besides financial issues climate change an issue dealt with by davos before
and the failure at december summit in copenhagen to broach binding deal
also features prominently on the agenda
cramer noted that the question of business sustainability is taking on much
bigger profile than before in the environmental field
if there is one thing that davos does well it is that it gets businesses to
take the lead he said adding that he hoped businesses stand up to be counted
in pushing for an accord
businesses will also be called on to contribute on pressing issue that had
cropped up on the agenda the reconstruction of quake devastated haiti
haiti will be very much in the forefront of the discussions said schwab
during special session with former us president and un special representative
for haiti bill clinton we will launch major initiative to engage businesses
in the reconstruction of haiti he said
the initiative would go beyond fund raising for immediate humanitarian relief to
actually engage the business community well after the television cameras have
gone said robert greenhill the forum chief business officer
where we the forum can have the greatest impact is in encouraging the
business community to make sustained long term engagement with haiti
the afp sunday economics news advisory
paris jan afp
we shall shortly move the following economics business and financial news
stories
davos economy meet advancer
geneva
financial reforms climate talks and haiti reconstruction are set to dominate
the agenda of the world elites heading up to the swiss mountain resort of
davos next week for their annual meeting
words by hui min neo
davos economy meet banking bank finance regulate
zurich
pressure for bank reforms is set to grow at gathering of the world elite at
davos this week shortly after us president barack obama set the stage with an
offensive against wall street excesses
words by andre lehmann
us economy government regulate banking volcker focus
washington
the crackdown on us banks announced by president barack obama marks comeback
for paul volcker the economic adviser whose ideas forged the battle plan
words by marc jourdier file picture
us economy bank rate advancer
washington
the us federal reserve is expected to signal steady policy course at its
upcoming meeting in an effort to keep fragile economic recovery on track
analysts say
words by rob lever
nigeria oil politics
lagos
long awaited reforms to regulate nigeria oil sector are among raft of
ambitious government projects which have been stalled by the protracted absence
of ailing president umaru yar adua
words by jacques lhuillery
germany economy food industry farm
berlin
the french have love affair with food for the italians good meal is part of
their cultural dna and even the british are increasingly particular about what
passes their stiff upper lips but for the germans food is fuel
words by frederic happe file pictures
britain economy finance growth recession
london
an end to britain longest recession on record will likely be confirmed this
week but recovery for the debt ridden nation facing an election this year
will be far from smooth economists warned
words by roland jackson file pictures
eurozone economy bonds forex
paris
the crippling debt and shaky financial credibility undermining greece and some
of its partners on financial markets threaten the cohesion of the eurozone and
the euro as well analysts warn
words by nathaniel harrison
eu eurozone greece economy politics
brussels
there no such thing as the united states of europe but are the continent
national leaders beginning to wonder if there might not have to be to avoid
another greek debt crisis
words by roddy thomson
africa tourism sector fbl wc focus
madrid
the world cup and the obama effect of us president of african heritage
has sparked surge in interest in much of africa as tourist destination
industry experts say
words by denholm barnetson file picture
korea lashes out at seoul preemptive strike plan
seoul jan afp
north korea military on sunday lashed out at south korea plan to launch
preemptive strike against the communist state to thwart any nuclear attacks
state media said
the north general staff of the korean people army said in an angry
statement its armed forces regard south korean defence chief recent remarks
on the preemptive strike as an open declaration of war
they will take prompt and decisive military actions against any attempt of the
south korean puppet authorities and blow up the major targets including the
commanding center it said according to the korean central news agency
the north warning came days after the south defence minister kim tae young
reiterated that seoul would launch preemptive strike to frustrate any nuclear
attacks by the communist regime
we would have to strike right away if we detected clear intention to attack
south korea with nuclear weapons kim told seoul forum wednesday
it would be too late and the damage would be too big if in the case of north
korean nuclear attack we had to cope with the attack
kim made similar remarks in when he was chairman of the south joint
chiefs of staff
north korea also reacted angrily at the time temporarily expelling south korean
officials from seoul funded industrial park at kaesong just north of the
heavily fortified border
international efforts to bring north korea back to six party nuclear disarmament
talks have so far made little headway
north korea abandoned the talks last april month before defiantly conducting
