public funds
words moved by kyoko hasegawa
lifestyle india auto design nano lead
new delhi
it was touted as the world cheapest car at dollars apiece but new
version of the snub nosed tata nano will be available soon at price closer to
that of top end ferrari or porsche
words gmt file picture
us it internet television electronics ces lead
las vegas nevada jan afp breathtaking wave of televisions
has hit the consumer electronics show ces where the technology is being
touted as the next big thing in home theater
words moved by glenn chapman picture
entertainment us it television samsung dreamworks ces
las vegas nevada
south korea samsung teamed up with dreamworks animation maker of shrek
kung fu panda and other hit movies and technicolor on wednesday in push to
bring more entertainment into the home
words moved
rugbyu italy six nations training squad
rome jan afp
italy squad named on thursday to prepare for the six nations tournament
forwards matias aguero saracens eng mauro bergamasco stade
fran ais fra marco bortolami gloucester eng martin castrogiovanni
leicester eng lorenzo cittadini treviso carlo antonio del fava viadana
simone favaro parma quintin geldenhuys viadana leonardo ghiraldini
treviso francesco minto parma fabio ongaro saracens eng antonio
pavanello treviso salvatore perugini bayonne fra josh sole viadana
manoa vosawai parma alessandro zanni treviso
backs mirco bergamasco stade fran ais fra riccardo bocchino rovigo
gonzalo canale clermont fra gonzalo garcia treviso craig gower
bayonne fra andrea marcato treviso andrea masi racing metro fra luke
mclean treviso simon picone treviso matteo pratichetti viadana kaine
robertson viadana michele sepe viadana alberto sgarbi treviso tito
tebaldi gran parma
urgent eu galileo satnav system to begin operations in
brussels jan afp
the eu much delayed satellite navigation network galileo will begin operations
in the european commission announced thursday as it awarded key contracts
to germany ohb system and france arianespace
china executes seven mafia bosses state media
beijing jan afp
seven mafia bosses were executed in north china thursday for crimes including
murder extortion and arms trafficking state media said calling it the biggest
local organised crime case in years
zhang baoyi and six others were put to death in hebei province after china
supreme court issued an order of execution xinhua news agency reported
zhang and his gang were charged with controlling transport and commodity trading
rackets in the province and surrounding areas from it said
the gang used threats and violence to organise illegal criminal activities
including premeditated murder assault organised beatings provocation
extortion and falsifying accounts xinhua said citing the court verdict
the seven were also convicted of illegal weapons possession illegal arms
trafficking illegal gambling robbery and possessing stolen goods it said
in all nearly people were tried in the case with convicted to prison
terms ranging up to life in jail previous reports said convictions were first
handed down in june and appeals turned down in november last year
the executions come as trials continued in spectacular organised crime case in
southwestern chongqing municipality that has resulted in charges against top
court and police officials accused of protecting local gangs
wen qiang who served as top police and judicial official in chongqing over
the past years is the highest ranking official ensnared in the crackdown
that has led to the arrest of more than suspects
so far six people have been sentenced to death for their roles in organised
crime in the municipality of more than million people
alert
europe galileo satnav system to begin operations in eu
dustbin bomb wounds afghan acting governor
kabul jan afp
bomb planted in rubbish bin wounded seven officials including the acting
governor of an eastern afghan province plagued by taliban violence on thursday
police and the government said
the explosives went off outside meeting hall where the acting governor of
khost tahir khan sabari was holding talks
the explosives were placed in dustbin behind the compound wall outside the
governor house the interior ministry said in statement
shards of glass injured seven people including sabari it added
mohammad yaquob acting khost police chief said that loud bang rang out in
the explosion but none of the building collapsed
the acting governor was slightly wounded in his foot due to breaking glass and
the executive director and governor office manager have been slightly hurt by
flying glass but they are fine he said
khost is on afghanistan southeastern border with pakistan and sees high rate
of taliban activity which has escalated in recent months as the militants
expand their footprint across the country
afghan government officials are regular targets of attacks by the taliban who
are trying to overthrow the fragile government of president hamid karzai
the government is being kept in power with the help of more than us and
nato troops that number is set to climb to over the course of the year
as the united states and nato escalate their efforts to dislodge the militants
who are increasingly in league with drug smugglers experts say
urgent broken down eurostar train out of channel tunnel spokesman
london jan afp
broken down eurostar train was towed out of the channel tunnel on thursday
after it was stranded in the undersea link between britain and france for around
two hours eurostar spokesman said
alert
broken down eurostar train out of channel tunnel spokesman
pentagon gives ok for taiwan missile deal official
taipei jan afp
the us defense department has approved the sale of upgraded missile equipment to
taiwan taipei based us official said thursday risking the ire of the
island rival china
