sexual and violent content in their games ahead of the introduction of
government guidelines state media said tuesday
the move comes amid massive nationwide government crackdown on internet porn
and violence campaign seen by some critics as way for the country
censors to reinforce the great firewall of china against political dissent
more than operators have agreed to rate their games according to their
suitability for children and adults this month an official from the beijing
animation game industry union was quoted by the global times as saying
gamers will need to provide their identification numbers in order to play to
prove they are old enough to view the content the english language newspaper
added
the union secretary general liu chungang said the group decision was
self disciplinary non governmental act within the industry
the culture ministry plans to introduce its own ratings system later this year
the newspaper said
culture minister cai wu was quoted by state media in december as saying his
ministry had banned internet games for carrying lewd pornographic and
violent content
the online game market was worth nearly billion yuan billion dollars in
up about percent on the previous year the global times said citing
official data
internet use has expanded at dizzying pace in china
the country has the world largest online population of at least million
users according to new tally released last week by the government linked
china internet network information centre cnnic
the number of internet gamers in china stood at million in june according
to cnnic
jal potential saviour management guru and buddhist monk
tokyo jan afp
the man chosen to spearhead the daunting task of rebuilding japan airlines is
respected entrepreneur management guru and ordained buddhist monk who admits he
is novice in the airline business
kazuo inamori who turns this month is being parachuted into jal cockpit
by the government to replace haruka nishimatsu who is set to step down as chief
executive after failing to halt jal financial tailspin
complete amateur about the transport industry inamori told reporters
last week after accepting the job adding would do my best
inamori is one of japan most well respected business executives having
founded both electronics maker kyocera corp and company that later became
part of kddi corp now japan number two telecommunication company
he great entrepreneur and perhaps entrepreneurship is what jal badly
needs said geoffrey tudor principal analyst at japan aviation management
research and former jal employee
inamori is champion of deregulation and philanthropist who entered the
buddhist priesthood at temple in kyoto in after retirement
the kyocera founder created his own amoeba management theory whereby each unit
of company makes its own plans under the guidance of an amoeba leader
members of the unit pool their knowledge and effort to achieve business targets
giving all employees an active role
in one of his books respect the divine and love people inamori says his
management philosophy is based on the many obstacles he has overcome
in both my professional and personal life have struggled with many dead end
situations which caused me endless agony he wrote according to excerpts on
his website
in those difficult circumstances would always go back to the fundamentals
and ask myself what is the right thing to do as human being everything
do in my work is based upon this fundamental principle
after contracting tuberculosis at age when his home was also destroyed in
world war ii air raid inamori went on to study engineering and started small
ceramics company that he would transform into leading high tech maker
now he is japan th richest person with an estimated wealth of million
dollars according to forbes rich list
inamori is very successful man in his own right he didn have any personal
connections with important or influential people he worked hard he has great
personal ability said tudor
think mr inamori will help boost the morale of jal employees he added
inamori faces major challenge turning around jal which is expected to file
for bankruptcy protection on tuesday to make it easier to overhaul its debts and
implement other measures likely to include about job cuts
celebrations muted as japan us security pact turns
tokyo jan afp
japan and the united states on tuesday marked the th anniversary of one of the
cold war defining security pacts but an unprecedented level of mistrust
between the allies kept celebrations muted
no major state events were planned in tokyo to mark the milestone treaty in
which the former adversaries in stood united against communist russia and
china
half century on the alliance has been strained since centre left government
took power in tokyo four months ago vowing more equal ties with washington
after more than five decades of almost unbroken conservative rule
the new government has signalled new embrace of japan pacifist stance and
announced review of key agreements governing the often unpopular us military
presence in japan where american troops are now based
prime minister yukio hatoyama last week ended naval refueling mission that has
backed us forces in afghanistan since and has announced review of pact
on the relocation of major us air base
us president barack obama administration has repeatedly asked japan new
leaders to stick by the original agreement under which new marine corps air
base would be built on the southern island of okinawa by
despite the row both sides praised the treaty signed on january which
strengthened pact that allowed us forces to be stationed in japan while
providing for the nation defence under the us nuclear umbrella
hatoyama said it was thanks to the pact that japan has maintained peace while
