melbourne jan afp
fifth seed elena dementieva coasted into the second round of the australian open
on monday with mauling of fellow russian vera dushevina
she will play seven time grand slam champion justine henin next after the
unseeded belgian beat kirsten flipkens in straight sets
iraqi province gives saddam loyalists hours to leave
najaf iraq jan afp
local government officials warned saddam hussein loyalists on monday to move out
of the shiite province of najaf in central iraq within hours or face an iron
fist
they demanded the exodus after meeting to discuss security in the wake of
triple bomb attack last week in najaf about kilometres miles south of
baghdad
the baath gang of saddam has one day to leave the province or we will use an
iron fist against those who have failed to distance themselves from the baath
and al qaeda the officials said in statement
the leader of the provincial council which is headed by the party of prime
minister nuri al maliki shiite blamed the bomb attack on baathists
referring to saddam outlawed sunni dominated baath party
the council next measure will be to purge local government institutions of
baathists said the statement
the demand could further inflame sunni shiite tensions after many sunnis were
among candidates barred last week from the conflict wracked country march
general election purportedly because of baathist links
attacks in najaf are rare but last thursday incident caused large number of
casualties although accounts of the numbers varied
an interior ministry official in the capital said people were killed and
wounded while local official in najaf said three people died but gave much
higher wounded toll of including in serious condition
european stocks rally ahead of cadbury update
london jan afp
europe main stock markets rose in morning deals on monday as investors awaited
fresh developments in the cadbury takeover saga
london benchmark ftse index of leading shares jumped percent to
points and frankfurt dax climbed percent to points
in paris the cac won percent to points and the dj euro stoxx
index of top eurozone shares advanced by percent in value to reach
talk of kraft raising their bid for cadbury and takeover speculation on
british power plant group international power are helping push the ftse back
up towards said etx capital senior trader manoj ladwa
overall volume is expected to be light today as the us market is closed for
martin luther king day
the share price of british confectioner cadbury climbed percent to
pence after weekend media reports said us food giant kraft foods would this week
sweeten its hostile takeover bid for the maker of dairy milk chocolate
the sunday times which did not cite its source said kraft was putting the
finishing touches to an offer that would be greater than its current bid worth
billion pounds billion euros billions dollars
cadbury has repeatedly rejected kraft cash and shares offer which was
launched late last year and has denounced it as derisory
separate media report meanwhile suggested that us chocolate maker hershey was
about to enter the fray
hershey plans to bid at least billion dollars this week for cadbury after
concluding it can top us food giant kraft offer the wall street journal
reported on friday
elsewhere on monday international power jumped percent to pence
heading the ftse following report that it has received takeover
approach from french energy giant gdf suez
the sunday times said takeover talks had intensified in the run up to christmas
with phonecalls between gdf suez boss gerard mestrallet and international power
chief executive philip cox
both companies refused to comment on the report when questioned by afp the
share price of gdf suez rose percent to euros in morning trade on
monday
international power which has stock market capitalisation of about
billion pounds has interests in power stations around the world and owns
half dozen power plants in britain
earlier on monday the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index closed
down percent in value tracking pre weekend losses on wall street as
investors took profits following strong start to dealers said
the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index ended the day at
points stepping back from last friday month high
japan airlines shares plunged two yen or percent to an all time low of
just five yen five us cents on the eve of an expected bankruptcy filing by the
debt ridden carrier
areva in talks with foreign investors chief executive
paris jan afp
french nuclear giant areva is in talks with several foreign investors including
sovereign funds to raise billions of euros in capital for expansion the chief
executive said monday
we have several investors who have been chosen they have all come to see us at
areva said anne lauvergeon on bfm television
there are foreign investors they are all interested in getting stake and are
in talks with the state about modalities and the price there are sovereign
funds yes absolutely she said
press reports have cited japan mitsubishi heavy industries and sovereign funds
from qatar and kuwait as interested in stake in areva which is percent
owned by the french state
lauvergeon said she was hoping to raise three billion euros four billion
