the news boosted toyota motors percent
and in australia jetstar and airasia unveiled plans wednesday to slash costs and
ticket prices by pooling some resources taking the first step in an alliance
which could transform the asian budget market
the arrangement was described by jetstar chief executive bruce buchanan as
world first between low cost airlines
shares in qantas of which jetstar is subsidiary rose percent to
australian dollars us shortly after the announcement but ended down one
cent at dollars
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
edged down two cents to close at dollars barrel while brent north sea
crude was steady at dollars in london trading
despite oil losses commodities companies were still upbeat on the general
upward trend in australia miner bhp billiton added percent to
australian dollars while rival rio tinto was percent higher at
and in hong kong petrochina rose percent to hong kong dollars and
cnooc rose percent to
we see more upside in oil stocks as oil prices could rise to dollars
barrel later this year said mark to head of research at wing fung financial
group
the us dollar rose to yen in tokyo afternoon trade from yen in new
york late tuesday the euro dropped to dollars after but rose to
yen against
in hong kong gold ended at us dollars an ounce slightly lower than
tuesday close of dollars
elsewhere singapore rose percent to and seoul gained percent
to helped by the us auto market data
taipei added percent to wellington was percent up at
and manila edged percent higher to while kuala lumpur
rose percent to
jakarta was flat at and bangkok rose percent to
indian shares ended flat on wednesday in choppy trade as indices see sawed on
profit taking and sporadic buying with prices at month high dealers said
the share benchmark sensex closed up points or percent at
india largest passenger car maker maruti suzuki india fell percent to
rupees after the central bank said the overseas shareholding limit in
the stock was reached
dow jones newswires contributed to this story
seven policemen killed wounded in dagestan report
moscow jan afp
suicide bomber set off powerful car bomb outside police headquarters in
the restive russian republic of dagestan killing seven policemen and wounding
officials said
the am explosion occurred in front of the traffic police headquarters in
makhachkala the dagestan capital investigators said in statement calling
the perpetrator suicide bomber
the bomber car was stopped by guards at the entrance into the police
headquarters and police car drove out to meet it they said praising the
policemen for their vigilance and selflessness
realizing that he wouldn be able to get into the headquarters the suicide
bomber triggered an explosive device the investigative committee said
investigators put the initial death toll at six but one victim later died in
hospital ntv television reported quoting the chief doctor at the republican
orthopaedic and trauma centre magomed omarov
further were hospitalized and some underwent surgery omarov said
television footage showed deep crater outside the police headquarters roofs
blown off neighbouring buildings and piles of bricks lying on the ground cars
parked on the street were crumpled by the blast
the unidentified suicide bomber who drove the car alone was young man in
dark clothing according to witnesses the deputy head of public security police
in dagestan interior ministry magomed isayev told ntv television
concerns have mounted over increased militant attacks throughout russia
caucasus region where islamist militants have been battling pro kremlin local
authorities and russian security forces in sporadic insurgency
tennis brisbane international results second update
brisbane australia jan afp
results from the fourth day of the brisbane international tennis tournament on
wednesday denotes seed
second round
men
james blake usa bt marc gicquel fra
radek stepanek cze bt oleksandr dolgopolov jr ukr
wayne odesnik usa bt alejandro falla col
andy roddick usa bt carsten ball aus
richard gasquet fra bt matthew ebden aus
thomaz bellucci bra bt harel levy isr
gael monfils fra bt florent serra fra
women
daniela hantuchova svk bt agnes szavay hun
lucie safarova cze bt aleksandra wozniak can
anastasia pavlyuchenkova rus bt roberta vinci ita
justine henin bel bt sesil karatantcheva bul
afp graphics advisory
paris jan afp
wednesday graphics
yemen qaeda arrest map
map of yemen locating raydah where yemeni security forces have reportedly
captured key al qaeda leader
text slug attacks yemen
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available by gmt
available now
pakistan kashmir attack map
map of pakistani administered kashmir locating bomb attack that killed three
security personnel
text slug pakistan unrest kashmir
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china hunan fire map
map of china locating fatal fire in coal mine in xiangtan hunan province
text slug china mining accident
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japan fujii profile
profile of japan finance minister hirohisa fujii who has offered his
resignation
text slug japan economy politics fujii
