bigger credit line by january suppose that worry eased said makoto
sengoku market analyst at tokai tokyo securities
japan exporters were also helped by the weaker yen
the dollar eased to yen in tokyo monday afternoon trade down from
in new york late thursday and the euro fell to yen from
the dollar overall tone remained firm thanks to optimism over the us economy
dealers said
sentiment was helped after data from washington showed seasonally adjusted
initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits in the week ending december
stood at fall of from the previous week the figure is the
lowest since july
but hong kong was percent lower at while shanghai dropped
percent to
banks and property developers led the decline in shanghai on worries about
possible tightening of monetary policy amid inflation concerns
china dealers ignored two surveys showing strong manufacturing sector
the hsbc china manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to in december
from in november the survey showed
reading above indicates expansion while reading below points to an
overall decline
separate pmi published by the china federation of logistics and purchasing
showed manufacturing activity rose to percent in december the highest in
months
the tokyo stock exchange reported smooth debut for its new faster trading
arrowhead trading system which can process orders in seconds much
faster than before and on par with new york and london
the new technology was brought in following number of problems including the
suspension of trading in all shares because of software problem which
tarnished the bourse reputation in the face of growing competition
meanwhile singapore announced its economy shrank percent in the fourth
quarter compared with the previous three months however the drop was not as
big as expected and gross domestic product actually rose percent year on
year
the data was largely ignored by the city state stock market which closed
percent lower at on profit taking after hitting month high last
week
oil jumped above dollars barrel after russia cut its supplies to neighbour
belarus due to row over tariffs
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
rose cents to dollars barrel
gold closed higher in hong kong at us dollars an ounce from
thursday dollars
elsewhere seoul rose percent to taipei ended up percent at
while jakarta was percent higher at kuala lumpur added
percent to and mumbai put on percent to
manila dropped percent to and bangkok edged percent down to
wellington was closed for holiday
nigerian would be bomber caring says shocked ex teacher
dubai jan afp
the nigerian bomb suspect who tried to blow up us airliner was talented
student and caring young man one of his former teachers said in remarks
published monday in united arab emirates paper
umar farouk abdulmutallab who has been charged with the botched attempt to blow
up northwest detroit bound passenger plane on christmas day was talented
motivated and articulate student said chris edmunds
of course know you am connected to you you suicide bomber dear god
surely not edmunds wrote in the national newspaper expressing distress and
sadness over the fate of his former student
you are my former student taught you played football with you visited
you in your boarding house shared school lunch with you said edmunds
deputy head of the british school in lome togo between
according to edmunds now an educational adviser in abu dhabi the would be
bomber embodied hope for the future
abdulmuttalab was developing an international mind and an international heart
he was maturing into confident articulate compassionate caring and
responsible young man he said
he recalled that abdulmuttalab took part in school ceremony day after the
devastating september terror attacks on the united states
the hastily arranged school assembly on september was poignant and
emotional muslim christian and other community leaders shared platform we
prayed and wept together edmunds said
abdulmuttalab was there of course whether he prayed and wept don know
do know that he cannot have failed to have been affected by the central
message of our collective words songs and thoughts that day never has there
been more urgent time for every one of us to learn to live with each other
son of prominent nigerian banker abdulmuttalab studied engineering at
university college london after leaving school and was enrolled in management
course at dubai university
afp graphics advisory
paris jan afp
monday graphics
us security blacklist map
map showing countries on new us security blacklist us bound air travellers
from these countries will be subject to stricter security checks in airports
text slug us attacks nigeria
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available by gmt
available now
body scanner fact file
graphic fact file on full body security scanners
text slug us attacks
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afghanistan kandahar helmand map
map of aghanistan locating foreing troop deaths in kandahar and helmand
provinces
text slug afghanistan unrest
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solomons quake map
map locating the epicentre of magnitude quake near the solomon islands
text slug solomons earthquake
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dubai burj tower factfile
fact file on the burj dubai the world tallest tower which opens on monday
text slug uae dubai architecture tower economy
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china weather map
map locating northern chinese provinces experiencing weather related
disruptions
text slug china weather snow
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available now
china river pollution map
map showing china sanmenxia reservoir on the yellow river which was polluted
when an oil pipeline burst kilometres upstream
text slug china environment energy oil accident
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japan airlines share price
chart showing share prices for japan airlines
text slug japan airline company distress stocks jal
