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monday january th schedule
atlanta at miami pm
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new orleans at utah pm
portland at la clippers pm
all times are eastern
afp
iranian president visits central asia
dushanbe jan afp
iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad arrived in the central asian republic of
tajikistan monday for talks with his tajik counterpart emomali rakhmon to be
followed by visit to turkmenistan
it is ahmadinejad first international trip after bloody crackdown on
opposition supporters in tehran on december when at least eight people died
and hundreds were injured
the central theme will be the economy as well as questions of security tajik
foreign ministry spokesman davlat nazriyev told afp
the leaders were due to discuss iran investment of around million dollars
in the construction of hydroelectric power station in tajikistan expected to
open at the end of the year the spokesman said
ahmadinejad was also scheduled to meet iranians living in tajikistan and to
visit medical clinic funded by iran
he was scheduled to travel on to the central asian republic of turkmenistan on
tuesday to meet president gurbanguly berdymukhamedov
the presidents were to take part in ceremony wednesday to open gas pipeline
between turkmenistan and iran the pipeline will lessen energy rich
turkmenistan reliance on exports to russia
at least homes damaged in solomons quake
honiara solomon islands jan afp
about homes were damaged or destroyed when magnitude earthquake rocked
the solomon islands officials said monday following reconnaissance flight
over remote islands near the epicentre
the national disaster management office said it was possible thousands of people
could be homeless but an exact assessment could not be made until ground
parties arrived on tuesday
there are homes that have been affected but not all have been totally
destroyed disaster management office spokesman julian makaa told afp
the average home in the solomon islands would house four to five people
despite the damage to property and small tsunami generated by the earthquake
only few minor injuries were reported
patrol boat carrying water food and tarpaulins was dispatched from the
capital honiara for the worst affected areas of rendova island and marova lagoon
about kilometres miles away makaa said
the us geological survey said the quake struck about kilometres from the
island town of gizo the solomons second largest city early monday and was
measured at depth of about kilometres
rendova and marova are both near gizo
us plan calls for mideast peace deal in two years report
jerusalem jan afp
washington is pushing plan to restart israeli palestinian peace talks that
foresees reaching final deal in two years and agreeing on permanent borders in
nine months daily said monday
under the plan the israelis and palestinians will immediately start final
status talks that were suspended during the gaza war year ago israel maariv
newspaper reported citing unnamed sources
the paper said that egyptian president hosni mubarak was expected to press
palestinian president mahmud abbas to agree to the plan during meeting later
monday in the red sea resort of sharm el sheikh
there were no immediate comments on the report from israeli palestinian
egyptian or us officials
the palestinians have demanded full freeze on israeli settlement activity
before resuming negotiations
under the us plan the two sides will first discuss the issue of permanent
borders with deadline of nine months for reaching an agreement maariv said
the idea is to have an agreement on borders before the expiry of an israeli
moratorium on new settlement construction in the occupied west bank so israel
will start to build again only in those settlements that will be inside its
borders under the final status agreement it said
underlying the discussions will be the principle of land swap that has figured
prominently in past peace negotiations israel will keep its major settlement
blocks in the occupied west bank and the palestinians will get land inside
israel in return
after reaching an agreement on borders the sides will move on to discuss the
other core issues jerusalem and refugees maariv said
to entice both sides to agree to the deal washington is preparing letters of
guarantee
the palestinians will get letter guaranteeing that the two year deadline will
be final with no delay if no agreement is reached the palestinians will
request us backing for their demand to receive an area equal in size to the
territory under arab rule prior to maariv said
the israelis will receive note ratifying letter that former us president
george bush wrote to then israeli premier ariel sharon in in which he
said that final status agreement will be based on the principle of land swaps
that will allow israel to keep its major settlement blocs
arab diplomats in cairo told afp last week that us president barack obama
administration was drafting letters of guarantee but did not provide details
four us soldiers killed in afghan bomb blast nato
kabul jan afp
four us soldiers serving under the nato force have been killed in bomb blast
in southern afghanistan days after seven cia agents died in suicide bombing
the alliance said monday
the four were serving with the international security assistance force isaf
