official data showed on monday in timid sign of widening recovery after the
country left recession
data from the national statistics agency insee showed production ticking up
percent in november compared to october when it had fallen by percent
recovery was particularly strong in the manufactured goods sector where
production rose percent
france recovered from recession in the second half of and president nicolas
sarkozy has said priority is now to bring down unemployment which is near
double figures and curb the country huge public deficit
the korean armistice
seoul jan afp
north korea call for talks on treaty to formally end the korean conflict
comes more than years after an armistice ended three years of fighting but
left the two sides still technically at war
when us lieutenant general william harrison and his north korean counterpart
general nam il signed the documents on july the agreement made clear
it was only intended as temporary accord
the wording of the document said it was aimed at establishing an armistice
which will ensure complete cessation of hostilities and of all acts of armed
force in korea until final peaceful settlement is achieved
but decades of tensions between north korea and the united states over
pyongyang nuclear programmes have stalled any final peace settlement
the armistice put in place mechanism for the transfer of prisoners of war as
well as setting the boundaries of the kilometre mile long dmz
demilitarised zone and arrangements for the implementation of the ceasefire
the accord said the four kilometre wide dmz shall act as buffer zone to
prevent the occurrence of incidents which might lead to resumption of
hostilities
both sides pledged in the accord not to execute any hostile act within from
or against the demilitarized zone and un armistice commission still meets
regularly in the truce village of panmunjom
the approaches to the buffer zone are strewn with millions of mines and
patrolled by combat ready troops from both sides
some us troops are stationed in south korea in support of
strong south korean military that faces the north korean people army
of million men
about percent of north korea military power is positioned near the border
with the south
afptv advisory
paris jan afp
we will file the following videos
shell shocked togo leaves as africa cup opens
johannesburg
togo goalkeeper kodjovi obilale is still in critical care at south african
hospital after rebel attack in angola that killed two members of the togo
national football team the team traveled home sunday against the players
wishes as the africa cup of nations kicked off in angola images and soundbites
from doctors in south africa on obilale condition
news sport
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us envoy for middle east in paris for latest on peace talks
paris
washington special envoy to the middle east george mitchell meets with french
foreign minister bernard kouchner on monday as pressure increases to move the
middle east peace process forward
news
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new barrier on egyptian border
rafah gaza strip rafah egypt
egyptian authorities have confirmed they are building barrier that digs deep
beneath the border with the gaza strip move aimed at stopping the smuggling
through the underground tunnels that serves as lifeline for the palestinian
enclave
special report
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jordan bomber said cia attack was revenge video
dubai
jordanian who blew himself up in afghanistan killing seven cia agents and his
jordanian handler said in video that the act he was planning was for revenge
we tell our emir baitullah mehsud we will never forget his blood it is up to
us to avenge him in and outside america humam khalil abu mulal al balawi said
about taliban leader killed in us attack in august refiling with full
transcript of video
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images and soundbites transmitting now
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british minister niece on trial for murder in france
versailles france
the niece of britain junior defence minister told police she was monster
after she confessed to the drunken murder of young frenchman in french
court heard on monday jessica davies the year old niece of britain multi
millionaire junior defence minister quentin davies looked pale and drawn as she
turned up in court in versailles west of paris on the first day of her trial
news
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new workers tombs found near egypt great pyramid
cairo
egyptian archaeologists have unearthed number of tombs of workers who helped
to construct the country largest pyramid the tombs date back to the period of
the fourth dynasty bc the first of these tombs was discovered in
news culture amp lifestyle
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as part of our african nations cup coverage we file the following
nigeria footballers prepare for battle in african cup of nations
lagos
defending champions egypt and nigeria clash in the africa cup of nations group
curtain raiser in angola on tuesday even though nigeria has won the tournament
twice they are regarded as underachievers considering the huge pool of talent
at their disposal angola will be their th appearance after losing in
the finals four times and finished third on five other occasions fans in