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asia pacific markets
closings for key asia pacific markets
text slug stocks
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moved earlier
yemen al qaeda attacks mm
fujimori factfile mm
brazil floods mm
turkey train crash mm
dakar spectator killed map mm
major sporting events worldwide mm
football african nations cup mm
paris hong kong
tel
afp gmt economics news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor hugh dent
tel
stocks europe wrap
london
european stock markets rise after earlier gains in tokyo as dealers return to
their desks in upbeat mood for the first trading day of
words gmt
switzerland pharma company divest novartis nestle alcon rdlead wrap
basel
swiss pharmaceutical group novartis targets full ownership of the world
biggest eye care firm alcon after buying majority stake of the company from
nestle
words gmt
forex europe wrap
london
the dollar slips against the yen weighed down by exporter selling but its
overall tone remained firm thanks to optimism about prospects for the us
economy dealers say
words gmt
commodities energy oil price wrap
london
oil breaches dollars on the first trading day of the year driven by
expectations of higher energy demand in the northern hemisphere winter and
after russia cuts crude supplies to belarus
words gmt
japan airline company distress stocks jal lead
tokyo
japan airlines shares skyrocket after the government agrees to expand
financial lifeline to the troubled carrier easing fears that it might file for
bankruptcy
words moved by hiroshi hiyama graphic picture
japan broking stocks computer tse lead
tokyo
the tokyo stock exchange reports smooth start for its fast new trading system
part of efforts to stay ahead of rival asian bourses following series of
technical problems
words moved by harumi ozawa picture
finance economy us banking bernanke
washington
the us federal reserve chief sunday backed strengthened regulatory system as
the key method to prevent repeat of the financial crisis but said monetary
policy could help pop future speculation bubbles
words moved
afp gmt news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor chris otton
tel
top stories
tough security measures for us bound passengers
world tallest tower opens in debt laden dubai
attacks kill five western troops in afghanistan
attacks qaeda world wrap
washington
passengers flying to the united states from nations deemed terror risk face
stringent new screening as fears of new al qaeda attack prompt tightening
of security around embassies in yemen
words gmt
uae dubai architecture tower
dubai
blazing fireworks and dazzling lights will mark the inauguration by dubai of the
world tallest tower burj dubai which the gulf emirate hopes will polish an
image tarnished by its crippling debt woes
words gmt by wissam keyrouz picture
afghanistan unrest lead wrap
kabul
bomb attacks kill four us troops and british soldier in afghanistan the first
reported fatalities of after record number of foreign deaths in the war
last year
words gmt by sardar ahmad graphic
filing plans by region
europe
britain politics iraq blair
london
britain election race revs up after the festive break with the troubled
economy key battleground although former premier tony blair could be about
to put spanner in the ruling labour party wheels
words gmt by katherine haddon picture
spain politics fbl barcelona lead
madrid
the president of european football champions barcelona says he is considering
creating political party that would seek independence for spain catalonia
region and may run for office himself
words gmt
accident ski avalanche europe wrap
geneva
series of avalanches kills at least eight people in the swiss alps and france
while two more skiers are found dead after falling into ravine in austria
words gmt
asia
pakistan us unrest trial ndlead
sargodha pakistan
five us militant suspects facing terror charges for allegedly plotting attacks
in pakistan appear in court telling judge they wanted to help muslims in war
torn afghanistan lawyers say
words gmt by khurram shahzad
france afghanistan media kidnap lead
kabul
france warns it could take time to release two french journalists and three
afghan assistants kidnapped in afghanistan as their employer sends news
executive to kabul to lobby for their freedom
words gmt
tajikistan iran turkmenistan diplomacy gas
dushanbe
iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad visits tajikistan on his first abroad trip
since bloody crackdown on opposition supporters in tehran sparked widespread
international condemnation
words gmt
americas
us attacks nigeria politics obama lead
honolulu hawaii
us president barack obama wraps up his hawaiian vacation and heads back to
washington where he will have to grapple with issued like resurgent fears of
terror attack and iran nuclear defiance
words gmt by stephen collinson picture video
middle east
attacks yemen qaeda us britain lead wrap
sanaa
yemen has ratcheted up security around the airport and foreign embassies in the
capital sanaa officials say amid fears of strikes by an al qaeda branch linked
to botched attack on us airliner
words gmt by hammoud mounassar
africa
safrica politics zuma wives
nkandla south africa
hundreds of people wearing animal skins and african prints trek through muddy
roads to south african president jacob zuma wedding in his rural hometown
where he is set to marry his fifth wife
words gmt by rajesh jantilal pictures
bangladeshis stay home as overseas jobs plunge ministry
dhaka jan afp
the number of workers leaving bangladesh to find jobs overseas nearly halved in
as the global slowdown hit employment prospects in the middle east and
asia officials said monday
only bangladesh labourers found jobs abroad in down from
in the previous year according to data released by the government bureau of
manpower and employment training bmet
the slump is due to the global recession there has been fewer demands for jobs
in key markets such as saudi arabia and malaysia labour and manpower minister
khandaker mosharraf hossain told afp
