amid renewed demand from china the world largest copper consumer
in copper rocketed by around percent driven higher by tightening
supplies and keen demand
prices were also propelled by mounting signs of economic recovery after the
steep worldwide downturn that hammered demand for most base or industrial
metals
chile in had copper output of some million tonnes and was estimated to
have produced similar amount in accounting for about one third of global
production
tennis murray lifts brits to victory
perth australia jan afp
andy murray made an auspicious start to what he hopes will be his breakthrough
year lifting great britain to thrilling victory over kazakhstan in their
hopman cup group tie here monday
murray and teenager laura robson snatched victory in the deciding mixed doubles
over andrey golubev and yaroslava shvedova after the singles had been split
the kazakhstan pair had match point to claim the tie in match tie break after
leveling the mixed doubles at one set each but the brilliance of murray and
couple of timely volleys from the teenage robson lifted the british to victory
murray appeared to be in some discomfort at times during the latter stages of
the doubles but later said it was only early season stiffness
the world number barely broke into sweat as he outclassed the rd ranked
golubev in straight sets in just over an hour in the singles
he was just as polished in the doubles producing some stellar winners to keep
kazakhstan at bay as robson started to tire
in the singles golubev couldn match the power or precision of the year old
scot who only faced one break point during the match and made just four forced
errors
murray took lot of positives from the one sided singles match
it was good played really well he said
it was perfect start to the new year he made me do lot of running there
were lots of fun rallies
felt like moved pretty well from the start of the match which sometimes
takes while at the start of the year
murray levelled the tie after the year old robson wilted after an exciting
start against shvedova and was beaten in three sets
robson claimed the first set after which an ailing shvedova had an injury time
out for nose bleed but the former junior wimbledon champion couldn maintain
the momentum
shvedova had too much experience for the young brit winning
earlier elena dementieva service yips didn stop russia edging past germany
in monday other group tie
as has often been the case during her career the world number struggled to
hold serve and dropped her opening singles match of in disappointing
fashion to the nd ranked sabine lisicki
but igor andreev was able to square the tie by beating philipp kohlschreiber in
the men singles
the russians then claimed the match with gripping win over the
germans in marathon deciding mixed doubles that lasted over two hours
dubai ruler officially opens world tallest building
dubai jan afp
sheikh mohammad bin rashed al maktoum the ruler of dubai on monday officially
opened the world tallest building which stands more than metres high
sheikh mohammad unveiled plaque and gave brief speech during which he
renamed the building the burj khalifa after the united arab emirates
president sheikh khalifa bin zayed al nahayan
electioneering starts in britain as blair waits in wings
london jan afp
britain political parties started campaigning in earnest monday for elections
due by june with its troubled economy the main battleground as the poll race
revs up after the christmas break
david cameron leader of the main opposition conservatives released part of his
party draft manifesto while finance minister alistair darling tried to
discredit tory plans to cut public spending and firm up britain finances
prime minister gordon brown has not yet set date for the election although it
must be held by june and experts say may is the most likely date
but both parties are jostling for an early advantage battered by record
recession and scandal over lawmakers expense claims britons now face the
prospect of five months of electioneering
cameron is tipped by opinion polls to oust brown who risks becoming one of
britain shortest serving premiers of recent times he only took over from
tony blair in june
meanwhile blair who resigned amid declining popularity after he strongly
supported the iraq war is set to return to haunt labour
he is likely to give evidence to the public inquiry into the war in the second
half of january or early february spokesman for the probe said monday
senior labour figures are reportedly uneasy that this appearance could cause the
party problems on the campaign trail
with britain still in recession the only major world economy yet to emerge
from the credit crunch and state borrowing at record levels the early focus
in campaigning is on the economy
the conservatives want quick cuts to bring public spending under control while
labour favours waiting until the economic outlook is clearer
chancellor of the exchequer darling accused the tories of failing to cost their
proposed savings properly but declined to say in detail how his party would
eventually cut back
the tories have made over billion pounds billion euros billion
dollars of promises but can barely explain how they can pay for quarter of
this this leaves them with credibility gap of billion pounds he said
monday
you can fight an election on nod and wink sometimes claiming you are
committed to these promises and when challenged claiming you are not
the conservatives angrily denied labour claims about its spending plans
labelling labour document dissecting its plans the dodgy dossier
this was reference to highly controversial dossier published by blair
government just before the iraq invasion in outlining the case for war
meanwhile cameron tried to counter what he says are labour class war
tactics which claim the tory leader educated at elite school eton and oxford
university is too privileged to understand the problems of ordinary britons
