today harardhere unnatural growth has reached its breaking point residents
warned
many people think the pirates brought booming business to this town but
believe one day everything will come to an abrupt end said muktar nur
native of harardhere
they have started fighting between themselves and the next time that happens
everyone will flee because you cannot take any chances when you see the kind of
weapons they have he explained
asha muse has profited from the presence of harardhere boisterous corsairs and
their newly acquired cash selling them khat mild narcotic leaf popular with
somali men and indispensable to most pirates
those pirates are armed and scary the situation will be untenable one day and
can see harardhere becoming ghost town she said
cricket bangladesh india first test scoreboard
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
scoreboard after india second innings against bangladesh on the fourth day of
the first test on wednesday
india st innings tendulkar not out sehwag shahadat hossain
shakib al hasan
bangladesh st innings mohammad mahmudullah zaheer khan mishra
india nd innings overnight
gambhir nafees shafiul
sehwag raqibul shakib
mishra tamim mahmudullah
dravid run out
tendulkar lbw rubel
laxman not out
yuvraj singh ashraful shahadat
karthik rubel mahmudullah
zaheer khan shakib
sharma not out
extras lb nb
total for eight wickets decl overs
fall of wickets sehwag mishra gambhir dravid
tendulkar yuvraj karthik zaheer
bowling shafiul shahadat rubel nb
shakib mahmudullah ashraful
toss bangladesh
umpires billy bowden nzl and marais erasmus rsa
tv umpire enamul haque ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
corrected oil dips in asia new york crude stays above dollars
singapore jan afp
oil prices dipped in asian trade wednesday on profit taking and as the easing of
cold snap in the northern hemisphere dents demand for heating fuel
strengthening greenback also weighed on demand as it makes the commodity
which is traded in us dollars more expensive to those who hold weaker
currencies
in afternoon trade new york main contract light sweet crude for february
delivery was down cents to dollars barrel after surging dollars
in us trade overnight
brent north sea crude for delivery in march dipped cents to
oil is pulling back and it part of the volatility said victor shum an
analyst with energy consultancy purvin and gertz in singapore
the cold weather is ending in the northern hemisphere he said
he added that closely watched weekly report on us energy stockpiles is
expected to show an increase which would indicate weaker demand in the world
biggest energy consuming nation
the stockpiles report by the us department of energy is due for release on
thursday
fundamentals are weighing on prices at this point investors and traders lack
the conviction at this time to push prices much higher shum said
the us dollar has gained strength versus the euro and the yen so that
consistent with oil coming down bit
shum said he expects pricing support at dollars barrel in the near term
when prices approach dollars then many investors will look at that pricing
level as buying opportunity he said when we get above dollars
investors are concerned about fundamentals
corrected oil dips in asia new york crude stays above dollars
singapore jan afp
oil prices dipped in asian trade wednesday on profit taking and as the easing of
cold snap in the northern hemisphere dents demand for heating fuel
strengthening greenback also weighed on demand as it makes the commodity
which is traded in us dollars more expensive to those who hold weaker
currencies
in afternoon trade new york main contract light sweet crude for february
delivery was down cents to dollars barrel after surging dollars
in us trade overnight
brent north sea crude for delivery in march dipped cents to
oil is pulling back and it part of the volatility said victor shum an
analyst with energy consultancy purvin and gertz in singapore
the cold weather is ending in the northern hemisphere he said
he added that closely watched weekly report on us energy stockpiles is
expected to show an increase which would indicate weaker demand in the world
biggest energy consuming nation
the stockpiles report by the us department of energy is due for release on
thursday
fundamentals are weighing on prices at this point investors and traders lack
the conviction at this time to push prices much higher shum said
the us dollar has gained strength versus the euro and the yen so that
consistent with oil coming down bit
shum said he expects pricing support at dollars barrel in the near term
when prices approach dollars then many investors will look at that pricing
level as buying opportunity he said when we get above dollars
investors are concerned about fundamentals
kuwait mps vote to set up stock market regulator
kuwait city jan afp
kuwait parliament gave initial approval on wednesday to bill that would
mandate the formation of an independent regulator for the emirate stock
market
the members present including cabinet ministers voted unanimously for the
article capital market law in the first reading the second and final vote
