• diary political and General News Events from Feb 2

aid and loans on Tuesday, saying it was like a burglar shouting 'stop thief!'
Taiwan, which China considers a breakaway province, said Beijing had offered five African nations aid, loans and debt write-offs during recent state visits, highlighting tit-fot-tat accusations of chequebook diplomacy between the political rivals.
- - - -
DAKAR - The United Nations should send a force to Chad immediately to protect civilians on the violent eastern border with Sudan, despite reservations expressed by ex-U.N. chief Kofi Annan, Human Rights Watch said.
The U.S.-based human rights group called on the U.N. Security Council to authorise the deployment of international military personnel and monitors to eastern Chad, where hundreds of civilians have been killed in militia raids and inter-communal ethnic violence in the last few months.
- - - -
AFRICA-HIGHLIGHTS 1505 GMT|LANGEN|AFA|CSA|LBY|RWSA|RWS|REULB|GNS|BNX|AFN|G|RBN|RNP|DNP|PGE|SXNA
Document LBA0000020070109e319001cj

Factiva Insurance Risk Summary - Jan. 9, 2007
1,487 words

9 January 2007

Factiva Insurance Risk Summary

FIRS

English

© 2007 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved
* State Farm close to settling Katrina suits
* Insurance rates to drop in most areas of U.S. - group
* N.Y. subway bomb plotter gets 30 years in prison
* N.Y. area hit by gas smell; 19 in hospital
* Dead birds in Texas add to U.S. jitters
* Port of Miami bomb scare was false alarm
* French police arrest two ETA suspects
* Islamist group wants attacks on French in Algeria
* Blockade in poll dispute halts Bangladesh port
* China says abducted workers in Nigeria safe
* China says militants still at large in northwest
* Australia warns of bombs in southern Philippines
* Large quake strikes deep under ocean near Fiji
* Indonesian woman tests positive for bird flu
* After SARS, Beijing on alert for mass fever cases
* Obesity, weight gain tied to prostate cancer death
* Genes, lifestyle raise macular degeneration risk
************************************************
* State Farm close to settling Katrina suits
NEW YORK (Reuters) - State Farm, the largest U.S. home insurer, said it is close to settling hundreds of lawsuits over its payments for homes wrecked by Hurricane Katrina along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. A company spokesman confirmed Tuesday's New York Times report which cited lawyers briefed on the talks but would not provide additional comment.
* Insurance rates to drop in most areas of U.S. - group
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rates for commercial, auto and homeowners insurance will fall in most areas of the United States this year but will continue to rise in storm-prone coastal areas, an insurance industry group said on Monday. The industry-sponsored Insurance Information Institute said property and casualty insurers had such a good year in 2006, when no hurricanes hit the United States, that they had built up combined reserves by $55.7 billion.
* N.Y. subway bomb plotter gets 30 years in prison
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Pakistani immigrant convicted of plotting to set off a bomb in New York City's Herald Square subway station was sentenced on Monday to 30 years in prison. A jury found Shahawar Matin Siraj guilty in May of scheming to blow up the midtown Manhattan station, below a thriving shopping district that includes Macy's department store and just a block from the Empire State Building.
* N.Y. area hit by gas smell; 19 in hospital
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A powerful, mysterious smell of gas wafted through much of Manhattan and parts of New Jersey on Monday, forcing building evacuations and a temporary suspension of commuter train service before dissipating by mid-afternoon. Officials were quick to stress that the odor was not dangerous, but at least 19 people went to the hospital with minor ailments and its wide extent provoked jitters in a city that is constantly reminded of the Sept. 11 attacks.
* Dead birds in Texas add to U.S. jitters
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - The discovery of 63 dead birds in downtown Austin led officials to close off part of the Texas city's busy commercial area on Monday, but it was reopened after investigators found no danger to humans. The closure came on a day when several odd incidents, including a mysterious gas smell in New York City and a false alarm for explosives at the port of Miami, gave rise to U.S. jitters about possible extremist attacks.
* Port of Miami bomb scare was false alarm
MIAMI (Reuters) - A police bomb squad blew up a suspicious box of equipment bound for a cruise ship at the Port of Miami on Monday but said it was a false alarm and no explosives were found. The box contained fire sprinkler parts with a chemical that set off an alarm as it was put through a security scanner, Miami-Dade County Police Detective Robert Williams said.
* French police arrest two ETA suspects
MADRID (Reuters) - Police arrested two suspected ETA members in southern France on Tuesday, the Spanish Interior Ministry said, 10 days after the Basque separatist group killed two people by blowing up a car park at Madrid airport. They were the first arrests since the bombing, in which ETA killed for the first time since May 2003, shattered a nine-month ceasefire and ended a peace process in the Basque Country.
* Islamist group wants attacks on French in Algeria
DUBAI (Reuters) - The leader of an al Qaeda-linked Algerian militant group called in a Web video posted on Monday for attacks against the French and their government allies in the North African country. Abu Musab Abdul-Wadud, leader of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), said the group was awaiting instructions from Osama bin Laden after acquiring weapons and ammunition.
* Blockade in poll dispute halts Bangladesh port
DHAKA (Reuters) - Some 56 foreign and local vessels are caught up in protests at Chittagong port ahead of elections in Bangladesh, unable to load or unload due to a three-day nationwide transport blockade, officials said on Tuesday. A multi-party political alliance led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, leader of the Awami League party, has enforced the blockade since Sunday in protest at what it says is the interim government's failure to ensure a free and fair vote on Jan. 22.
* China says abducted workers in Nigeria safe
BEIJING (Reuters) - Five Chinese workers abducted in Nigeria last week are safe and Chinese Embassy officials are trying to secure their release, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. Gunmen broke into the rented apartment where the telecom workers were staying and forced them away at gunpoint on Friday in Nigeria's southern oil-producing Niger Delta.
* China says militants still at large in northwest
BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Tuesday that the hunt was still on for terrorists at large, adding they had links to international forces, a day after it disclosed details of a massive raid in its Central Asian border region of Xinjiang. Police killed 18 people the government described as terrorists and captured another 17 in the raid on a training camp in the Pamirs plateau in southern Xinjiang that it said was run by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement.
* Australia warns of bombs in southern Philippines
MANILA (Reuters) - The Australian embassy in Manila warned on Monday that militants could be planning to bomb cities in the southern Philippines this week when 16 Asian leaders will gather in the central Philippines for a rescheduled summit. The Australian government has already warned its citizens to stay away from the central island of Cebu while the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other East Asian countries meet there on Jan 10-15.
* Large quake strikes deep under ocean near Fiji
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck deep under the ocean northeast of Fiji, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Monday. The quake struck 155 miles (255 km) off Fiji's Ndoi Island in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 253 miles (407.8 km) at 8:52 a.m. local time on Tuesday (2052 GMT on Monday), the USGS said.
* Indonesian woman tests positive for bird flu
JAKARTA (Reuters) - A 37-year-old woman has tested positive for bird flu in Indonesia and is being treated in a hospital on the outskirts of the capital, a Health Ministry official said on Tuesday. The case comes after a 14-year-old boy tested positive for bird flu at the weekend, the country's first new infection in almost two months.
* After SARS, Beijing on alert for mass fever cases
BEIJING (Reuters) - China, where deadly SARS first emerged in 2002, is on the alert for fever among groups of flu sufferers in its freezing capital, Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, the symptoms of which are similar to those of flu, spread as far afield as Canada before it was brought under control in 2003.
* Obesity, weight gain tied to prostate cancer death
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Excess weight may not raise a man's risk of developing prostate cancer, but it may make him more likely to die of the disease, researchers reported Monday. In a study of nearly 288,000 U.S. men, researchers found that obese men were actually less likely than their thinner counterparts to develop prostate cancer during the 5-year study period.
* Genes, lifestyle raise macular degeneration risk
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New research suggests that one's genetic make-up interacts with two modifiable risk factors -- obesity and smoking -- to multiply the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a potentially blinding degenerative eye disorder. "These new data suggest that the level of risk conferred by these factors (obesity and smoking) depends pretty strongly on a person's underlying genetic predisposition," said Dr. Debra A. Schaumberg from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
*************************************************
Full versions of these and other insurance stories are available from Factiva.com.
Document FIRS000020070109e31900001

