alert
obama to propose size limits for banks official
cycling tour down under stage three results
adelaide australia jan afp
results thursday from stage three of the tour down under over kilometres
miles from unley to stirling
stage
manuel cardoso por footon servetto fuji hr min sec alejandro
valverde esp caisse epargne at sec cadel evans aus bmc racing team
peter sagan svk liquigas doimo mauro finetto ita liquigas
doimo michael rogers aus htc columbia luke roberts aus
milram markus fothen ger milram anthony roux fra francaise
des jeux eduard vorganov rus team katusha
selected lance armstrong usa team radioshack greg henderson
nzl team sky
overall
andre greipel ger htc columbia greg henderson nzl sky at
gert steegmans bel radioshack alejandro valverde esp caisse
epargne robbie mcewen aus katusha jurgen roelandts bel
omega pharma lotto cadel evans aus bmc andriy grivko ukr
astana graeme brown aus rabobank robbie hunter rsa garmin
transitions
selected lance armstrong usa
tennis new aussie hope blasts open organisers
melbourne jan afp
australia great new hope bernard tomic has blasted australian open organisers
for scheduling him to play until am thursday saying it may have cost him
giantkilling scalp
the year old who has emerged as star in the making pushed big serving
th seeded croat marin cilic all the way in marathon five setter which went
almost four hours before fatigue caught up with him
tomic said it was ridiculous that player of his age was forced into that
timeslot primarily to satisfy australian television audiences
to finish at that time it tough he said
look have no excuses but think if have played during the day which
requested it could have been all changed think should have won
after am am for year old to go out and play it difficult for the
people requested to play during the day and it didn happen think it
ridiculous
his whinge put the spotlight back on late night matches at the opening grand
slam of the season which came to the fore in when lleyton hewitt finally
beat marcos baghdatis at am the latest finish in open history
hewitt was so wiped out he lost in the next round
however baghdatis who survived his own five set marathon on thursday said
tomic should just get on with it
my thoughts are that the way it is we have to deal with it he said
we don have to find excuses we have to find way to win every match we
play even if it in tough conditions that all
tomic match started about pm on wednesday pushed back after justine
henin took almost three hours to beat fifth seed elena dementieva on rod laver
arena
the australian teen complained that in no other sport would competitors be
forced to play at such an hour
cricket bangladesh india first test scoreboard
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
scoreboard at lunch on the fifth and final day of the first test between india
and bangladesh here on thursday
india st innings tendulkar not out sehwag shahadat hossain
shakib al hasan
bangladesh st innings mohammad mahmudullah zaheer khan mishra
india nd innings decl gambhir laxman not out mishra
mohammad mahmudullah
bangladesh nd innings overnight
tamim iqbal dravid sehwag
imrul kayes karthik zaheer
shahriar nafees sehwag sharma
mohammad ashraful dravid sharma
raqibul hasan lbw sharma
shakib al hasan not out
mushfiqur rahim not out
extras lb nb
total for five wickets overs
fall of wickets kayes nafees ashraful raqibul
iqbal
bowling zaheer sreesanth nb sharma mishra
sehwag
toss bangladesh
umpires billy bowden nzl and marais erasmus rsa
tv umpire enamul haque ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
tokyo shares end up percent
tokyo jan afp
japanese stocks closed up percent on thursday shrugging off negative
lead from wall street as foreign investors bought heavyweight companies such as
toyota and sony dealers said
the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index gained points to
the broader topix index of all first section shares climbed
points or percent to
shares in japan airlines were flat at two yen day after sinking to new
record low following the carrier bankruptcy filing and announcement it would
delist its shares next month wiping out shareholders investments
afp graphics advisory
hong kong jan afp
we shall move the following graphics
china economy
five graphics on economic data released by the chinese government thursday
gdp mm
industrial output mm
consumer prices mm
urban fixed asset investment mm
retail sales mm
text slug china economy
available by gmt
afghanistan uruzgan
map locating tirin kot the provincial capital of uruzgan in afghanistan for an
afp interview with dutch general stationed in the province
text slug afghanistan unrest netherlands military
mm
available now
yemen air strike
map locating maarib province in yemen where government jets pounded the home of
suspected al qaeda leader wednesday
text slug attacks yemen qaeda
mm
available now
full body scanner
fact file on the two types of full body scanners available for airport security