is scheduled to take place after two weeks
the bill calls for an independent five member capital market authority whose
main duties would be to ensure complete transparency and to prevent insider
trading and other forms of illegal trading and fraud
since its founding as the region first bourse in the early kuwait stock
exchange has been run by government appointed administration that mps said
lacks the powers to ensure transparency
mps complained of insufficient protection for small investors
small investors on the bourse have been massacred as they lost their money
this law will put an end to suspect trades and will promote transparency
independent mp ali al deqbasi said during the debate
islamist mp khaled al adwah said the stock market has been suffering chaos
there have been attempts to illegally make huge fortunes in the absence of stiff
regulations
minister of commerce and industry ahmad al harun said the law will put kuwaiti
bourse on the same level of stock markets in advanced countries
the market has capitalisation of around billion dollars and lists more
than local and foreign companies
kse and the tiny bahrain stock exchange were the only gulf bourses to record
losses in with kuwait dropping percent the market has fluctuated
sharply so far in january
tennis australian open results day three th update
melbourne jan afp
results from day three of the australian open at melbourne park here wednesday
denotes seeding
men singles
nd round
fernando gonzalez chi bt marsel ilhan tur
andy roddick usa bt thomaz bellucci bra
evgeny korolev kaz bt tomas berdych cze
rafael nadal esp bt lukas lacko svk
feliciano lopez esp bt rainer schuettler ger
stanislas wawrinka sui bt igor kunitysn rus
john isner usa bt louk sorenson irl
philipp kohlschreiber ger bt wayne odesnik usa
ivan ljubicic cro bt andrey golubev kaz
florian mayer ger bt viktor troicki srb
gael monfils fra bt antonio veic cro
women singles
st round
li na chn bt marina erakovic nzl
vera zvonareva rus bt kristina kucova svk
victoria azarenka blr bt stephanie cohen aloro fra
agnes szavay hun bt stephanie dubois can
iveta benesova cze bt chang kai chen tpe
yaroslava shvedova kaz bt kimiko date krumm jpn
caroline wozniacki den bt aleksandra wozniak can
tsvetana pironkova bul bt galina voskoboeva kaz
julia goerges ger bt tamira paszek aut
tathiana garbin ita bt elena vesnina rus
shahar peer isr bt lucie hradecka cze
sofia arvidsson swe bt jarmila groth aus
daniela hantuchova svk bt viktoriya kutuzova ukr
stefanie voegele sui bt melinda czink hun
nd round
svetlana kuznetsova rus bt anastasia pavlyuchenkova rus
elena baltacha gbr bt kateryna bondarenko ukr
kim clijsters bel bt tamarine tanasugarn tha
marion bartoli fra bt sandra zahlavova cze
zheng jie chn bt maria jose martinez sanchez esp
nadia petrova rus bt kaia kanepi est
yanina wickmayer bel bt flavia pennetta ita
maria kirilenko rus bt yvonne meusburger aut
angelique kerber ger bt aravane rezai fra
sara errani ita bt ekaterina makarova rus
alona bondarenko ukr bt polona hercog slo
dinara safina rus bt barbora zahlavova strycova cze
alisa kleybanova rus bt sorana cirstea rom
jelena jankovic srb bt katie brien gbr
british jobless rate stable at percent official data
london jan afp
britain unemployment rate was unchanged at percent in the three months to
november official data showed wednesday
the figure compared with revised rate of percent for the three months to
october the office for national statistics said in data release this rate
was previously given as percent
the unemployment rate for september to november was percent unchanged
on the quarter the ons said
merkel shoots for pre crisis growth levels by
berlin jan afp
german chancellor angela merkel said wednesday she aimed to have germany
economy europe largest back at its pre crisis growth levels by
if we manage to get to the level where we were before the crisis by
then we will have done good work that is the task that lies before us an
unusually animated merkel told the german parliament
we want germany to emerge stronger from this crisis than it was when it went
in added the chancellor
germany is struggling to emerge from its worst recession since world war ii and
is poised to run up record debt mountain of billion euros billion
dollars this year
merkel said germany one of the world top exporters would have to rely on its
traditional industrial strengths to pull itself out of crisis
germany will only be able to secure its prosperity when it remains strong
exporting country anyone who says we should not export so much is wrong she
said
merkel added what made us strong the chemical and automobile industries
medical equipment transport technology must be continued and should
never be given up
following signs that the german economy is slowly picking up the government has
raised its growth forecast for to percent from percent previously
estimated
cricket bangladesh need to win india test
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
india set bangladesh run target to win the opening test after declaring
their second innings closed at on wednesday
brief scores
india and decl bangladesh
eight dead in virginia shooting