The AFP Asia news agenda
AFP

1,238 words

8 January 2007

09:46 PM

Agence France Presse

AFPR

English

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007 All reproduction and presentation rights reserved.
HONG KONG, Jan 9, 2007 (AFP) -
Duty editor: John Weaver
News desk: + 852 2829 6211
ASIA NEWS HIGHLIGHTS ON TUESDAY:
+ Bangladesh braces for more violence
+ US ship in Indonesia to aid jet hunt
+ Israeli PM in China for talks on Iran
+ Thailand considers new rules for foreign firms
DHAKA: Reporting on day three of a nationwide transport blockade staged by Bangladesh's opposition to force the government to cancel this month's polls, after dozens are hurt in violent clashes with police (BANGLADESH-VOTE-STRIKE)
JAKARTA: Reporting on developments in search for a missing aircraft with 102 people on board after a navy ship detected metal objects on the sea bed (INDONESIA-ACCIDENT-AIR)
BEIJING: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert arrives in China for the last and possibly trickiest stop on his tour of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council amid efforts to stop Iran's controversial nuclear programme (MIDEAST-ISRAEL-CHINA-DIPLOMACY-OLMERT)
BANGKOK: Reporting as Thai cabinet meets at 0230 GMT to consider potentially controversial new rules to regulate foreign businesses here (THAILAND-INVESTMENT-TRADE)
OTHER NEWS ITEMS:
BANGKOK: Moving story about Bangkok stepping up security after the deadly New Year's Eve blasts, amid warnings of more attacks (THAILAND-ATTACKS-BLAST-SECURITY)
-- Monitoring as Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont addresses UN representatives at 0700 GMT on the kingdom's post-coup economic policy (THAILAND-UN-POLITICS-ECONOMY)
-- Reporting on Jet Airways (India), which holds a press conference at 0400 GMT to announce new routes to Thailand (THAILAND-INDIA-AVIATION-COMPANY-JET)
BEIJING: Following developments after Chinese authorities announced they had destroyed an Islamist camp, killing 18 suspected terrorists and capturing 17 others in the far northwest Xinjiang region (CHINA-ATTACKS-XINJIANG)
-- Reporting on last day of a visit to China by Segolene Royal, a socialist campaigning to become France's first woman president (CHINA-FRANCE-VOTE-ROYAL)
-- Moving item on English Premiership champions Chelsea's big plans for China after signing their first commercial contract here this week (FBL-ENG-CHN-PR-CHELSEA-PR-ASIA)
-- China Life Insurance Co, the nation's largest life insurer, makes its trading debut in Shanghai (CHINA-STOCKS-IPO-INSURANCE-COMPANY)
-- Monitoring efforts to obtain the release of five Chinese telecommunications workers kidnapped in Nigeria (NIGERIA-UNREST-OIL-CHINA)
-- Watching for Chinese reaction to US statement that six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program are set to resume later this month (NKOREA-NUCLEAR-WEAPONS-TALKS)
-- Foreign ministry briefing at 0645 GMT
COLOMBO: Reporting as Sri Lanka's army and Tamil Tiger rebels step up the violence in the island nation's bitter ethnic conflict (SRILANKA-UNREST)
DILI: Former East Timor home affairs minister Rogerio Lobato goes on trial over the illegal distribution of weapons to civilians during unrest in 2006 (TIMOR-UNREST-TRIAL)
ISLAMABAD: Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay arrives in Pakistan to discuss bilateral ties, as well as the situation in neighbouring Afghanistan (PAKISTAN-CANADA)
-- Monitoring any reaction to the UN's call for Pakistan to drop plans to mine its border with Afghanistan (AFGHANISTAN-UNREST-PAKISTAN)
JAKARTA: Following search for hundreds of people missing after a ferry sank in a storm off Java island as rescuers continue to find survivors more than a week after the ship went down (INDONESIA-ACCIDENT-SEA)
-- Transport safety officials hold a discussion with foreign correspondents on recent aviation and marine disasters from 0330 GMT (INDONESIA-ACCIDENT-AIR-SEA-SAFETY)
KATHMANDU: Monitoring as Nepal's government says it will have parliament pass an interim constitution on January 15 to pave the way for Maoist rebels to join the political mainstream (NEPAL-POLITICS)