while stressing they would make cuts in public services to help the economy
cameron promised the tories would spend more money on improving the state run
national health service nhs in the poorest areas
we will cut the deficit not the nhs because the nhs is bedrock of fairer
society cameron said unveiling part of his party draft manifesto on health
we cannot go on like this let us make this year of change
cameron centre right conservatives have been ahead of brown centre left
labour in opinion polls for months although the gap has narrowed recently
new yougov survey for saturday daily telegraph newspaper put the
conservatives on percent labour on percent and the third party centre
left liberal democrats on percent
cricket sri lanka beat bangladesh by seven wickets
dhaka jan afp
sri lanka defeated bangladesh by seven wickets in the opening match of
triangular one day series here on monday
they will now meet india on tuesday
brief scores
bangladesh in overs sri lanka in overs
iran jails journalist for seven years reports
tehran jan afp
iran has sentenced prominent journalist critical of president mahmoud
ahmadinejad economic policies to more than seven years in prison and to be
lashed opposition websites reported on monday
bahman ahmadi amoui has been sentenced to seven years and four months in jail
plus lashes the kaleme and rahesabz websites said
the journalist was jailed during massive crackdown on reformists and critical
journalists in the wake of the disputed june election which saw ahmadinejad
re elected amid allegations of poll fraud
the website reports did not specify the charges against amoui who contributed
for years to reformist newspapers
amoui who has been in jail since june was an editor in leading economic
paper sarmayeh which was shut down by the authorities in november
iran has put about people in the dock suspected of acting against national
security by inciting or taking part in street protests which erupted after the
election
several reformist politicians and journalists have been sentenced to jail terms
although some have been released on bail pending appeal
on saturday the appeals court upheld six year jail term handed down to ahmad
zeidabadi prominent reformist journalist who has to serve his sentence in
remote town more than kilometres miles from tehran
us manufacturing sector sees acceleration
washington jan afp
the us manufacturing sector posted its strongest pace of activity since april
last month as factories ramped up production to make up for massive
drawdown in inventories survey showed monday
the institute for supply management said its manufacturing index also known as
the purchasing managers index climbed to percent in december from
percent in november for fifth consecutive month of expansion
the figure was stronger than the consensus estimate of modest rise to
percent any number above percent indicates growth
the sector may be benefiting from an excessive destocking cycle said norbert
ore chair of the ism survey committee
inventories have been too low for nine consecutive months and this month
index is the lowest reading since the inception of the index in january
overall the recovery in manufacturing is continuing but there are still some
industries mired in the downturn
the ism report showed nine industry sectors growing including transportation
computers apparel and foods seven sectors contracted including wood plastics
and chemicals
in the survey sub indexes new orders rose more that five percentage points to
percent and production increased nearly two points to percent
the employment sub index meanwhile increased to percent from percent
suggesting the manufacturing sector is adding workers at faster pace
overall the december survey points toward sturdy growth in manufacturing
industrial production which is forecast to have increased percent at an
annual rate in the fourth quarter said ryan sweet at moody economy com
ian shepherdson at high frequency economics said the ism index was propelled by
rebound in the new orders index which tends to lead the other components and
therefore suggests the january headline index will rise further
he added we remain of the view that this survey overstates the pace of broad
economic growth because of its large company manufacturing bias but overall no
doubt this is robust report
uganda police blocks opposition demo
kampala jan afp
uganda police on monday barred planned demonstration by five opposition
parties demanding new electoral commission and the lifting of ban on radio
station
police chief kale kayihura told afp the organisers had not notified the
authorities and that the planned march was aimed at destabilising the country
the demonstration was planned with sinister motives it was designed to cause
confusion and ultimately disorder in kampala city he said no one should
expect to wake up and within hours say marching on the city
newly formed coalition of five main opposition parties bent on ousting long
serving president yoweri museveni from power in polls announced on december
they would step up civil action
their immediate demands are the establishment of new electoral commission
charging that the current one is biased towards the ruling party and the re
opening of radio station closed in september
salaamu musumba the vice chairman of the forum for democratic change
complained that the demonstration ban was undemocratic
police was aware that we planned demonstration in kampala but they decided to
use dictatorial means to stop it she told afp we have decided to call it off
today but we re going to have another one soon
the ugandan authorities shut down cbs radio in september accusing it of
inciting violence by encouraging people to protest against travel ban slapped
on the traditional leader of the buganda kingdom
the ensuing riots left close to people dead and marked the beginning of
drive by opposition forces to mount serious campaign against museveni who has