washington jan afp
gunman went on the rampage in the us state of virginia killing eight people
and shooting police helicopter taking part in hunt for him officials said
year old man was believed to be surrounded early wednesday after the
shootings in rural district near appomattox in southern virginia police
confirmed that there were eight dead
the suspect named as christopher speight shot helicopter that was called to
the scene at least four times forcing it to make an emergency landing
officials said
more than deputies officers and state troopers will continue working
through the night to locate and apprehend the armed subject virginia state
police said in statement
the incident unfolded around noon on tuesday when deputy from the appomattox
sheriff office responded to an emergency call about an injured man lying on
country road
when the deputy arrived on scene the deputy heard several gun shots sergeant
thomas molnar spokesman for the virginia state police told afp
as the victim was being airlifted to nearby hospital where he later died
officers found four bodies outside nearby home and three bodies inside the
residence
the victims were male and female according to police
the shootings were said to be the act of lone gunman who was pinned down by
police in nearby woods late tuesday officials said
nearby residence was evacuated as the manhunt grew ever tenser
the perimeter has been established and we believe the suspect is within the
quarantined area molnar said
motive for the attacks was not immediately clear
indian scientist denies un glacier melt date
new delhi jan afp
an indian scientist at the centre of new climate science storm denied on
wednesday saying that himalayan glaciers could melt by an alarming date
used by the un top global warming body
but syed hasnain did acknowledge making comments suggesting that many of the
glaciers could disappear by the middle of this century
the controversy focuses on reference by the un intergovernmental panel on
climate change ipcc to the probability of glaciers in the himalayas
disappearing by the year and perhaps sooner is very high
in landmark report the ipcc sourced the date to green campaign group
wwf which in turn took the prediction from an interview given by hasnain to the
new scientist magazine in
the ipcc has said it is reviewing the figure and looks set to retract the
assertion an embarrassing climbdown and blow to its credibility as the
reliable authority on global climate science
there is no evidence that the claim was published in peer reviewed
journal cornerstone of scientific research
hasnain issued statement on the comments he made to the new scientist saying
the date was journalistic substitution which had been made without his
knowledge or approval
have not given any date or year on the likely disappearance of himalayan
glaciers neither in any interview nor in any of my publications he said
however he added that in scientific postulation was made that all the
glaciers in the central and eastern himalayas could disappear in the next to
years at their present rate of decline
hasnain said he and other experts were the victims of concentrated campaign
to denigrate scientists who have established the impact of climate change
the indian scientist is now glaciologist with the new delhi based the energy
and resources institute which is headed by ipcc chairman rajendra pachauri
pachauri defended the nobel winning panel work on tuesday telling reporters
at the world future energy summit in abu dhabi that even if the prediction
was wrong the effects of global warming were undeniable
theoretically let say we slipped up on one number don think it takes
anything away from the overwhelming scientific evidence of what happening with
the climate of this earth he said
indian environment minister jairam ramesh often sceptical of the exact link
between global warming and melting glaciers has said the ipcc panel has to
do lot of answering on how it reached the figure
china liquidity fears unsettle investors
hong kong jan afp
uncertainty over beijing monetary policy weighed on shares in shanghai and
hong kong wednesday overshadowing strong lead overnight from wall street as
asian markets fell
shanghai tumbled percent with banks leading the losses on renewed concerns
over tighter controls on lending dealers said
china will rein in credit after explosive growth last year top regulator said
wednesday as the nation vies to cool its red hot economy
this year we will continue to control the pace of the credit supply banking
regulator liu minkang told the asian financial forum in hong kong
however he downplayed report by the official china securities journal that
major banks had been told to stop extending new loans for the rest of january
given mainland investors acute sensitivity to policy changes the tumble in
stocks we ve seen today isn that surprising zhou lin an analyst at huatai
securities said
industrial and commercial bank of china the nation biggest lender dropped
percent to yuan
expectations of slower loan growth also hit real estate developers which relied
on relatively high leverage ratios to achieve business growth