KUALA LUMPUR: Monitoring the floods crisis in Malaysia, which has claimed 17 lives, as forecasters predict more heavy downpours (MALAYSIA-WEATHER-FLOODS)
MANILA: Reporting on security situation in central Cebu province on the eve of the rescheduled Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit (ASEAN-SUMMIT)
-- Security is tight as thousands of devotees flock to Manila for the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Black Nazarene, an religious icon from Mexico believed to have miraculous powers (PHILIPPINES-RELIGION-PROCESSION)
NEW DELHI: Reporting after Indian police arrest two suspects following the discovery of the bodies of at least 17 children just outside New Delhi (INDIA-CRIME-MURDER-CHILDREN)
-- Reporting from Guwahati after suspected separatist rebels kill 66 people in a string of attacks in India's insurgency-racked northeast, prompting New Delhi to offer fresh peace talks (INDIA-NORTHEAST-UNREST)
-- Reporting on latest developments in takeover battle for the nation's fourth-largest mobile phone group, Hutchison Essar (INDIA-HONGKONG-BRITAIN-TELECOM-HUTCHISON)
-- Monitoring as millions of Hindus gather at the Ganges River in the northern city of Allahabad for the Kumbh Mela ritual bathing ceremony (INDIA-RELIGION-FESTIVAL)
-- Reporting as British oil firm Cairn Energy's Indian subsidiary will list on Indian stock exchanges after an initial share sale raised about 6.32 billion dollars (INDIA-BRITAIN-COMPANY-OIL-CAIRN)
-- We will move a feature on the man who has given India's capital a world-class rail network in record time, Elattuvalapil Sreedharan, hailed as a role model for future generations (INDIA-TRANSPORT-ECONOMY-METRO)
SEOUL: General Burwell B. Bell, the commander of US forces in South Korea, holds a news conference at 0100 GMT on the US-South Korean military alliance (SKOREA-US-MILITARY)
-- President Roh Moo-Hyun makes a statement on domestic politics at around 0230 GMT (SKOREA-POLITICS)
-- The deputy head of South Korea's financial watchdog has been arrested for bribery in a widening corruption scandal (SKOREA-FINANCE-CORRUPTION)
-- Monitoring a labor dispute at Hyundai Motor after the automaker filed a damages suit against its union over losses caused by strikes (SKOREA-AUTO-HYUNDAI)
SINGAPORE: Reporting on world oil prices in Asian trade (COMMODITIES-ENERGY-ASIA-OIL-PRICE)
SYDNEY: Monitoring as inflation and drought take toll on Australian economy (AUSTRALIA-ECONOMY)
-- Tennis. Sydney International tournament (TENNIS-WTA-ATP-AUS)
TAIPEI: Following up financial crisis sparked by the filing for insolvency protection by two units of the Rebar conglomerate (TAIWAN-BANKING)
-- United Microelectronics Corporation to release December sales figures at 0600 GMT (TAIWAN-CHIP-UMC-COMPANY-EARNINGS)
TOKYO: Monitoring reports that a US nuclear-powered submarine and a Japanese commercial ship have collided in the Arabian Sea (JAPAN-MILITARY-ACCIDENT-US)
-- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe leaves on a seven-day tour of Britain, France, Germany and Belgium as well as the Philippines from 0330 GMT (JAPAN-EU-NATO-NKOREA-DIPLOMACY)
-- Reporting as Japan creates a full-fledged defense ministry for the first time since its World War II defeat, when the United States stripped the country of its right to a military (JAPAN-POLITICS-MILITARY)
-- Foreign Minister Taro Aso begins a week-long tour of Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia (JAPAN-ROMANIA-BULGARIA-HUNGARY-SLOVAKIA-DIPLOMACY)
-- Reporting on foreign exchange trading in Asia with the dollar mixed ahead of US data and a Japanese interest rate decision next week (FOREX-ASIA)
-- Monitoring Japanese share prices, which rise 0.69 percent in morning trade, as investors return from a three-day weekend in upbeat mood, encouraged by an overnight rebound on Wall Street (STOCKS-JAPAN)
WELLINGTON: Cricket. Fifth and deciding one day international between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Hamilton (CRICKET-NZL-SRI)
-- Tennis. Second round matches in the Heineken Open men's tournament (TENNIS-ATP-NZL)
afp
Document AFPR000020070109e319001e1