text slug attacks aviation security eu us talks
mm
available now
solar powered plane
graphic on the solar impulse plane for an afp interview with pilot bertrand
piccard who plans to fly the solar powered aircraft around the world
text slug un climate switzerland aviation
mm
available now
multiple sclerosis
fact file on the degenerative disease multiple sclerosis new drug offers hope
of improved treatment for patients of the neurological condition
text slug health us research britain ms
mm
available now
tasmanian devils
graphic on australia tasmanian devils rare carnivorous marsupial whose
numbers in the wild have declined by percent in the past years since the
discovery of fatal cancer spreading through the population
text slug australia environment animals devils
mm
available by gmt
asia pacific markets
closings for key asia pacific markets
text slug stocks
mm
available by gmt
haiti quake graphics
aftershock map mm
quake toll mm
un mission factfile mm
international aid effort mm
usns comfort hospital ship mm
quake damaged towns map mm
identification using dna mm
search and rescue methods mm
tectonic plates caribbean map mm
earthquakes world mm
country factfile mm
moved earlier
nigeria jos attacks map mm
us vote mm
us asian carp factfile mm
india pondicherry map mm
kraft cadbury factfile mm
china internet market mm
japan airlines chrono mm
jal shares mm
paris hong kong
tel
nba suns down nets as lopez twins face off in nba
phoenix arizona jan afp
jason richardson scored points to help phoenix beat new jersey in
game that saw twins robin and brook lopez facing each other for the first time
in their nba careers
robin lopez was the twin celebrating suns victory setting career best for
the second time in two games with points
his brother brook led the nets with points and rebounds but it wasn
enough to stop new jersey from falling to against western conference
opponents
he did great brook said of robin he did exactly what he supposed to do
bring energy bring effort few of his dunks gave them momentum and he does
lot of the hustle things
the two seven footers hardly spoke concentrating instead on their own games and
their own teams
we were playing basketball brook said we talked about it on the free throw
line that was bit too friendly for us
it doesn matter who we re playing robin added we re just going to play
hard
visit from the lowly nets who fell to overall proved just what the suns
needed after their own disappointing road trip
we needed win phoenix coach alvin gentry said we needed it in the worst
way
the contest matched up the league highest and lowest scoring teams the suns
averaging points and the nets
amare stoudemire scored for phoenix on of shooting steve nash added
points and assists
it was the second game in row that gentry started robin lopez instead of
channing frye and leandro barbosa ahead of richardson
richardson admitted he found it difficult coming off the bench
it tough richardson said my whole career ve been starter besides
probably the first four or five games of my rookie season it just different
adjustment
you ve got to get yourself going he said when you come in it kind of
hard because you ve been sitting on the bench you ve got to find ways of
scoring to just get involved in the game
philippines reports fourth haiti quake death
manila jan afp
rescuers have found the bodies of all three missing filipino soldiers at the
collapsed un headquarters in haiti raising the philippines death toll from the
earthquake there to four the military said thursday
the body of female soldier air force sergeant janice arocena was found in
the ruins of the christopher hotel in port au prince at around gmt
wednesday military spokesman lieutenant colonel romeo brawner told reporters
the corpses of two other philippine peacekeepers and that of filipino civilian
un worker were retrieved at the same site earlier the government has said
the government in manila said two women remain missing from collapsed port au
prince supermarket where they were working
there were more than filipinos in haiti including soldiers and police
assigned with the un peacekeeping force when massive quake hit the country on
january
tennis big guns fire in melbourne but ivanovic flops
melbourne jan afp
novak djokovic and nikolay davydenko stamped their authority on the australian
open thursday but former world number one ana ivanovic was sent packing
on hot day third seed djokovic overcame some early first set wobbles to ease
past swiss marco chiudinelli on rod laver arena and set up
third round clash with uzbekistan denis istomin
more impressive was russian sixth seed davydenko who is shaping as serious
title contender after extending his win streak to matches stretching back to
last year
the year old has yet to win grand slam and has never been in final but
his disposal of ukrainian qualifier illya marchenko served notice
that his time may have come
for ivanovic it looks like her time has past
