pakistanis again we are committed to long term relationship between our two
countries his press secretary geoff morrell told reporters earlier
in bid to shore up the us image in pakistan the americans have organised an
event with military audience on friday where the pentagon chief will give
speech and take questions from the audience
think you will see him candidly acknowledge mistakes and offer his personal
pledge that we are not going to make those mistakes again morrell said
morrell said gates former cia director who was deeply involved in the us
effort to counter the soviets in afghanistan during the cold war was well
placed to carry the message to the pakistanis
pakistanis know him and hopefully trust him and believe him to be credible on
military and defence matters he said
gates was due to meet pakistan army chief general ashfaq kayani defence
minister ahmed mukhtar intelligence chief lieutenant general ahmed shuja pasha
and to hold talks later on thursday with president asif ali zardari
the visit was part of broader effort to overcome what officials on both sides
call the trust deficit between the two countries with the united states
receiving dismal ratings in polls of pakistanis
president barack obama administration views pakistan as central part of its
fight against al qaeda and taliban militants operating in the region
in new delhi wednesday gates warned that south asian militant groups were
seeking to destabilise the entire region and could trigger war between
nuclear armed pakistan and india
alert
yemen suspends granting entry visas at airport saba
oil prices turn higher in asian trade
singapore jan afp
oil prices turned higher in asian trade thursday ahead of the release of
widely monitored us energy reserves report
new york main contract light sweet crude for march delivery was up cents
to dollars barrel reversing decline in morning trade
brent north sea crude for delivery in march advanced cents to dollars
clarence chu an oil trader with hudson capital energy in singapore attributed
the price rise to market volatility
liquidity in the market is pretty thin now not much liquidity can make the
market more volatile he said
the us department of energy is expected to release later thursday its weekly
report on stockpiles in the world biggest energy consuming nation
analysts polled by dow jones newswires said they expect us crude reserves to
show rise of million barrels rise in the inventory is seen as an
indication of weak demand
gasoline stocks are seen increasing by million barrels the poll said the
doe is releasing its report one day later than normal owing to us bank holiday
on monday
if the report is showing build in stockpiles like everybody else expected
prices could keep going down chu said
crude prices have been under pressure after comments wednesday by top beijing
regulator lim mingkang that china would rein in credit after explosive growth
last year as the world most populous nation moves to cool its red hot economy
also major energy consumer
the chairman of the china banking regulatory commission told forum in hong
kong wednesday that new bank loans in the country this year would fall to about
trillion yuan trillion us dollars from about trillion yuan in
analysts have said the policy was likely response to concerns about asset
bubbles bad loans and an overheating economy
data released thursday by china showed the economy grew percent in
well exceeding the government target of percent
two koreas to hold more talks on joint venture
seoul jan afp
north and south korea will hold more talks soon about developing their joint
business project seoul said thursday despite recent threats by pyongyang to
cut dialogue with its neighbour
two days of discussions ended without agreement when the communist state sought
early negotiations on pay rises for its workers at the kaesong industrial
estate
but they agreed to hold more talks on february seoul chief delegate kim
young tak told reporters after his return from the estate just north of the
heavily fortified border
kim declined to speculate on whether the north would bring up the issue of wage
increases at the next meeting he said no specific figures were mentioned
last june pyongyang stunned seoul by demanding wage rise to dollars
month for the employees from around dollars currently
it dropped that demand last september in the latest of series of peace
overtures after months of tensions
south korea says other matters including easier cross border access to kaesong
and housing for north korean workers should be handled first
wage increases must be preceded by increases in productivity kim said we
don think productivity at kaesong is up to what we believe it should be
kaesong the last reconciliation project still functioning was designed to
bring together the north cheap but skilled workforce and the south capital
and expertise
around north koreans work at south korean funded plants producing
cookware textiles electronics and other light industrial goods
but its operations have often been hit by political tensions with the north
expelling hundreds of south korean staff and intermittently restricting access
in
analysts say the north hit harder by international sanctions following its
nuclear and missile tests last year seems willing to promote economic exchanges
with the south despite its angry broadside last friday
pyongyang national defence commission the country top decision making 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 commission also warned of holy war against the south should there be any
attempt to carry out the plan
south korean media has reported the existence of the contingency plan but it
has not been confirmed by the government
tennis workmanlike venus powers into third round
melbourne jan afp
venus williams powered her way into the third round of the australian open with