The AFP Asia news agenda
AFP

1,025 words

8 January 2007

04:06 PM

Agence France Presse

AFPR

English

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007 All reproduction and presentation rights reserved.
HONG KONG, Jan 9, 2007 (AFP) -
Duty editor: Susan Stumme
News desk: + 852 2829 6211
ASIA NEWS HIGHLIGHTS ON TUESDAY:
+ Bangladesh braces for more violence
+ US ship in Indonesia to aid jet hunt
+ Israeli PM in China for talks on Iran
+ Thailand considers new rules for foreign firms
DHAKA: Reporting on day three of a nationwide transport blockade staged by Bangladesh's opposition to force the government to cancel this month's polls, after dozens are hurt in violent clashes with police (BANGLADESH-VOTE-STRIKE)
JAKARTA: Reporting on developments in search for a missing aircraft with 102 people on board after a navy ship detected metal objects on the sea bed (INDONESIA-ACCIDENT-AIR)
BEIJING: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visits China, the last and possibly trickiest stop on his tour of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council amid efforts to stop Iran's controversial nuclear programme (MIDEAST-ISRAEL-CHINA-DIPLOMACY-OLMERT)
BANGKOK: Reporting as Thai cabinet meets at 0230 GMT to consider potentially controversial new rules to regulate foreign businesses here (THAILAND-INVESTMENT-TRADE)
OTHER NEWS ITEMS:
BANGKOK: Moving story about Bangkok stepping up security after the deadly New Year's Eve blasts, amid warnings of more attacks (THAILAND-ATTACKS-BLAST-SECURITY)
-- Monitoring as Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont addresses UN representatives at 0700 GMT on the kingdom's post-coup economic policy (THAILAND-UN-POLITICS-ECONOMY)
-- Reporting on Jet Airways (India), which holds a press conference at 0400 GMT to announce new routes to Thailand (THAILAND-INDIA-AVIATION-COMPANY-JET)
BEIJING: Watching for Chinese reaction to US statement that six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program set to resume later this month (NKOREA-NUCLEAR-WEAPONS-TALKS)
-- Reporting on last day of a visit to China by Segolene Royal, a socialist campaigning to become France's first woman president (CHINA-FRANCE-VOTE-ROYAL)
-- Monitoring efforts to obtain the release of five Chinese telecommunications workers kidnapped in Nigeria (NIGERIA-UNREST-OIL-CHINA)
COLOMBO: Reporting as Sri Lanka's army and Tamil Tiger rebels step up the violence in the island nation's bitter ethnic conflict (SRILANKA-UNREST)
DILI: Former East Timor home affairs minister Rogerio Lobato goes on trial over the illegal distribution of weapons to civilians during unrest in 2006 (TIMOR-UNREST-TRIAL)
ISLAMABAD: Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay arrives in Pakistan to discuss bilateral ties, as well as the situation in neighbouring Afghanistan (PAKISTAN-CANADA)
JAKARTA: Following search for hundreds of people missing after a ferry sank in a storm off Java island as rescuers continue to find survivors more than a week after the ship went down (INDONESIA-ACCIDENT-SEA)
-- Transport safety officials hold a discussion with foreign correspondents on recent aviation and marine disasters from 0330 GMT (INDONESIA-ACCIDENT-AIR-SEA-SAFETY)
KATHMANDU: Monitoring as Nepal's government says it will have parliament pass an interim constitution on January 15 to pave the way for Maoist rebels to join the political mainstream (NEPAL-POLITICS)
KUALA LUMPUR: Monitoring the floods crisis in Malaysia, which has claimed 17 lives, as forecasters predict more heavy downpours (MALAYSIA-WEATHER-FLOODS)
MANILA: Reporting on security situation in central Cebu province on the eve of the rescheduled Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit (ASEAN-SUMMIT)
-- Security is tight as thousands of devotees flock to Manila for the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Black Nazarene, an religious icon from Mexico believed to have miraculous powers (PHILIPPINES-RELIGION-PROCESSION)
NEW DELHI: Reporting after Indian police arrest two suspects following the discovery of the bodies of at least 17 children just outside New Delhi (INDIA-CRIME-MURDER-CHILDREN)
-- Reporting from Guwahati after suspected separatist rebels kill 66 people in a string of attacks in India's insurgency-racked northeast, prompting New Delhi to offer fresh peace talks (INDIA-NORTHEAST-UNREST)
-- Reporting on latest developments in takeover battle for the nation's fourth-largest mobile phone group Hutchison Essar (INDIA-HONGKONG-BRITAIN-TELECOM-HUTCHISON)
-- Monitoring as millions of Hindus gather at the Ganges River in the northern city of Allahabad for the Kumbh Mela ritual bathing ceremony (INDIA-RELIGION-FESTIVAL)
-- Reporting as British oil firm Cairn Energy's Indian subsidiary will list on Indian stock exchanges after an initial share sale raised about 6.32 billion dollars (INDIA-BRITAIN-COMPANY-OIL-CAIRN)
SEOUL: General Burwell B. Bell, the commander of US forces in South Korea, holds a news conference at 0100 GMT on the US-South Korean military alliance (SKOREA-US-MILITARY)
-- Monitoring a labor dispute at Hyundai Motor after the automaker filed a damages suit against union over losses caused by strikes (SKOREA-AUTO-HYUNDAI)
SINGAPORE: Reporting on world oil prices in Asian trade (COMMODITIES-ENERGY-ASIA-OIL-PRICE)
SYDNEY: Tennis. Sydney International tournament (TENNIS-WTA-ATP-AUS)
TAIPEI: Following up financial crisis sparked by the filing for bankruptcy protection by two units of the Rebar conglomerate (TAIWAN-BANKING)
-- United Microelectronics Corporation to release December sales figures at 0600 GMT (TAIWAN-CHIP-UMC-COMPANY-EARNINGS)
TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe begins a seven-day tour of Britain, France, Germany and Belgium as well as the Philippines (JAPAN-EU-NATO-NKOREA-DIPLOMACY)
-- Reporting as Japan creates a full-fledged defense ministry for the first time since its World War II defeat, when the United States stripped the country of its right to a military (JAPAN-POLITICS-MILITARY)
-- Foreign Minister Taro Aso begins a week-long tour of Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia (JAPAN-ROMANIA-BULGARIA-HUNGARY-SLOVAKIA-DIPLOMACY)
-- Reporting on foreign exchange trading in Tokyo after the dollar continued its gains against the euro and other major currencies but the yen bucked the trend ahead of next week's Bank of Japan meeting (FOREX-ASIA)
-- Monitoring Japanese share prices, which are expected to face headwinds this week amid jitters about a possible interest rate rise by the Bank of Japan later in the month (STOCKS-JAPAN)
WELLINGTON: Cricket. Fifth and deciding one-day international between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Hamilton (CRICKET-NZL-SRI)
-- Tennis: Second round matches in the Heineken Open men's tournament (TENNIS-ATP-NZL)
afp
Document AFPR000020070108e318004px