second atomic bomb test following its first in
its foreign ministry repeated last week that it would not return to the talks
with the united states china south korea russia and japan until united
nations sanctions are lifted
the ministry also renewed demand for early discussions on peace pact aimed
at formally ending the war
the united states and south korea have rejected the demands saying the north
must first come back to the disarmament talks and show it is serious about
scrapping its atomic programmes
us assistant secretary of state kurt campbell will visit japan and south korea
early next month to discuss regional security issues including ways to revive
the six party talks
tennis murray first briton in years to reach aussie quarters
melbourne jan afp
fifth seed andy murray became the first briton in years to reach the
australian open quarter finals after win over american
rd seed john isner on sunday
murray who could face defending champion rafael nadal next is the first briton
into the last eight here since john lloyd in
the young scot showcased his exciting strokeplay against the big serving
american and has yet to drop set in his four victories at the year opening
grand slam
murray the us open finalist has now given himself chance to have
crack at nadal in the quarters with the spanish second seed taking on unseeded
croat ivo karlovic later sunday
ve been moving pretty well and played some great shots out there so
haven got much to complain about so far murray said
he neutralised the ft in metre tall isner serve which he rated one
of the best in men tennis
he has one of the best serves and had my coach serving at me from the service
line this morning just to get used to his height but once you get out there
it still tricky murray said
the first set was the key because he is little bit tired after he won the
auckland tournament last week and he had some long matches and he winning
doubles here as well
it was murray greater variety of strokes including drop shots and volleys to
the feet of isner which proved decisive
murray earned three service breaks and only conceded four break points in not
dropping his serve in the two hour minute contest on rod laver arena
while the imposing isner this season produced the greater number of
winners murray was immaculate and only made eight unforced errors in the
games
isner who was bidding to reach the quarter finals of grand slam for the first
time finished the tournament with aces
six wounded in ambush near us mine in indonesia police
timika indonesia jan afp
six people were wounded sunday in shooting ambush near us company freeport
mcmoran massive gold and copper mine in indonesia eastern papua region
police said
three policemen and three mine workers were hurt in the ambush on convoy of
buses and land cruisers heading to the coastal city of timika from the grasberg
mine senior police officer mada aksanta told reporters
we re combing the area of the incident to gather evidence we re still
investigating who the perpetrators are aksanta said
one of the employees was foreigner james lockhart who received wound near
his left eye from flying glass he added his nationality was not immediately
available
the attack is the latest in string of mysterious ambushes on the road linking
the mine with timika
australian mine technician drew grant was killed in an attack on july last
year while freeport security guard and policeman were killed the following
day
the freeport mine sits on some of the world richest gold reserves and the us
company local subsidiary is the largest single taxpayer to the indonesian
government
papua resource rich region on the western end of new guinea island has been
the site of low level separatist insurgency since its incorporation into
indonesia in the
britain sceptical on us banking reform
london jan afp
britain finance minister expressed scepticism sunday at proposed us banking
reforms saying they would not have prevented the financial crisis and warning
they risk undermining the global consensus
president barack obama announced plans last week to limit the size and scope of
us banks and financial firms saying they would never again get so big that
taxpayers have to bail them out or risk the economy
the plans aim to limit excessive risk taking and to protect taxpayers by
preventing banks or financial institutions from owning investing in or
sponsoring hedge fund or private equity funds
but chancellor of the exchequer alistair darling told the sunday times it is
always difficult to say ex ante that you would never intervene to save
particular sort of bank
in lehman brothers for example there wasn single retail deposit but
the then american administration allowed it to go down and that brought the rest
of the system down on the back of it
he said dividing up institutions to make them separate legal entities isn the
point the point is the connectivity between them in relation to their financial
transactions
equally the large small thing doesn run bailed out british bank
northern rock was very small in global terms but systemically it was quite
important when it got into trouble he added
darling said britain would continue to work with the united states on financial
reform but said any proposals must be workable and deliverable and
insisted any action had to be international
if everyone does their own thing it will achieve absolutely nothing the
finance minister said
the banks are global they are quite capable of organising themselves in such
way that if the regime is difficult in one country they will go to another