china vanke declined percent to yuan
hong kong hang seng index where mainland lenders are also listed dived
percent by midday
other markets were mixed following wall street overnight percent rise
us shares were helped higher on news british confectioner cadbury agreed to
sweetened billion dollar takeover bid from american giant kraft foods
tokyo shed earlier gains to end down percent as investors turned cautious
ahead of another batch of us corporate earnings results
the nikkei fell points to close at
investors continued to dump shares in japan airlines day after the debt
ridden carrier filed for bankruptcy and announced it would delist its shares
next month in move expected to wipe out investors
jal ended at record low of two yen two us cents down three yen or
percent
investors were eyeing upcoming chinese economic data and fourth quarter us
earnings reports from companies including bank of america and wells fargo after
citigroup on tuesday posted net losses of billion dollars for the final
quarter of
australian shares moved marginally higher but earlier gains led by major miner
bhp billiton were eroded by uncertainty over beijing monetary policy
the amp asx index added points or percent to
it was pretty solid open with the financial and materials sectors adding
good points but then about midday those reports came out of china ig markets
research analyst ben potter said
shares in bhp billiton rose percent to dollars us after it
reported record iron ore production in the six months to december
seoul closed percent higher led by telecom and utility stocks the kospi
gained points to
mounting worries over the outlook for the european economy in light of weak
german data and greece fiscal woes hit the euro in asian trade
the european currency slid to dollars in tokyo hitting its lowest
against the greenback this year from in new york late tuesday it
weakened to yen from
the dollar strengthened to yen from
oil was lower new york main contract light sweet crude for february
delivery was down cents to dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for delivery in march dipped cents to
hong kong gold finished at us dollars down from tuesday
close of dollars
in other markets
singapore straits times index closed down percent or points
lower at
taipei fell points or percent to on profit taking
dealers said
malaysia kuala lumpur composite index gained points or percent
to close at
indonesian shares were flat gaining points to
wellington closed flat with the nzx index edging points lower to
on low summer holiday volumes
air new zealand rose five cents to dollars after the consumer price index
showed percent seasonal increase in international airfares
manila ended flat shedding points to as investors took profits
on key blue chips
philippine long distance telephone was unchanged at pesos
china plans fifth panda breeding centre
beijing jan afp
china plans to open fifth breeding centre for giant pandas in an effort to
boost the population of the notoriously sex shy species state media reported on
wednesday
four young adult pandas are due to arrive at zoo in the central city of
changsha on may from breeding base in southwestern sichuan province which
was hit by devastating quake in the official xinhua news agency said
xie zhongsan an official at the changsha zoo in hunan province said
cooperation agreement had already been signed with the breeding base in sichuan
to launch the new facility
we are waiting for the forestry authorities approval of the new breeding
base he was quoted as saying
we plan to arrange for two to three panda experts to take care of the giant
pandas and we ll learn how to help them breed he added
there are four other giant panda breeding bases in china one in beijing one
in northern shaanxi province and two in sichuan the report said
pandas one of the world most endangered species are national treasure in
china
they are notoriously poor breeders and experts in china are desperately trying
to make the creatures mate to ensure their survival using measures as extreme
as panda pornography or rigorous sexercises
there are nearly pandas living in the wild more than three quarters of
them in sichuan pandas are also found in northwestern gansu province and
shaanxi another are in captive breeding programmes in china
six vietnamese sentenced to death for heroin trafficking
hanoi jan afp
six vietnamese ethnic hmong have been condemned to death in vietnam for
trafficking heroin to china court official said wednesday
the men aged between and were accused of transporting kilograms
pounds of heroin between and their arrest in september said the
official in the northwest province of lai chau where the trial ended on
tuesday
they confessed to having sold to china all the heroin bought in son la
province which borders laos he said
in communist vietnam anyone found guilty of possessing more than grams of
heroin can face the death penalty
last year nine people were executed and sentenced to death mostly for murder
and drug cases according to an afp tally based on state media reports
afp sports schedule for wednesday january
paris jan afp
afp sports schedule for wednesday january
tennis