Factiva Insurance Risk Summary - Jan. 8, 2007
1,560 words

8 January 2007

Factiva Insurance Risk Summary

FIRS

English

© 2007 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved
* Future flu pandemic toll could be "very scary" - U.S.
* Indonesian teenager tests positive for bird flu
* H.K. confirms dead bird carried H5N1 avian flu virus
* Flu sufferers break records in chilly China capital
* Airliner, small plane nearly collide at Denver port
* Ferry survivors found adrift 9 days after sinking
* Safeco sees $20 mln loss from northwest windstorm
* Big avalanche hits road to Colorado ski resort
* Brazil mudslides kill 50, mostly in Rio state
* Snow, high winds snarl transport in Japan
* Quake hits off Alaska coast, no tsunami fears
* Nigerian kidnappers demand ransom for five Chinese
* Dozens hurt in east India land grab protest
* Clashes spread as blockade paralyses Bangladesh
* China urges tight local control of unrest
* Mexican navy patrols off Tijuana in drugs swoop
* Roof collapses at Vancouver sports stadium
* Colorado firm recalls 15,000 lbs of sausage - USDA
* Family Dollar recalls oscillating ceramic heaters
************************************************
* Future flu pandemic toll could be "very scary" - U.S.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The number of people that could die in a flu pandemic that matches the 1918-19 outbreak will be "very scary" and far higher than the 62 million deaths forecast by a recent study, an adviser to the White House said on Monday. "I think that number is a very optimistic number if we are talking about a 1918-wide pandemic today," said Rajeev Venkayya, Special Assistant for Biodefense to U.S. President George W. Bush.
* Indonesian teenager tests positive for bird flu
JAKARTA (Reuters) - A 14-year-old boy has tested positive for bird flu in Indonesia, the country's first case of the virus in almost two months, a Health Ministry official said on Sunday. The boy, from Tangerang in West Java, was hospitalised in Jakarta after he suffered from bird-flu-like symptoms on Jan. 1, the director-general of communicable disease control, Nyoman Kandun, told Reuters.
* H.K. confirms dead bird carried H5N1 avian flu virus
HONG KONG (Reuters) - A wild bird found dead in a shopping district in Hong Kong has tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza, the government said on Saturday. The bird, a scaly-breasted Munia, was found in the Causeway Bay district on Dec. 31. Government experts said it might have been infected by migratory birds flocking south.
* Flu sufferers break records in chilly China capital
BEIJING (Reuters) - Cold and flu sufferers in China's freezing capital have hit record highs in many hospitals this winter, Xinhua news agency said on Monday, putting part of the blame on smog. Of the 2.3 million patients registered in 67 hospitals since the a municipal disease monitoring system was launched at the beginning of September, 2.4 percent were flu sufferers, Xinhua said.
* Airliner, small plane nearly collide at Denver port
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An airliner and a small plane nearly collided on a runway in Denver on Friday, missing each other by about 50 feet, U.S. crash investigators said. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating the near miss involving a Frontier Airlines Airbus A319 and a turboprop.
* Ferry survivors found adrift 9 days after sinking
MAKASSAR, Indonesia (Reuters Life!) - Fourteen survivors of an Indonesian ferry sinking have been rescued after drifting on a life raft for nine days, a top search and rescue official said on Monday. The ferry sank in the Java Sea with more than 600 aboard after it capsized in mountainous seas around midnight on Dec. 29.
* Safeco sees $20 mln loss from northwest windstorm
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Safeco Corp., the property and casualty insurer, on Friday said it will record a $20 million fourth-quarter after-tax loss, or 18 cents per share, for claims stemming from a windstorm that struck the Pacific Northwest in mid-December. Seattle-based Safeco said the loss, equal to $30 million before taxes, covers claims received through Jan. 4, and future expected claims from policyholders who suffered storm damage.
* Big avalanche hits road to Colorado ski resort
DENVER (Reuters) - A large avalanche swept over a major highway leading to the Colorado ski resort of Winter Park on Saturday, burying some cars and injuring one person, state authorities said. The snowslide was 200 feet (62 metres) wide and 15 feet (4.5 metres) deep along U.S. Highway 40, about 60 miles (100 km) west of Denver.
* Brazil mudslides kill 50, mostly in Rio state
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - The death toll from mudslides in southeast Brazil soared to 50 following torrential rain in recent days, Brazil's Civil Defense service said on Sunday, with more downpours forecast for this week. Most of the latest deaths were on Thursday and Friday in mountainous areas of Rio de Janeiro state mainly when flimsy homes on steep slopes were swept away in a sea of mud, said a spokesman for the Civil Defense, who asked not to be named.
* Snow, high winds snarl transport in Japan
TOKYO (Reuters) - Strong winds grounded scores of flights in and out of central Japan and train services were cancelled due to snowstorms in the north of the country on Sunday, as the weather agency issued severe weather warnings. More than 170 flights in and out of Chubu airport in Aichi, near the industrial centre of Nagoya, were cancelled due to high winds, NHK television said.
* Quake hits off Alaska coast, no tsunami fears
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A 5.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean off the southern Alaska coast on Friday, but it did not trigger tsunami concerns, officials said. The quake at 7:52 a.m. Alaska time (1652 GMT) was centered about 100 miles (161 km) southeast of Chignik, Alaska, which is located on the relatively unpopulated Alaska Peninsula, according to the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.
* Nigerian kidnappers demand ransom for five Chinese
ABUJA (Reuters) - Kidnappers who are holding five Chinese telecom workers in Nigeria's southern oil-producing Niger Delta have asked for a ransom, the chairman of the local government area where the abduction took place said on Monday. Gunmen broke into the rented apartment where the Chinese workers were staying and forced them away at gunpoint on Friday.
* Dozens hurt in east India land grab protest
KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - Dozens of people were injured on Monday in clashes between baton-wielding police and protesters as a strike against the acquisition of farm land for industrial development took hold in eastern India. Authorities said 40 protesters were arrested in Kolkata, capital of West Bengal state, as many businesses, schools and transport services were shut and thousands of armed police stood guard.
* Clashes spread as blockade paralyses Bangladesh
DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh's army chief was summoned to the presidential palace on Monday following a day of renewed clashes between police and political activists two weeks before parliamentary elections. At least 50 people were injured and 30 detained on the second day of a transport blockade, called by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's multi-party alliance, which is boycotting the Jan. 22 vote.
* China urges tight local control of unrest
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's top security official has called on judicial departments to handle unrest at its source to ensure social stability, state media said on Monday. Luo Gan, one of nine members of the Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee that rules China, made the comments while on an inspection tour of the eastern province of Shandong, where "barefoot lawyer" Chen Guangcheng was jailed last year.
* Mexican navy patrols off Tijuana in drugs swoop
TIJUANA, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexican navy ships patrolled off Pacific beaches near the U.S. border on Friday and soldiers in trucks cruised the streets of Tijuana in an anti-drugs crackdown in one of the country's toughest cities. Helicopters hovered over downtown Tijuana, just south of the U.S. city of San Diego, and three ships sat off the nearby surfing beach of Popotla guarding the coast where traffickers offload South American cocaine headed to the United States.
* Roof collapses at Vancouver sports stadium
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - The inflatable fabric roof of Vancouver's downtown sports stadium, scheduled to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics, collapsed on Friday. There were no injuries, and officials at BC Place Stadium said the incident -- which one witness likened to watching a souffle implode -- would not hamper its availability for the Olympics as the roof could be repaired quickly.
* Colorado firm recalls 15,000 lbs of sausage - USDA
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Colorado-based Gold Star Sausage Co., Inc. is voluntarily recalling about 15,514 pounds of sausage products that federal officials fear could cause listeriosis, a potentially fatal disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Friday. The meat, some of which was produced on Dec. 9th, may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, which can bring about high fever, headaches, neck stiffness and nausea, USDA said.
* Family Dollar recalls oscillating ceramic heaters
(Reuters) - Family Dollar Stores Inc. is recalling 35,000 oscillating ceramic heaters, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Friday. The commission said the company had received three reports of the heaters overheating or smoking and two reports of minor property damage.
*************************************************
Full versions of these and other insurance stories are available from Factiva.com.
Document FIRS000020070108e31800001