dollars to fund billion euros in investments including fourth generation
nuclear reactor to be launched in
the french government agreed in june to open up as much as percent of areva
capital to investors
last month areva sold its power transmission and distribution network to french
firms alstom and schneider electric rejecting japanese and us bids
the world largest builder of nuclear reactors suffered blow last month when
it lost billion dollar project in the united arab emirates to south
korean consortium
all six bodies recovered in malaysian dragon boat tragedy
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysian authorities said monday they had recovered the bodies of teacher and
five students drowned in boating tragedy over the weekend
eighteen people were aboard the long narrow dragon boat when strong
undercurrents tipped it over as it made turn in waters off the resort island
of penang in malaysia north early sunday
the including young paddlers were practising for dragon boat
competition to be held later in the year
the bodies of all six victims of the dragon boat tragedy have been recovered
penang police chief ayub yakob told reporters
the bodies of male teacher and year old student were recovered from the
sea on sunday and four bodies were dragged out on monday
the rest of the boatload managed to swim to safety
police have said that initial investigations revealed that several of the
rowers all from local school were not wearing life jackets
areva in talks with foreign investors chief executive
paris jan afp
french nuclear giant areva is in talks with several foreign investors including
sovereign funds to raise billions of euros in capital for expansion the chief
executive said monday
we have several investors who have been chosen they have all come to see us at
areva said anne lauvergeon on bfm television
there are foreign investors they are all interested in getting stake and are
in talks with the state about modalities and the price there are sovereign
funds yes absolutely she said
press reports have cited japan mitsubishi heavy industries and sovereign funds
from qatar and kuwait as interested in stake in areva which is percent
owned by the french state
lauvergeon said she was hoping to raise three billion euros four billion
dollars to fund billion euros in investments including fourth generation
nuclear reactor to be launched in
the french government agreed in june to open up as much as percent of areva
capital to investors
last month areva sold its power transmission and distribution network to french
firms alstom and schneider electric rejecting japanese and us bids
the world largest builder of nuclear reactors suffered blow last month when
it lost billion dollar project in the united arab emirates to south
korean consortium
afghanistan yet to come up with anti graft policy officials
kabul jan afp
the afghan government has yet to put together comprehensive anti corruption
plan ahead of key international conference to lay out road map for
development diplomats and government official said
fighting corruption is one of the key topics due to be discussed at conference
in london on january along with the security situation good governance and
reconciliation with taliban fighters
president hamid karzai has promised to eradicate corruption which infects every
aspect of afghan public life as condition laid down by his western backers
whose soldiers are fighting the taliban to keep him in power
an afghan government committee charged with coordinating plans for bringing
peace and development to the war torn country has not received finalised
policy plan on how corruption is to be tackled an afghan official said
three months after work on the policy paper began the committee in charge of
drawing up anti corruption policy withdrew its original submission on saturday
western diplomat told afp
the anti corruption document was withdrawn from the governance standing
committee of the joint coordination and monitoring board jcmb an afghan
government un body established to oversee reform and development policy and
financing he said speaking on condition of anonymity
he said the afghan government had pledged to resubmit the document by wednesday
when the jcmb meets to finalise policy submissions for the london conference
the withdrawal of the document which spokesman for karzai also told afp
would be resubmitted by wednesday raises questions about the afghan
government commitment and ability to deal with endemic corruption
it does not bode well for discussions on this matter either on the th of
january or in london the diplomat said
another diplomat involved in the process said the policy paper had been
inadequate because there had not been enough time to complete it
the london conference was called by british prime minister gordon brown after
karzai had already announced plans to hold an anti corruption conference in
kabul early this year
more than international troops are fighting the taliban under us and
nato command and losing troops almost daily as the war escalates on entering
its ninth year
the anti corruption paper was dog dinner because there was not enough
time said the second diplomat speaking on condition he not be identified