and were caught in blast in southern taliban hotspot on sunday they were
the first reported foreign military deaths in afghanistan in
four isaf service members from the united states died yesterday following an
ied strike in southern afghanistan the isaf statement said referring to an
improvised explosive device the taliban weapon of choice
the blast deaths come after seven us cia agents were killed on wednesday when
suicide bomber blew himself up on military base in eastern khost province and
as foreign military deaths soar in afghanistan
an afghan police official speaking on condition of anonymity told afp that the
four soldiers were killed in panjwayi district in kandahar province
flashpoint of taliban unrest
taliban spokesman yousuf ahmadi called from an unknown location and told afp
we claim responsibility for this attack he gave the same location of the ied
strikes as the police official
sunday fatalities were the first reported foreign military deaths in
afghanistan this year after saw foreign troops killed in the country
the deadliest year since the us led ouster of the taliban regime
most troop deaths are caused by ieds home made bombs used by the taliban and
other islamist insurgents who are said to have little other capability to fight
the well armed nato and afghan troops
there are more than international troops under both us and nato command
deployed in afghanistan to curb an increasingly deadly insurgency being waged by
the remnants of the taliban
under washington new war plan troop numbers are due to increase to about
this year in bid to turn around the costly and unpopular war
since being ousted from power the remnants of the taliban have regrouped in the
form of an islamist insurgency trying to topple the western sponsored government
in kabul and regain power
the rebels have constantly rejected calls for reconciliation by president hamid
karzai
urgent at least homes damaged in solomons quake
honiara jan afp
about homes were damaged or destroyed when powerful magnitude
earthquake rocked the solomon islands officials said monday following
reconnaissance flight over remote islands near the epicentre
us british missions in yemen stay shut over security alert
sanaa jan afp
the american and british embassies in sanaa remained shut for second day
monday following indications that an al qaeda branch linked to botched us
airliner bombing is targeting western interests
yemeni authorities meanwhile have tightened security measures at and around the
capital airport as well as around several embassies an afp correspondent
said
new checkpoints were installed along the airport road while security measures
were reinforced around the missions of britain germany saudi arabia and the
united states
security officer at the us mission in sanaa told afp telephonically that the
embassy was still closed without providing further information
western diplomat meanwhile said that the british embassy remained shut
the us embassy on sunday announced closing in response to ongoing threats by
al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap to attack american interests in yemen
britain followed suit with spokeswoman for the foreign office in london
confirming its sanaa embassy had been closed for security reasons
us president barack obama has accused the yemen based aqap of arming and
training nigerian accused of trying to blow up detroit bound northwest
airlines jet on christmas day
aqap claimed responsibility for the failed attack and called for strikes on
embassies in yemen
obama counter terrorism advisor john brennan said sunday there were
indications of an al qaeda plot to launch attacks in yemen
there are indications that al qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against
target inside of sanaa possibly our embassy he said
britain followed suit closing its embassy while spain decided to restrict
public access to its sanaa embassy
fears grew after aqap urged muslims to attack western targets in the
impoverished arabian peninsula country after claiming the attack
we call upon every muslim who cares about his religion and doctrine to assist
in expelling the apostasies from the arabian peninsula by killing every
crusader who works at their embassies or other places and declare an all out
war against every crusader on the prophet mohammed peninsula on land air
and sea it said in statement
alert
at least houses damaged or destroyed in solomons quake officials
tennis henin winds back clock with comeback win
brisbane australia jan afp
belgian justine henin won her first match since making her tennis comeback when
she upset second seeded russian nadia petrova in the first round of the
brisbane international monday
the former world number one proved she can still be force in the women game
as she showed steely determination to defeat petrova
while her trademark backhand may have been little rusty in patches henin was
able to convert break points at key moments in both sets to clinch victory
henin retired from tennis in may while ranked number one in the world
saying she had lost the desire to compete at the top level
however soon after compatriot kim clijsters won the us open after making
her own comeback henin announced that she too was coming out of retirement
clijsters also playing in brisbane won her first round match on sunday and
organisers will be delighted that there is still chance the two belgian rivals