MEND Threatens to Resume Attacks; Chinese Workers Kidnapped in Separate Incident
Thomas Pearmain

944 words

8 January 2007

Global Insight Daily Analysis

WDAN

English

Copyright 2007, Global Insight Limited. All Rights Reserved.
 

Five Chinese telecommunications workers have been kidnapped in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt. The Chinese government have attached the highest importance to getting the workers released

MEND, which is responsible for the other hostage situation currently in the Niger Delta, has reacted angrily to Agip’s attempt to bribe the guards for the safe release of its hostages.

The Chinese workers are likely to be released shortly when a cash ransom has been paid to the criminal gang that is in all likelihood holding the hostages; however, MEND will keep hold of its hostages for the foreseeable future.


Chinese workers kidnapped
Five Chinese telecommunications workers have been kidnapped in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt. They were abducted by armed men early on 5 January in Rivers State in the Niger Delta. MEND, which is currently holding four expatriate oil workers hostage, has not come forward to claim responsibility for the incident and therefore Global Insight believes it is likely to be the work of a criminal gang seeking a ransom payment rather than political leverage. It seems likely that the Chinese workers were targeted because of their country’s growing presence in Nigeria’s hydrocarbons sector.
Local newspaper the Sunday Guardian interviewed Rivers State police boss, Felix Ogbaudu who said an investigation is now under way to find the Chinese workers. Ogbaudu said that "[t]here has been no information yet about the whereabouts of the hostages, but the chairman of the local government area, Emeka Woke, has promised to wade into the matter since it is his area".
Liu Jianchao, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said that "President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have ordered the Foreign Ministry and China's embassy in Nigeria to find a way to ensure the lives and safety of the abductees and give all their efforts to save them”. The Chinese government have attached the highest importance to getting the workers released and have sent a number of senior officials to Rivers State to help coordinate the hostage situation.
MEND to Resume Attacks
MEND, which is holding four expatriate workers—three Italians, Roberto Dieghi, Cosma Russo, Francesco Arena, and Imad Saliba from Lebanon, taken on 7 December last year from an Agip oil facility in Brass, in Bayelsa State—told Agence France-Presse in an email message: "We are resuming with our attacks this month and may even take more hostages". MEND's message continued: "If it takes us one year to get what we want, we will keep them and others".
Last week, MEND's spokesman Jomo Gbomo said in an email to Global Insight that Agip had arranged to pay 70 million naira (US$567,000) to those responsible for guarding the hostages. Gbomo added that the money had been confiscated and warned Agip not to attempt another rescue mission as the hostages will be shot. Eni, the owner of Agip, has attempted to distance itself from the bribe; however, it is known that Eni would prefer a peaceful strategy to regain the kidnapped oil workers. Eni chief executive Paolo Scaroni held talks with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on 27 December in Lagos to find a way to resolve the issue.
MEND's spokesman Jomo Gbomo told Global Insight that the hostages were recently moved to a new location and reiterated that they will only be exchanged for Mujahid Dokubo Asari the leader of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) and deposed Bayelsa State governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha; however, the federal government is extremely unlikely to agree to this.
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera also spoke to Gbomo who reacted angrily to Eni's bribery attempt, saying that the militant organisation felt insulted:"They are treating us like bandits and criminals, whereas we are a political movement”. MEND wants to improve the conditions in the Niger Delta: the source of Nigeria's oil wealth, but where indigenes live in poverty. Gbomo told the Italian newspaper that "Agip must grasp the fact that it has to spend the money to build schools and other facilities for the communities living on the territory they have laid waste. It must not pay ransoms. We will release the four men without taking a cent, but not until our demands have been agreed to”.
Outlook and Implications
Nigeria's presidential elections are due in four months and it seems likely that the number of kidnapping incidents will start to increase rapidly. However, it is probable that with the global media's focus on Nigeria for the next few months, expatriate workers in the Delta will face a fast deteriorating security situation.
MEND has grown in confidence over the past month and shows no sign of releasing its captives. Having kept them over Christmas, it is a real possibility that the foreign oil workers could now be kept at least until after the presidential election. MEND has said that it will keep them for years, but, while this is not practical, there will be no resolution to the incident in the near future.
MEND told Agence France-Presse that it is set to resume attacks this month and, after bombs were set off in the compounds of Shell and Eni last month, international oil companies must take greater security precautions. Global Insight believes Nigeria is shutting in a minimum of 575,000 barrels per day at the moment, while MEND has stated that its aim is further to disrupt crude oil supplies. The group could be plotting to attack pipeline infrastructure in the Delta or oil company facilities rather than take further expatriates hostage.
Document WDAN000020070108e3180000r

