CAPE TOWN: A Chinese factory has halted production of World Cup 2010 mascot toys after an investigation  into alleged sweatshop conditions, the merchandise company for world football body FIFA said yesterday.

Global Brands Group, master licensee for all FIFA World Cup 2010 merchandise, withdrew manufacturing approval after an audit of the factory showed standards had been flouted.

"The audit identified a number of non-conformances against Global Brands CSR (corporate social  responsibility) policy," the company said in a statement.

SANTIAGO: Chile was shaken yesterday by a strong 6.3 earthquake that officials said was not an aftershock from the massive quake that killed more than 800 people last weekend.

Carmen Fernandez, head of the Office of National Emergency (ONEMI), said no damage had been reported but "obviously there is fear among the people."

The quake struck at 7.39pm local time and its epicenter was 105km below the Andes mountains northeast of Calama, according to the US Geological Survey, which monitors earthquake activity.

TAIPEI: A powerful earthquake and more than a dozen aftershocks jolted southern Taiwan yesterday, injuring
96 people, toppling farm houses and derailing a carriage on a high-speed train.

LONDON: The Bank of England froze its key lending rate yesterday at a record low level of 0.50 per cent, where it has been for a year, as Britain looks to strengthen its recovery from a record recession.

The BoE also decided against pumping more new money into the British economy. Both decisions follow a regular two-day policy meeting that had been widely expected by markets.

"The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee yesterday voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.50 per cent," the central bank said in a statement.

LONDON: European main stock markets closed lower yesterday after an uneven set of US economic data and
as investors tried to get the measure of the latest twists in the Greek debt crisis, dealers said.

In London, the main FTSE 100 index slipped 0.11 per cent to 5,527.16 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 fell 0.37 per cent to 3,828.41 points and in Frankfurt, the DAX was down 0.39 per cent at 5,795.32 points.

WASHINGTON: The United States and India will launch an economic and financial partnership next month, with a permanent cabinet-level bilateral dialogue a key feature, the US Treasury said yesterday.

US Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner (pic) will travel to India this weekend to launch the US-India Economic and Financial Partnership in New Delhi with Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

BAGHDAD: Feyruz Hatam's face is itself an indication of the change in Iraqi society's view of women that has become apparent in the run up to the country's election on Sunday: it is not covered.

"The mentality of Iraqi voters has changed. I'm happy because my photo conveys the message that times have changed," says Hatam, whose brown trouser suit makes her stand out from fellow Iraqi National Alliance
candidates.

WASHINGTON: The United States yesterday rejected claims by a Russian anti-drug official that it has abandoned efforts to combat opium production in Afghanistan.

"We are aggressively pursuing that because ultimately, you know, part of the solution in Afghanistan has to be  the emergence of a strong, legitimate Afghan economy," said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley.

Viktor Ivanov, the director of Russia's federal narcotics control service, on Saturday accused the US of allowing Afghan drug producers to operate by deciding to abandon the eradication of poppy crops.

TOKYO: Japan's Nissan Motor said yesterday it would recall nearly 540,000 vehicles worldwide, most of them in the United States, due to brake pedal defects and faulty fuel gauges.

Nissan said it plans "to inspect and, if necessary, repair brake pedal pins and fuel-gauge components on certain trucks and minivans".

"No accidents or injuries have been  reported with these issues," it added. The recalls also affect Canada,
Mexico, the Middle East, Ukraine, Russia and Taiwan, Nissan North America said in a statement.

LONDON: European stock markets closed higher yesterday, buoyed by positive US economic data and the latest Greek austerity package, which got a positive European Union response. In London, the main FTSE 100 index closed up 0.90 per cent to 5,533.21 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 rose 0.80 per cent to 3,842.52 points and in Frankfurt, the DAX gained 0.72 per cent to 5,817.88 points.

NEW YORK: US stocks ended flat yesterday as the Federal Reserve reported a modest economic recovery on
improvement in consumer spending with a bleak labour market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down
9.22 points (0.09 per cent) in closing trades to 10,396.76, rolling back two days of rises on a clutch of mergers
and acquisitions.

KABUL: The Afghan government has banned live coverage of militant attacks in a bid to prevent the Taliban from exploiting television news, prompting the United States to express its concerns over Press freedom.

CONCEPCION: Thousands more troops deployed across Chile yesterday as armed vigilantes patrolled neighbourhoods to ward off looters and protect residents already traumatised by a devastating earthquake.

"The thugs have taken over the city. Now we are not afraid of the earthquakes, we're afraid of the criminals," Marcelo Rivera, the mayor of Hualpen, said on a Chilean radio station. President Michelle Bachelet doubled the
number of troops patrolling the worst-hit areas to 14,000, as people in the second largest city of Concepcion were slapped with an 18-hour curfew.

WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court refused yesterday to block a law allowing same-sex marriages in Washington DC, clearing the way for the legislation to go into effect today.

Chief Justice John Roberts, in a three-page opinion that sidestepped the legal issues involved, said the matter should be decided by local courts and decision makers in the US capital city. Roberts rejected a petition
by opponents of gay marriage for a stay that would have prevented the law from taking effect.

NEW YORK: News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch threw down the gauntlet to The New York Times yesterday, announcing plans to launch a New York edition of The Wall Street Journal next month. Murdoch did not mention The New York Times by name but he was clearly referring to the newspaper which has long dominated the city. "We believe that in its pursuit of journalism prizes and a national reputation, a certain other New York daily has essentially stopped covering the city the way it once did," Murdoch said.

LONDON: Europe's biggest oil company BP said yesterday that it will aim to cut more costs to improve its profitability over the next two or three years. "BP today outlined plans to further boost efficiency and reduce costs with the aim of improving its annual underlying pre-tax profitability by more than US$3 billion (RM7.43 billion) over the next two to three years," the group said in a strategy update. The bulk of the improvement is being targeted at BP's refining and marketing segment. BP aims to boost the unit's underlying pre-tax profit by US$2 billion within two or three years.

NEW YORK: US stocks maintained their uptrend yesterday on the back of increasing corporate activity and receding fears about the Greek debt crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.19 points (0.02 per cent) in closing trades to 10,405.98, as the blue-chip index gave up some of its gains in late trading. The Nasdaq composite added 7.22 points (0.32 per cent) to 2,280.79 while the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up 2.60 points (0.23 per cent) to a provisional close of 1,118.31.

WASHINGTON: One of the most common weed killers in the world, atrazine, causes chemical castration in  frogs and could be contributing to a worldwide decline in amphibian populations, a study published yesterday showed.

Researchers compared 40 male control frogs with 40 male frogs reared from hatchlings until full sexual maturity, in atrazine concentrations similar to those experienced year-round in areas where the chemical is found.

TOKYO: Japan's jobless rate fell to 4.9 per cent in January, improving by 0.3 percentage point from the previous month, against market expectations of 5.1 per cent, government data showed yesterday.

The unemployment rate for men fell by 0.1 percentage point to 5.2 per cent, and the rate for women fell by 0.5 percentage point to 4.6 per cent, said the ministry of internal affairs and communications.

There were 46 jobs available for every 100 job seekers in January, up from 43 jobs in December, the labour ministry said separately.