we need to give them time and space to consider this not rush them into an
artificial deadline because the british government wants to hold conference on
afghanistan
they are being dragged by the scruff of their necks to the london conference
and rushing to put policy papers together is the last thing anyone needs he
said
senior afghan official said the policy paper would definitely be ready in
time for the kabul conference but when asked if it would be ready for london
said maybe yes maybe no
diplomats said the london conference has forced afghanistan to push back the
kabul conference possibly to may
london is stepping stone to the more important kabul conference which is to
focus on corruption one of the diplomats said
if the british hadn insisted on having conference in london the afghans
would have had plenty of time to get their policy in order for then
more than countries are to be represented at the one day london conference
which will be held under the theme of afghan leadership international
partnership
the theme reflects the desire of both karzai and his western supporters to see
afghanistan taking the helm on all aspects of its development and security
another troops are being deployed this year along with hundreds of
civilian specialists to back military progress with development and aid to shore
up civilian support for the kabul administration
capitaland in bln dlr property deal with hong kong firm
singapore jan afp
southeast asia biggest developer capitaland said it signed an agreement monday
to buy properties in china worth billion us dollars from hong kong orient
overseas international ltd
under the deal capitaland will buy percent of hong kong listed orient
overseas international ltd real estate business orient overseas
developments
this involves portfolio of seven high quality sites in shanghai kunshan and
tianjin capitaland said in statement to the singapore exchange
completion of the deal is expected by the end of the first quarter subject to
approval by shareholders of orient overseas international ltd
this proposed acquisition is timely and an excellent strategic fit for
capitaland said capitaland group chairman richard hu
we had prepared the company financial strength well in advance to take
advantage of such rare opportunities
hu said the acquisition fits into the company goal of growing its asset size
in the giant chinese market from the current percent of total assets to
percent in the next five years
canadian german arms dealer in dock for slush fund affair
augsburg germany jan afp
an arms dealer extradited from canada to germany over his alleged role in
scandal that helped propel chancellor angela merkel to power went on trial
monday
after losing decade long battle to avoid extradition karlheinz schreiber
appeared in court in the southern city of augsburg and pleaded innocent to the
allegations of tax evasion bribery and accessory to fraud
strongly and fully deny the charges read against me and dispute the
accusations schreiber said in statement read by one of his attorneys
schreiber holds dual canadian and german citizenship and was handed over to
german authorities in august after protracted high profile campaign to remain
in canada
prosecutors say he withheld more than million euros million dollars
in taxes and offered bribes to ensure government approval for the sale of
armoured cars to saudi arabia in the
schreiber is accused of playing key role in sprawling slush fund affair that
rocked the christian democratic union cdu party in the and tarnished the
legacy of former chancellor helmut kohl
he is believed to have made an undeclared one million mark euro cash
donation to the cdu prompting political scandal that claimed the scalp of
then head of the party wolfgang schaeuble now finance minister
kohl acknowledged that the cdu had received illegal donations under his
leadership but he has steadfastly refused to disclose who had made them
during the affair merkel wrote an editorial in the frankfurter allgemeine
zeitung daily in calling for kohl to come clean over the funding scandal
and for the party to break with its murky past
merkel willingness to take on her mentor kohl legend within the party as
one of the main architects of germany unification marked her out as
future leader and she was elected head of the cdu the following year
she faced pointed questions last year about how she could appoint schaeuble to
be the steward of germany finances when he had accepted briefcase full of
cash from schreiber she defended her minister with terse response
despite schreiber allegedly deep involvement in dark chapter of german
political history experts did not expect major revelations from the trial
imagine schreiber knows some things that could still embarrass some people
said otfried nassauer director of the berlin information centre for
transatlantic security and specialist on the arms industry
nassauer expected that the defendant would bite his tongue in front of the
judges however
if convicted schreiber could face years in prison
korea says sanctions must end before nuclear talks
seoul jan afp
north korea monday demanded an end to sanctions before it returns to nuclear
disarmament negotiations but gave the go ahead for economic talks with south