malaysia whose export oriented economy was hit hard has accepted no new
bangladeshi workers since march while saudi arabia which employs more than
two million bangladeshi workers took only migrants from the country
according to the bmet the united arab emirates was the top recruiter of
bangladeshis in accounting for more than percent of new overseas jobs
for the impoverished south asian nation
the minister said he expects to see turnaround this year with war torn iraq
now recruiting thousands of bangladeshi construction workers and new
opportunities emerging in traditional markets
the first batch of bangladeshi workers flew to iraq last month defying security
risks in the oil rich country
we are on our toes to find new job markets for our people we have already
launched massive diplomatic drive he said
according to government statistics more than million bangladeshis out of
population of million work abroad although unofficial estimates put the
figure at around nine million
despite plummeting manpower exports remittances grew an average percent per
month in due to the carried over effect of the migration of record
million people in and the central bank said
in november monthly remittance topped one billion for the first time in
our history said khandaker abdus shahid senior official at the bangladesh
bank
in the financial year ending june bangladeshis working abroad sent home
record billion dollars more than percent of the country gross
domestic product and the second highest income after exports
barcelona football chief considers political career report
madrid jan afp
the president of european football champs barcelona said monday he may create
political party to seek independence for spain catalonia region and that he
was considering running for office
am attracted by the idea of running with new party open to all other
parties or platforms that believe catalonia needs its own state joan laporta
told el mundo newspaper in an interview
catalonia whose main city is barcelona and which has long been home to an
independence movement will hold regional elections in the autumn
will decide before easter and will announce it when my mandate as head of
fc barcelona is finished this summer the year old lawyer said
he said he has had discussions with catalonia main nationalist parties
laporta said that before reaching decision he wanted to know whether the
some percent of catalonians who polls show favour independence were ready to
pursue the idea
cricket england lose early wickets
cape town jan afp
england lost three early wickets after ripping out south africa tail on the
second day of the third test at newlands on monday
england were for three at lunch in reply to south africa all out
seven wickets fell during dramatic morning play with south africa losing
their last four wickets for runs in balls at the start of the day
england fast bowler james anderson took three wickets for one run to finish with
five for his eighth five wicket haul in tests but the key breakthrough came
from fellow paceman graham onions who dismissed south african centurion jacques
kallis with the second ball of the day
after dale steyn took leg bye off the first ball kallis was squared up by
delivery which fizzed off the pitch he could only edge it to wicketkeeper matt
prior without adding to his overnight
with the second new ball still virtually new the tail was swept aside by
anderson
but south africa struck back almost immediately when morne morkel had england
captain andrew strauss caught behind for two driving at the last ball of the
first over of the england innings
alastair cook and jonathan trott took the total to before dale steyn who
came on as first change took two wickets in three balls
trott was bowled off an inside edge for kevin pietersen was greeted by
bouncer which he ducked under but then pushed full swinging delivery back
to delighted bowler
cook who made century in england innings win in durban which gave the
tourists lead in the four match series was unbeaten on at lunch
japan embassy in yemen suspends consular services official
tokyo jan afp
japan suspended consular services at its embassy in yemen monday amid fears of
attacks by an al qaeda branch linked to botched attack on us airliner the
japanese foreign ministry said
the us and british embassies in sanaa have been shut since sunday for what they
said were reasons of security officials in the yemeni capital said monday
we have shut the consular service section at the japanese embassy where yemeni
people come to apply for visas said yukiya hamamoto an official at the
foreign ministry middle east section
understand that otherwise the embassy is conducting business as usual
inside he added
security has been ratcheted up around the airport and foreign embassies in
sanaa yemeni officials said on monday
the measures come as us authorities announced intensified airport security
checks on passengers travelling from or via terror linked countries
including yemen
cricket south africa england lunch scoreboard
cape town jan afp
scores at lunch on the second day of the third test between south africa and
england at newlands on monday
south africa first innings overnight
smith prior anderson
prince prior anderson
amla lbw onions
kallis prior onions
de villiers strauss swann
duminy prior swann
boucher lbw broad
steyn trott anderson
morkel swann anderson
harris not out
de wet lbw anderson
extras lb nb
total overs mins
fall of wickets prince amla smith de villiers
duminy boucher kallis steyn morkel
bowling anderson nb onions broad
swann pietersen
england first innings
strauss boucher morkel
cook not out
trott steyn
pietersen and steyn
collingwood not out
extras nb
total wkts overs
fall of wickets strauss trott pietersen
to bat bell prior broad swann anderson onions
bowling morkel de wet nb steyn kallis
match position england trail by runs with seven wickets remaining in the
first innings
toss england
umpires daryl harper aus tony hill nzl
tv umpire aleem dar pak
match referee roshan mahanama sri
passengers face tougher checks on us bound flights
washington jan afp