respecting freedom and democracy and enjoyed economic development in that
environment since the end of the last world war to this day
football birmingham inks sponsor deal with chinese firm
hong kong jan afp
birmingham city have signed club record sponsorship deal with chinese
sportswear brand xtep an agreement that includes airing the club matches in
china the hong kong listed company said tuesday
xtep will pay the english premier league club million hong kong dollars
million us dollars in the five year agreement to start in august company
spokeswoman said replacing birmingham current sponsor umbro
xtep which has more than outlets across china will supply birmingham
city with new kit bearing the joint xtep bcfc logo she said
as part of the deal at least eight birmingham matches would be shown on
mainland chinese television xtep said adding that it was the first chinese
firm to ink sponsorship deal with premier league club
hong kong businessman carson yeung who purchased birmingham in october hailed
the agreement as way to tap vast market in china
xtep provides an excellent platform for us to bring our english premier league
team to the prc chinese market and promote birmingham city fc to wider group
of football fans yeung said in statement issued by xtep
the agreement is birmingham largest sponsorship deal the club said on its
website adding that fans will have say in the new kit design
it is the club intention that blues supporters will have direct input into
the final selection of the design of the new playing kit birmingham said
without elaborating
tennis veteran tamarine gets open distinction
melbourne jan afp
thai trailblazer tamarine tanasugarn has the distinction of being the most
experienced grand slam campaigner at the australian open and she stayed alive
with straight sets win tuesday
the year old is competing in her st grand slam tournament three more than
nearest challenger venus williams after making her debut in the majors at
melbourne park in
now down to in the world the evergreen tamarine said she was enjoying her
tennis and had no plans to retire
wow am really in my st grand slam she said after beating sesil
karatantcheva of kazakhstan in rain delayed match carried over
from monday
didn know that still happy and having fun love playing tennis and
will continue for as long as feel this way my aim is to just try and stay fit
and injury free that the goal
another goal is competing in the asian games for thailand in guangzhou later
this year
it will be an honour and will be very happy to be there it is the best
possible achievement to wear the thai colours at an event like that
she said it was tough against karatantcheva with blustery conditions and chilly
temperatures not to her liking
yesterday when we started it was hard very windy and cold and missed some
easy shots in the second set she said
glad could finish it easily today
next up is tough encounter against the in form us open champion kim clijsters
tennis australian open results day two rd update
melbourne jan afp
results from day two of the australian open at melbourne park here tuesday
denotes seeding
men singles
st round
jarkko nieminen fin bt nick lindahl aus
tomas berdych cze bt robin haase ned
evgeny korolev kaz bt daniel brands ger
igor kunitysn rus bt jose acasuso arg
louk sorenson irl bt lu yen hsun tpe
marin cilic cro bt fabrice santoro fra
gael monfils fra bt matthew ebden aus
nikolay davydenko rus bt dieter kindlmann ger
fernando verdasco esp by carsten ball aus
feliciano lopez esp bt pablo cuevas uru
stanislas wawrinka sui bt guillermo garica lopez esp
thomaz bellucci bra bt teimuraz gabashvilli rus
marsel ilhan tur bt sebastien grosjean fra
john isner usa bt andreas seppi ita
ivan sergeyev ukr bt dudi sela isr
viktor troicki srb bt nicolas lapentti ecu
rainer schuettler ger bt sam querrey usa
women singles
st round
ana ivanovic srb bt shenay perry usa
sandra zahlavova cze bt coco vandeweghe usa
aravane rezai fra bt sania mirza ind
marion bartoli fra bt rossana de los rios par
ekaterina makarova rus bt virginie razzano fra
angelique kerber ger bt olga govortsova blr
nadia petrova rus bt edina gallovits rom
katie brien gbr bt patricia mayr aut
sara errani ita bt klara zakopalova cze
samantha stosur aus bt han xinyun chn
tamarine tanasugarn tha by sesil karatantcheva kaz
paulina hercog slo bt yuliana fedak ukr
barbora zahlavova strycova cze bt regina kulikova rus
serena williams usa bt urszula radwanska pol
vania king usa bt dominika cilbukova svk
tennis no nonsense serena powers on in australia
melbourne jan afp
no nonsense defending champion serena williams powered into the australian open
second round on tuesday where she was joined by in form russian nicolay
davydenko
williams who is searching for her th grand slam singles title to put herself
alongside billie jean king as one of the all time greats demolished pole
urszula radwanska
but the four time champion here usually slow starter at grand slams had her
right thigh heavily strapped although it appeared to be precautionary with no
sign that she was hampered
williams broke radwanska twice in the first set and three times in the second on
her way to comfortable victory that will make her rivals sit up and take
notice
sister venus the sixth seed makes her entrance later tuesday against czech
lucie safarova
on blustery but dry day with organisers trying to clear backlog of matches
unable to finish due to rain on monday serbian glamour girl and th seed ana
ivanovic also progressed
the former world number one overcame some late serving jitters to beat american
shenay perry as she struggles to get her career back on track
despite the late lapse ivanovic was happy with her form
yeah it was very good she said was pleased with the way played and