the sale of the patriot missile equipment is part of package passed by the us
congress more than year ago said spokesman with the american institute in
taiwan the us de facto embassy in the absence of formal ties
the us defense department awarded lockheed martin corp the contract to provide
patriot missile defence systems to taiwan as part of big arms deal approved by
congress in the spokesman told afp
the us defense department said in statement posted on its website wednesday
the contract for lockheed martin involved basic missile tooling upgrades
analysts predicted the sale would get chilly reception in china which
considers taiwan part of its territory and wants it back even if it means war
sino us ties are likely to be impacted because even though taiwan clearly
wants the weapons washington could have said no to taipei said alexander
huang political scientist at taipei tamkang university
some people in beijing will certainly feel unhappy about the deal they may say
it was only about two months ago that the two sides agreed to beef up military
exchanges he said
when us president barack obama visited beijing in november the united states
and china vowed to take concrete steps to advance sustained and reliable
military to military relations in the future
the defense department announcement followed close on the heels of warning
from china not to sell arms to taiwan
we urge the us to recognise the gravity of selling arms to taiwan chinese
foreign ministry spokeswoman jiang yu told reporters tuesday saying beijing has
had serious consultations with washington on the issue
the us should cancel any plans to sell arms to taiwan and stop selling arms
to taiwan so as not to damage china us relations
the pentagon in october notified congress of billion dollars in arms
sales to taiwan triggering stern condemnation from china
the package included patriot advanced capability pac missiles worth up
to billion dollars
the contract now awarded by pentagon which totals million dollars and
also covers deals not involving taiwan appears to be for only part of the
missile sale announced in
finnish police dog sniffs out thousands of dollars
helsinki jan afp
specially trained dog sniffed out euro dollar cash stash in
the northern finnish town of kemi helping the police in land sale
embezzlement investigation local police said on thursday
without the dog help the cash would likely still be missing the police said
in statement
the dog was one of two in finland police force to have undergone special
training for finding money senior criminal investigator mikko uimonen told afp
adding that the money was found on business premises last week
the sum would be returned to its rightful owner the police said
football arsenal may swap fabregas for higuain report
madrid jan afp
arsenal may be ready to sell cesc fabregas to real madrid if they get
argentine star gonzalo higuain in return spanish sports newspaper said
thursday
arsenal coach arsene wenger is only willing to part with his captain if real
includes gonzalo higuain in the deal said marca which did not indicate its
sources
it said real would prefer to offer dutch midfielder rafael van der vaart to the
london club and would only release higuain for million euros million
more than they would pay the gunners for fabregas marca said
but competition for the year old spanish international from bitter rivals
barcelona may force their hand it said
in comments on the uefa website higuain said he would like to end his career at
real madrid the team and the city are my second home and it would be
fantastic
fabregas arsenal top scorer with goals is under contract with the gunners
until but his future has been the subject of much speculation this season
the player himself last month played down talk of move back to his native
spain saying that his future lies in the english premier league
fabregas began his career with barcelona but was signed by arsenal in september
the following month he became arsenal youngest ever player in any competition
when he appeared in league cup tie against rotherham aged just years and
days
iceland referendum right move latvia
riga jan afp
latvia on thursday defended ally iceland over planned referendum on
controversial compensation deal for britain and the netherlands for the icesave
bank collapse
latvia foreign minister maris riekstins rejected the storm of criticism
sparked by icelandic president olafur ragnar grimsson decision to call
plebiscite
has such response been prompted by the fact that iceland is small country it
is hard to imagine that one would hear similar comments should the move have
been made by the president of france for example riekstins was quoted as
saying by the baltic news service
riekstins said it was tantamount to questioning democratic country right to
respect its own constitution
latvia baltic state of million people split from the crumbling soviet
union in iceland an atlantic island nation of was the first
country to recognise latvian independence that year and they have had close
ties ever since
riekstins spokeswoman noted he was not commenting on the politics behind the
referendum but simply underscoring the right to call one
grimsson announced tuesday that he would call vote after refusing to sign
bill on compensation for the british and dutch governments widely opposed by
icelanders
world cheapest car to cost fortune
new delhi jan afp
it was touted as the world cheapest car at dollars apiece but new
version of the snub nosed tata nano will be available soon at price closer to
that of top end ferrari or porsche
mumbai based firm design says it is refitting the metre feet
five seater hatchback doing away with its plastic seat coverings small wheels
and single dial dashboard
the car basic silhouette will be retained but everything else will go in the
new dollar bespoke models that will have top speed of kilometres