straightforward win over austrian sybille bammer on thursday
bammer tried hard throughout and broke williams serve twice in the second set
but the sixth seed was never really theatened by the left handed austrian as she
wrapped up comfortable win in minutes
bammer game plan seemed to be to try and get the ball back into play as much
as possible and wait for her opponent to make mistake and this tactic worked
on occasions as williams hit unforced errors over two sets
but williams also blasted winners including seven aces to bammer four
to underline her superiority
williams who was bundled out at this stage last year by unheralded spaniard
carla suarez navarro will play either croatia karolina spremm or australian
casey dellacqua in the third round
the seven time grand slam winner has never won the australian open and she would
likely have to get past fourth seed caroline wozniacki in the quarters and
sister serena in the semis to have shot in
but the nature of her wins over lucie safarova in the first round and bammer on
thursday indicate she has as good chance as anyone of winning this year
she started well against bammer breaking her in the fourth game and again in
the eighth to take the first set in minutes
bammer attacked in the second as williams serve went off the boil and the
austrian opened lead but williams soon recovered and some huge serving
saw her take control breaking bammer twice to open up lead
williams faltered while serving for the match and bammer broke back to get back
on terms only to serve nervous game herself at and hand the match to the
american
tennis australian open results day four th update
melbourne jan afp
results from day four of the australian open at melbourne park here thursday
denotes seeding
men singles
nd round
nikolay davydenko rus bt illya marchenko ukr
novak djokovic srb bt marco chiudinelli sui
nicolas almagro esp bt benjamin becker ger
denis istomin uzb bt michael berrer ger
juan monaco arg bt michael llodra fra
alejandro falla col bt marcel granollers esp
marcis baghdatis cyp bt david ferrer esp
mikhail youzhny rus bt jan hajek cze
women singles
nd round
agnieszka radwanska pol bt alla kudryavtseva rus
gisela dulko arg bt ana ivanovic srb
carla suarez navarro esp bt andrea petkovic ger
victoria azarenka blr bt stefanie voegele sui
li na chn by agnes szavay hun
caroline wozniacki den bt julia goerges ger
vera zvonereva rus by iveta benesova cze
shahar peer isr bt tsvetana pironkova bul
tathiana garbin ita bt yaroslava shvedova kaz
samantha stosur aus bt kristina barrois ger
francesca schiavone ita bt julie coin fra
daniela hantuchova svk bt sofia arvidsson swe
alberta brianti ita bt sabine lisicki ger
venus williams usa bt sybille bammer aut
china posts scorching growth but prices heat up
beijing jan afp
china red hot economy expanded by percent in but inflation surged
towards the end of the year according to government data released thursday that
laid bare the risks of overheating
gross domestic product in the world third largest economy which analysts say
is on track to overtake struggling japan returned to double digit growth in the
fourth quarter of at percent
and it surpassed the government target of eight percent for the year level
that is seen as crucial to foster job creation and stave off social unrest in
china urbanizing population of billion people
but china biggest rise in inflation in months underlined the broader
challenges of breakneck growth and came as the world bank and international
monetary fund warned anew that the country could face an economic bubble
ma jiantang commissioner of the national bureau of statistics credited
government stimulus package worth four trillion yuan billion dollars with
holding up growth in year when much of the global economy was in crisis
we need to prevent the overly fast increases in prices and keep close eye on
the trend in prices ma added at news conference but said he believed
inflation in should be mild and controllable
china consumer price index the main gauge of inflation rose percent
year on year in december authorities are already clamping down on bank lending
and hiking borrowing costs to keep lid on price pressures
on thursday the people bank of china raised the interest rate on its
benchmark three month treasury bills for the second time in two weeks in bid
to curb lending
fears of further tightening by beijing weighed on shares in shanghai and hong
kong
policymakers will need to move soon to stop the economy from overheating said
brian jackson hong kong based strategist at royal bank of canada
we have already seen some initial steps in the direction of tighter policy but
higher rates and stronger currency will also be part of the package
china urban fixed asset investment measure of government spending on
infrastructure and key driver of the economy rose percent in while
overall fixed asset investment rose percent thursday data showed
industrial output from china millions of factories and workshops rose
percent in the fourth quarter and percent for all of
retail sales jumped percent in
earlier this month the government said exports had surged percent in
december snapping month falling streak and new loans nearly doubled in
from year earlier to trillion yuan
this week premier wen jiabao said beijing was carefully monitoring the risks
associated with its hefty pump priming of last year although china top
banking regulator wednesday denied that banks had been ordered to stop lending
wen comments reinforced signs that china could exit its aggressive stimulus
policy and apply the brakes step that would have broader repercussions for
world economy increasingly reliant on chinese growth
the percent growth in the final quarter of was the best result since
the second quarter of
it followed revised growth of percent in the third quarter percent in
