prolonged cold snap is going to chew up some of those very high inventories
of heating oil and middle distillates said jason feer vice president and
general manager for asia pacific at argus media
what you really need to see is some indication of sustained heavy duty
economic growth and so far the signals from that front have been quite mixed so
what you re looking at in the short run is pretty much weather related he
added
the united states the world biggest economy lost jobs in december
while the unemployment rate was unchanged at percent the us labor department
said friday in report highlighting slow and painful recovery from recession
the report on non farm payrolls was disappointment to those hoping for growth
in jobs which is critical to any rebound for the us economy key engine for
global growth
analysts said the data was far worse than the consensus expectation for no
change in overall employment levels and came amid wide array of predictions
ranging from steep losses to modest gains
china ends espionage probe against rio exec
sydney jan afp
china has concluded its commercial espionage investigation into an executive
with mining giant rio tinto but was yet to determine whether he would face
trial australia said on monday
australian passport holder stern hu was arrested in shanghai in july with three
chinese colleagues and initially accused of stealing state secrets
the accusations were later watered down to industrial espionage centring on
alleged bribery during high stakes iron ore contract talks
today they chinese authorities informed our shanghai consulate general that
the investigation phase has concluded spokeswoman for the department of
foreign affairs and trade said
the case is now in the hands of the shanghai people procuratorate
prosecutor who will decide whether it should be brought to trial
the official said it was not possible to say how long the case would remain with
prosecutors or speculate on the outcome of the case
details of the actual charges are not likely to be known until the prosecutors
have made their decision on whether the case should proceed to trial she said
the australian government continues to take close interest in the case
hu was detained in shanghai on july and chinese prosecutors have gained
permission to extend the probe twice most recently for two months in november
his arrest soured diplomatic relations and raised questions about dealing with
rapidly industrialising china the world biggest iron ore consumer
it came just weeks after mining giant rio snubbed massive cash injection from
chinese state firm and during annual iron ore contract talks which later
failed
rio an anglo australian company has said it does not believe its employees
have done anything wrong
australia has urged that the case be handled transparently and expeditiously and
its consular officers have visited hu at least monthly throughout his detention
tennis federer to miss kooyong classic promoter
sydney jan afp
world number one roger federer will not play in this week kooyong classic in
melbourne preferring to practise ahead of next week australian open
tournament officials said on monday
tournament director colin stubs said he had been holding the eighth and final
spot in the eight player exhibition event open for federer but the swiss opted
not to take up his place in the draw
stubs said federer manager tony godsick contacted him early monday to say
that the time grand slam champion would not take up the option of eighth spot
in the field
federer who is bidding for his fourth australian open was defeated by russian
nikolay davydenko in the semi finals at the qatar open last week before heading
to melbourne
federer is scheduled to have hit on the australian open rod laver arena on
tuesday
american andy roddick also opted not to play in the round robin event after
reaching sunday atp final in brisbane
stubs is expected to announce the eighth and final place for the kooyong classic
at the players media conference on tuesday
the kooyong field contains six of the atp top players including argentinian
juan martin del potro who beat federer in last year us open final
also featured are australian open champion novak djokovic french open
finalist robin soderling australian open finalists fernando gonzalez and
jo wilfried tsonga fernando verdasco and tommy haas
sailor stung by deadly jellyfish in freak australia mishap
sydney jan afp
sailor had an unlucky encounter with deadly irukandji jellyfish in
australia northern waters after the tiny marine animal somehow hit him as he
fished off bulk carrier officials said monday
the central queensland helicopter rescue service said it was not known whether
the man reeled in the jellyfish which is the size of small fingernail or
whether it was splashed on to him by freak wave
he was splashed in the face but don know that it was in that water
spokeswoman for the rescue service told afp it could have been something he
reeled in
the man who was an hour flight away from the queensland coast when he was
stung was fishing from the deck of the carrier about metres feet above
the water level when he was stung by the extremely venomous creature
realistically what are the chances of being stung by jellyfish when you are
safely on board bulk carrier metres above the water it really
incredible said geoff abrahams an air crewman on the rescue
the man was taken to queensland hospital but survived his encounter with with
one of australia most deadly marine stingers
there no antivenom for the irukandji sting and the pain may not be
immediately felt by which time symptoms have set in including shooting muscle
pain vomiting rapid rise in blood pressure and occasionally heart failure