korea despite earlier threats to attack its neighbour
pyongyang foreign ministry reiterating its earlier stance said it would not
return to the six nation disarmament talks it abandoned last april until the
united nations sanctions are lifted
the dignity of the dprk north korea will never allow this to happen the
ministry said in statement
the north repeated calls for early negotiations on treaty to formally end the
korean war in order to build confidence in the nuclear talks
the communist state said it is not opposed to the six party talks and has no
ground whatsoever to delay them
but it added there will be starting point of confidence building only if the
parties concerned sit at negotiating table for concluding peace treaty
the united states and south korea have rejected early discussions on peace
treaty or the lifting of sanctions
they say the north must first return to the six party talks which group the
two koreas the us russia china and japan and show it is serious about
scrapping its atomic programmes
seoul foreign ministry said that under the un resolution sanctions could only
be reconsidered when there was progress in denuclearisation
pyongyang however authorised visit by seoul delegation to discuss ways to
revitalise their joint industrial estate at kaesong just north of the border
the two day talks will begin tuesday seoul unification ministry said
the two sides had agreed last week on the meeting at kaesong
but on friday in an angry statement the north highest body threatened to cut
all dialogue and cooperation unless the south apologises for an alleged
contingency plan to handle regime collapse in the north
the national defence commission ndc chaired by leader kim jong il had also
warned of possible retaliatory war against the south over the plan
on sunday pyongyang state media publicised military drill attended by kim
in which the leader watched his troops shattering the enemy camp to pieces
friday statement which came hours after the north said it would accept food
aid from the south was prompted by unconfirmed media reports that seoul had
drawn up plan to administer the north in case of regime collapse coup or
popular uprising
the ndc vowed to stage sacred nationwide retaliatory battle to blow up the
stronghold of the south korean authorities that drew up the plan
it described the alleged document as plan to overthrow its socialist system
north korea is now taking two track approach said dongguk university
professor kim yong hyun
the message today indicates north korea is willing to open talks with south
korea on economic and humanitarian issues he told afp
it will take stern attitude about anything which is considered to be
undermining the regime authority and leadership
the cash strapped regime has faced tighter sanctions since its nuclear and
missile tests last year last week it called for the south to resume lucrative
tourism projects in the north
the kaesong estate where north koreans work at south korean
factories is also valuable source of hard currency
there will be no progress on political matters for while but north korea will
try to gain as much as possible from economic talks with south korea kim said
but he said the north is expected to resume the six party talks only when the us
pledges economic and political benefits or meets part of its demands
the korean conflict in which us led united nations force supported the
south while china backed the north ended only in an armistice leaving the
parties still technically at war
urgent killed in sectarian clashes in nigerian city imam
kano nigeria jan afp
at least people were killed and more than wouned in weekend clashes
between muslims and christians in nigeria central city of jos head of the
city central mosque said monday
croatian president elect hopes for withdrawal of genocide claims
belgrade jan afp
croatia president elect ivo josipovic said he wants to work with serbian
leader boris tadic to have both countries withdraw their mutual genocide claims
before un court in an interview published monday
will propose to president tadic to resolve our problems in way that will
make the claims made by zagreb and belgrade unnecessary josipovic told the
serbian daily blic
the president elect due to be sworn in on february said he hoped to welcome
tadic at the ceremony in zagreb
the claims definitely do not contribute to an improvement of our relations
that why it is preferable to resolve the problem without having to resort to
legal procedure josipovic said
relations between zagreb and belgrade already tense because of the war
when croatia fought to break from the belgrade dominated yugoslav federation
have deteriorated since croatia recognised kosovo independence in march
belgrade still considers kosovo as break away serbian province
the international court of justice icj the united nations highest court
mandated to settle disputes between states ruled in november that it would
hear zagreb complaint which accused serbia of committing genocide and
ethnic cleansing in croatia independence war
in response to the croatian claim belgrade announced earlier this month that it
would file its own counter complaint against zagreb for genocide allegedly
committed against ethic serbs in the same conflict which left some people