the second quarter and revised percent in the first three months of last
year
the full year figure exceeded analyst expectations but was down from
percent in and was the slowest full year increase in eight years
the latest data is expected to increase pressure on beijing to let its currency
effectively pegged to the us dollar since mid to appreciate this
year
ihs global insight economist ren xianfang said she expected china to grow by
percent in and overtake japan to become the world second biggest economy
think it will happen this year ren said
more to move for china three gorges dam report
beijing jan afp
an additional people will be forced to move from their homes because of
china controversial three gorges dam and its huge reservoir state media
reported on thursday
the english language china daily said the relocations were aimed at preventing
pollution from adjacent communities contaminating the reservoir and at
protecting residents from possible seismic dangers
the report quoted government officials in the huge municipality of chongqing in
southwestern china the dam the world largest hydroelectric project is
located in central hubei province but most of its reservoir is in chongqing
state media said in september that million people had already been
relocated to make way for the project
chinese officials have previously said million people were to be subject to
forced relocation from areas now submerged or due to be submerged by the
reservoir
critics of the billion dollar dam which is the world largest at more
than metres feet wide and metres high have long decried
what they call its huge human and environmental costs
they have alleged massive corruption in the resettlement programme while
villagers forced from their homes have complained they were denied promised
government compensation and benefits
chinese scientists and officials also caused stir in when they said the
massive weight of the swelling reservoir was causing an increase in seismic
activity and landslides
further four million people have been encouraged to move from the area by
officials said that year although the government has insisted those
relocations were unrelated to the dam
the three gorges project is expected to produce billion kilowatt hours of
electricity year when it reaches capacity according to xinhua state news
agency
cricket sharma jolts bangladesh with double strike
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
ishant sharma rocked bangladesh with two quick wickets to strengthen india
chances of winning the opening test on the fifth and final day on thursday
the fast bowler removed mohammad ashraful and raqibul hasan in lively opening
spell as bangladesh struggled to reach in their second innings at lunch
while chasing an unlikely run target
part time off spinner virender sehwag claimed big wicket when he had well set
opener tamim iqbal caught by rahul dravid in the slips in his second over
just before the interval
iqbal was the lone batsman to offer resistance executing handsome shots during
his ball knock he reached his third test half century in style reverse
sweeping leg spinner amit mishra for his sixth four
bangladesh hopes of saving the match suffered setback when they lost two
wickets in the opening overs after resuming at
sharma struck in the day fourth over when he had ashraful caught by dravid
who dived to his left to hold low catch at second slip the batsman could add
only to his overnight score of
raqibul was beaten by the movement before being trapped leg before by
sharma leaving his team struggling at
skipper shakib al hasan was unbeaten on at the break with wicket keeper
mushfiqur rahim one
the second and final test will start in dhaka on january
obama to propose size limits for banks official
washington jan afp
us president barack obama will on thursday announce proposals to limit the size
and scope of financial institutions senior administration official told afp
couple of months ago the president began discussing with his economic team
the need to include in financial reform more specific and stronger provisions to
limit the size and scope of financial institutions to cut down on excessive risk
taking the official said
on thursday the president will announce series of measures that address
size and scope of the institutions
the proposal will include size and complexity limits the official said
col arb har
from haiti slums to its port us general tracks progress
port au prince jan afp
travelling away from port au prince biggest slum the general in charge of us
military assistance to haiti points to few vegetable stalls along the roadside
from the window of his
look commerce is starting to resurface says lieutenant general ken keen
happy to see some signs of normal life
keen leads us contingent of some men and women in uniform deployed to
assist haiti in the wake of last week massive earthquake which devastated
the country capital and left at least people dead
around am wednesday along with all the city residents keen felt the
sudden terror of aftershock more than week after the initial quake
the tremor which shook buildings and caused panic across much of the city
happened as keen spoke to his commander on the phone
said sir am going to have to go because the building is shaking he
recalled in an interview with afp
hours later he set out to survey the progress made in assisting the capital
destitute population and to see what remains to be done as critics deride the
international aid effort here for lack of coordination
coordination is one of our most significant challenges keen acknowledged but
he added we re getting in the right direction given the circumstances
in cite soleil the most dangerous part of port au prince the remains of
corrugated iron shanties can be seen
the infamous slum suffered relatively little damage by comparison with other