tennis gasquet wins targets brighter
sydney jan afp
former world top ten player richard gasquet swept into the second round of the
sydney international monday as he bids to put last year doping nightmare
behind him
the frenchman who has fallen to in the world rankings beat spanish davis
cup winner feliciano lopez in the lead up event to the australian open
the season opening grand slam
the convincing victory was wrapped up in minutes and his hopes of making
significant inroads into the tournament have been boosted following the
withdrawal of compatriot and top seed gael monfils with shoulder injury in his
half of the draw
gasquet who next faces either eighth seed benjamin becker or argentine
qualifier juan ignacio chela reached the semi finals of last year sydney
tournament where he lost to eventual champion david nalbandian
but his world was turned upside down after positive test for cocaine last
march following kiss in miami nightclub resulted in him serving two
and half month ban
the court of arbitration for sport last month cleared gasquet who reached
career high ranking of seven in of doping and dismissed appeals by sports
authorities for tougher penalty
now gasquet is putting his game together and after losing to eventual winner
andy roddick in the quarter finals of last week brisbane international he
chalked up his fifth straight career win over lopez
it different year what know is won gasquet said
improve my level match after match day after day playing better and
better that the most important for me
referring back to his dark doping chapter gasquet said think it was
nightmare movie not sure it happened really but yeah for sure it
happened during six months it was an incredible story but now it over
didn want to be in this story it was really tiring eight months with it in
the head it was horrible
but happy just want to enjoy now because had big story just most
important for me to enjoy the match
earlier monfils withdrew from the sydney international citing shoulder
problem
the world number said he had an inflamed right shoulder and needed some time
off to give him chance of playing in next week australian open in melbourne
monfils reached the semi finals of the brisbane international and said he
was taking the precaution of pulling out of the sydney tournament to prevent the
onset of shoulder tendinitis
have had an inflammation since last week in brisbane and it has been getting
worse monfils told reporters
had little hope it would be bit better but think it going to turn
into something chronic if keep going playing with it
so need to take some days off and to be percent for the australian open
elsewhere former australian open finalist marcos baghdatis ousted australian
youngster nick lindahl and will next play either serbian sixth seed
viktor troicki or frenchman florent serra
korea seeks us peace pact before scrapping nuclear weapons
seoul jan afp
north korea said monday it wants peace treaty with the united states as
precondition for giving up its nuclear weapons and called for sanctions to be
scrapped before it returns to disarmament talks
the foreign ministry statement was the first time the north has publicly stated
its position on the disarmament negotiations since us envoy stephen bosworth
visited pyongyang last month
bosworth was trying to persuade the communist state to return to the six nation
talks it abandoned last april month before staging second nuclear test no
clear agreement was reached
the statement said it was good to move up the order of action in light of the
failure of the six party talks
the conclusion of the peace treaty will help terminate the hostile relations
between the dprk north korea and the us and positively promote the
denuclearisation of the korean peninsula at rapid tempo it said
six party agreements in and envisage talks on treaty to formally end
the korean war but only in return for full denuclearisation
the north said talks on peace pact could be held either at separate forum or
in the framework of the six party talks which group the two koreas the united
states china russia and japan
the removal of the barrier of such discrimination and distrust as sanctions may
soon lead to the opening of the six party talks its statement said
us led united nations coalition fought for the south while china backed the
north the conflict in which millions of troops or civilians died ended only
in an armistice
the north statement mentioned only peace pact with the united states
kim yong hyun professor at seoul dongguk university described the proposal
as unrealistic believe the us will not accept it as north korea has long
tried to exclude south korea in such talks he told afp
the proposal is aimed at taking the upper hand in future negotiations and
securing more concessions when talks resume with the us or south korea
however kim said pyongyang might return to the six party talks even though its
statement carried preconditions
the north reiterated that it would not have needed to develop nuclear bombs
without what it sees as us hostility
it said the repeated frustrations and failures in the talks that began in
proved that the issue can never be settled without confidence among the parties
concerned
still today the talks remain blocked by the barrier of distrust called
sanctions against the dprk it added
if confidence is to be built between the dprk and the us it is essential to
conclude peace treaty for terminating the state of war root cause of the
hostile relations to begin with
the united nations tightened weapons related sanctions after the north may
nuclear test and missile launches and the us administration has been seeking