nigeria will be watching closely for signs of what the fortnight holds in store
sport
voiced report transmitted gmt
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caste system traps nepal hereditary prostitutes
bankhet
born into prostitution the women of the badi minority in nepal have been
condemned to work in the sex trade for generations stigma and rigid caste
system have prevented them from leaving the illegal trade but advocates say
things are slowly changing
special report
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in tough times french take english immersion classes at home
taule france
rural french village might not be the first place student would think of
visiting to improve their english language skills but with no money to go to
britain year old mathilde berthelot is doing just that
culture amp lifestyle
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driving down pollution the next generation electric car
warsaw
it the latest breakthrough in eco friendly transport designed in switzerland
and made in poland the re volt is three wheeled electric car which does
kilometres on full battery part of the new generation of green vehicles it
could be rolling out across europe roads soon provided of course there
compatible recharge station near you
science amp technology environment amp nature
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contact
jacqueline pietsch
gabrielle chatelain moor
sanofi aventis launches bid for us pharma firm
paris jan afp
french pharmaceutical group sanofi aventis on monday formally launched its
takeover bid worth about billion dollars billion euros for us non
prescription drug company chattem
the offer announced in december and approved by the board of chattem is for
all of the shares in the target company one of the leaders in the us market for
non prescription treatments
the offer ends at midnight new york time gmt on february and is
dependent on acceptance on behalf of majority of ordinary shares and approval
by regulators
afp animated graphics advisory
paris jan afp
we will move the following animated graphic
war in africa
interactive graphic on armed conflicts in africa with particular
focus on the northern angolan enclave of cabinda where rebel attack
on the togo national football team last friday killed two of the squad
format adobe flash cs player px africawaren gmt
slug violence angola togo fbl afr
afp animated graphics
peter shard tel
french academic trial to resume saturday in iran lawyer
tehran jan afp
the trial of french academic clotilde reiss who was detained in post election
unrest in iran is to resume on saturday her lawyer told isna news agency on
monday
the third court session has been set for january in branch of the
revolutionary court mohammad ali mahdavi sabet said
iranian authorities have put reiss on trial for allegedly taking part in
protests which erupted in the wake of iran disputed presidential election in
june
the young woman who was arrested on july and released on bail in august is
staying at the french embassy awaiting the outcome of her case
mahdavi sabet did not specify if verdict could be expected on saturday but had
said after december court session that the final part of pleadings
concerning the accusations will be made at the next hearing
reiss was arrested shortly before she was due to fly home after six month
study and teaching visit to the iranian city of isfahan
she was accused of supporting the opposition protests and was one of scores of
people paraded before cameras at televised trial before being remanded in
custody in tehran notorious evin jail
iran opposition which charges the election was massively rigged to keep
hardline president mahmoud ahmadinejad in power has dismissed the court
proceedings as show trials
france has furiously protested reiss innocence on all charges and accused
tehran of trying to blackmail paris into releasing an iranian agent jailed in
france for the murder of an exiled former prime minister
ahmadinejad suggested in december that iran might pardon reiss if ali valiki
rad who is serving life sentence is freed but his french counterpart
nicolas sarkozy has rejected the idea
three us soldiers killed in afghanistan unrest nato
kabul jan afp
three us soldiers were killed on monday while fighting insurgents in volatile
southern afghanistan nato said
nato international security assistance force gave few details saying only
that three isaf service members from the united states were killed this
afternoon in an engagement with enemy forces in southern afghanistan
china malaysia to pump billions into borneo power project
kuala lumpur jan afp
china leading power grid operator sgcc and malaysian government development
fund mdb said monday they will jointly establish energy projects worth
billion dollars in malaysian borneo
prime minister najib razak unveiled the venture between government development
and investment firm malaysia development berhad mdb and sgcc state grid
corporation of china
in short period of time mdb and sgcc which is china leading power and
distribution company will be collaborating to identify and plan number of
multi billion dollar projects najib said in speech
understand this project will have total value of billion dollars
najib did not give details of the projects but malaysian officials said they
will focus on the energy sector