will meet in saturday final
henin showed no signs of nerves against petrova as the two players comfortably
held their opening service games
the belgian had chance to break at but petrova saved one break point to
keep her nose in front
however at henin brought up two more break points and this time she wasn
to be denied moving ahead then holding serve to love to claim the first
set
the two players traded early breaks in the second before the set settled into
similar pattern to the first henin again having chance at before breaking
at and holding serve for victory
she now plays sesil karatancheva of kazakhstan in the second round ahead of
probable quarter final against seventh seeded hungarian melinda czink
gm china reports record sales in
shanghai jan afp
us auto giant general motors said monday it had sold record million
vehicles in china last year and expressed optimism for even better results in
the year to come
the results marked percent sales jump year on year
gm market share was up percentage points to an estimated percent
thanks to strong sales of buick chevrolet and wuling vehicles the company said
in statement
despite the sales records in it looks as if will be even stronger
gm china group president kevin wale said in the statement
the industry outlook is strong and we expect more growth albeit on somewhat
slower pace
the detroit auto giant noted china whose car sales outstripped those of the
united states for the first time in january to make the asian giant the
world biggest auto market would be important to drive gm overall sales
as china asserts itself as the world largest vehicle market our domestic
operations will be counted on to deliver solid results wale said
the country auto sales for the first months of the year reached
million units according to the china association of automobile manufacturers
boosted by beijing efforts to stimulate domestic consumption
sales by shanghai gm gm car joint venture with china largest auto maker
saic motor corp rose percent from the previous year to units in
saic gm wuling gm commercial vehicle joint venture with saic and china
liuzhou wuling automobile sold million vehicles last year up
percent
faw gm light duty commercial vehicle tie up with china faw group launched
in august sold light trucks and vans in the four months until the end of
december
korea seeks turning point in ties with north
seoul jan afp
south korea said on monday it was seeking turning point in relations with
north korea and again urged its communist nuclear armed northern neighbour to
disarm
president lee myung bak remarks followed call by north korea on friday for
an end to hostile relations with south korea key ally the united states and
nuclear free peninsula
this year south korea and north korea should create turning point in their
relations lee said in nationally television new year address suggesting
the establishment of an inter korean dialogue body
inter korean ties have been strained since the conservative lee took office in
and linked the south massive aid and economic cooperation to progress in
the north nuclear disarmament
lee also repeated his call for north korea to return as soon as possible to
the six party nuclear disarmament talks that pyongyang quit nine months ago so
that the two neighbours can improve their relationship
for this there needs to be standing dialogue organisation between the south
and the north lee said without elaborating
wish north korea can sincerely open its heart and walk on the path of
dialogue and cooperation
presidential official told afp that lee had proposed in an interview with the
washington post in april that both koreas establish permanent high level
liaison offices in each other capital
but the official did not confirm whether lee was referring to the liaison
offices in his proposal for an inter korean dialogue body
in policy setting editorial in the state media on new year day north korea
called for an end to hostile relations with the us and vowed to work towards
nuclear free peninsula
the fundamental task for ensuring peace and stability on the korean peninsula
and in the rest of asia is to put an end to the hostile relationship between the
dprk north korea and the usa the editorial said
it is the consistent stand of the dprk to establish lasting peace system on
the korean peninsula and make it nuclear free through dialogue and
negotiations
north korea left six party nuclear disarmament talks in april last year in
protest at international censure over its launch of long range rocket in may
it staged its second nuclear test since
us envoy stephen bosworth visited the communist nation last month and reached
common understanding on the need to resume the talks which group the two
koreas japan china russia and the united states however no date has been
fixed
south korean unification minister hyun in taek in charge of handling cross
border relations said monday he would bring in new paradigm of relationship
between the two koreas this year
we should try our best to achieve improvement of the south north relationship
with principles and productive humanitarianism strengthening the potential for
preparing for unification hyun said in new year message
most of all turning point of denuclearisation must be made through
productive communication between south korea and north korea
novartis says buys controlling stake in alcon