the former finalist and world number one put in an error riddled performance to
crash out to experienced argentinian gisela dulko with her
groundstrokes deserting her after the first set
the disappointing exit came as she tries to rejuvenate her career after battling
indifferent form and injuries last year
she slipped down the rankings to be outside the top for the first time in
five years and thursday flop was the sixth time in her past seven tournaments
where she had failed to go beyond the second round
just need to keep my head up and improve said ivanovic who lost the
final to maria sharapova who is also out of this year tournament
there are things working on but just not consistent it might just take
some time
fellow serb djokovic was off his game in the opening set conceding two service
breaks and hitting double the number of unforced errors than chiudinelli
but he took control of the match breaking the swiss twice in the second four
times in the third and in the eighth game of the final set to ease through
there are some things that obviously have to improve in order to play
better djokovic said
but the opening rounds especially at australian open are tricky and where
lot of surprises happen
davydenko stayed on track for quarter final with roger federer who plays
later thursday with his comprehensive hammering of marchenko
having enjoyed low profile throughout his career he is getting more
attention
it interesting he said in his post match press conference
we re not talking about tennis we re talking about my life this is my first
experience like this in the press
the attention is there because he has boasted an improved all round game that he
used to beat both federer and rafael nadal in recent weeks but he is not
thinking about maiden grand slam title just yet
never think am favourite for any tournament he said
in other matches danish fourth seed caroline wozniacki breezed past germany
julia goerges while ninth seeded russian vera zvonereva had an easy
win over czech iveta benesova
seventh seeded belarrussian victoria azarenka stayed in contention with
win over stefanie voegele
among the men unseeded former finalist marcos baghdatis of cyprus advanced with
gruelling win over spanish th seed david
ferrer
the th seeded nicolas almagro ousted german benjamin becker in tough five sets
while istomin booked his showdown with djokovic by overcoming germany michael
berrer
nba bobcats pounce for win over heat
charlotte north carolina jan afp
there was an easy nba win in charlotte on wednesday but it wasn what miami
michael beasley apparently had in mind as the bobcats pounced for
victory over the heat
stephen jackson scored points and gerald wallace added points with
rebounds as charlotte capped homestand with the one sided victory over the
lackluster heat
beasley had unwittingly provided fuel for the bobcats when he told reporters
day before that if the heat stay together and stay focused it should be an
easy win
beasley added that he meant no disrespect to charlotte but that apparently got
lost when the quote was posted in the charlotte locker room before the game
kind of laughed at it smiled at it said raymond felton who scored
points but at the same time the quote was in the back of my head the whole
game
the bobcats haven needed lot of extra motivation lately they improved to
league leading since the start of and to overall
they shot club record percent in the first quarter and were up by points
at halftime the bobcats led by as many as points in the fourth quarter and
allowed the fewest points in team history
as for beasley he finished with six points on of shooting
heat star dwyane wade scored points but was only of and committed four
fouls in the first half
we didn play up to our potential beasley said we lost they got the win
there ain really too much to say
us approves taiwan military plane transit
taipei jan afp
the united states allowed taiwan military plane to transit its territory for
the first time in years giving the go ahead without first consulting china
officials and media said thursday
the cargo plane made stop inside us territory while carrying relief supplies
to quake ravaged haiti according to the american institute in taiwan the de
facto us embassy
the united states approved taiwan request for cargo plane to land and
refuel in us territory in order to reach haiti as soon as possible christopher
kavanagh an official at the institute told afp
when asked if washington had discussed the sensitive issue with beijing prior to
giving the green light kavanagh told afp there is no need as the approval was
granted on humanitarian grounds
china which sees taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification
usually reacts with anger at military and other official contacts between the
island and any country especially the united states
kavanagh declined to be specific about when or where the cargo plane had made
the stop
the taipei based united daily news identified the aircraft as transport