the star newspaper has reported that mdb and sgcc will establish hydropower
plants and massive aluminium smelter in sarawak state on resource rich borneo
an island split between malaysia and indonesia
foreign investment in malaysia plummeted in as result of the global
financial crisis the newly created mdb is aimed at forming global partnerships
to drive long term economic development
last september mdb and saudi arabia said they would establish billion
dollar partnership to invest in oil and gas and real estate projects in malaysia
and abroad
najib said the sarawak investment proposal was developed when he visited china
in june
this interest was crystallised when the chinese president hu jintao visited
malaysia in november last year he added
sgcc president liu zhenya said the firm plans were part of boom in trade and
energy sector cooperation between the two countries in recent years
the chinese government is very supportive of chinese enterprises involvement
in the infrastructure projects in malaysia in more extensive way he said
plans for up to dozen vast hydro electric dams in sarawak have raised alarm
among indigenous groups and environmentalists who have spent decades campaigning
against rampant logging and plantation activity
the billion dollar bakun dam which will drown an area the size of
singapore is nearing completion despite setbacks and delays since its approval
in and fierce criticism over its environmental impact
transparency international has labelled bakun monument of corruption and
highlighted debate over whether there will be enough customers in when it
becomes fully operational with mw capacity
the dam forced thousands of indigenous people off their ancestral lands and
there are now concerns over the fate of the tribal communities living in the
catchment area of the next of the planned mega dams the murum dam
peugeot citroen reports small sales slip bright future
paris jan afp
french auto group psa peugeot citroen reported on monday that sales slipped only
marginally last year traumatic period for the auto industry and forecast
recovery this year except in europe
the sale of parts for assembly into vehicles abroad by partners played key
part in the performance the group said but warned that its main market in
europe would contract this year albeit by less than percent
sales fell by percent last year to million vehicles delivered to
customers
but this figure and the forecast of recovery pushed up shares in the group by
percent to euros the overall market was showing gain of
percent
the group said that the auto market in europe would suffer this year from the
ending of government subsidies to buyers who scrapped an old car to buy new
these stimulus programmes played big role in lifting the auto industry out of
steep downturn in the early part of the year but they are now being or are
about to be wound down
the group did slightly better than the overall car market which showed fall of
percent last year and it said its share of the global market had risen to
percent
in sales had fallen by percent to million vehicles sold when the
economic crisis began to bite in the second half of that year
driving factor of the figures for was the sale of parts for assembly by
foreign partners particularly in iran these rose by percent to
units
but sales of fully assembled cars fell by percent to million
for the group said that it saw signs of recovery throughout the world
except in europe where it expected sales to fall further as the subsidy schemes
were wound down
but the second half should see some glimmers of improvements the fall of the
european market would be less than percent
analysts at cm cic securities said that peugeot shares were undervalued
we don have any concerns about the medium term potential of the group
analyst guillaume angue said noting in particular that the group had leading
position in the development of so called hybrid twin engined cars to reduce
emission gases
but key issue for the company was its performance in western europe which
accounted for percent of sales he said this market expected to contract by
seven percent this year could become battleground of tough competition and
price cutting as subsidies were phased out
china malaysia to pump billions into borneo power project
kuala lumpur jan afp
china leading power grid operator sgcc and malaysian government development
fund mdb said monday they will jointly establish energy projects worth
billion dollars in malaysian borneo
prime minister najib razak unveiled the venture between government development
and investment firm malaysia development berhad mdb and sgcc state grid
corporation of china
in short period of time mdb and sgcc which is china leading power and
distribution company will be collaborating to identify and plan number of
multi billion dollar projects najib said in speech
understand this project will have total value of billion dollars
najib did not give details of the projects but malaysian officials said they
will focus on the energy sector
the star newspaper has reported that mdb and sgcc will establish hydropower
plants and massive aluminium smelter in sarawak state on resource rich borneo
an island split between malaysia and indonesia
foreign investment in malaysia plummeted in as result of the global
financial crisis the newly created mdb is aimed at forming global partnerships
to drive long term economic development