parts of the city
but humanitarian groups that distributed aid before the quake have disappeared
surrendering the streets to gangs whose ranks have been swelled by convicts who
escaped from the city main prison after the disaster
if there isn quick distribution of aid security will break down because
people are hungry and thirsty and because gangs have returned said aristide
rosemond head of the cite soleil police station
he lost his wife his parents and of his men in the quake
as keen arrived in the slum crowd of people unused to official visits crowded
round emerging from makeshift tents of fabric hung from tree branches
as they barraged him with complaints and requests he promised to get aid to
them soon with the help of united nations forces
yes we want to eat group of emaciated haitians said in french thank
you added an elderly man his face creased with wrinkles in english
we ll have to secure these distribution points keen said
if you bring truck of food it would be riot you want to do it so that it
safe you don want somebody to get killed over bottle of water
the commander next stop was the capital port also damaged by the
earthquake
at the dock first ship belonging to the french navy offloaded red cross aid
packages
the general logistical team has already completed survey of damage to the
port and decided it can be reopened to commercial traffic by friday
keen listened to the latest news with smile before exchanging few words with
french corporal
reopening the port could prove key to improving and expanding the aid effort by
taking some pressure off port au prince small one runway airport
the toussaint ouverture airfield is struggling to keep up with dozens of
flights day that are bringing in troops aid supplies and humanitarian
workers
in days there will be fully capacity at the port promised us brigadier
general mike dana in charge of logistics at the site
keen took his leave and headed onto the next site in an american effort that has
no defined length as yet
asked when there will be enough progress for us troops to leave he responded
will know it when see it
we will stay as long as needed he added
china jails former tiananmen democracy leader lawyer
beijing jan afp
former leader of the tiananmen pro democracy protests has been jailed for nine
years for fraud after authorities in hong kong handed him over to china his
lawyer and rights group said thursday
zhou yongjun student leader of the demonstrations that were ended by
bloody army crackdown was also fined yuan dollars by county
court in the southwest province of sichuan his lawyer chen zerui told afp
the judge only read out the sentence we are still awaiting the formal
written verdict chen said
we will appeal he added refusing any further comment on the case other than
expressing the hope that either zhou conviction would be overturned or his
sentence reduced on appeal
zhou was arrested in hong kong in september and handed over to chinese
police in case that brought into question the high degree of autonomy that
beijing promised the city upon its handover from britain
according to the hong kong based information centre for human rights and
democracy zhou has been in and out of china since serving two years in prison
following the tiananmen crackdown
after fleeing to the united states he returned to china in he was
rearrested and sentenced without trial to three years of hard labour
upon his release he again fled to the united states it said
when arrested in hong kong zhou was carrying fake passport and had allegedly
tried to receive funds from hong kong hang seng bank under the name given on
the false document the centre said
his fraud conviction stems from the attempted transaction it said
during the trial zhou denied the charge against him saying he had been the
victim of bad luck and mistaken identity the centre said
at the time of his arrest in hong kong zhou had been planning to return to the
mainland to visit his ailing father in sichuan it said
hong kong was returned to chinese rule in with the promise of high degree
of autonomy that included separate judicial system
critics say zhou case has brought into question that promise and noted that
the case should have been tried in hong kong where the crime allegedly took
place
indonesia to save tigers by selling them as pets
jakarta jan afp
the indonesian government has hatched plan to save sumatran tigers from
extinction by allowing people to adopt captive born animals as pets for
dollars pair officials said
the forestry ministry said the plan could be put into practice as early as this
year despite reservations from environmentalists who say the focus should be on
protecting habitats for the remaining tigers in the wild
we re not selling or renting tigers we re only authorising people to look
after them forestry ministry conservation chief darori told afp
these people will have to follow certain conditions the tigers will still
belong to the government
he said interested owners would have to deposit billion rupiah
dollars for pair of tigers which he called guarantee towards
conservation
the minimum area required to keep pair would be around square metres
square feet although something the size of three football fields would be
better ministry officials said
the animals health would be monitored by government experts and mistreatment
would be punished by fines or jail terms
let think of the tigers new homes as mini zoos darori said
another ministry official didi wuryanto dismissed fears the scheme could put
price on the heads of the few remaining wild tigers which are nearing
extinction due to habitat loss on their native sumatra island
much of the jungles which the tigers call home has been destroyed by rampant
illegal logging overseen by the forestry ministry