basel switzerland jan afp
swiss pharmaceutical group novartis on monday said it had bought controlling
stake in the world largest eye care firm alcon from nestle for billion
dollars billion euros
the purchase of the additional percent stake in alcon follows deal reached
in between novartis and food giant nestle
the deal saw novartis buy about quarter of alcon for billion dollars
with an option to purchase nestle additional percent majority stake from
january
four us soldiers killed in afghanistan unrest nato
kabul jan afp
four us soldiers serving under nato international security assistance force
have been killed in bomb blast in southern afghanistan the alliance said in
statement monday
the soldiers died following an improvised explosive device strike in the south
on sunday the isaf statement said without giving further details
athletics olympics or bust as rawlinson removes implants
sydney jan afp
star hurdler jana rawlinson has had her breast implants removed to boost her
chances of winning medal for australia at the olympics magazine
reported on monday
rawlinson whose private life has often made headlines in australia said she
enjoyed having larger breasts but did not want to short change australia
absolutely loved having bigger boobs but finally ve grown up enough to
know myself to be honest about who am when look in the mirror rawlinson
told the woman day magazine
don want to short change australia either want to feel the most
athletic can to know that standing on the track in london the fittest
can be
the double world champion who reportedly plans to remarry estranged
husband chris rawlinson told the magazine she had the implants because she was
unhappy with her athletic figure
when looked in the mirror just saw muscled arms broad shoulders and big
strong legs she said these are assets need to run well but they didn
make me feel like an attractive woman
there are couple of girls who won name in world athletics who are
olympic champions but they look like men and don want to be like that
rawlinson won the hurdles at the paris world championships and four
years later in osaka japan
urgent four us soldiers die in afghanistan unrest nato
kabul jan afp
four us soldiers serving under nato international security assistance force
have been killed in bomb blast in southern afghanistan the alliance said in
statement monday
alert
four us soldiers killed in afghanistan unrest nato
powerful quake strikes near solomon islands
honiara solomon islands jan afp
powerful magnitude earthquake struck near the solomon islands in the
western pacific on monday triggering panic and causing some damage but no major
tsunami officials said
several houses collapsed leaving number of people homeless and some tourists
reportedly suffered minor injuries disaster officials said after series of
tremors shook the area
the us geological survey said the epicentre of the biggest quake was about
kilometres from the earthquake prone island town of gizo measured at depth of
about kilometres miles
it was the largest of swarm of tremors centred on the area ignited by
magnitude quake early on monday and followed several hours later by aftershocks
of magnitude and and
on the tiny island of rendova near gizo several houses collapsed but there
were no other reports of damage julian makaa of the national disaster
management office told afp
the earthquake caused small wave and few people suffered minor injuries as
they ran away from the shore in panic he said
the disaster management office had also received radio reports that some
tourists received minor injuries on the conservation island of tetepare and
there were houses destroyed at marovo lagoon both near rendova
patrol boat will be sent to the area with water food and tarpaulins as
precaution makaa said adding residents on the outer islands have been warned
to remain alert for sea and tide fluctuations as aftershocks continue
about people have reportedly been made homeless
an magnitude earthquake in the same area nearly three years ago killed
people destroyed hundreds of homes and displaced thousands
the hawaii based tsunami warning centre said the latest earthquake was powerful
enough to have been destructive along coasts near the epicentre but there was no
wider threat
no tsunami threat exists for other coastal areas in the pacific although some
other areas may experience small non destructive sea level changes lasting up
to several hours the centre said in bulletin
gizo on ghizo island is the second largest town in the solomon islands
archipelago with population of around
it is about kilometres northwest of the capital honiara on the island of
guadalcanal where residents said they felt shakes but there was no damage
honiara is kilometres from where the nest of earthquakes was centred
geoscience australia seismologist clive collins said the main quake which was
estimated at magnitude by australian seismologists was probably about
kilometres from the nearest land
further south in earthquake prone new zealand tremors of and were
recorded over the past hours
like much of the pacific the solomons regularly experiences large earthquakes
and lies on the pacific ring of fire which generates most of the world major
tremors
gizo harbour lost most of it wharves and jetties in the quake and
subsequent tsunami which was officially put at five metres high but with some