last september mdb and saudi arabia said they would establish billion
dollar partnership to invest in oil and gas and real estate projects in malaysia
and abroad
najib said the sarawak investment proposal was developed when he visited china
in june
this interest was crystallised when the chinese president hu jintao visited
malaysia in november last year he added
sgcc president liu zhenya said the firm plans were part of boom in trade and
energy sector cooperation between the two countries in recent years
the chinese government is very supportive of chinese enterprises involvement
in the infrastructure projects in malaysia in more extensive way he said
plans for up to dozen vast hydro electric dams in sarawak have raised alarm
among indigenous groups and environmentalists who have spent decades campaigning
against rampant logging and plantation activity
the billion dollar bakun dam which will drown an area the size of
singapore is nearing completion despite setbacks and delays since its approval
in and fierce criticism over its environmental impact
transparency international has labelled bakun monument of corruption and
highlighted debate over whether there will be enough customers in when it
becomes fully operational with mw capacity
the dam forced thousands of indigenous people off their ancestral lands and
there are now concerns over the fate of the tribal communities living in the
catchment area of the next of the planned mega dams the murum dam
corrected pi buster french software whiz claims record
paris jan afp
french software engineer said on friday he was claiming world record for
calculating pi the constant that has fascinated mathematicians for millennia
fabrice bellard told afp he used an inexpensive desktop computer and not
supercomputer used in past records to calculate pi to nearly trillion
decimal places
that is around billion digits more than the previous record set last august
by japanese professor daisuke takahashi he said
takahashi using open supercomputer took hours to crunch pi to
trillion digits
bellard took days comprising for the computation in binary digits
days for verification days to convert the binary digits to base of and
three final days to check the conversion
the gear cost bit less than euros dollars bellard who earns
living as software consultant in digital television in paris said in an
email exchange
it is completely standard pc the only unusual thing is that it has five
terabyte hard disks mainstream pcs generally have only one terabyte
disk
bellard has placed on his website details of the achievement including the use
of high powered mathematical engine called the chudnovsky algorithm that
chewed through the computation
extracts of the digit outcome have been published so that they
can be compared to preceding records in order to gain independent verification
bellard told afp
files containing the digits are also being offered to any outside organism keen
on hosting the record he said
pi the ratio of circle circumference to its diameter kicks off with
in string whose digits are believed never to repeat or end
bellard said he was not especially interested in pi digits but more in
taking up the gauntlet of writing the software to carry out the arithmetic
optimising these algorithms to get good performance is difficult programming
challenge he wrote
urgent three us soldiers killed in afghanistan unrest nato
kabul jan afp
three us soldiers were killed on monday while fighting insurgents in volatile
southern afghanistan nato said
alert
three us soldiers killed in afghanistan unrest nato
football coyle set for bolton challenge
london jan afp
english premier league strugglers bolton on monday unveiled owen coyle as their
new manager replacing the sacked gary megson
former striker at the lancashire club the year old scot said he recognised
the disappointment felt by the fans of burnley the club he was leaving but he
maintained his departure from turf moor was inevitable at some point
we know in football there two things which happen to football managers you
do well and you move on or you don and you re moved on said coyle
think that what happened
it very emotional but it such an exciting challenge here and that what
we have to look forward to
coyle arrival was confirmed after protracted negotiations with the clarets
who he led to promotion from the second tier championship last season
the decision to move on was not straightforward coyle insisted
it was difficult he said
the emotional attachment alone over the course of two years but when all was
said and done we tried to take the emotion out of it and make what we felt was
football decision
understand totally the sense of hurt and disappointment the burnley fans
would feel
it natural reaction and think it can be lost on anybody what we did do
over two years
when came into the football club we were in the bottom half of the
championship we pulled it all together and that probably why here the
job we did do catches other peoples eye
coyle also said that his decision to turn down scottish giants celtic in the
summer was proof he has not made the move to secure bigger salary
ve never been motivated by money in my life he said
if it was finance would have taken the job at celtic in the summer that is
just knee jerk reaction from people that do not know me
german fm in surprise visit to yemen
sanaa jan afp