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ady gil powerboat factfile
fact file on the ady gil powerboat reportedly destroyed by japanese fishing
boat when it tried to disrupt whaling in antarctic waters
text slug australia japan whaling boat
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google phone factfile
fact file on the new google nexus one smartphone
text slug us it company telecom internet google
mm
google nexus vs apple iphone
graphic comparing the new google nexus one smartphone with the apple iphone
text slug us it company telecom internet google
mm
jetstar airasia factfile
fact file on budget airlines jetstar and airasia which have unveiled plans to
pool their resources
text slug australia malaysia aviation qantas jetstar airasia
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asia pacific markets
closings for key asia pacific markets
text slug stocks
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moved earlier
us attacks moussaoui chrono mm
china oil spill map mm
mexico violence cuidad juarez map mm
afghanistan cia attack khost map mm
philippines massacre ampatuan profile mm
brazil rains map mm
nasa kepler telescope factfile mm
airbus factfile mm
paris hong kong
tel
afp gmt news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor chris otton
tel
soldiers to rescue as europe freezes
obama fury at intelligence screw up
yemen captures local al qaeda leader
japan whalers sink campaigners boat
europe weather wrap lead
london
soldiers help rescue stranded drivers as britain most brutal winter in decades
causes chaos for road train and air travellers while bitterly cold
temperatures cloaks much of europe
words gmt by katherine haddon picture video
attacks world lead wrap
washington
an angry president barack obama lectures us spy chiefs on an intelligence
screw up that left us airliner carrying people open to barely averted
al qaeda attack on christmas day
words gmt by stephen collinson pictures video
attacks yemen ndlead wrap
sanaa
yemeni security forces under us pressure to rein in extremists capture key
al qaeda leader believed to be behind threats that saw foreign embassies in
sanaa hastily bolting their doors
words gmt by hammoud mounassar picture graphics
australia japan whaling rdlead wrap
sydney
space age powerboat sent to harass japanese whalers is rammed and sliced in
two in its very first clash activists said dramatically escalating hostilities
in icy antarctic seas
words gmt by amy coopes picture graphic video
europe
iceland britain netherlands politics banking
reykjavik
the icelandic president veto of bill to compensate london and the hague over
the failure of icesave bank could jeopardise reykjavik eu membership bid but
icelanders are more worried about their country economic recovery
words gmt by svanborg sigmarsdottir picture
france politics religion islam women lead
paris
france opposition socialists come out against calls for law banning the full
islamic veil but say muslim women must be discouraged from wearing the burqa
words gmt
portugal society gay advancer
lisbon
plans to legalise gay marriage are to be put before parliament in catholic
portugal on friday traditionally one of europe most socially conservative
countries
words gmt by anne le coz
asia
japan politics economy ndlead wrap
tokyo
japan prime minister faces fresh test of his troubled leadership as he is
forced to replace his elderly finance minister one of the few experienced hands
in his cabinet
words gmt by hiroshi hiyama
pakistan india unrest wrap
muzaffarabad pakistan
suicide bomber kills four pakistani soldiers near the demarcation line in the
disputed himalayan region of kashmir while the indian administered zone saw
clashes erupt in its main city
words gmt by sajjad qayyum graphic
we will also move india unrest kashmir attack thlead
mideast
afghanistan unrest us jordan qaeda lead
amman
the mother of jordanian man named as an al qaeda double agent who blew himself
up at cia base in afghanistan killing eight people tells afp she has no idea
if he is dead or alive
words gmt by randa habib
americas
us politics senate newseries
washington
two democratic us senators announce they will not seek re election in november
dealing double blow to efforts by president barack obama allies to retain
their critical vote majority
words gmt by michael mathes
urgent suspicious object at us embassy in bern found harmless
geneva jan afp
bomb alert at the us embassy in switzerland has been lifted after suspicious
object found earlier turned out to be harmless an embassy spokeswoman and swiss
police told afp wednesday
egypt to host conference on the return of antiquities
cairo jan afp
egypt will host conference in april for countries demanding the return of
their antiquities stolen but on display in museums round the world egypt
supreme council of antiquities said wednesday the conference will discuss
the question of returning stolen antiquities the council said in statement
it gave no dates for the three day conference
thirty countries including greece mexico peru afghanistan iraq cambodia
and china will participate in the cairo gathering said egypt antiquities