tight enforcement of them
in new year editorial message the north called for an end to hostile
relations with the united states and vowed to work towards nuclear free
peninsula
but us state department official said pyongyang should demonstrate its good
faith by returning to the six party talks
on monday robert king the obama administration new envoy on human rights in
north korea said relations can only improve once pyongyang improves its
appalling rights record
baek seung joo of seoul korea institute for defense analyses said the
statement indicated the north was heading back towards the six party talks
there exists discrepancy between north korea and the others notably south
korea in sequencing the tasks of denuclearisation and striking peace treaty
on the korean peninsula he said
india reliance raises million dollars in share sale
mumbai jan afp
india reliance industries on monday said it raised million dollars in
another share issue its third in four months as it prepares to make overseas
acquisitions
reliance the country largest private sector firm said in statement it had
sold million shares at an average price of rupees each raising nearly
billion rupees
the company has made bid for the bankrupt netherlands based chemical firm
lyondellbasell
last week the wall street journal reported that reliance had raised its
valuation of lyondell to about billion dollars from the billion dollars
initially put forward in november
the urgency with which reliance is selling shares underlines their seriousness
for global acquisitions hitesh agrawal head of research with mumbai based
brokerage angel broking told afp
if the lyondell deal does not come through there could be others in the
pipeline he said
on monday reliance shares rose as much as percent or rupees to
day high of before slipping to down percent or
rupees on profit taking
lyondellbasell late last year filed plan to reorganise operations with the
united states bankruptcy court
deal between reliance and lyondell the world third largest chemicals maker
would create global energy and chemicals giant with annual revenues estimated
at near billion dollars
reliance awaits the outcome of crucial meeting on tuesday in the us where
lyondell reorganisation proposal will be considered at the united states
bankruptcy court
no double dip recession for singapore trade minister
singapore jan afp
singapore is unlikely to sink back into recession but economic recovery this
year is expected to be sluggish trade minister lim hng kiang said monday
the consumption boosting effects of government stimulus packages implemented at
the height of the global economic slump are waning and continued high
unemployment in the united states will hurt demand for singapore exports he
said
however lim said in parliament double dip recession is not likely
he added the recovery in is expected to be uneven the risk of return
to recession is low in the absence of further financial shocks
lim said growth momentum in the second half of may slow down as the
effects of global fiscal stimulus measures and inventory restocking wane
in addition weak household balance sheets and persistently high unemployment
especially in the us will weigh down on consumer demand in our key export
markets
the us labor department said friday us employers cut worse than expected
jobs in december while unemployment held at percent dashing hopes
for quick rebound in the world biggest economy
singapore trade reliant economy shrank percent last year after slipping
into severe recession in the third quarter of due to the impact of the
global economic crisis
lim repeated figures stated by prime minister lee hsien loong on new year eve
that the economy is expected to grow between and percent this year
external demand will continue to grow in but at sluggish pace he
said
german foreign minister arrives in yemen
sanaa jan afp
german foreign minister guido westerwelle arrived monday in yemen where five
germans have been held by kidnappers for six months for talks with yemeni
officials an afp correspondent said
westerwelle is the first european minister in sanaa since the yemeni branch of
al qaeda claimed responsibility for botched attempt to bomb us airliner on
christmas day
he was due to hold talks on the situation in yemen with president ali abdullah
saleh and other top officials
china concludes espionage probe into rio exec australia
sydney jan afp
chinese officials have ended their commercial espionage investigations into
detained rio tinto executive stern hu but it was not known whether the case
would go to trial australia said monday
australia said authorities have been handling the case of hu who was detained
in july in shanghai as an individual criminal case under chinese law
today they informed our shanghai consulate general that the investigation phase
has concluded the department of foreign affairs and trade said in statement
the case is now in the hands of the shanghai people procuratorate
prosecutor who will decide whether it should be brought to trial
urgent china concludes espionage probe into rio exec australia
sydney jan afp
chinese officials have ended their commercial espionage investigations into
detained rio tinto executive stern hu but it was not known whether the case
would go to trial australia said monday
alert
china concludes industrial espionage probe into rio executive australia
taiwan plans to buy us frigates despite china thaw report
taipei jan afp
taiwan plans to buy eight second hand perry class frigates from the united
states despite improved ties with once bitter foe china local newspaper
reported monday
the island hopes to arm them with version of the advanced aegis combat system