one and that doesn do anyone any good
korea lashes out at seoul preemptive strike plan
seoul jan afp
north korea military on sunday lashed out at south korea plan to launch
preemptive strike against the communist state to thwart any nuclear attacks
state media said
the north general staff of the korean people army said in an angry
statement its armed forces regard south korean defence chief recent remarks
on the preemptive strike as an open declaration of war
they will take prompt and decisive military actions against any attempt of the
south korean puppet authorities and blow up the major targets including the
commanding center it said according to the korean central news agency
tennis australian open results day seven
melbourne jan afp
results from day seven of the australian open at melbourne park here sunday
denotes seeding
men singles
th round
andy murray gbr bt john isner usa
women singles
th round
zheng jie chn bt alona bondarenko ukr
tennis murray into first open quarter final
melbourne jan afp
fifth seed andy murray became the first briton in years to reach the
australian open quarter finals after win over american
rd seed john isner on sunday
tennis zheng first chinese ever into melbourne quarters
melbourne jan afp
zheng jie became the first chinese player ever to reach the australian open
quarter finals on sunday when she upset st seeded ukrainian alona bondarenko
her reward is last eight showdown against either dinara safina or maria
kirilenko after outlasting bondarenko in one hour minutes on hisense arena
the year old from chengdu was slightly steadier than her ukrainian opponent
in match where both women struggled to hold their serves
the stage for tense battle was set from the very first game when bondarenko
broke zheng but that was simply the first of many in topsy turvy first set
each player was broken three times on the way to an inevitable tiebreak which
went much the same way as the set with first one player then the other gaining
the advantage
but at in the tiebreak zheng steadied and took the next two points to claim
the crucial first set
the second set began as the first ended with zheng breaking bondarenko only to
lose her serve immediately
there was another break of serve each until at when zheng broke bondarenko
to love and then held firm as she served for the match pumping her fist with
delight and waving to the large number of chinese fans in the stands
urgent korea lashes out at seoul preemptive strike plan
seoul jan afp
north korea military on sunday lashed out at south korea plan to launch
preemptive strike against the communist state to thwart any nuclear attacks
state media said
common touch draws big stars to india literary festival
jaipur india jan afp
from extremely humble beginnings the jaipur literary festival in india has
grown in just five years into major event that attracts star writers by
resolutely refusing to treat them as such
the inaugural festival in gathered just authors all indian residents
who drew crowd of around people fair number of whom appeared to be
tourists who had simply got lost according to the event co director the
writer william dalrymple
the event currently under way in jaipur in the western desert state of
rajasthan boasts more than writers and performers including the nigerian
nobel laureate wole soyinka two booker winners and five holders of the pulitzer
prize for literature
more than people were expected to have crammed into the packed venue of
the diggi palace converted th century mansion in the centre of jaipur
by the time the five day gathering ends monday
the explosive growth of the festival it now claims to be the largest and most
prestigious of its kind in asia has been achieved despite offering invited
authors no financial incentive nor pampering them in the manner to which many
are accustomed
some of the americans can be quite demanding dalrymple said good american
author expects to be flown first class and bring an assistant and we just say
no we don do that
with no vip green room to cosset star writers in the fashion of other literary
festivals like britain hay on wye the authors in jaipur are expected to
mingle drink and dine with the crowds
it just boisterous love it said tina brown the former new yorker and
vanity fair editor and regular on the international festival calendar
the hay festival has become such huge enterprise now and it sponsored to
the point of being like wimbledon or something it great but it highly
discovered this still has sense of being special she said
british writer geoff dyer who gave readings from his latest novel jeff in
venice death in varanasi said jaipur was unusual in providing level playing
field
in more hierarchically organised festival always feel was at the
bottom of the pile and missing out on something he said
don get me wrong like to rubberneck in the green room at hay as much as
the next person but like the way there no green room here it makes it
much more integrated experience
despite its exponential growth the festival which currently costs
dollars to organise has never made profit partly due to its free access
policy and it almost went under in
its saviour was an unlikely literary sponsor in the form of the indian
construction company dsc which covers one third of the cost
guess it not very glamorous building flyovers and this way they get their
name out there said dalrymple
while big ticket prize winning authors have played major part in raising the