director zahi hawass who has made the return of looted egyptian artefacts the
hallmark of his tenure
officials from these countries will discuss taking action internationally to
support efforts to return stolen antiquities to their countries of origin and
exhibited in certain museums and showrooms around the world hawass said
the conference aims to work out specific recommendations and draw up list of
the antiquities claimed by each participating country
it will also review international laws on the subject for their
reconsideration and to protect the rights of the countries to recover their
cultural and archaeological property hawass added with elaborating
egypt is demanding so far without success the return of famous antiquities
such as the rosetta stone held by the british museum for more than years
and the year old bust of queen nefertiti major pharaonic artefact
located at the neues museum in berlin which it says was taken out of the
country illegally
but it recently succeeded in getting back from the louvre five fragments of
mural paintings that are more than years old after suspending cooperation
with the french museum for not returning them
golf monty predicts right royal battle with asia
bangkok jan afp
fiercely determined colin montgomerie has called for percent effort from
the european players as they bid to regain the royal trophy from confident
asia who beat them last year
the year old ryder cup captain knows that his credibility as leader and
europe reputation in team golf are at stake after crippling losses to the
united states and asia in the past two years
montgomerie regarded as one of the most outstanding ryder cup competitors of
all time has taken on the dual role of player captain for europe at amata
spring country club from january
it is vitally important to start the year the way we want to end it on
winning note said the scot
having lost last year we will be even keener to get the job done here my team
talk to my players will focus on one thing the need for us to return to
winning ways after also being beaten at the last ryder cup
whenever you represent europe you are expected to give percent that is the
very least would demand of anyone who plays under my captaincy
montgomerie said he would be looking to see how the players handle the pressure
and follow tactics ahead of the ryder cup clash with the united states at celtic
manor in october
my team is full of winners their captain is the only one without win in
the last months he said
this is very good preparation for the ryder cup in many ways to see how our
top players are playing early on in the year and it gives me great opportunity
to witness how the team are preparing for the grand event we have at the end of
the year
swede henrik stenson the world number seven and his world cup winning
partner robert karlsson are the only two players apart from montgomerie with
ryder cup experience
monty will be keeping close eye on england simon dyson and alexander noren
of sweden who currently lie in fourth and sixth place respectively on the points
list
asian skipper naomichi joe ozaki who impressed with his tactical nous last
year said montgomerie would be jittery having gambled to play as well as
captain europe
colin will also be europe ryder cup captain later this year and he will be
feeling those nerves but think it will be good experience for him he said
the asian team features five players who were in the winning side in
including japanese wonder kid ryo ishikawa and the thai duo of thongchai jaidee
and prayad marksaeng
thongchai and prayad won all three of their matches last year and the upbeat
ozaki is likely to pair the local heroes together again in bid to ignite the
home crowd
the two thai players will likely be our lead group he said feel more
confident and more relaxed now that am winning captain was very nervous
very edgy the last two times but not now
am going to be more relaxed this time am confident that the players know
what to do
seve ballesteros the mastermind behind the royal trophy told both teams via
live link from his home in spain on wednesday that he was extremely proud of the
event
promise this event will continue to flourish in the future said
ballesteros who handed the captaincy to montgomerie as he recovers from
chemotherapy following brain surgery
am very proud to give something back to the game this royal trophy is my
legacy
the royal trophy which features alternate shot foursomes fourball and singles
matches is sanctioned by the japan golf tour but unlike last year has not
received the official backing of the european or asian tours
teams
europe colin montgomerie player captain scotland henrik stenson robert
karlsson alexander noren peter hanson all sweden simon dyson england
soren kjeldsen denmark and pablo martin spain
asia naomichi joe ozaki captain japan thongchai jaidee prayad marksaeng
both thailand jeev milkha singh gaganjeet bhullar both india ryo
ishikawa koumei oda both japan charlie wi korea and liang wen chong
china
rugby union wallaby legend latham heading home
london jan afp
chris latham will relocate back to australia at the end of the english rugby
season in may after deciding not to exercise the option of third year with
