal village in the national
park
the two female crabs with the bigger one measuring centimetres one inch
in size have been made into specimens
luckily the oil leak from the shipwreck was not serious otherwise the two
crabs might have been polluted and escaped our eyes ho said
the professor said he was writing an essay on the new species
japan finance minister offers to resign kyodo
tokyo jan afp
japan year old finance minister offered to resign for health reasons but
was asked by prime minister yukio hatoyama to stay on kyodo news reported
tuesday quoting an unnamed ruling party lawmaker
hirohisa fujii was admitted to hospital on december due to high blood
pressure and fatigue after weeks of hard work on the national budget
he has since resumed some of his duties but said he would respect advice from
his doctors about whether to return to work full time
hatoyama met fujii earlier in the day to discuss his health and later told
reporters he wanted him to remain in the key cabinet position
he fujii told me that he was undergoing tests in hospital and that his
doctors had yet to reach final conclusion hatoyama said
he has been carrying on and want him to carry on further it is matter of
course it was not that persuaded him to stay on he said
earlier in the day fujii declined to comment on whether he might step down
saying he was still waiting for test results
the doctors decision will come soon he said at press conference after
regular cabinet meeting will respect the doctors decision
asked whether he would consider leaving his post if the test results were not
positive fujii said the question was too hypothetical to answer
the veteran lawmaker was picked by incoming premier hatoyama in september to
steer the world number two economy out of its worst recession in decades
returning to post he held briefly in the early
one of the few members of the current cabinet with previous government
experience he had planned to retire from politics but was persuaded by hatoyama
to stay on to pursue an agenda of slashing public sector waste
his resignation would be another setback for hatoyama who has seen sharp drop
in his approval ratings since he took office in september with polls indicating
voters worry he lacks leadership
cricket south africa england lunch scoreboard
cape town jan afp
scores at lunch on the second day of the third test between south africa and
england at newlands on tuesday
south africa first innings
england first innings overnight
strauss boucher morkel
cook prince morkel
trott steyn
pietersen and steyn
collingwood lbw morkel
bell duminy kallis
prior steyn
broad steyn
swann smith morkel
anderson smith morkel
onions not out
extras lb nb
total overs min
fall of wickets strauss trott pietersen
collingwood cook bell broad swann
anderson
bowling morkel de wet nb steyn kallis
harris duminy
south africa second innings
prince lbw swann
smith not out
amla not out
extras lb
total wkt overs
fall of wicket prince
to bat kallis de villiers duminy boucher steyn morkel
harris de wet
bowling anderson onions swann broad
match position south africa lead by runs with nine wickets remaining in the
second innings
toss england
umpires daryl harper aus tony hill nzl
tv umpire aleem dar pak
match referee roshan mahanama sri
afptv advisory
paris jan afp
we will file the following videos
us revamps terror blacklists as obama gathers security chiefs
washington
us president barack obama is to hold key talks with intelligence and national
security chiefs on botched plane bombing which has prompted the united states
to revamp its terrorist watchlists news coverage
news
coverage plans to follow on updated advisory
beijing in dazzling white
beijing
beijing is still covered in white following the city heaviest daily snowfall
in nearly six decades last sunday tourists posed for photos on tuesday on
tiananmen square and in front of the forbidden city as workers continued to
clear the streets of snow
news
images transmitted by gmt
raw vid
web mmv
google to unveil hotly awaited smartphone
mountain view california
google is expected to unveil its own nexus one smartphone on tuesday seizing
the spotlight in tech heavy week with direct challenge to apple
heavyweight iphone handsets the internet giant has invited journalists to what
it has cryptically dubbed an android press event at its california
headquarters leaving even industry insiders speculating on what will be on
show
news science and technology
coverage to be details on updated advisory
delayed gaza relief convoy arrives in egypt
el arish egypt
relief convoy led by british mp arrived in the egyptian mediterranean town
of el arish on monday after dispute with cairo on the route to be taken for
its gaza bound aid around activists arrived at el arish airport day after
ferry brought their almost relief laden trucks to the town port some
kilometres miles from egypt rafah border crossing with the gaza strip
news
images and soundbites already transmitted
raw vid
web mmv
spain takes reins of revamped eu
brussels
spain has assumed the rotating presidency of the european union the first under
new leadership structure for the bloc which includes its first full time
president and new foreign policy supremo to mark the occasion it is
unveiling its cultural programme and new artwork that will hang in the
european council hall for the next six months
news
images transmitted by gmt
raw vid
web mmv
house of cards in colombian jungle
quibdo colombia
dedicated environmentalists or eccentric architects nearly decade ago the
jimenez family moved from the colombian city of cali to humble home in the
jungle made entirely out of paper
offbeat
voiced report transmitted by gmt
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
astrophysicist warns on biodiversity
paris
canadian astrophysicist hubert reeves world famous defender of environmental
causes says the threat to biodiversity is threat to humanity itself in an
interview with afptv reeves calls the copenhagen summit on climate change
partial success but adds that he still very worried about what our world
will look like in three decades
environment and nature
images and soundbites transmitted by gmt
raw vid
web mmv
designer aims for air travel revolution with zero carbon aerolabe
le mans france
finding an alternative to heavily polluting air transport is dream for many
researchers now one magnificent man and his flying machine say they could have
the answer solar powered balloon which uses wings to help it fly it may
sound and look unusual but the french designer and his backers have high
hopes for the aerolabe voiced afptv report
science and technology
voiced report transmitted by gmt
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
magic way out of poverty for township teens
khayelitsha south africa
from crime ridden african township to the bright lights of las vegas stage
nkombuzo nkonyana is forging an innovative way to make his problems vanish into
thin air as he carves out career as an aspiring magician the year old
sees magic as his best chance to get out of khayelitsha township one of the
poorest areas near cape town and the world cup might just give him his big
break adaptation of previously offered report
special report
voiced report transmitted by gmt
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
gypsies seen as outcasts in new ultra conservative iraq
al zuwayr iraq
gypsies or rom have lived in the middle east for centuries and until the fall
of saddam hussein played an important if marginal role in the local culture
