britain braced for more transport chaos wednesday as heavy snow and freezing
temperatures swept south one day after gripping northern england and scotland
blizzards hit northern parts of britain on tuesday halting transport and major
football fixtures as well as closing airports and hundreds of schools
officials warned of extreme weather as the freezing conditions moved to
central and southern parts of england with as much as centimetres
inches of snow forecast to fall overnight in some areas
this is expected to cause widespread disruption to the transport network and
could lead to problems with power supplies the met office said
the public are advised to take extreme care the forecaster warned
snow forced britain second biggest airport gatwick in london to close
while flights at luton airport also in the capital were suspended
birmingham and southampton airports were shut while staff at manchester and
liverpool airports were working to return to normal after heavy snow forced
their closure tuesday
forecasters said areas of hampshire oxfordshire west berkshire surrey and
buckinghamshire could see exceptionally heavy snowfall as storms moved south
prime minister gordon brown posted twitter message saying as public services
do all they can in this extreme weather please look out for neighbours and
relatives in need of assistance
brown earlier denied britain was facing gas supply crisis after extra
supplies were reportedly brought in from continental europe to meet percent
rise on normal seasonal use
on tuesday heavy snow blocked roads cancelled some train and bus services and
triggered accidents in northwest england forcing officials to advise against
all but essential travel on roads
the snow wiped out both league cup semi final first legs with wednesday
manchester derby between city and united and blackburn match against visitors
aston villa postponed
in scotland where temperatures plunged to minus degrees celsius five
degrees fahrenheit in places flights were delayed while train services were
disrupted from glasgow to edinburgh and london
hundreds of schools were closed in scotland wales and northern england as
teachers struggled to get in to work and parents kept their children at home
stephen davenport senior meteorologist at meteogroup said should conditions
continue in similar vein then by march we might just be looking back at one of
the coldest winters of the last years
cuba formally protests us screening rules
havana jan afp
cuba lodged formal protest tuesday against new us rules tightening security
checks for airline passengers traveling from or through cuba and other
countries
cuba foreign ministry said it summoned jonathan farrar who heads the us
interest section at the swiss embassy in havana to hand him the objections
we categorically reject this new hostile action by the government of the united
states that stems from the unfair inclusion of cuba in the so called list of
countries supporting terrorism the message said
cuba official newspaper granma criticized the new us rules monday as emanating
from anti terrorist paranoia
the us transportation security administration tsa said the new measures would
include random enhanced checks on all international passengers flying into us
airports as well as compulsory stricter screenings of those coming from or via
countries all but cuba are muslim majority nations
the countries targeted by the new measures include cuba iran sudan and syria
all us designated state sponsors of terrorism they also apply to passengers
traveling from or via afghanistan algeria iraq lebanon libya pakistan
saudi arabia somalia yemen and nigeria
there are no regular flights between cuba and the united states but four daily
charter flights connect havana with three us cities including miami where more
than one million cuban exiles and immigrants reside
the charter flights were increased to eight per day in late december after us
president barack obama earlier lifted some travel and remittance restrictions to
cuba
washington broke off diplomatic relations with cuba in and imposed an
economic boycott on the communist island
both governments recently resumed negotiations on migration and postal exchange
issues but efforts to end the boycott are stymied by us insistence that cuba
should change its policies while havana suggests the united states do the same
china saic motor sees net profit up tenfold
shanghai jan afp
china saic motor corp said wednesday its net profit was expected to surge
more than tenfold after beijing efforts to stimulate domestic consumption led
to record sales
the nation largest auto maker in terms of sales said it sold more than
million vehicles last year up percent from year earlier in statement
filed with the shanghai stock exchange
saic which has joint ventures with us auto giant general motors and germany
volkswagen said it expected more than percent increase in net profit
but did not give exact figures in the preliminary announcement
the company is scheduled to release its annual results in early april according
to data published by the shanghai bourse
saic net profit for fell percent from the previous year to
million yuan million dollars due to dwindling demand amid the global
financial crisis and heavy losses in its ailing south korean unit ssangyong
motor
china car sales soared in due to government policy incentives
outstripping those of the united states for the first time in january last year
to make the asian giant the world biggest auto market
these measures included slashing taxes on cars with engines smaller than
litres and subsidising clean technology vehicles
the country auto sales for the first months of the year reached
million units according to the china association of automobile manufacturers
toll in china coal mine fire rises to
beijing jan afp
fire in coal mine in central china has killed miners authorities said
wednesday with several others still believed to be missing
the accident occurred on tuesday at the lisheng mine in the city of xiangtan in