ruled the central african nation with iron fist since
general elections are expected to be held next year
cambridge university mulls first bond issue finance chief
london jan afp
britain prestigious cambridge university is considering bond issue worth up
to million pounds the first in its history and in line with top us ivy
league institutions its finance director said monday
andrew reid said such an issue from the year old institution would be the
biggest yet from british university and would be used for major building
projects in cambridge
expected to be between million pounds million dollars
million euros the long term borrowing would keep the university in the
forefront of academic and scientific excellence he said
we do have some major building programmes to undertake reid told afp
it is quite lot of money it may just not be right for straightforward bank
borrowing bond issue might be the more appropriate way of doing it
final decision on the bond issue would come this year and perhaps in the next
six months reid added
cambridge board of scrutiny which ensures the university is run efficiently
strongly recommended borrowing via bonds in report at the end of november he
said confirming report in the wall street journal
the money would be used to finance two main projects in the northwest and
centre of cambridge
the northwest development would include lot of residential housing used for
the university junior staff and work in central cambridge would focus on
improving academic facilities the director said
issuing bonds would see cambridge take the same approach to borrowing as top us
institutions the wall street journal reported
harvard university princeton university yale and stanford have all sought
financing through bonds the newspaper said
urgent dubai ruler officially opens world tallest building
dubai jan afp
sheikh mohammad bin rashed al maktoum the ruler of dubai on monday officially
opened the world tallest building the burj dubai tower which stands more than
metres tall
grounded in melbourne in latest glitch report
sydney jan afp
brand new airbus super jumbo was grounded at melbourne airport on monday
due to mechanical fault the latest in series of glitches for the model
australian news agency aap reported
the qantas operated plane bound for los angeles and in service for just few
days had problem with its fuel gauge airline officials said
passengers were stuck inside the double decker plane on the tarmac for over four
hours as stringent security checks for us flights meant it was deemed
impractical for them to disembark and board later
eventually the flight was rescheduled for tuesday hour delay and the more
than passengers were allowed off the plane
it over nighting tonight due to fuel indication defect qantas spokesman
simon rushton said
among recent glitches for the model air france new was grounded more
than once last month due to technical problems another owned by singapore
airlines had to return to paris last month for attention due to an electrical
fault
wall street kicks off on bullish note
new york jan afp
us stocks raced higher in the first trades of with sentiment boosted by
global market rally that was helped by corporate dealmaking and upbeat economic
news from china
the dow jones industrial average jumped points percent to
at gmt on the heels of hefty gains in stock markets in most of
europe and japan
the technology heavy nasdaq composite lifted points percent to
and the broad market standard amp poor index advanced
points percent to
there is bullish bias that is often associated with the start of new year
as new money gets put to work riding the wave of typically upbeat forecasts
said patrick hare at briefing com
most stock markets around the globe are trading higher on account of better
than expected survey on manufacturing activity in china the irony of this
report is that the chinese market didn participate in its country own good
news
sentiment was also helped by big corporate deal with swiss pharmaceutical
group novartis announcing it had bought controlling stake in the world
biggest eye care firm alcon from nestle and that it was seeking full ownership
of alcon
the market opened the first trading day of the year after tumultuous that
saw steep falls early in the year followed by sensational recovery the blue
chip dow gained percent for the year with the nasdaq up whopping
percent and the amp index rising percent
the stock market kicks off the year with the major market indices in well
defined up trends said fred dickson market strategist at da davidson amp
co
global stock markets are in good shape although we have seen the market
indices for the major emerging markets including china recently lagging the
momentum seen in the us and other more developed markets
among stocks in focus chevron rallied percent to dollars and
exxonmobil added of percent to dollars as crude oil prices rallied on
optimism about the economic recovery
elsewhere broker upgrades boosted computer chip giant intel up percent to
dollars and aerospace firm boeing up percent to dollars
in finance morgan stanley rallied percent to dollars on two broker
upgrades
chesapeake energy soared percent to dollars after announcing plans
for billion dollar joint venture with french petroleum giant total which
will buy stake in its shale producing assets
bonds edged higher the yield on the year treasury bond dipped to
percent from percent last thursday and that on the year bond eased to
percent from percent bond yields and prices move in opposite
directions
karzai orders afghan parliament to delay recess for cabinet
kabul jan afp
afghan president hamid karzai ordered parliament monday to cancel its winter
recess so lawmakers can consider his new cabinet nominees his office said as
nato announced its first deaths of the year
four us troops and british soldier were killed in two separate roadside bomb