dead
according to un figures over ethnic serbs fled croatia in during
sweeping croatian military offensive aimed at reconquering areas held by
croatian serb seperatists
alert
at least killed in sectarian clashes in nigerian city religious leader
afp gmt economics news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor nathaniel harrison
telephone
un tourism ndlead
madrid
international tourist arrivals should recover strongly in after the global
crisis and the swine flu pandemic produced one of the most difficult years for
the sector the un world tourism organisation says
words gmt by denholm barnetson pictures
stocks europe wrap
london
europe main stock markets rise in morning deals as investors await fresh
developments in the cadbury takeover saga
words gmt
forex europe wrap
london
the euro drops against the dollar as investors anticipate weak business
sentiment survey from germany amid worries of looming budget crisis in greece
dealers say
words gmt
commodities energy oil price lead wrap
london
oil prices drop on doubts over the strength of economic recovery in the united
states the world biggest energy consumer analysts say
words gmt
tennis nadal wears down luczak in three sets
melbourne jan afp
defending champion and second seed rafael nadal wore down australian peter
luczak to begin his australian open campaign with straight sets victory on
monday
the spanish world number two bidding for his seventh grand slam title overcame
the th ranked ranked luczak in two hours minutes
nadal who is working his way back to full fitness after injuries blighted his
last season will next play either argentina leonardo mayer or slovakia
lukas lacko with potential quarter final looming against andy murray
nadal who beat roger federer in gripping five set final here last year has
not claimeda title since winning on the barcelona clay last april
he encountered spirited opening from luczak cheered on him by his home crowd
in rod laver arena and lost his service in the eighth game before breaking
straight back in the next game
the opening set went to tiebreaker but nadal stormed through without dropping
point to seize the initiative
luczak appeared to lose steam after the loss of the first set and nadal broke
him twice to wrap up the second set in minutes and broke him again in the
opening game of the third to control the match
nadal dominated the points hitting winners to luczak and broke the
australian service total of four times to dropping his own serve just once
in the first set
afp graphics advisory
paris jan afp
monday graphics
haiti quake toll
updated death toll from the haiti earthquake
text slug haiti quake
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updated locator of the epicentre of last week magnitude earthquake
text slug haiti quake
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afghanistan kabul map bombs
map of the heart of kabul which was under siege for hours monday as suicide
bombers attacked the city killing at least five
text slug afghanistan unrest
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afghanistan faryab map kidnap
map locating faryab province in afghanistan where two chinese engineers and
four afghans were kidnapped sunday
text slug afghanistan unrest
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ukraine vote
results of the first round of ukraine election held sunday as yanukovich
and tymoshenko face second round runoff on february th
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chile vote
results of runoff election for president sunday won by millionaire media
magnate sebastian pinera with percent of the votes
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chile factfile mm
golden globes winners
graphic showing key winners of the th golden globes awards sunday
text slug entertainment us film globes
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japan airlines
chart showing daily closing values for japan airlines for the past month
text slug japan airline company distress jal
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japan auto hybrid
graphic on the toyota prius hybrid system
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asia pacific markets
closings for key asia pacific markets
text slug stocks
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world least known bird mm
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paris hong kong
tel
french growth forecast nearly doubled minister
paris jan afp
the french government has nearly doubled its growth forecast to percent
from previous percent finance minister christine lagarde said on monday
france resisted the global slowdown better than many other major economies and
escaped year long recession in the second quarter of last year
the french economy improved at the end of she told press conference
our forecasts at the start of have also improved as the international
climate and demand addressed to france have picked up
it nearly doubling of the forecast
the international monetary fund has also issued an upward revision to its
growth forecast for france foreseeing momentum of between and percent
rather than the percent it predicted in october
the government forecast for is for contraction in the national economy
of percent