hunan province the local government said in statement on its website
the toll rose from an earlier confirmed dead with the recovery of more bodies
early wednesday it said
it did not say whether any others remained missing but an earlier statement had
indicated five more may still be unaccounted for
the government had earlier said it hoped to find the miners alive an
investigation has been launched into the incident
the coal mine authority in the county ordered all mines shut until further
notice an earlier statement said
china coal mines are among the most dangerous in the world with safety often
ignored in the quest for profits and drive to meet surging demand for coal
the source of about percent of the country energy
chile copper mine strike ends
santiago jan afp
employees at two giant northern chile copper mines that produce over four
percent of the world copper voted tuesday to end their two day strike
accepting bonus and salary increase offer
the employees of the chuquicamata and mina sur mines owned by the world
biggest mining concern codelco would return to work at am gmt
wednesday and consider the employers offer has been accepted after the eight
hour vote union leader jaime graz told afp
codelco was offering percent wage hike and bonus payment of
dollars with the contract to last months union members endorsed the plan
with to percent vote
the miners had considered previous offers insufficient noting the high cost of
living in the city closest to the mine and the harsh working conditions in the
middle of the desert meters feet above sea level
the walk out which saw the participation of percent of the work force came
as copper prices hit month peak monday at dollars per tonne
since early last year copper prices have rocketed by more than percent
spurred upward by signs of global economic recovery after the steep worldwide
downturn
although the price of copper fell significantly during the global economic
crisis it increased sharply in recent months amid renewed demand from china
the world largest copper consumer
chile had copper output of some million tonnes in and was estimated
to have produced similar amount last year accounting for about one third of
global production
codelco produces around million tonnes of copper per year
korea urges korea to return to nuclear talks
seoul jan afp
south korea on wednesday urged north korea to return to nuclear disarmament
talks and called on china to step up efforts to bring pyongyang back to the
table
think the north has now secured all face saving measures it needed to
return to the six party talks now is the time for the north and china to
respond more actively to calls for resuming the talks foreign minister yu
myung hwan told yonhap news agency
north korea abandoned the talks which group the two koreas japan china
russia and the us in protest at international censure over its launch of
long range rocket in may it staged its second nuclear test since
my personal expectation is that north korea will return to the talks at an
early date but am cautious in predicting in more precise terms whether it
will do so in february or in march yu said
yu dismissed the north persistent call for peace treaty with the united
states as stalling tactic
north korea demand that peace system should be discussed first runs against
the joint statement in reality it is impossible this is tactic aimed
at avoiding denuclearization or delaying it yu said
in the statement north korea promised to dismantle its nuclear programmes
in return for economic aid and diplomatic relations
us envoy stephen bosworth visited the communist nation last month and reached
common understanding on the need to resume the six party talks
however no date has been fixed
bosworth said last month the six party grouping was the forum that would decide
when and how to tackle the array of topics involved in the negotiations based on
the joint statement
he reiterated washington position that the united states would not discuss
peace treaty or any of the other issues before six party negotiations resume
peace treaty would replace an armistice currently in force to formally end the
korean war in which communist north korea backed by chinese troops
fought south korea supported by us led un troops
anti whalers hurl stink bombs at japanese fleet spokesman
sydney jan afp
militant activists wednesday hurled stink bombs at japanese whaling ships after
finally catching up with the fleet blaming spy planes for disrupting their
antarctic harassment campaign
anti whalers threw rancid butter filled christmas tree baubles like baseballs
at the japanese ships to make their decks too foul to work spokesman paul
watson told afp
they can work on the deck with these stinkbombs and it makes life very
unpleasant on board he said in east africa they shoot elephant poachers
down here we just throw stinkbombs
watson said the sea shepherd activists latched on to the japanese ships just
before dawn about month after setting out from australia on their annual bid
to stop the slaughter of hundreds of minke and fin whales
he accused the japanese of chartering planes from australia to pinpoint his
steve irwin vessel and of sending pursuing ship sparking chase among
icebergs which set back their campaign by weeks
we didn think anything of it at the time we thought they were australian
government planes routine he said
and then about six hours later the shonan maru was on our tail so we figured
out that the planes had given the location so that the japanese could tail us
he said he only shook off the ship after skirmishes involving water cannon
laser type device and military style sonar weapon when he returned to port
and then left under low cloud cover making air surveillance impossible
think spent about dollars on that search about hours in total and
they didn find us and we were able to slip past watson said
watson said the super fast ady gil powerboat newly commissioned this year and
the bob barker another ship being used for the first time were now pursuing
the whalers in antarctica commonwealth bay