attacks in southern afghanistan on sunday nato international security
assistance force isaf said
nato and the us have troops in afghanistan battling taliban led
insurgents aiming to overthrow karzai fragile administration
karzai decree ordered that the legislature should delay its day recess
until he proposes new ministers in place of those rejected by parliamentarians
on saturday his office said in statement
it ordered the national assembly to postpone leave until the members of the
cabinet are approved
parliament had been due to break on tuesday
of the names karzai put forward for cabinet portfolios only seven won
approval in secret ballot of of the lawmakers
the rejections effectively leave afghanistan without fully functioning
government dragging out political vacuum that has prevailed since an august
presidential election
the president issued the decree under article of the afghan constitution in
bid to complete as soon as possible the cabinet and prevent obstruction of
government work the statement said
the decree appears to be recognition that karzai is running out of time to prove
his stated commitment to clean and competent government as the international
community has given him until the middle of the year to show progress
he cannot afford to lose six weeks said western diplomat speaking on
condition that he not be named
karzai brought this on himself and it was widely anticipated that the
parliament would reject the majority of his nominees but it is heartening to
see that he is using the constitution to get over this potential deadlock
ahead of an international conference scheduled to take place in london on
january to deliberate the war torn country future kabul ministries are
being run by junior bureaucrats who have little power and no coherent plan
parliament member shukria barakzai said the new list of names to replace
those who were tossed out should be presented to parliament within days
think the parliament will get it done rather quickly because the london
conference is due soon she said adding however there are no guarantees that
the new names will be passed
she said the process of presenting and voting on the new nominees would take
about one week
western diplomats including the un special representative kai eide have
said parliament rejection of karzai cabinet choices is an obstacle on
afghanistan road to democratic governance
but they concede it has shown the parliament to be functioning institution
that refused to be cowed by vested interests
the seven ministerial nominees who did win approval included those who had been
approved by karzai supporters in the international community as competent and
clean technocrats
second western diplomat said that as these represented the dominant ministries
including interior defence agriculture and education karzai could
credibly attend the london conference with only these seats filled
but with that deadline of the us mid term elections looming when the americans
will start to think seriously about continuing their support karzai needs all
the time he can get to show progress and keep the spiggots open he said also
speaking anonymously
the us and nato are sending in an extra troops over the course of this
year even as public opinion turns increasingly against continued engagement
following more than foreign troop deaths in
the first deaths of four americans and one briton were all victims of
roadside bombs which have become the biggest killers of foreign troops fighting
the taliban
their deaths follow the killing last week of seven american cia agents in
suicide attack inside military base and four canadian soldiers and
journalist in roadside bombing both attacks were claimed by the taliban
africa polygamous zuma weds for fifth time
nkandla south africa jan afp
wearing leopard skins and carrying zulu shield south africa polygamous
president jacob zuma on monday married for the fifth time in traditional
ceremony in his remote hometown
the year old and his new bride thobeka madiba years his junior danced in
an open field at his homestead in nkandla village deep in the countryside of
kwazulu natal province
the two formally wed when tribal elder asked madiba if she accepted to join
the zuma family when she agreed he pronounced her zuma third current wife
his first wife sizakele khumalo whom he married in attended the
ceremony his second wife nompumelelo ntuli zuma was at the homestead preparing
for the reception in massive tent where guests will celebrate through the
night
one of zuma earlier wives committed suicide in while in he divorced
nkosazana dlamini zuma who remains in his inner circle and is currently south
africa home affairs minister
the guests included south africa political and business elite including
mandla mandela grandson of the nation first black president nelson mandela
local celebrities and music stars like yvonne chaka chaka also attended the
ceremony under overcast skies with gentle drizzle seen as sign of blessing
in african culture
several sheep goats and cows have already been slaughtered for the feast to
follow
after initially declaring the ceremony would be private it was finally opened
to the public under heavy police presence local villagers many dressed in
animal skins and african cloth trekked through muddy trails to attend
madiba who reportedly already has three children with zuma attended the
president inauguration in may where she was treated as one of the country
three first ladies
since then she has attended official functions and is referred to in the media
as thobeka madiba zuma
even while preparations for this wedding were underway zuma is reportedly
preparing for his sixth marriage
earlier this week gift giving ceremony was held signalling that he had paid
the traditional dowry known as ilobolo for his latest fiancee bongi ngema
zuma has also been linked to swazi princess but has given no clear indication
that he plans to wed her