festival profile the organisers have remained loyal to their mission of
promoting relatively undiscovered non english language indian writers
for me this festival has to represent the plurality and diversity of india
said co director namita gokhale
there was resistance people couldn understand that uncelebrated writers from
an indian language could hold their own against the so called stars she said
the event has focused on writers from india untouchable dalit caste
who often command large sales but remain largely unknown not only
internationally but also in mainstream indian literary circles which are
dominated by metropolitan middle upper class elite
for ajay navaria dalit who writes in hindi the jaipur festival provides
forum he is denied in the hindi literary community which he describes as
generally caste based insular and feudal
even in mainstream hindi literary seminars and conferences hindi dalit writers
are often set aside navaria said
this festival is more democratic my voice gets heard
alert
korea lashes out at seoul preemptive strike plan
forgotten haiti orphans finally get quake aid
leogane haiti jan afp
far from the capital off dusty lane lined with sugarcane the youngsters from
the leogane christian orphanage stare wide eyed at un truck the first to come
here since the devastating earthquake
these supplies are given to you by the united states we are coordinating with
them says solemn belagaswatta chandina the commander of sri lanka
contingent of united nations peacekeepers in leogane
thank you thank you exclaims pastor jean claude chalier surrounded by
barefoot children
located in remote area of legoane the town at the epicentre of the january
quake which killed more than people across the caribbean nation this
two story orphanage is little more than heap of rubble
miraculously most of the children were drying themselves in the sun after having
showers when the building collapsed not one was killed
but with the majority of the international aid effort focused on the capital
port au prince kilometres miles to the east the or so survivors
have had to look out for themselves since then
three employees from the us agency international crisis aid have also reached
the scene with lorry full of powdered milk and sheets for shelter
we discovered the place yesterday and we alerted the un said pat bradley one
of the agency staffers this leogane is the worse place ve seen so far
we are going to ask the canadian military to secure the place because we don
want to put orphans at risk if there is looting he adds
around him the children break off from their games and watch curiously as food
is handed out
was on the second floor during the quake and ran outside said fernande
now sleep over there she says pointing to matress lying on some
breeze blocks in the shade of the banana trees
behind her exhausted by the tropical heat baby sleeps naked on filthy
sheet
canadian soldier makes splint for teenager who spent two days trapped in
the ruins before she was rescued by neighbours
came to see if any of the children were sick here said nicolas champagne
leblanc there is nothing serious but some of them have injuries to the feet
and hands and others are dehydrated
the un promises to return and the convoy rolls off some supplies are still left
in the lorry
we are going to distribute the rest to the neighbors otherwise they might try
to loot goods from the orphanage explains one of the so called blue helmets
few hundred metres yards away the vehicle stops in the middle of the road
next to houses destroyed in the quake crowd forms quickly and the sri lankans
ask the women and children to form line serving the men afterwards
only women work in this country men do nothing said the sri lankan
commander
the hand out begins chaotically sea of outstretched hands surrounds the back
of the truck children get bottles of water hide them and then quickly get back
in line to the amusement of the un troops
water tinned tuna biscuits everything disappears into the hands of people
from the village where people were killed in the earthquake
it good news we haven had anything since tuesday smiles one mother
the un peacekeepers go off to replenish their supplies from the us marines who
are looking after stockpile of aid several kilometers away
an open tin of sardines wolfed down seconds after being handed out lies in the
sun where famished dog soon licks at it
round the world girl sailor pounded in violent storm
sydney jan afp
an australian schoolgirl attempting to become the youngest person to sail solo
around the world said she copped pounding during fierce storm in which her
yacht was repeatedly knocked under water
sixteen year old jessica watson faced the toughest conditions to date on her
non stop unassisted circumnavigation when she endured hurricane force winds and
waves up to metres feet high on the atlantic ocean on friday
we certainly copped pounding out here but we came through it all ok watson
said in comments posted on her website on saturday
it times like this when you realise why good preparation of the boat is so
important she handled it well
watson left sydney in her bright pink yacht ella pink lady more than three
months ago and during the storm passed the nautical mile mark on her
voyage
the tempest was the first time the schoolgirl had experienced knockdown
when the mast goes below horizontal and dives into the sea the boat was knocked
down four times during the eight hour storm and sustained minor damage
watson who was strapped into seat throughout the ordeal reported that the