third day of the australian open in melbourne with defending men champion
rafael nadal and fifth seed andy murray in action as well as belgian duo kim
clijsters and justine henin
coverage by martin parry robert smith andrew dent and scott coughlan
master slug tennis open aus
football
in the africa cup of nations champions egypt face benin while mozambique hope
to edge nigeria for quarter final place
coverage by nick reeves david legge and samm addu
in the english league cup semi finals aston villa take lead into the
second leg at home to blackburn
in the premier league arsenal can go top if they defeat bolton while stuttering
liverpool meet tottenham
action also in the french and italian leagues as well quarter finals of the
kings cup in spain
slugs fbl afr fbl eng lcup fbl eng pr fbl fra fbl ita fbl esp cup
cricket
india are in their second innings lead of on the fourth day of the
opening test against bangladesh in chittagong
coverage by shafiq alam
slugs cricket ban ind
rugby union
france name squad for the six nations
slug rugbyu nations fra
cycling
tour down under in australia continues in adelaide with the second stage over
km from gawler to hahndorf
coverage by talek harris
slug cycling aus tour
golf
first day of the uspga bob hope classic in la quinta california
slug golf uspga
figure skating
european championships in tallinn
coverage by emmeline moore
master slug fskate eur
rallying
first day of the historic monte carlo rally now part of the international rally
challenge series
slug auto rally irc mon
winter olympics
fifth part of advancer package filed ahead of the winter olympics in
vancouver
see separate advisory
master slug oly
swatch issues positive outlook for
geneva jan afp
the world biggest watchmaker swatch group said wednesday that its annual sales
slipped percent in but forecast they would improve in with
global economic recovery
full year sales fell to billion francs billion euros billion
dollars with the group electronics sector performing worst as sales plunged
percent
swatch main business watches and jewellery registered sales of billion
francs for the full year down percent from year ago
however it said that initial sales for january indicated promising trend
for
with the prospect of continuous recovery of the economic environment and the
new developments realized in the last months the group is very confident that
further solid organic sales growth will be achieved in the year swatch
said
promising trend can be identified based on the excellent sell through
figures in january as well as the order entries for the months to come it
added
swatch which makes timepieces ranging from the eponymous plastic watch to
luxury pieces such as breguet said its role as official timekeeper at the
february winter olympics in vancouver could also boost sales
full details of the group results are scheduled to be published on march
honda to build new factory in china
tokyo jan afp
japanese auto giant honda motor said wednesday that it would build new factory
in china to meet brisk demand in the fast growing asian nation
dongfeng honda automobile the japanese company joint venture will build
second factory in wuhan hubei province aiming to start operations in the
second half of the japanese firm said
the venture will initially spend billion yuan million dollars to
build the new plant which will gradually increase its production capacity to as
many as vehicles year honda said
china auto sales surged past those in the united states in to make it the
world biggest car market and japanese makers are competing for slice of the
pie to offset weak domestic sales
dongfeng honda which currently builds cr the civic and the spirior also
plans to increase the annual production capacity of its existing plant by
vehicles to units the japanese company said
dongfeng honda has enjoyed robust sales selling vehicles in up
percent from and logging record sales for five straight years
when dongfeng honda second plant begins production honda overall annual
vehicle production capacity in china will reach units it said
vietnam dissidents put on trial for subversion
ho chi minh city jan afp
group of democracy campaigners went on trial in vietnam wednesday facing
possible death sentences on charges of trying to overthrow the communist regime
in case which has sparked global concern
human rights lawyer le cong dinh french trained computer expert and blogger
nguyen tien trung and internet entrepreneur tran huynh duy thuc are
charged with activities aimed at subverting the people administration
according to the indictment
the charges against the three carry minimum penalty of years in prison and
maximum of death
it is the most high profile case in series of arrests and convictions of
dissidents and bloggers in the communist country over the past year
fourth man in the dock le thang long is accused of being an accomplice
and faces five to years in prison if convicted
this is an extremely serious case said the indictment it is prejudicial to
national security
it accused the men of an organised non violent campaign in collusion with
reactionary vietnamese in exile and hostile forces to overturn the government