german foreign minister guido westerwelle paid surprise visit to sanaa on
monday as pressure mounted on yemen to rein in al qaeda militants believed
behind botched attempt to bomb us airliner
westerwelle the first european minister to visit sanaa since the yemeni branch
of al qaeda claimed responsibility for the failed christmas day attack was
holding talks with president ali abdullah saleh and other top officials
also on the agenda was the fate of five germans including three children and
british national who have been held by kidnappers in yemen for the past six
months
westerwelle told reporters that saleh had told him during their talks monday
morning that he had information little than two hours ago that they know
where the german hostages are being held
the family of five germans and briton were abducted in northern yemen in june
along with two german bible students and south korean who were shot dead soon
afterwards
westerwelle said the german embassy was doing everything it could to bring the
intolerable situation of the german hostages in yemen to good end
last week senior yemeni official said the government had information that the
five germans and the briton were still alive and that there appeared to be an
al qaeda link to the kidnapping
westerwelle arrival in the yemeni capital follows visits to saudi arabia
qatar and the united arab emirates where he held discussions with officials on
regional issues including the situation in yemen
based on his talks in the gulf westerwelle made the quick decision to go to
yemen to get the feeling of the situation on the ground member of his
delegation said
the foreign minister is concerned that further destabilisation in yemen could
have negative impact on the entire region and beyond the delegate said
westerwelle who informed key european partners and washington in advance of his
visit was expected to deliver message that european and arab partners seek
stable government in sanaa
impoverished yemen long standing scourge of extremism was thrown into the
spotlight after senior yemeni officials said umar farouk abdulmutallab the
nigerian man who allegedly tried to blow up us bound jet had spent time in
the country with al qaeda extremists
london and washington have announced plans to fund counter extremism police in
the country but us president barack obama said in comments published on sunday
that he has no intention of sending american troops to yemen
recent strikes on al qaeda positions in yemen including cruise missile attacks
were however reportedly led by the united states which has vowed to boost its
economic and military aid to sanaa
yemen has been hostile to any suggestion of us military intervention but
analysts fear osama bin laden ancestral homeland cannot tackle the militants
on its own
saleh said on sunday he is open to dialogue with al qaeda militants indicating
he may show measure of leniency to the jihadists whom analysts say he does
not view as the main threat to his shrinking power base
with shiite rebellion in the north and movement for autonomy in the south
the central government asserts little control over the country which is also
reeling from an economic crisis aggravated by dwindling oil reserves and water
shortage
germany is by far the biggest european contributor of development aid to yemen
with some million euros million dollars earmarked for the impoverished
country for
the german official said westerwelle in his talks with yemeni authorities would
also press for good governance and would raise the issue of widespread
corruption in yemen while also calling for national dialogue to resolve
internal strife as means to restore stability
the yemeni government has turned to the energy rich gulf cooperation council
gcc states and the international community for help but aid has been slow in
coming
china hong kong lead asian market rally
hong kong jan afp
shanghai and hong kong led regional stocks rally on monday as investors
welcomed beijing green light for new futures market as well as short
selling experiment in china
the markets were also given lift by data released the day before that showed
mainland exports surged percent in december to snap month falling
streak
the week started on high across the region despite disappointing jobs figures
out of the eurozone and the united states on friday which dampened recent
optimism for the global economic recovery
shanghai closed up percent or points at as securities
firms and banks rallied on beijing approval friday of stock index futures
market and trial for short selling and margin trading dealers said
however the index was off earlier highs on profit taking
hong kong benchmark hang seng index ended up percent or points
at
the approval raises expectations that brokerages may gain lot from the
diversification of investment tools huatai securities analyst zhou lin told
dow jones newswires
margin trading allows investors to borrow money from financial institutions to
buy shares or other securities that they expect to rise
if the price goes up they can pay back the borrowed money if the price goes
down investors must still pay back the full amount
short selling is similar operation in which investors sell borrowed shares
expecting the price to decline if the price does fall they can buy the shares
at the lower price and return them to the lender
there were also gains in sydney which ended percent or points