miles an hour double that of the original
prototype is expected in two months
our hallmark is high technology products said dilip chhabaria head of
design specialist car refitting group that has worked for bollywood stars and
other wealthy drivers
we would like to keep the cost low but with the technology and the amount of
work we will be putting into the car the million rupee dollars
price tag will be justified chhabaria told afp
there will be lot of tech wizardry in it plenty of it enabled equipment he
said
the standard two cylinder cc horsepower engine will be replaced by
cc engine and the car will roll on bigger inch centimetre wheels
to accommodate the new muscle under the bonnet the back seats will be stripped
out
design which counts bollywood stars shah rukh khan and anil kapoor among
its clients will accept suggestions from clients on colours and trims but not
in terms of interiors or technology chhabaria said
we will be reworking the brakes and suspension systems to take the load off the
engine the idea is to give the world feel of what india it and automotive
industries are capable of when working in synergy he said
given the prohibitive price tag design intends to work on only two to five
cars year ordered by the wealthiest resident and overseas indians capable of
paying more than times the price tag for the basic car
would expect people from bollywood to be interested in this project but
think generally it will be people who have passion for cars he said
the new delhi auto show is underway this week where international auto majors
are unveiling slew of affordable cars designed to lure customers in asia
third largest car market
the nano christened to connote the combination of small size and low cost is
the showcase product of india diversified tata group which bought jaguar and
land rover from us giant ford motor for billion dollars two years ago
us military intervention could strengthen qaeda yemen
sanaa jan afp
us military intervention in yemen to help fight al qaeda militants could
backfire and strengthen the network senior yemeni official said on thursday
any intervention or direct military action by the united states could
strengthen the al qaeda network and not weaken it deputy prime minister for
defence and security affairs rashed al aleemi told press conference
our position is clear we will fight and chase the al qaeda group depending on
yemeni forces and security agencies he said
football martinez admits admiration for mcdonald
wigan jan afp
wigan boss roberto martinez has fuelled speculation he could make move for
celtic scott mcdonald by expressing his admiration for the australian striker
martinez watched mcdonald score celtic equaliser in last weekend draw
with rangers and refused to rule out an attempt to bring the forward to the
premier league
we are in the january window and we need to strengthen the squad that is no
big secret martinez said
scott mcdonald is great goalscorer and has great record in the scottish
game has played european football and is an attractive player for any team in
the premier league
but not going to go into detail on any names we are going to be linked
with many names understand that
we have been following many players and the key now is to bring in the right
characters
asked why he was in glasgow for the rangers celtic match martinez added
love watching games don watch enough football and to see an old firm
derby is always great atmosphere
mcdonald has also attracted interest from middlesbrough managed by former
celtic boss gordon strachan amid reports that his relationship with current
hoops manager tony mowbray has become strained over the number of matches the
forward has started on the bench
the player agent however insisted earlier this week that mcdonald was happy at
celtic and that any move would only come about if it was instigated by the club
jal shares drop on renewed bankruptcy fears
tokyo jan afp
japan airlines jal shares plunged again thursday as fears mounted that the
debt ridden carrier will file for bankruptcy despite reports it is set to get
an injection of public funds
asia biggest carrier sank percent to end at yen continuing their
recent rollercoaster ride on the tokyo stock market
investors are selling on renewed fears that jal could file for bankruptcy
said makoto murayama an analyst at nomura securities
jal may slash more than jobs and book massive restructuring charge of
trillion yen billion dollars in the financial year ending march
the nikkei business daily said without naming its sources
meanwhile the turnaround body overseeing jal restructuring is preparing
billion yen investment if the airline files for bankruptcy the nikkei and other
media reported
the enterprise turnaround initiative corp intends to ask jal creditors
including the state owned development bank to waive further billion yen
in loans to the airline according to draft rescue plan the reports said
japan government has pledged to avoid collapse of the former state owned
carrier but has refused to rule out bankruptcy proceedings which could aid
jal restructuring but would likely leave investors out of pocket
jal has been offered financial assistance by both american airlines and delta
air lines which are competing to take stake in the japanese company and
increase their share of the lucrative asian market
media reports suggest jal is leaning towards forging capital tie up with delta
and join the skyteam global alliance leaving the oneworld group which includes
american airlines
but in fresh twist the wall street journal reported on its website that
american airlines had increased its investment offer by million dollars to
billion dollars raising the stakes in the bidding war
american airlines boosted the offer in talks with jal executives thursday the