very happy to have victory because she had lot of matches already and she
dangerous opponent
beaten in the final here by russian maria sharapova in the year old is
looking to put disappointing behind her having battled injuries and
indifferent form
she has slipped down the rankings to be outside the top for the first time in
five years
other women staying alive included australian th seed samantha stosur who
struggled past chinese qualifier han xinyun in three sets french th seed
marion bartoli and th seed aravane rezai who beat india sania mirza
davydenko known as mr invisible for having such low public profile was the
first top man into the second round tuesday dropping just four games in his
demolition of germany dieter kindlmann
having won the atp world tour masters in london at the end of last year and then
beating rafael nadal in the final of the qatar open this month he is seen as
strong contender here
know can win mostly before losing against these top guys but now can
beat everyone it good feeling said the russian
davydenko is scheduled to meet roger federer in the quarter finals with the
swiss great getting his tournament underway tuesday against russia igor
andreev
third seed novak djokovic takes on spain daniel gimeno traver later in the
day
other top names going through were french th seed gael monfils who wrapped
his rain delayed match against australian matthew ebden
spanish ninth seed fernando verdasco was another staying in the hunt after
tough four set encounter with australian carsten ball winning
but there was heartache for veteran frenchman fabrice santoro the first
player to participate in grand slam tournaments in four decades who fell
to th seeded croat marin cilic
football jets agree griffiths transfer to beijing guoan
melbourne jan afp
australian league club newcastle jets has reached an agreement with beijing
guoan for striker joel griffiths to join the chinese club permanently for an
undisclosed fee the jets said on tuesday
beijing had initially wanted to roll over an existing loan deal with the jets
for another year before reaching resolution to buy the footballer from his
former club
griffiths is free to join the chinese super league club effective immediately
after his management contacted the jets in an attempt to find resolution
following an arbitration hearing jets chief executive john tsatsimas said in
statement
we are glad that we maintained the position that we did with respect to this
matter tsatsimas said
we were quite happy for the matter to have been finalised via arbitration and
were very comfortable in terms of the position we took
the subsequent offer made was more appropriate in our view he said
it was vitally important that we took the stance to ensure that foreign clubs
show the league and its participating clubs the respect it deserves
griffiths was beijing joint top scorer as they claimed their first chinese
title last season
top chinese judge jailed for life for graft
beijing jan afp
chinese court sentenced former top supreme court judge to life in prison on
tuesday for taking bribes and other graft charges court official and state
media said
huang songyou is the latest top official snared in stepped up campaign against
corruption which president hu jintao has described as one of the greatest
threats to the legitimacy of communist party rule
he was sentenced today said spokesman at the langfang intermediate people
court in the northern province of hebei without giving further details
the official xinhua news agency said huang the former deputy head of the
supreme court had been given life sentence his personal property confiscated
and his political rights revoked for life
state media reports have said huang was accused of taking bribes totalling
million yuan us dollars from to and of embezzling
million yuan in
he had already been thrown out of the ruling communist party and the court
ruling means he will never again be able to participate in politics or occupy
official posts
the people daily the communist party main propaganda mouthpiece said in
commentary on its website that the ruling showed corruption would be severely
punished
the langfang intermediate people court ruling on this issue states
resoundingly that courts will not tolerate corruption in the administration of
justice no matter who or at what level the cadres are it said
hu last week called the fight against corruption pressing task urging
increased efforts to investigate embezzlement and corruption cases
also last week china former top nuclear power official kang rixin who was
sacked in august was stripped of his party membership and referred by the party
to stand trial for abuse of power and corruption xinhua reported
an internal party investigation had found that kang former general manager of
the china national nuclear corporation cnnc had abused his authority
enabled profits for others and taken huge bribes
late last year the vice president and party chief of state owned china mobile
was stripped of his posts due to his alleged involvement in serious economic
problems
also last year li peiying the former head of the company that owns beijing
capital international airport was executed after being convicted of bribery and
embezzlement totalling nearly million dollars
the former head of oil giant sinopec chen tonghai was sentenced to death in
july after being found guilty of corrupt practices
nba nowitzki scores as mavs rally to beat boston
boston jan afp
dirk nowitzki finished with points including in the second half as the
dallas mavericks beat the boston celtics in marquee matchup of first
place teams on monday
nowitzki shot of from the field and went on nine point unanswered
scoring spree in the third quarter which gave the mavericks lead they wouldn