plane from the island air force and said the stop was for refuelling
it was the first us transit by taiwanese military plane since washington
switched diplomatic recognition from taipei to beijing in according to the
paper
taiwan defence and foreign ministries declined comment when contacted by afp
thursday
the approval came before taiwan president ma ying jeou leaves for the
inauguration of honduran president elect porfirio lobo sosa next week with
transit stop in san francisco
ma planned stopover has touched off anger in beijing which has warned the
united states against having any official contact with ma during his brief stay
in california
ma had made transit stops in the us on previous latin america tours but kept
them low profile in line with his china friendly policy
beijing opposes any overseas visits by officials from taiwan which has governed
itself since at the end of civil war
cricket results from under world cup
wellington jan afp
result on thursday from the final pool match in the icc under world cup being
played by countries in new zealand
group
at lincoln
england in overs ben stokes ateeq javid saurav netrawalkar
india all out in overs mayank agarwal manan sharma sufiyan
shaikh david payne ben stokes nathan buck
england won by runs
more to move for china three gorges dam report
beijing jan afp
an additional people will be forced to move from their homes because of
china controversial three gorges dam and its huge reservoir state media
reported on thursday
the english language china daily said the relocations were aimed at preventing
pollution from adjacent communities contaminating the reservoir and at
protecting residents from possible seismic dangers
the report quoted government officials in the huge municipality of chongqing in
southwestern china the dam is located in central hubei province but most of
its reservoir is in chongqing
state media said in september that million people had already been
relocated to make way for the project which is expected to produce billion
kilowatt hours of electricity year when it reaches capacity according to an
earlier xinhua report
chinese officials have previously said million people were to be subject to
forced relocation from areas now submerged or due to be submerged by the
reservoir
critics of the dam which is the world largest at more than metres
feet wide and metres high have long decried what they call its
huge human and environmental costs
they have alleged massive corruption in the resettlement programme while
villagers forced from their homes have complained they were denied promised
government compensation and benefits
chinese scientists and officials also caused stir in when they said the
massive weight of the swelling reservoir was causing an increase in seismic
activity and landslides
further four million people have been encouraged to move from the area by
officials said that year although the government has insisted those
relocations were unrelated to the dam
tennis gutsy li battles back to stay alive
melbourne jan afp
gutsy li na saved match point as she battled back from set down to beat
hungary agnes szavay and book place in the australian open third round on
thursday
the chinese th seed is looking for decent run in melbourne to get her season
off to flying start and she dug deep to get back into the contest before
moving up gear to win
she said she had no focus in the first set but recovered her concentration to
stay alive in the tournament
she was playing good in the first set and was missing lot of balls she
didn do anything special she just putting the ball back on my court and then
just missed every single ball she said
after that was also down in the second set and knew had to do
something or have to book flight out for tomorrow
so tried to calm down and just get back as many balls as could
li who has long been asia highest profile player and continued her steady
rise through the rankings last year will next play slovak nd seed daniela
hantuchova friend off court
the year old from wuhan said it would be hard and she would put their
friendship aside for the match
it will be tough to play her because we are good friends she said
of course we have to fight on the court we can say hello after or before but
don think she wants to say hello on the court
will be fighting for every point
li made the fourth round at roland garros and her second grand slam quarter
final appearance at the us open benefitting from leaving china state sports
system to manage her own career
she admitted it was now easier but said she was always ready to drop everything
and play for china should the call come
still national team player if they need me can take everything back to
the national team she said
mean would like to say thank you to the chinese federation that gave me
choice
now can choose my own team can also choose which tournaments to play if
lazy can take day or week off
but mean still want to say thank you for them giving me the chance to
have the choice