newspaper said quoting unnamed people familiar with the situation it said an
official announcement was expected next week
meanwhile delta air lines president edward bastian told news conference
thursday the carrier and its alliance partners were ready to provide funds for
jal even if it files for bankruptcy protection local media reported
the worldwide recession and swine flu pandemic have dealt heavy blow to jal
efforts to recover from long period of financial turbulence stretching back to
its privatisation more than two decades ago
the carrier is seeking its fourth government bailout since to enable it to
keep flying in the face of mounting debts
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
the japanese government at the weekend announced it was doubling state backed
loan extended to jal to billion yen
urgent us military intervention could strengthen qaeda yemen
sanaa jan afp
us military intervention in yemen to help fight al qaeda militants could
backfire and strengthen the network senior yemeni official said on thursday
philippine senator charged with murder prosecutor
manila jan afp
philippine prosecutors on thursday filed murder charges against leading
opposition senator panfilo lacson over the murder of two men nine years ago when
he was national police chief
senior state prosecutor peter ong said testimony from witnesses and evidence
gathered by justice department agents justified the decision to charge lacson
with the kidnapping and murders
after the filing of charges in local court the court is usually given days
to decide whether to issue warrant of arrest or to dismiss the case
prosecutors previously said lacson ordered the november killings of
publicist salvador bubby dacer and driver emmanuel corbito when he was police
chief under then president joseph estrada
estrada was toppled in in military backed popular uprising spawned by
corruption scandal he was convicted of massive graft in but arroyo
pardoned him six weeks later
philippine media have suggested dacer was killed because he knew something about
the anomalies of the estrada administration
lacson has previously insisted he was innocent saying the accusations were
case of political persecution for his role as critic of president gloria
arroyo estrada has also denied any involvement in the murders
eurostar blocked for two hours in channel tunnel rail firm
paris jan afp
eurostar passengers faced further misery thursday after their high speed train
broke down in the tunnel under the english channel and was stuck for more than
two hours the french rail firm sncf said
the train travelling between brussels and london carrying passengers was due
to be towed out towards the english side of the tunnel said an sncf spokesman
who was not able to explain what caused the breakdown
the incident came as northern europe shivered in bitterly cold temperatures and
snow that has caused transport chaos
several eurostar trains broke down in the tunnel between britain and france
before christmas sparking three day suspension of service that left tens of
thousands of passengers stranded
around passengers were trapped for night in five trains with some
passengers spending hours trapped in the tunnel
that breakdown was blamed by the trains operators on snow they said was more
powdery than usual that had filtered into engine compartments and melted once
the trains entered the tunnel
the freezing temperatures and heavy snow that caused the breakdown returned to
northern europe this week leading eurostar to cancel four trains wednesday
between london paris and brussels as precaution after heavy snowfalls
over private armies threaten philippine vote govt
manila jan afp
philippine authorities warned thursday more than private armies controlled
by local politicians could cause violence ahead of this year national
elections as two more candidates were reported killed
national police chief jesus verzosa said joint study by his office the
military and the commission on elections confirmed there were at least
private armed groups prowling the southeast asian archipelago
but we have watchlist which still has to be validated with total of
private armies we are watching to see if they take shape verzosa told
reporters
philippine politics has long been plagued by violence and dozens of people are
murdered each election season as politicians seek to eliminate rivals
challenges
influential clans and families are infamous for their own employing private
armies and police estimate million unlicensed guns are in circulation
across the country
fear about politicians private armies escalated in november last year when
gunmen controlled by mayor in the southern philippines allegedly massacred
people in bid to stop rival running against him
the government has since vowed to quash the private armies but the violence has
continued
in the latest unrest baumol sula who was running for town council in the
southern town of banisalan was shot dead as he was riding his motorcycle on
wednesday local chief superintendent josefino cataluna said thursday
meanwhile artemio tugade town council candidate in the northern province of
ilocos sur was also gunned down on wednesday by two motorcycle riding men
according to police report
the killings bring to five the number of candidates murdered in separate
incidents in the past two weeks
rockets hit afghan capital wounding woman children
kabul jan afp
militants fired rockets into the afghan capital kabul on thursday wounding
woman and two children the government said
the projectiles landed in southeastern neighborhood and injured woman and
two children the interior ministry said
the nato run international security assistance force isaf which patrols the
war weary capital as part of its mission to fight against the taliban
insurgency said four rockets wounded four people