passengers flying to the united states faced tougher security measures monday
after the us government announced that people traveling from or via terror
linked nations will now have to undergo mandatory enhanced screening
the new measures came in the wake of the botched christmas day bombing of
northwest airlines plane heading from amsterdam to detroit which has forced many
airports and airlines to boost already tight security
all passengers flying into the united states from abroad will be subject to
random screening or so called threat based screens the transport security
administration tsa said in statement sunday
it further mandated that every individual flying into the us from anywhere in
the world traveling from or through nations that are state sponsors of terrorism
or other countries of interest will be required to go through enhanced
screening
the tough rules went into effect at gmt monday and followed the failed
plane attack blamed on year old nigerian who had recently traveled to yemen
to train with al qaeda
terrorism fears were also heightened on sunday when flights out of one terminal
at newark international airport were temporarily halted following possible
security breach
the suspension came after man was observed walking between secured or
sterile area at the airport and public area officials said declining to
give further details
the detroit incident suspect umar farouk abdulmutallab reportedly boarded the
flight at amsterdam schiphol airport after flying in from lagos nigeria
cuba iran sudan and syria are currently the only four countries designated
state sponsors of terrorism by the state department
but senior administration official told afp the mandatory stringent measures
which would include pat downs and enhanced screening would apply to all
passengers traveling from or via total of countries including afghanistan
libya nigeria pakistan somalia and yemen
he refused to reveal the remaining four nations on the list but the new york
times and washington post quoted government officials as saying that they were
algeria lebanon saudi arabia and iraq
according to us prosecutors abdulmutallab tried to bring down the northwest
airlines airbus using device containing the explosive petn also known as
pentaerythritol
stitched into his underwear it was not spotted by the traditional metal
detectors it failed to go off properly but sparked an on board fire put out by
passengers
dutch officials have said they now plan to put full body scanners into use
within three weeks and british prime minister gordon brown said sunday british
airports were also going to gradually introduce such equipment
we have recognized that there are new forms of weapon that are being used by
al qaeda so we ve got to respond accordingly brown said
britain has called for top conference on dealing with the terror threat from
yemen to be held in london on january
us president barack obama who vowed to act swiftly to close any security gaps
has accused al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap yemen based cell of
osama bin laden group of targeting the northwest jet
but amid questions over the failures in us security obama top counter
terrorism advisor john brennan said there had been no evidence which would have
unmasked the plot sooner
there was no smoking gun there was no piece of intelligence that said this guy
is terrorist and is going to get on plane none whatsoever brennan told
fox news sunday
it was failure to integrate the bits and pieces of information
the united states and britain meanwhile closed their embassies in the yemeni
capital on sunday as brennan told cnn there were indications al qaeda is
planning to carry out an attack against target inside of sanaa possibly our
embassy
but brennan indicated to fox news sunday the united states was not opening new
front against al qaeda in yemen and has no plans to send troops there
wouldn say we re opening second front this is continuation of an
effort that we had underway as said since the beginning of the
administration said brennan
he also told cnn the united states would continue to repatriate guantanamo
detainees to yemen with about still held at the us military base in cuba
some of these individuals are going to be transferred back to yemen at the
right time and the right pace and in the right way he said
the terror scare has prompted obama to order two reviews of intelligence and
security operations and he will meet with spy chiefs and top officials tuesday
to discuss the findings
meanwhile the family of abdulmutallab who is the son of wealthy banker have
said they will travel from northern nigeria to detroit to attend his arraignment
due on friday
asian markets begin on upbeat note
hong kong jan afp
asian markets began the new decade broadly higher monday with dealers in tokyo
lifted by news of extended credit to japan airlines and strong yen as well as
upbeat jobs data in the united states
and the new year saw the introduction of new trading system in tokyo as the
stock exchange tries to keep ahead of its regional rivals following series of
technical problems in recent years
tokyo ended the day percent higher at month high and
sydney added percent to
the mood on the first day of trading this year is good kenji shiomura market
analyst at daiwa securities told dow jones newswires
japan airlines jal shares soared percent to yen off high of
after the government sunday agreed to double state funded loan to the cash
strapped carrier to billion yen billion dollars
jal shares plunged percent on the last trading day of on fears asia
largest airline might file for bankruptcy
there was talk about the company operating funds drying up unless it secured
bigger credit line by january suppose that worry eased said makoto
sengoku market analyst at tokai tokyo securities
japan exporters were also helped by the weaker yen
the dollar eased to yen in tokyo monday afternoon trade down from
in new york late thursday and the euro fell to yen from
the dollar overall tone remained firm thanks to optimism over the us economy
dealers said