li compatriot zheng jie also remains in the tournament and plays th seeded
frenchwoman marion bartoli on friday
the winner of that match will face either eighth seed jelena jankovic or alona
bondarenko for place in the quarter finals
avatar tops china box office as officials limit run
beijing jan afp
the hollywood blockbuster avatar has become china all time box office
champion as officials confirmed controversial plan to pull the version of
the film early from theatres
the futuristic adventure had grossed million yuan million dollars
xinhua news agency reported attributing the figures to the nation film
regulator tong gang
that puts the movie which was released in both and versions ahead of the
disaster epic which raked in million yuan until its nationwide
release ended last month
but friday will be the last day that chinese movie goers can catch screening
of the version of avatar the global times newspaper said quoting an
official with china film group which controls movie distribution
reports that the hugely popular movie would be pulled ahead of schedule had
sparked furore on the chinese internet amid charges the government had shunted
it aside to make way for the patriotic biopic confucius
the release of confucius comes as his teachings on peace social harmony and
respect for authority have enjoyed renaissance in china backed by the ruling
communist party after being suppressed during the radical mao years
officials at the state administration of radio film and television film
regulator and china film group declined to comment when contacted by afp
xinhua quoted zhang hongsen deputy director of the state regulator film
bureau as saying the film run was being ended for commercial not political
reasons because the box office returns of the version had been low
the report said the version had accounted for one third of its total revenue
in china
the film bureau has said the version would continue to be screened in china
until february as previously planned
some movie goers have alleged the government is nervous about avatar due to
its portrayal of tribe fight against humans chasing them from their land on
far off planet
some have drawn parallels to rash of forced land evictions in china which
have recently sparked violent clashes
woman jailed for burn threat at vietnam pm home court
hanoi jan afp
vietnamese woman who alleged mistreatment in land dispute and threatened to
burn herself outside the prime minister home has been jailed for months
court official and news report said thursday
tran ngoc anh resident of southern ba ria vung tau province was convicted in
hanoi on wednesday for disturbing public order court official told afp
declining to provide more details
the incident happened last november when anh went to prime minister nguyen tan
dung house in the capital hanoi lao dong newspaper reported after verbally
abusing two guards she produced two bottles of petrol and threatened to set
herself ablaze the report said
guards immediately seized the bottles and police arrested her it said
the woman born in told investigators she was protesting against unfair
compensation given to her family for land taken by local authorities
investigators said her complaint had already been dealt with but she repeatedly
joined other protesters and had been arrested and fined on other occasions the
report said
land disputes and residents claims that they have been cheated out of fair
compensation have in recent years become the most common cause of protests in
vietnam rural country that is rapidly industrialising
tennis wozniacki moves quietly on
melbourne jan afp
fourth seed caroline wozniacki of denmark moved quietly into the third round of
the australian open when she demolished german julia goerges on
thursday
with all the attention at this year open focused on either the williams
sisters or belgians kim clijsters and justine henin world number four wozniacki
has gone through her two early rounds largely unnoticed
the year old from odense burst onto the world scene last year winning three
tournaments and finishing runner up to clijsters at the us open
but her name has hardly been mentioned as possible winner of the year first
grand slam
don read too many newspapers when down here like just to focus on
myself wozniacki said
just taking it one match at time and hopefully if play well then people
will start talking
wozniacki was highly impressive in her win over goerges breaking the german
once in the first set and twice in the second in an efficient win on margaret
court arena
her powerful groundstrokes were devastating against the german particularly her
two handed backhand and she served far better than in her first round win over
canadian alexsandra wozniak
it was good match and happy to be through she said
am defintely happy with my form now hope get day off tomorrow and
relax little bit have short practice and then ll be ready for my third
round
she now takes on shahar peer in the third round after the israeli disposed of