there whole pursuit down there along the ice edge watson said they re
not killing any whales today they re running from us he added
sea shepherd activists have harassed the japanese fleet over the past six
hunting seasons and claim to have saved the lives of hundreds of whales
an international moratorium on commercial whaling was imposed in but japan
kills hundreds each year using loophole that allows lethal research on the
animals
japan makes no secret of the fact that whale meat ends up on dinner tables and
accuses western nations of not respecting its culture
panasonic lg to bring skype calls to tv
las vegas nevada jan afp
web communications company skype said tuesday that new internet enabled high
definition televisions from panasonic of japan and south korea lg will feature
skype voice and video calling
the skype enabled hdtvs will be available in the middle of the year and when
combined with new hd webcams will allow people to communicate from the comfort
of their living rooms skype said
skype in an announcement timed to coincide with the opening here this week of
the annual consumer electronics show said lg and panasonic will offer
specially designed hd webcams with special microphones and optics that can pick
up sound and video from couch distance
skype which has its headquarters in luxembourg bypasses the standard telephone
network and provides voice and video calls over the internet
its allows skype users to call other users free of charge and provides the
ability to connect with land lines or mobile devices at low rates
skype which was sold by online auction giant ebay in november to private
investment group said its software will be embedded in panasonic viera
cast enabled hdtvs and lg new lcd and plasma hdtvs with netcast
entertainment access
the popularity of skype video calling has increased substantially in recent
years with an average of percent of skype to skype calls now including
video skype chief executive josh silverman said
many people who are video calling on skype expressed desire to communicate
with their friends and family from somewhere comfortable and preferably on
big screen silverman said logically this led to the development of skype
embedded on hdtvs
china investment in miner felix good deal australia
sydney jan afp
australia said wednesday that the billion us dollar buyout of felix
resources by china yanzhou coal was very good deal for both countries and
sign of canberra acceptance of foreign investment
shareholders in coal miner felix last month voted overwhelmingly in favour of
yanzhou offer the biggest by chinese firm in australia which followed
several failed attempts by chinese groups to buy mining assets
the yanzhou deal is very good deal for australia and china resources
minister martin ferguson said in sydney at the launch of the newly merged
entity called yancoal
the acquisition demonstrates australia openness to foreign investment
canberra approved the takeover in october but only under strict conditions and
after yanzhou was twice ordered to resubmit its application to the foreign
investment review board firb
under the conditions yanzhou must operate its australian mines through
locally headquartered company to be listed on sydney stock exchange by the end
of the first such listing by chinese state owned firm
it must also slash its ownership of felix four coal mines to percent and
cut its stake in new firm yancoal to percent by the time of the listing
the approval followed series of failed chinese moves for australian miners and
the arrest of top rio tinto executive in shanghai which put pressure on
australia relationship with its biggest trading partner
china ambassador to australia zhang junsai said ties between the countries
were definitely on the right track as he rejected concerns that state owned
enterprises would operate as de facto arms of beijing
these are government owned enterprises not government run he told the
australian broadcasting corporation at the yancoal launch
what the government is concerned about is you should make sure this company
should make money should be profitable
dow jones newswires contributed to this report
best selling irish author says suffering crippling depression
london jan afp
best selling irish author marian keyes has revealed she is battling crippling
depression that has left her unable to write read sleep or even talk to
people
keyes whose books have sold millions of copies has told fans that although
prone to depression her latest battle with the illness was like living in
hell and much much worse than anything she had experienced before
in january newsletter posted on her website keyes whose books include
watermelon and lucy sullivan is getting married said she was attempting to
recover from the illness
aware that these are terrible times and that there are people out there
who have been so ruined by the current economic climate that they lost the
roof over their heads and every day is battle for basic survival and wish
could make their pain go away said keyes reportedly former alcoholic
but although blessed enough to have roof over my head still feel
like living in hell
can eat can sleep can write can read can talk
to people the worst thing is that feel it will never end
know lots of people don believe it but depression is an illness but
unlike say broken leg you don know when it get better
keyes pioneer of the chick lit genre is known for her romantic comedies
centred around strong female character but with dark themes including drug
abuse mental illness and domestic violence
her latest work the brightest star in the sky was published in october
dozens of readers left messages of support on her website describing her as
amazingly talented and wishing her speedy recovery
yen wobbles on finance minister worries
tokyo jan afp
the yen slipped against the dollar in asia on wednesday following reports that
japan finance minister may quit for health reasons while the euro was
pressured by worries about europe financial woes
the dollar rose to yen in tokyo morning trade from yen in new york