premiership club worcester
the year old fullback who has played for worcester since has made the
decision for family reasons
after much consideration we feel as family that this is the right time to
return home to australia with my daughter starting high school and my son soon
to start school he said
worcester rugby director mike ruddock said latham the second highest try scorer
for australia had been huge influence on the club
chris has been inspirational and his work ethic has been truly remarkable
having had the opportunity to work with him first hand can see why he was by
far the best full back in the world for so many years
his dedication to the job and his commitment on the field has been
inspirational for all at the club to witness we wish chris every happiness in
his new challenge
worcester are currently second from bottom of the team premiership
football berger hangs up his boots
prague jan afp
sparta prague former czech international midfielder patrik berger has
announced that he is retiring because of recurrent injuries his team coach said
wednesday
sparta prague coach jozef chovanec said that the year old had informed him of
his decision on tuesday patrik told me yesterday it over my knee can no
longer hold up said chovanev
berger started his career as sparta prague trainee before before joining city
rival slavia prague aged years he then moved to borussia dortmund in
germany followed by seven years at liverpool then portsmouth stoke city and
aston villa
he rejoined sparta in but rarely featured because of health problems
playing his final match on august last year
berger was capped times and scored goals for the czech republic between
and
china xinjiang issues new anti terror rules state media
beijing jan afp
authorities in china troubled xinjiang region will step up identity checks and
monitor religious activities in renewed bid to quash terrorism separatism and
extremism state media said wednesday
the announcement of new government regulations aimed at helping the police and
judiciary stamp out the so called three forces in the region comes six months
after ethnic violence left nearly people dead
more than people were also injured in the violence that erupted between
mainly muslim uighurs and han chinese in the regional capital of urumqi on july
according to government figures
so far people mostly ethnic uighurs have been sentenced to death for the
violence drawing sharp criticism from the west and rights groups concerned that
the accused were not guaranteed due process
nine of those convicted have already been executed
the new rules provide forceful legal guarantees to step up the struggle against
separatism jappa abibulla chairman of the xinjiang people congress told
the china news service
they clearly state that striking at the three evil forces of terrorism
separatism and religious extremism in accordance with the law are the priority
task for maintaining social order
the new regulations which come into effect on february stipulate that
governments down to the village level must step up checks on target populations
and monitor all religious activities china national radio said
local governments must also step up the registration of migrant workers and home
rentals in their jurisdictions and help set up region wide information sharing
network it said
the newly amended rules also stipulate that promotions of government leaders
will be subject to their efforts to stamp out the three forces
china roughly eight million turkic speaking uighurs have long complained of
religious political and cultural oppression by chinese authorities which
china denies and tensions have simmered in the xinjiang region for years
the latest amendments to rules issued in come after the july unrest
revealed shortcomings in the existing rules the radio report said
sandp puts icelandic debt under negative credit watch
paris jan afp
rating agency standard and poor said it had put icelandic debt under negative
credit watch wednesday day after iceland president blocked bill of
compensation for the failure of icesave bank
sandp said that the refusal of the icelandic president to sign the bill
compensating britain and the netherlands could undermine help from the
international monetary fund even though the imf has said that there was no
link
mother of jordan bomber says no proof he is dead
amman jan afp
the mother of jordanian man named as an al qaeda double agent who blew himself
up at cia base in afghanistan said wednesday she has not heard from him in
months and has no idea if he is dead or alive
we hear the news about my son humam khalil mohamad al balawi but don know
if he is dead or not shnara fadel al balawi told afp in telephonic
interview from her amman home
he prayed and read the koran but was never an extremist he never shared
extremist views
jihadist websites have identified balawi as double agent who duped western
intelligence services for months before turning on his handlers
the jordanian intelligence services believing the bomber to be on their side
took him to eastern afghanistan with the mission of finding al qaeda number two