The AFP Asia news agenda
AFP

864 words

7 January 2007

09:25 PM

Agence France Presse

AFPR

English

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007 All reproduction and presentation rights reserved.
HONG KONG, Jan 8, 2007 (AFP) -
Duty editor: Kevin McElderry
News desk: + 852 2829 6211
ASIA NEWS HIGHLIGHTS ON MONDAY:
+ Thailand discusses new business, currency rules
+ A week on, still no trace of Indonesian plane
+ New Delhi offers talks after separatist unrest
BANGKOK: Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce hold presser at 0700 GMT to discuss the Thai government's proposal to overhaul the rules for international companies doing business in Thailand (THAILAND-INVESTMENT-TRADE)
-- The Stock Exchange of Thailand meets with foreign brokers at 0800 GMT about the Bank of Thailand's new currency rules, with a presser set for 1030 GMT (STOCKS-FOREX-THAILAND)
JAKARTA: Reporting on the continuing hunt for an Indonesian passenger jet with 102 people aboard a week after it went missing. US experts to meet local rescuers and a US naval ship to join the search (INDONESIA-ACCIDENT-AIR)
GUWAHATI, India: Reporting after suspected separatist rebels kill 62 people in string of weekend attacks in India's insurgency-racked northeast, prompting New Delhi to offer fresh peace talks (INDIA-NORTHEAST-UNREST)
-- Moving an analysis about the possible motive for the killings in India's Assam state (INDIA-NORTHEAST-UNREST,ANALYSIS)
OTHER NEWS ITEMS:
BANGKOK: Monitoring as Bangkok steps up security after the deadly New Year's Eve blasts, amid warnings of more attacks (THAILAND-ATTACKS-BLAST)
-- Jean-Pascal Tricoire, CEO of Schneider Electric, holds presser 0630 GMT about the French group's plans for the region (THAILAND-FRANCE-ELECTRICITY-COMPANY)
BEIJING: Watching for Chinese reaction to US statement that six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program are set to resume later this month (NKOREA-NUCLEAR-WEAPONS-TALKS)
-- Reporting on visit to China by Segolene Royal, socialist campaigning to become France's first woman president (CHINA-FRANCE-VOTE-ROYAL)
-- Chelsea chairman Peter Kenyon to hold a press conference at 0700 GMT to speak about the English Premiership club's plans for China (FBL-ENG-CHN-CHELSEA)
-- Monitoring developments in China following the abduction of five Chinese telecommunications workers in Nigeria (NIGERIA-UNREST-OIL-CHINA)
COLOMBO: Monitoring reaction after 17 people were killed and more than 100 hurt in two weekend attacks on packed buses in Sri Lanka (SRILANKA-UNREST)
DHAKA: Reporting on second day of nationwide transport blockade staged by Bangladesh's opposition to force the government to cancel this month's polls, after violent clashes between protesters and police (BANGLADESH-VOTE-STRIKE)
HONG KONG: Reporting on government's strategy for heritage protection after recent public outcry over the demolition of the iconic Star Ferry pier (HONGKONG-HERITAGE-PROTECTION)
JAKARTA: Reporting on the continuing search for survivors from a ferry that sank off the central island of Java a week ago (INDONESIA-ACCIDENT-SEA)
KABUL: Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay meets Canadian troops in southern Afghanistan (AFGHANISTAN-UNREST-CANADA)
-- We will move a feature based on an interview with a Pakistani teenager whose quest for heaven via a suicide bombing ended when he was caught wearing an explosives-packed waistcoat (AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN-UNREST-SUICIDE)
KATHMANDU: Monitoring developments in Nepal's peace process amid moves to bring Maoist rebels into government (NEPAL-POLITICS)
KUALA LUMPUR: Monitoring the floods crisis in Malaysia, which has claimed 17 lives, as forecasters predict more heavy downpours (MALAYSIA-WEATHER-FLOODS)
MANILA: Moving an advancer ex-CEBU on the ASEAN summit set for this week, amid lingering questions concerning why the Philippines government decided to postpone the meeting last month (ASEAN-SUMMIT-PHILIPPINES,ADVANCER)
NEW DELHI: Reporting after Indian police arrest two suspects following the discovery of the bodies of at least 17 children just outside New Delhi (INDIA-CRIME-MURDER-CHILDREN)
-- Reporting on latest developments in takeover battle for the nation's fourth-largest mobile phone group Hutchison Essar (INDIA-HONGKONG-BRITAIN-TELECOM-HUTCHISON)
-- Monitoring as millions of Hindus gather at the Ganges River in the northern city of Allahabad for the Kumbh Mela ritual bathing ceremony (INDIA-RELIGION-FESTIVAL)
-- We will move a feature from Uri, in the Indian sector of disputed Kashmir, on life along the ceasefire line for ordinary Kashmiris as India and Pakistan move toward an April peace summit (INDIA-PAKISTAN-KASHMIR-PEACE)
SEOUL: Monitoring a labor dispute at Hyundai Motor after the automaker decides to file a damages suit against union leaders over financial losses caused by strikes (SKOREA-AUTO-HYUNDAI)
-- Prosecutors to seek court approval to detain a senior financial watchdog official for alleged corruption (SKOREA-FINANCE-CORRUPTION)
SINGAPORE: Reporting on world oil prices in Asian trade (COMMODITIES-ENERGY-ASIA-OIL-PRICE)
-- Covering forum on avian flu and other non-traditional security threats, and economic security facing Asia (ASIA-SECURITY)
SUVA: Fiji's reinstated president swears in ministers to serve in a post-coup cabinet (FIJI-COUP-CABINET)
SYDNEY: Tennis. Sydney International tournament (TENNIS-WTA-ATP-AUS)
TAIPEI: Following up financial crisis sparked by the filing for insolvency protection by two companies of Rebar Group (TAIWAN-BANKING)
-- President Chen Shui-bian to make a stopover in the United States before visiting Nicaragua (TAIWAN-NICARAGUA-US-DIPLOMACY)
TOKYO: Public holiday in Japan. Markets closed.
WELLINGTON: Tennis: first round matches from the Heineken Open (TENNIS-ATP-NZL)
afp
Document AFPR000020070108e3180018h