reports of metre high wall of water
on september last year devastating tsunami swept along coasts in the
pacific islands of samoa and tonga killing people and wiping out entire
villages
villages and resorts in samoa american samoa and northern tonga were flattened
by the giant waves generated by the massive earthquake the strongest in
nearly century
record snow brings travel misery to china south korea
beijing jan afp
record snow disrupted air and road travel in northeast asia on monday grounding
dozens of planes in china and south korea and forcing schools to close in
beijing with more freezing weather on the way
one person was killed and at least two others were missing in the mountains of
central japan after snow fell across the region
the chinese capital on sunday received its heaviest daily snowfall in nearly six
decades the state xinhua news agency reported
the central meteorological administration reported that up to centimetres
inches had fallen on beijing and tianjin over the weekend while skies were
clear in the capital monday more snow was expected in northeast china
at beijing international airport where nearly flights were cancelled
or delayed on sunday workers had cleared the runways and the situation was
returning to normal an airport spokesman told afp
more than flights on were nevertheless delayed and two dozen cancelled as of
early monday the spokesman said adding that workers needed to de ice the snow
covered planes that were stuck at the weekend
don remember ever seeing such heavy snowfall in the city one female
beijinger surnamed zhou told the china daily
in the south korean capital seoul around centimetres inches of snow
fell monday marking the biggest snowfall since record keeping began in
according to the korea meteorological administration kma
the blanket of thick white snow forced the cancellation of dozens of domestic
flights and about international flights were delayed airport officials said
on the roads up to highways in beijing and the surrounding areas were closed
or only partially open to traffic on monday the china news service reported
inner city roads remained icy and covered with snow
more than volunteers were deployed to keep order at crowded bus stops
xinhua quoted song jianguo head of the beijing traffic management bureau as
saying
in seoul traffic was chaotic forcing the late start of cabinet meeting with
ministers stuck in the wintry mess more snow was expected in seoul later
monday but clear skies were forecast for tuesday and wednesday
more than schools in beijing and tianjin were forced to shut their doors
on monday giving more than million students an extra day of new year
holiday state media reported
temperatures in beijing were expected to drop to minus degrees celsius three
fahrenheit on monday the coldest in the capital in decades the china daily
reported
in northern heilongjiang province the mercury has already plummeted to minus
celsius the paper said
farther east in japan police said they had found the body of climber on mount
hodaka in central gifu prefecture it was not immediately clear if it was the
body of one of three climbers who went missing there at the weekend
another party of seven were rescued safely after becoming stranded on mount
terachi also in gifu prefecture due to the heavy snow he said
the south korean weather office said snow also fell in north korea with at
least eight centimetres reported in the western port of haeju
urgent novartis says buys additional percent stake in alcon
basel switzerland jan afp
swiss pharmaceutical group novartis on monday said it bought an additional
percent stake in the world biggest eye firm alcon from nestle for billion
dollars billion euros
tennis henin wins comeback match
brisbane australia jan afp
belgian justine henin won her first match since making her tennis comeback when
she upset second seeded russian nadia petrova in the first round of the
brisbane international monday
asian markets begin on upbeat note
hong kong jan afp
asian markets began the new decade in broadly upbeat fashion monday with dealers
in tokyo lifted by news of extended credit to japan airlines and strong yen as
well as positive chinese manufacturing data
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 more than percent after the government on
sunday agreed to double state funded loan to the cash strapped carrier to
billion yen billion dollars
jal shares had plunged percent on the last trading day of sinking at
one stage to record low on fears asia largest airline might file for
bankruptcy protection
exporters were also helped by the dollar stronger position against the yen
the dollar eased to yen in tokyo monday afternoon trade down from
in new york late thursday and the euro fell to dollars from
dollars and to yen from
the dollar softened against the yen but its overall tone remained firm thanks to
optimism about prospects for the us economy dealers said
but hong kong was percent lower by the break while shanghai was
percent off due to inflationary fears
news that china purchasing managers index rose to percent in december
from in november lifted the market early on but was unable to help sustain
the gains
improvement in december pmi is in line with expectations and investors are
now more concerned about possible inflation risks tipped by the manufacturing
index qiu yanying an analyst at tx investment said