give up
jason kidd scored points and added assists for the mavericks who had lost
three of their last four games they were blown out by toronto on sunday
we have been struggling offensively for some reason germany nowitzki said
we need to get the stops in our end and get ball and run and have fun it all
starts on our defensive end we did great job in the second half
paul pierce scored points ray allen scored kendrick perkins had
points and rebounds and rajon rondo had assists for boston which has lost
three consecutive games at home
the celtics have lost four of their last six overall and they are since
beating the magic in orlando on christmas day
boston led by five after the first quarter and boosted that to at
the half
the mavericks rallied late in the third as erick dampier drove for basket and
nowitzki hit jumper from the left side to give dallas lead and then
jumper from the top of the key for his ninth straight point
nowitzki praised dampier for his contribution monday
been playing with him dampier for five or six years he does lot of little
things nowitzki said when he is active in the paint and rebounding and
blocking shots then we are different animal
the celtics played without superstar kevin garnett who has missed the past nine
games with right knee injury
rasheed wallace returned to the lineup after missing three games with sore
foot
universal studios to build major theme park in korea
seoul jan afp
us film giant universal studios tuesday signed deal with south korean partners
to build its largest theme park in asia at cost of around three trillion won
billion dollars
universal parks and resorts and south korean partners including lotte group
and subsidiary of steel giant posco signed the framework agreement to develop
the park at hwaseong by
the initial deal was announced in late but faced problems raising capital
until retail and hotels group lotte was persuaded to join the project
universal studios also operates theme parks in hollywood orlando in florida and
japan and park on singapore sentosa island is nearing completion
when completed the south korean resort kilometrs miles southwest of
seoul will be larger in area than all four combined and will create more than
jobs according to kim moon soo governor of gyeonggi province
it aims to attract up to million visitors every year said chung chai kwan
president of us resorts asset management co an agent for the project
lotte asset development will have percent stake while posco
construction subsidiary posco and is the second largest shareholder with
percent
work is due to start early next year on the venue which will include water
park theme hotel apartments golf course and other facilities
culture minister yu in chon called it major opportunity to develop the
national tourism industry
universal parks and resorts chairman and ceo thomas williams said he was very
optimistic the resort would attract substantial segment of the south korean
population as well as growing number of asian international tourists
he said director steven spielberg creative consultant to universal parks and
resorts is expected to take part in the korea project
he already has number of ideas that think will contribute to making it
quite unique and in the spirit of differentiation something that caters to an
international crowd williams said
once proud jal victim of japan economic decline
tokyo jan afp
japan airlines former state owned flag carrier that was once source of
national pride has become one of the highest profile victims of the country
long economic malaise
jal rise and fall mirrors the nation economic miracle after world war ii
as well as its years of stagnation after the bubble burst in the
the airline was established in half controlled by the government it made
its international debut in connecting tokyo honolulu and san francisco
flying to airports in countries and regions the biggest carrier of the
world second largest economy is saddled with huge debt and is widely expected
to file for bankruptcy tuesday in court led rehabilitation process
with estimated debts of about two trillion yen billion dollars jal
bankruptcy would be the biggest failure outside the financial sector since world
war ii according to tokyo shoko research an advisory firm
despite the airline current woes japan government said it will do
everything possible to ensure that jal keeps flying during restructuring that
is expected to include drastic route reductions and thousands of job cuts
its landing slots also remain coveted with us carriers american airlines and
delta air lines locked in bidding war for slice of jal as they look to
increase their share of the asian market
sporting its trademark crane logo jal rapidly widened its operations at home
and overseas during the and at one stage becoming the world largest
carrier in terms of regular flights
disaster struck in when jal jumbo jet crashed into mountain in central
japan killing of the people aboard in the worst single airplane
accident in aviation history
as it battled to overcome the tragedy the carrier was fully privatised in
and expanded its fleet in the early move that soon turned out to be
financial burden as the economic bubble burst
the carrier now has aircraft including leased planes most of them
boeing jets it transported about million passengers last fiscal year
million of them on domestic routes
as the global aviation industry was battered by the fall out from the september
attacks as well as the sars and bird flu scares jal plunged into huge
losses and sought massive credit lines from the government
in bid to survive the tougher business environment jal and domestic carrier
japan air system merged to form jal group changing the logo to the current arc