The 0100 GMT News Advisory
AFP

784 words

7 January 2007

08:14 PM

Agence France Presse

AFPR

English

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007 All reproduction and presentation rights reserved.
HONG KONG, Jan 8, 2007 (AFP) -
Duty Editor: Sunil Jagtiani
News Desk: + 852 2829 6211
-- WORLD HEADLINES --
WASHINGTON: Bush warned over Iraq troop surge
GAZA CITY: Abducted AFP photographer freed
CEBU: Philippines faces ASEAN security questions
GUWAHATI: 62 killed in northeast India violence
-- ASIA --
ASEAN-summit-Philippines,ADVANCER
CEBU, Philippines
When Southeast Asian leaders gather this week for round two of their postponed annual summit, the Philippines will face tough questions about its ability to host the event and ensure security.
700 words 0300 GMT by Karl Wilson
India-unrest-northeast,4thlead
GUWAHATI, India
Suspected separatist rebels shoot dead seven people in India's northeastern Assam state, taking the weekend death toll to 62, police say, after New Delhi offers the possibility of new peace talks.
650 words moved by Zarir Hussain. Picture
Indonesia-accident-air
MAKASSAR, Indonesia
A week after an Indonesian airliner with 102 passengers and crew vanished halfway through a flight, frustrated authorities are still struggling to find the wreckage and anguished relatives are suffering.
550 words 0400 GMT. Picture
We will also move: Indonesia-accident-air,CHRONO
Bangladesh-politics-vote
DHAKA
Police brace for day two of a nationwide transport blockade organised by Bangladesh's opposition to try and force the cancellation of polls later this month, one day after using rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters.
500 words 0500 GMT
-- ASIA BUSINESS --
US-auto-show,2ndlead
DETROIT, Michigan
The 100th edition of Detroit's world-famous auto show opens with the historic US carmakers vowing to fight back against an Asian invasion.
650 words 0130 GMT by Jitendra Joshi. Picture
US-SKorea-IT-consumer-electronics-show-company-LG,lead
LAS VEGAS, Nevada
South Korea's LG Electronics gives the world a peek at a dual-format DVD player it believes will quell the format war and win the hearts of consumers.
550 words moved by Glenn Chapman
US-auto-show-company-Japan-Toyota,lead
DETROIT, Michigan
Toyota may be a champion of Japanese industry but at the Detroit auto show, it is boasting its American credentials just as much as iconic US brands like Ford and Chevrolet.
600 words 0200 GMT by Jitendra Joshi
We have also moved: US-auto-show-company-Ford
-- AMERICAS --
US-Iraq-Bush,lead
WASHINGTON
Just days after taking control of Congress, Democratic lawmakers warn that President George W. Bush will not get a blank check to expand the number of US troops in violence-wracked Iraq
750 words moved by Magan Crane. Picture
-- MIDDLE EAST --
Iraq,3rdlead
BAGHDAD
US military losses in Iraq mount to 3,003, according to latest figures, amid reports that another 20,000 troops are to be rushed to Baghdad to stabilise the violence-wracked capital.
800 words moved by Jay Deshmukh. Picture, graphic.
Mideast-Gaza-media-kidnap,5thlead
GAZA CITY
AFP photographer Jaime Razuri is freed in the Gaza Strip seven days after being abducted by masked gunmen in the latest foreigner kidnapping in the volatile territory.
550 words moved. Picture
Mideast-unrest-Palestinian,4thlead
GAZA CITY
Supporters of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement stage a mass show of force in a Gaza stadium as a standoff with the ruling Islamist Hamas continues amid fears of a renewed outbreak of deadly factional violence.
700 words moved by Sakher Abu El Oun. Picture.
-- EUROPE --
Poland-religion-Vatican-history-communist,5thlead
WARSAW
The newly-appointed archbishop of Warsaw, Stanislaw Wielgus, resigns over his communist past, triggering loud protests from Catholic parishioners attending what was to have been his formal investiture.
750 words moved by Karin Zeitvogel
We have also moved: Poland-religion-Vatican-history-communist-police
Britain-politics-Brown,2ndlead
LONDON
Britain's finance minister Gordon Brown pledges a new style of government should he take over as prime minister from Tony Blair as expected later this year.
600 words moved
Britain-royals-Diana,lead
LONDON
Preliminary hearings for a long-awaited coroner's inquest into the death of Princess Diana in a Paris car crash are set to get under way in London, with more legal wrangling expected.
650 words moved by Phil Hazlewood
-- AFRICA --
Nigeria-unrest-oil-Italy-Lebanon-China,lead
LAGOS