which uses computers and radar to take out multiple targets as well as
sophisticated missile launch technology the taipei based china times said
the defence ministry said in reaction to the report that ageing frigates now
serving the navy needed to be phased out but that it had not yet decided on the
type of vessels that would replace them
the overall strategy of the armed forces will be taken into consideration as
the defence ministry evaluates the plan it said in statement adding that
the budget would be another factor to be weighed
the united states designed the perry class frigates in the but the
majority remain in service equipped with various forms of modern technology
the deal would add to taiwan existing inventory as it already has eight
perry class frigates built on the island
the china times report came less than week after the us defense department
said it had approved the sale of patriot missile equipment to taiwan as part of
package passed by congress more than year ago
when unveiled in the package triggered strong protests from beijing which
considers taiwan part of its territory and has vowed to take the island back by
force if necessary
the united states is the leading arms supplier to self ruled taiwan even though
it switched diplomatic recognition from taipei to beijing in
ties between taipei and beijing have improved markedly since china friendly ma
ying jeou came to power in promising to boost trade ties and allowing in
more chinese tourists
hong kong police say wrong man arrested over acid attack
hong kong jan afp
man arrested in hong kong at the weekend after one of spate of acid attacks
in the city is no longer suspect police said monday leaving the real culprit
at large
about people were injured on saturday night after bottles of acid were hurled
from building above the busy temple street night market the latest in
string of unsolved attacks that has terrorised the city of seven million
authorities spotted the man on the rooftop of building next to the scene
later telling media he was arrested in connection with the attack
but police said monday that the year old was actually arrested for skipping
court date in an unrelated white collar crime case
he is not involved in the acid attack and our investigation continues
police spokeswoman told afp
he skipped court date that was why he was arrested it just happened that
there was an acid attack on that day in the same area
it was unclear why the man tenant of the building was hiding on the rooftop
but he might have thought police were in the area looking for him
since late there have been at least six acid attacks in several shopping
districts across hong kong leaving more than people injured
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 across the region started on high despite disappointing jobs figures
out of the eurozone and the united states on friday which dampened recent
optimism for the global economic recovery
shanghai shares rose percent as securities firms and banks rallied on
beijing approval friday of the launch 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 shares were percent higher in afternoon trade
the approval raises expectations that brokerages may gain lot from the
diversification of investment tools huatai securities analyst zhou lin told
dow jones newswires
however guotai jun an securities analyst zhai peng said the launch of stock
index futures just provides new investment tool but it won change the stock
market trend
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
higher at on the back of the china export figures
seoul closed flat down points to as auto and tech exporters lost
ground on concerns over the strength of the korean won singapore was
percent higher in afternoon trade
tokyo was closed monday for public holiday
the us labor department reported the economy lost jobs in december while
the unemployment rate held at percent
and in the european union the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the
euro countries hit percent in november the highest since the currency was
launched decade ago and up from percent in october
the dollar which rallied last week on the back of comments from japan new
finance minister that he preferred weaker yen fell on the jobs news
the dollar stood at yen in mid afternoon trade down from yen in new
york trading late friday
the euro also climbed to dollars from and fetched yen from
crude jumped in asian trade as the cold snap in the northern hemisphere boosted
demand for heating fuel
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for february delivery rose
cents to dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for february delivery was cents higher at
dollars
gold opened higher in hong kong at us dollars an ounce up
from friday close of dollars
in other markets
taipei closed up points or percent at
after strong showing in shares largely appear expensive that why not
many investors are willing to chase prices at the moment mega securities
analyst alex huang said
the steel sector remained attractive on rising product prices with tung ho steel
up percent at dollars
manila rose percent or points to
the index finished at five week high as dealers looked to the strong overseas
market ayala corp rose percent to pesos while philippine long distance
telephone co gained percent to pesos
wellington fell percent or points to
auckland international airport led the falls losing six cents to dollars
after saying it was buying quarter stake in north queensland airports
korea must improve appalling rights record us envoy
seoul jan afp
north korea must improve its appalling human rights record if it wants better