the chances of people trapping sumatran tigers alive in the wild and selling
them are very low because of the high risk of getting caught and people finding
out about it wuryanto said
also it very hard to look after tigers trapped in the wild they might
refuse to eat and die
he said there were about captive born tigers in indonesia
this idea of selling the tigers to the public came about after several wealthy
businessmen proposed buying them wuryanto said
they don just want to own horses they want to be acknowledged as special
people with prestige so they want to keep tigers
but we re not in it for the money we want to save the tigers
cricket england beat india in world cup
wellington jan afp
england allrounder ben stokes scored century to set up run win over
defending champions india at lincoln thursday in the final pool match of the
under cricket world cup
the group victory means england will play the west indies in their quarter
final on saturday while india will play pakistan the winner of group
england scored in their overs and middle order indian slump put the
champions on the back foot and they were finally dismissed for from
overs
english left arm pace bowler david payne and stokes rocked the indian
middle order with three quick wickets as they slipped from to after
getting off to solid start
number batsman saurav netrawalkar provided some hope for india scoring
from balls until his dismissal brought the match to an end
man of the match stokes finished with two wickets for england and had earlier
provided the backbone of the english innings scoring off balls
group winners south africa will play the group runner up sri lanka in
quarter final on sunday while hosts new zealand will take on australia
tennis venus powers way into third round
melbourne jan afp
venus williams powered her way into the third round of the australian open with
straightforward win over austrian sybille bammer on thursday
urgent obama to propose size limits for banks official
washington jan afp
us president barack obama will on thursday announce proposals to limit the size
and scope of financial institutions senior administration official told afp
prince william meets australia fire victims
whittlesea australia jan afp
britain prince william thursday met survivors of horrific firestorms that
killed people in rural australia last year during an emotional tour of
flattened towns
william took particular interest in february so called black saturday
wildfires and had requested that tour of the worst hit areas and meeting
survivors form key part of his visit down under
he travelled from sydney to the town of whittlesea to receive an official
briefing with victoria state premier john brumby about the firefighting
operation and reconstruction efforts before touring devastated areas
it terrifying what it can do isn it he remarked leafing through
photographs of the damage
brumby said the young prince was staggered by the scale of the destruction
hundreds of homeless and traumatised victims took refuge in whittlesea following
last february blazes and many turned out thursday to greet william whose
visit comes just two weeks ahead of the tragedy first anniversary
his convoy made stop at the humevale property of richard and diane fox so that
he could speak with them about their ordeal
it an honour it not every day that royalty comes to walk on your lovely
block of land said diane adding that the visit would lift spirits and help
the healing process
there been lot of heartache lot of mud she said
it not just about an area it about the people and there been so many
people affected not just us who lost our houses
it something for everybody now that the anniversary just around the corner
to be thinking well we re all able to move on and start getting our lives
back together again
the casually dressed royal who wore yellow ribbon on his shirt in memory of
the dead mixed easily with survivors during barbecue lunch inquiring after
the welfare of families and whether they intended to rebuild
delighted local children queued for chance to bat against the high profile
visitor during lunchtime cricket game with australian stars matthew hayden and
brett lee
for those who lost family or lost property to have prince william here and to
be able to talk to him to see that support it great comfort to them
it part of that rebuilding process said brumby
william is due to return to melbourne to deliver his only official speech of the
visit at an evening reception to mark australia day the january national
holiday that commemorates the arrival of white settlers in
media reports suggest he will briefly drop in at the australian open tennis
tournament before taking late night commercial flight back to britain by the
end of the week
several thousand well wishers gathered in sydney harbour district wednesday
hoping to catch glimpse of the young prince on his way to barbecue lunch on
the waterfront
in brief speech william thanked the australian public for embracing him with
such enthusiasm and joked he had been so thrilled with his reception he was
thinking about buying house in the harbour city
the young royal requested the trip to australia as way to get to know the
country and its people following official duties in new zealand where he
represented his grandmother queen elizabeth ii for the first time
william last visited australia in the arms of his popular late mother princess
diana when he was just nine months old in and commentators say his ready
humour and laid back manner gave him the diana touch with the public
his popular tour has revived debate over whether australia should become
republic with some opinion formers suggesting he had boosted the monarchist
cause
deputy prime minister julia gillard said there were no present plans to have
referendum on becoming republic move the australian people voted against in