winds had abated by saturday the swell had dropped to more comfortable three
metres and dolphins were swimming beside her boat
the queensland schoolgirl supporters believe her nautical mile journey
which she hopes to complete in eight months to break the record set by fellow
australian jesse martin then aged in is the maritime equivalent of
conquering mount everest
when watson left australia on october controversy raged over whether she was
too young and inexperienced to undertake the challenge after she smashed into
massive coal freighter during test sail in september
tennis china zheng first woman into quarter finals
melbourne jan afp
china zheng jie became the first woman into the australian open quarter finals
when she upset st seeded ukrainian alona bondarenko on sunday
zheng who became the first chinese player ever to reach the last eight in
melbourne will play either dinara safina or maria kirilenko next
afp sports schedule for sunday january
paris jan afp
afp sports schedule for sunday january
football
first africa cup of nations quarter finals as angola the hosts take on ghana and
ivory coast meet algeria
coverage by nick reeves david legge and samm audu
action in england scotland spain italy germany and france
slugs fbl afr fbl eng facup fbl esp fbl sco pr fbl fra cup fbl ger
fbl ita
tennis
seventh day of the australian open in melbourne with top stars including justine
henin rafa nadal and andy murray in action in round four
coverage by martin parry robert smith andrew dent and scott coughlan
master slug tennis open aus
rugby union
final european cup sixth and final round of group matches
master slug rugbyu eur cup
cycling
tour down under in australia concludes with sixth stage around central adelaide
with germany andre greipel in front
coverage by talek harris
slug cycling aus tour
golf
epga at the abu dhabi championship with martin kaymer leading by noe strokle
going into the final round as the german tries to repeat his success here in the
edition coverage by josh charles uspga bob hope classic in la quinta
california
slugs golf epga uae golf uspga
figure skating
european championships in tallinn
coverage by emmeline moore
us championships in spokane
slugs fskate eur fskate oly usa
alpine skiing
men world cup slalom at kitzbuhel and women world cup giant slalom at
cortina in italy
slugs ski world men ski world women
cricket bangladesh india at dhaka nd test until jan australia
pakistan at sydney nd odi
lawmaker bids to make nepal gay tourism destination
kathmandu jan afp
nepal will this year play host to royal wedding with difference when an
openly gay indian prince marries his partner at hindu temple in kathmandu
the ceremony is the start of what nepalese lawmaker sunil babu pant hopes will
become lucrative business for his country whose once thriving tourist
industry is still reeling from decade long civil war that ended in
pant the only openly gay member of nepal parliament has set up travel
agency catering specifically for homosexual tourists who he says face severe
discrimination in many asian countries
he believes nepal which has made large strides forward on gay rights issues in
recent years thanks largely to his own efforts is well placed to cash in on an
industry worth an estimated million dollars worldwide
if we brought even one percent of that market to nepal it would be big but
hoping we can attract percent said pant who was selected in may to
represent small communist party in nepal parliament
the choices for gay tourists in this region are very limited and there is
really no competition from china or india nepal is one of the few places where
adventure tourism is available to people he told afp
pant said he has been overwhelmed with enquiries since setting up his travel
agency pink mountain
the company will offer gay themed tours of nepal major tourist sites
including hindu temples that feature carvings of the god shiva depicted as half
man half woman as well as organise wedding ceremonies
pant plans have won the support of the tourism ministry in nepal deeply
conservative mainly hindu country that nonetheless has some of the most
progressive policies on homosexuality in asia
two years ago the country supreme court ordered the government to enact laws
to guarantee the rights of gays and lesbians after the blue diamond society
pressure group run by pant filed petition
the country new constitution currently being drafted by lawmakers is
expected to define marriage as union between two adult individuals regardless
of gender and to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation
laxman bhattarai joint secretary in nepal tourism ministry said the
government had no specific policies on gay tourism but would support pant
enterprise
the government has declared its ambition of attracting million tourists to
nepal in which is big increase he told afp around foreign
tourists travelled to nepal in
nepal is safe place to come now we want to develop new tourist destinations
and get people coming back after the civil war if he can help us in any way we
are happy
the wedding of indian prince manvendra singh gohil scion of the family that
once ruled rajpipla in the western state of gujarat looks likely to create the
kind of publicity nepal tourism business so desperately needs
pant believes it will be followed by many more such ceremonies and is already
organising wedding for lesbian couple from massachusetts who want to hold
their nuptials in mustang high in the himalayas