polygamy is legally recognised in south africa but is mostly practised in rural
areas of the country
the practice came under the spotlight before the presidential elections
when zuma polygamous lifestyle became topic of discussion especially among
women rights activists
media and political analysts also debated the issue but their attention focused
mainly on logistical matters such as security arrangements and medical costs for
treating his large family
usually zuma brings only one wife to state functions or on overseas trips
his first wife khumalo was given the place of honour at his inauguration in may
given higher prestige than madiba or his other wife nompumelelo ntuli zuma
whom he married in in lavish ceremony
zuma and khumalo have no children together and she still lives in nkandla
generally preferring to avoid the public spotlight and rarely attending official
functions
he is reportedly father to at least children
pope to visit rome synagogue despite tension
vatican city jan afp
the jewish community of rome confirmed monday that pope benedict xvi would visit
the city synagogue as scheduled this month despite strained ties over plans to
make world war ii era pope pius xii saint
the pope visit will take place on january as part of day to deepen and
further develop the dialogue between jews and catholics the jewish community
statement said
ties were strained recently between jews and catholics over the vatican steps
to make world war ii era pope pius xii saint
the visit will also coincide with holiday commemorating an anti semitic attack
against rome jewish ghetto in which for jews has become symbol of their
survival in the face of anti semitism and persecutions
the vatican last month came under fire from the jewish community worldwide over
papal decree bestowing the title venerable on pius xii in step towards
beatification
the pontiff from to has been accused of inaction while germany nazi
regime was exterminating millions of jews in europe concentration camps
the vatican has said that the papal decree essentially concerns the
individual witness of christian life and not the historical importance
of all his operative choices spokesman federico lombardi said
the catholic church has long argued that pius xii saved many jews who were
hidden away in religious institutions and that his silence was born out of
wish to avoid aggravating their situation
however jewish leaders like the head of germany central jewish council
stephan kramer called the the vatican stance on pius clear hijacking of
historical facts concerning the nazi era
alert
dubai ruler officially opens world tallest building
tech bug hits german credit cards
frankfurt jan afp
many germans have been hit by computer bug linked to the year that has
rendered their credit cards useless the zka banking commission said on monday
cards issued by many credit institutions have run up against software error
during the passage to the year that does not however cause security
problems the commission said in statement
clients at two of the biggest german retail banks postbank and commerzbank
have been affected in particular but zka could not say how many people in all
were faced with problems
an afp journalist noted that cards hit by the bug could not be used to either
withdraw money from atms or to pay for items in stores
zka said the problem should be resolved by tuesday
new us flight security checks discriminatory nigeria
abuja jan afp
nigeria home of the failed us plane bomber monday branded new security
measures for passengers flying to the united states unfair and said they
amounted to discrimination against its million people
the us government announced that travellers from countries including
nigeria are to be subjected to extra checks including body pat downs after
young nigerian was accused of trying to blow up us jet on christmas day
but nigeria information minister dora akunyili said that africa most
populous nation did not have history of terrorism and such move could not be
justified
it is unfair to include nigeria on the us list for tighter screening because
nigerians do not have terrorist tendencies akunyili told journalists
it is unfair to discriminate against over million people because of the
behaviour of one person said the minister
year old nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab has been accused of trying to
trigger an explosion on the northwest airlines plane with chemicals which had
been stitched into his underwear
abdulmutallab behaviour is not reflective of nigerians and should therefore
not be used as yardstick to judge all nigerians said akunyili
he was not influenced in nigeria he was not recruited or trained in nigeria
he was not supported whatsoever in nigeria
prosecutors say that abdulmutallab tried to carry out the attack after
undergoing training by yemen based al qaeda cell which said it was behind the
plot
nigeria angry response is the first from the countries on the us list
which include cuba iran sudan and syria designated state sponsors of
terrorism by washington
the new measures would apply to all passengers travelling from or via total of
countries including afghanistan libya pakistan somalia and yemen as well
as nigeria where abdulmutallab family lives
the new york times and washington post quoted government officials as saying the
other four countries were algeria lebanon saudi arabia and iraq
akunyili said the incident involving abdulmutallab was one off thing
his behaviour is not reflective of nigerians and should therefore not be used
as yardstick to judge all nigerians
abdulmutallab was well behaved child from responsible family who
developed the ugly tendency to do what he tried to do because of his exposure
outside the shores of nigeria the minister said
washington said monday stricter measures will be compulsory on flights from the
nations while random enhanced checks will be carried out on all planes
landing at us airport