late on tuesday the euro dropped to dollars after and to
yen against
uncertainty over the health of japanese finance minister hirohisa fujii weighed
on the yen
local media reported late tuesday that prime minister yukio hatoyama had
accepted fujii resignation offer because of poor health but the premier
reiterated wednesday he hoped the year old could stay on
fujii who is seen as tolerant of stronger yen was admitted to hospital
on december due to high blood pressure and fatigue saying he was exhausted
after weeks of hard work on the national budget
market players are watching closely who would succeed fujii and what kind of
foreign exchange policies the person would implement said hideaki inoue chief
manager at forex trading of mitsubishi ufj and banking corp
the market has taken fujii policies favourably he added
fujii has repeatedly said since taking the post in september that in principle
the government should refrain from intervening in the market to curb the yen
strength and protect exporters
the euro was pressured by fresh worries about europe sovereign debt troubles
fitch ratings downgraded iceland long term debt rating after its president
refused to sign bill to compensate britain and the netherlands over the
failure of icesave bank
the agency called the president decision renewed wave of domestic
political economic and financial uncertainty
fitch move is reverberating through the market because it highlights the
risk of further sovereign debt woes in europe yuzo sakai manager at tokyo
forex amp ueda harlow told dow jones newswires
investors were looking ahead to key us economic reports on manufacturing
activity and employment as well as minutes from the federal open market
committee december meeting scheduled for release later in the week
oil pulls back in asian trade
singapore jan afp
oil prices were down in asia on wednesday as stronger dollar offset rising
demand for heating fuel due to cold weather in the northern hemisphere analysts
said
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
was down cents to dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for february delivery shed cents to dollars
positive market sentiment from the continued cold weather across the us and
europe was partly offset by firmer us dollar said the commonwealth bank of
australia in report
stronger us unit makes dollar denominated oil more expensive to holders of
other currencies dampening demand and leading to lower prices
cold weather in the united states and europe had been driving prices higher
because of strong demand for heating fuel
but independent oil analyst ellis eckland said the us cold snap is easing up
the cold weather is definitively adding to oil demand but the american weather
looks like it is going to ease up so it slightly bearish for oil he said
us general raps intel gathering in afghanistan
washington jan afp
top military intelligence chief is calling for revamped us intelligence
efforts in afghanistan in scathing report that says the current focus on
insurgent networks is only marginally relevant
major general michael flynn the top us and nato military intelligence officer
in afghanistan made the unsparing assessment in report written with two other
intelligence officials and published monday by washington think tank
eight years into the war in afghanistan the us intelligence community is only
marginally relevant to the overall strategy flynn and his colleagues wrote
the top us and nato commander in afghanistan general stanley mcchrystal has
made counter insurgency warfare the centerpiece of new afghan strategy that
seeks to secure the population and win over increasingly disenchanted afghans
but flynn report said the us intelligence effort in afghanistan is consumed
with tracking militants and roadside bombs
it said the vast intelligence apparatus is unable to answer fundamental
questions about the environment in which us and allied forces operate and the
people they seek to persuade
us intelligence officers and analysts can do little but shrug in response to
high level decision makers seeking the knowledge analysis and information they
need to wage successful counterinsurgency
flynn paper comes less than week after jordanian double agent blew himself
up at base in khost eastern afghanistan killing seven central intelligence
agency cia agents and jordanian officer
more alarming yet the conclusions were released as the united states is
massively increasing its troop presence in afghanistan with the us presence
set to reach forces this spring to regain terrain from emboldened al
qaeda and taliban fighters
according to flynn military intelligence officers deployed in afghanistan are
ignorant of local economics and landowners hazy about who the powerbrokers are
and how they might be influenced
they are also incurious about the correlations between various development
projects and the levels of cooperation among villagers and disengaged from
people in the best position to find answers he added
in order to correct the flaws the general urged military units on the ground to
write and share reports on their patrols their exchanges with farmers and local
leaders or on radio shows heard by locals
comparing the war in afghanistan to campaigning for government post flynn
stressed that in order to succeed candidate pollsters and strategists
must constantly explore the local levels including voters grievances
leanings loyalties and activities that opponents could exploit
intelligence officers must embrace open source population centric information
as the lifeblood of their analytical work not just clandestine work flynn
said
he cited lieutenant general samuel wilson former director of the defense
intelligence agency as saying that the real intelligence hero is sherlock
holmes not james bond
some in washington reacted coolly to flynn remarks
counterinsurgency starting with clear understanding of the enemy
motivation strength and intentions has to be major focus of intelligence in
the country us intelligence official said on condition of anonymity