ayman al zawahiri the websites and western intelligence agents cited by us
media said
but instead he blew himself up at forward operating base chapman in khost
province near the pakistani border killing seven cia agents and his jordanian
handler top intelligence officer and member of the royal family
my son was conscientious he was good student at jordanian public school
his mother said
the palestinian family moved to jordan following the iraq invasion of kuwait
in
humam was born in kuwait along with all our other children six boys and three
girls he was born on december and has twin brother who lives in
canada said the mother
she added that balawi had travelled to turkey to study medicine and had married
turkish woman who worked as journalist
the couple have two children laila and lina
on his return to jordan he worked in hospital in palestinian refugee camp
near zarqa where his family lived before moving into the neighbourhood of nuzha
in east amman several years ago
in jordan humam wife translated books from arabic into turkish on the
internet balawi said
she added that her son had been interrogated last year in jordan but the
authorities did not hold him responsible for anything
he applied last year for an american visa to study in the united states and
even paid fees
she could not confirm if her son had been granted the visa
he told us he was going to turkey to get his original diploma in late
february but we realised he never went then to turkey she said
his wife was in turkey but she did not know anything about him she searched
everywhere and asked the jordanian embassy in ankara to help her we have not
heard his voice since then
jordanian official told afp on tuesday that balawi had gone to pakistan to
continue medical studies that he had begun in turkey
as mother want to know what happened if he is alive and in good health
balawi said
my son is not like how he was described in the media he is man who did his
work conscientiously and was not extremist at all
asked about blog on which her son allegedly advocated extremist views the
mother said do not know what blog is an old woman know my son he
was not like that
the jordanian official has said there was no proof that balawi was as has been
claimed the suicide bomber who killed eight people in afghanistan
he added that balawi had provided jordanian intelligence with valuable
information but did not say whether he was still alive
alert
us embassy in bern lifts alert after suspicious object found harmless
urgent sandp puts icelandic debt under negative credit watch
paris jan afp
credit rating agency standard and poor said on wednesday it had put icelandic
debt under negative credit watch day after iceland president refused to
sign debt compensation bill
bomb alert at us embassy in switzerland police
geneva jan afp
the us embassy in bern was under bomb alert on wednesday after the location of
suspicious object swiss police said
can confirm that suspicious object has been found the road has been
blocked and traffic diverted swiss police spokeswoman told afp
experts are on site to investigate she said
she did not provide details on the suspicious object
sri lanka ex army chief gains poll edge with tamil backing
colombo jan afp
sri lanka former army chief received boost to his presidential ambitions
wednesday when minority tamil parties said they would back him against incumbent
mahinda rajapakse in polls later this month
consortium of ethnic tamil parties known as the tamil national alliance tna
announced in parliament that they were asking their community to vote for sarath
fonseka who is seen as the main challenger to president rajapakse
both fonseka and rajapakse are members of the majority sinhalese community and
if their candidacies split the sinhalese vote then support from the island
ethnic minorities which usually vote en bloc could tip the scales
we have decided that we shall not extend our support to president mahinda
rajapakse tna leader sampanthan told reporters we have decided to support
the common opposition candidate sarath fonseka
both the main candidates have been trying to woo the minority vote but
sampanthan said fonseka had been the more receptive of the two
the tna which was seen as proxy of the tamil tiger rebels who were crushed in
may last year had called boycott of the november presidential vote which
was narrowly won by rajapakse
fonseka who is credited with leading the military drive against the liberation
tigers of tamil eelam ltte promised earlier this week to establish
completely civilian administration in the island former war zones
rajapakse had called the early january poll to capitalise on popular applause
for the victory over the ltte which launched its campaign for tamil homeland
in
fonseka and rajapakse have been at loggerheads since the end of the conflict
fonseka quit after accusing the government of sidelining him and falsely
suspecting him of trying to stage coup
japan pm names deputy kan as new finance minister
tokyo japan jan afp
japan prime minister yukio hatoyama said wednesday he had picked his deputy
naoto kan as finance minister replacing year old hirohisa fujii who is
stepping down for health reasons