militants frequently fire rockets on the heavily populated city but rarely cause
damage because attacks are imprecise
the taliban which was in power from until the us led invasion are
trying to topple the us backed government in kabul and regain power through an
insurgency now at its deadliest phase in eight years
most of the violence associated with the insurgency is centred in southern and
eastern afghanistan where the rebels are most active
asia markets subdued as profit takers move in
hong kong jan afp
asian shares fell on profit taking thursday following weak lead from wall
street overnight while the dollar was given boost after japan new finance
minister called for weaker yen
naoto kan comments at his first press conference since being named to replace
outgoing hirohisa fujii sent the japanese unit sharply lower on speculation that
he might order official intervention
energy and resources stocks gained in the region on strong crude prices as
severe winter in the northern hemisphere continues to deepen
in tokyo the nikkei closed percent lower at while sydney ended
down percent at with bank stocks weighing on the market
hong kong lost percent to
chinese shares closed down percent at due to fresh concerns over
possible government tightening measures dealers said
japanese stocks hit by profit taking after three days of gains were helped
by easing fears over the yen strength as traders bet that japan new finance
chief will be less tolerant of stronger unit than his predecessor
weaker yen is better for exporters
later kan former health minister with little experience in financial matters
vowed to work with the central bank to steer the yen to an appropriate level
breaking from his predecessor tolerance of stronger currency
my thinking is that it would be preferable if the correction continues toward
weaker yen kan said after replacing fujii who quit wednesday due to poor
health
the dollar rose to yen in the wake of the remarks from around yen
shortly before kan spoke
japan airlines tumbled percent as fears resurfaced that the debt ridden
carrier would file for bankruptcy despite reports it is set to get an injection
of public funds
traders in asia were waiting for key us labor department jobs data on friday
and they are ready to take profits from the recent gains kazuhiro takahashi
market analyst at daiwa securities smbc told dow jones newswires
the dow jones index had closed flat after report ahead of friday key data
showed the private sector shed higher than expected jobs in december
federal open market committee minutes noting us unemployment would remain
elevated for quite some time also weighed on sentiment
many regional players decided to cash in on recent market rises that have been
fuelled by the predominantly upbeat sentiment towards the global economy
seoul was percent lower at with samsung electronics percent
off despite giving earnings guidance estimating billion dollars profit for
the december quarter
taipei drifted percent to pulling back htc taiwan leading
smartphone maker and the provider of google nexus one which is set to rival
apple iphone
htc fell percent to taiwan dollars
oil was lower in early london trade after hitting month highs overnight new
york main futures contract light sweet crude for february delivery shed
cents to dollars barrel thursday
brent north sea crude for february delivery fell cents to dollars
hong kong gold closed higher at us dollars an ounce up from
wednesday close of dollars
mumbai dipped percent to with dealers cashing in on the market
reaching month high
singapore was percent lower at kuala lumpur fell percent to
while bangkok eased percent to and jakarta lost
percent to
however wellington rose percent to and manila was percent
higher at
briton germans kidnapped in yemen still alive official
sanaa jan afp
five germans including three children and british national who have been
held by kidnappers in yemen for the past six months are still alive top
official said on thursday
we have confirmed information that they are still alive they are five germans
and british national deputy prime minister for defence and security affairs
rashad al aleemi told press conference
the three possible places they could be in are the provinces of maarib al
jouf and saada he said
available information confirm that there is coordination between the northern
shiite rebels huthis and the al qaeda in this matter he said
it is believed that the three children who were shown in recent video are
alive in maarib while the elders are being used by the huthis to provide
medical treatment aleemi said
the three children had resurfaced in new video two weeks ago but the tape
featured no sign of their parents all were kidnapped in june
german officials who requested anonymity had confirmed report in the daily
bild saying the images apparently recorded recently by the abductors indicated
at least that the three children aged one three and five were still alive
the german government now has copy of the video bild said in december
the children seemed exhausted high ranking german official was quoted by
the newspaper as saying as the german government declined to comment
the family of five and the briton were abducted in northern yemen along with two
german bible students and south korean who were shot dead soon after
the yemeni government had repeatedly accused the huthi rebels of being behind
the kidnapping charge they denied charging that the government was behind
their disappearance to use it as an excuse to attack them
since august the army has been engaged in an all out offensive against the
zaidi shiite rebels in the saada northern province and its surrounding in bid
to end their five year rebellion
alert
us military intervention could strengthen qaeda yemen
japan new finance minister spooks forex market