if you get that piece wrong you re not going to have much success with
anything else
flynn wrote the report with an adviser marine corps captain matt pottinger and
paul batchelor of the defense intelligence agency senior executive service
jetstar airasia form world first budget airline alliance
sydney jan afp
jetstar and airasia unveiled plans on wednesday to slash costs and ticket prices
by pooling some resources taking the first step in an alliance that could
transform the asian budget market
jetstar chief executive bruce buchanan said the non equity arrangement which he
described as world first between low cost airlines was expected to save
hundreds of millions of dollars in costs
by getting together and focusing on areas where we can actually reduce costs we
think it really exciting opportunity buchanan told reporters calling the
deal an important first step
we have identified many hundreds of millions of dollars of cost saving
opportunities and we think that is an exciting opportunity for us as we launch
this partnership going forward
jetstar subsidiary of australian flag carrier qantas will share parts and
ground and passenger handling services with malaysia airasia which is asia
biggest budget airline
they will also investigate jointly procuring new aircraft cooperate on buying
engineering and maintenance supplies and will carry each other passengers
stranded by breakdowns and other disruptions
qantas chief alan joyce said the deal would give both airlines an edge in the
competitive asian market
jetstar and airasia offer unmatched reach in the asia pacific region with more
routes and lower fares than their main competitors and this new alliance will
enable them to maximise that scale he said
jetstar operating aircraft is the world largest long haul budget carrier
while airasia leads the asian low cost market with planes servicing more than
destinations
analysts said the two were moving to dominate the growing asian budget sector
and were likely to announce further joint ventures
certainly the teaming of two of asia leading low cost carriers suggests that
there will be some move to really dominate this region over the longer term
derek sadubin chief operating officer of the centre for asia pacific aviation
told afp
we expect that the agreement could flourish over time to include revenue
generating agreements and potential joint ventures in range of other areas
ig markets analyst ben potter said jetstar and airasia were thinking outside
the box to stay ahead of the competition
in an extremely competitive environment where airlines have been under constant
pressures from number of different forces this world first alliance is very
positive indeed he said
the asia pacific region is one of the biggest growth markets in aviation so
any ways to further reduce costs and offer more competitive fares will benefit
both shareholders and customers
qantas shares rose percent to australian dollars us shortly after
the announcement
bridge collapses in brazil
sao paulo jan afp
rain swollen river swept away bridge in southern brazil tuesday leaving as
many people missing authorities said
the civil defense authorities said people were rescued after the mishap but
between five and people were missing it denied earlier press reports that
seven people were confirmed killed
the bridge was on route ers spanning the jacui river near agudo in rio
grande do sul state globo reported in its online edition
part of the bridge collapsed and some people went over to see what was
happening and then the rest of it fell down firefighter menardino weber told
globo
floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains have killed people in brazil
in the past week with the greatest number of fatalities in angra dos reis
beach city south of rio de janeiro
colombian madoff is extradited to us
miami jan afp
an alleged fraudster dubbed the colombian madoff because of his ties to
multi million dollar pyramid scheme was extradited tuesday to the united states
to face money laundering charges authorities said
david murcia who is accused of swindling investors out of staggering
million dollars arrived here from bogota in an aircraft belonging to the us
drug enforcement administration spokesman for the agency said
murcia was scheduled to appear before judge in florida and then be
transferred to new york where he has been charged with laundering million
dollars in drug money
murcia the owner of company called dmg had been sought for money laundering
in both panama and the united states
he was captured in panama in november and deported to colombia where he was
sentenced to years in jail for illegally raising funds through pyramid
schemes and money laundering
he drew huge interest in his fraudulent scheme by promising returns of up to
percent per investment thousands of colombians gave it go and lost all of
their savings sparking widespread outrage
the biggest demonstrations against murcia were street protests in southwestern
popayan where many of its inhabitants fell victim to drfe company
fictitious firm promoting the savings scheme that disappeared overnight along
with all its clients money
the government suspected the pyramid schemes in which people are enticed by
initial profits and encouraged to enlist more participants to contribute to the
savings fund were really money laundering operations set up by drug
traffickers
wall street conman bernard madoff was sentenced in june to years in
prison after pleading guilty to multi billion dollar ponzi scheme in which
existing investors were paid returns stolen from new investors capital
asian shares mixed despite fujii resignation offer
hong kong jan afp
asian shares were mixed wednesday as dealers eased off after two days of
advances while japanese investors showed little fear amid reports the country
finance minister looks set to step down
the nikkei in tokyo was up percent hong kong opened percent higher
while sydney was percent off
chinese shares fell percent in early trade while singapore was
percent lower