relations with the united states visiting us envoy said monday
the comments from robert king the new us special envoy for north korean rights
issues came as the communist state said it wanted to sign peace treaty with
the united states as part of warming ties with its traditional foe
it one of the worst places in terms of lack of human rights the situation is
appalling king said on the first full day of fact finding visit to south
korea
improved relations between the us and north korea will have to involve
greater respect for human rights by north korea that one of the important
conditions he said after meeting foreign minister yu myung hwan
king also said washington still has no information about us christian
activist who was detained on christmas day as he walked into the north from
china across frozen border river on lone rights crusade
the north has confirmed it is investigating us citizen believed to be
robert park for illegal entry
the missionary carried letter calling on north korean leader kim jong il to
release political prisoners shut concentration camps and improve rights and
conditions according to his colleagues
we are actively working to find out where he is being held and to urge that he
be released king said
we have requested that our protecting power in pyongyang the swedish embassy
determine his condition and we have not heard what that is
in its traditional new year editorial the north called for an end to hostile
relations with the united states and vowed to work towards nuclear free
peninsula seven months after its latest atomic test
the fundamental task for ensuring peace and stability on the korean peninsula
and in the rest of asia is to put an end to the hostile relationship between the
dprk north korea and the usa the editorial said
on monday the north said it wanted to sign peace treaty with the united states
before giving up its nuclear weapons and called for sanctions to be scrapped
before any new disarmament talks
the us envoy said rights must be addressed as part of the stalled six party
talks
washington sent envoy stephen bosworth to the north last month to try to
persuade it to return to the forum it abandoned last april but pyongyang made
no firm commitment
king also stressed that north koreans fleeing their homeland should be
recognised as refugees under un convention neighbouring china repatriates
them as economic migrants
he said his country would expand opportunities for them to resettle in the
united states
during his stay in seoul until thursday king will interview north korean
defectors family members of abductees held in the north and non governmental
organisations he will go on to japan but not north korea itself
if the north koreans invite me to pyongyang ll be happy to go king said
his predecessor jay lefkowitz was never allowed to visit the north
at hearing of the united nations human rights council in geneva last month
the north faced demands from western countries to open up to international
organisations and independent monitors
countries also raised concerns about serious human rights violations including
reports of child labour executions the detention of political prisoners and
torture
pyongyang representative dismissed many of the allegations as fabricated
the united states was among others that asked the north to grant access to the
united nations special rapporteur on human rights
vitit muntarbhorn who is also visiting south korea this week has been barred
from travelling there
nba bynum carries lakers over bucks as kobe goes cold
los angeles jan afp
andrew bynum helped picked up the slack with career high rebounds as los
angeles overcame poor shooting performance from star kobe bryant rolling to
win over milwaukee
bynum also pumped in points for the lakers who needed sunday win to avoid
losing three straight games for the first time in almost two years
we hit the boards pretty hard bynum said next time am going to try and
get rebounds
shannon brown finished with season best points jordan farmar added and
derek fisher scored for the defending national basketball association
champions brown scored of his points in the second half
bryant who is playing with broken right index finger went four of from
the field and finished with just points
he has been fiddling around with bandage for the broken finger coach phil
jackson said of bryant he went from using hard protective plate to nothing
at all and it is different for how he shoots the ball
but it wasn all about shooting it was about balls not being there and not
coming in
bryant was just one of with four points in the opening half
played with the splint off we put it back on in the second half he said
just trying to get little bit more flexibility back the finger felt pretty
good so we tried to go without the splint it just not strong enough
we re not playing our best basketball and managed to win some games
we know how we need to get better and tonight we got better we played
extremely well defensively
hakim warrick had points and jodie meeks finished with for the bucks
brandon jennings luke ridnour and charlie bell had each for the bucks who
had won three straight but dropped to on the road
the bucks point total was the lowest they have scored against the lakers in
franchise history in milwaukee managed just points against los
angeles
urgent german foreign minister arrives in yemen
sanaa jan afp
german foreign minister guido westerwelle arrived in sanaa monday on an
unannounced visit for talks with yemeni officials an afp correspondent said
alert
german foreign minister arrives in sanaa on unannounced visit
korea seeks us peace pact before scrapping nuclear weapons