of the sun resembling the national flag
the integration however led to further losses and slowdown in restructuring
efforts while jal smaller rival all nippon airways ana moved into high
gear
despite the privatisation jal has often come under political pressure to
maintain regular flights to more than half of domestic airports even though many
are unprofitable analysts say
nomura securities analyst makoto murayama added that jal also miscalculated
international demand
ana predicted the decline in demand for international flights would not recover
after the terrorist attacks in the united states which proved to be
right in later years he said jal thought demand would recover
more recently the global economic crisis as well as the swine flu outbreak
dealt another serious blow jal lost about billion dollars in the six months
to september
jal which has about employees has also been saddled by huge pension
pay outs to retirees who have now agreed to reduced payments
malaysia says us terrorist attack warning misleading
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysia has urged the united states to review travel advisory that warned
terrorists are targeting borneo tourist destinations describing it as wrong
and misleading
the us embassy in kuala lumpur said last week there were indications that
criminal and terrorist groups are planning strikes in isolated areas of eastern
sabah state on borneo island including the diving resort of sipadan
malaysia summoned us ambassador james keith on monday to register its concern
and insisted the security situation in sabah was not as perceived in the
travel alert the foreign ministry said in statement late monday
the travel alert had generated anxiety confusion and surprise from malaysian
leaders and the public over the alleged security situation in the popular
tourist resorts of eastern sabah it said
it could create wrong misleading and negative impression to the outside
world on the security situation in malaysia as whole in relation to terrorist
threats
the foreign ministry said its deputy secretary general radzi abdul rahman urged
the ambassador at the meeting to review the warden notice and travel alert in
light of the existing sound security arrangement
us embassy officials could not immediately be reached for comment
malaysian authorities have played down the warning saying that security
measures and intelligence gathering in the area have been dramatically increased
since foreign hostages were snatched there in
other foreign countries have warned their citizens of the threat of attacks in
sabah which lies in malaysia half of borneo an island split with indonesia
but the us advisory was more specific on the areas targeted
it identified the destinations of semporna mabul and sipadan and called on us
citizens to please avoid or use extreme caution in connection with any travel
in these areas or locations
in the abu sayyaf militant group kidnapped people including
foreigners in sipadan and took them to their base on jolo island in the
philippines holding most of them for several months
tens of thousands of westerners visit sabah annually attracted by its scenery
and world class diving especially in the waters off sipadan which lies close
to the troubled southern philippines
tourism is major foreign exchange earner for malaysia which has seen its
export dependent economy hit hard by the global recession contracting by
forecast percent in
tennis british women have better work ethic than men says brien
melbourne jan afp
england kate brien says britain women tennis players have better work
ethic than their male counterparts and this difference was reflected in recent
results
brien was speaking soon after joining fellow brit elena baltacha in the second
round of the australian open with win over austrian patrica mayr on
tuesday
after many years in the doldrums the british now have two players in the top
baltacha at and brien at as well as highly promising junior
laura robson
brien said the women in the british national squad trained harder than
their male counterparts
think the work ethic among the british women is world class at the moment
she said
we re all absolutely working our socks off day in and day out
think the men the younger guys are getting there think there
definitely more professional attitude among the men
but don know women tend to be bit more conscientious as it is anyway
when asked whether british woman could be challenging for grand slam within
five years brien answered definitely
think the british women saw laura robson playing in qualifying
she such an exciting prospect brien said
think even this year she could start to really break through
know at the ntc national tennis centre where train there positive
vibe about the place
brien put the improvements down to better coaching and facilities
there was lot of chopping and changing before the ntc she said
but now everything is set in stone everything was new couple of years ago
but think now we ve all used that to our advantage
think everyone knows what direction they re heading in because for me it
wasn until was that really kind of understood what it needed to
take to be top player and have the facilities and coaching in order to help me
achieve my goals
venezuela seizes three banks orders two others closed
caracas jan afp
the venezuelan government of president hugo chavez on monday seized control of
three small banks and ordered two other financial institutions closed bank
regulators said in statement
in order to guarantee healthy national banking and financial system the
board has decided to intervene the following firms inverunion banco
comercial banco del sol and mi casa savings and loan company said the
sudeban banking regulator
the intervention was decided behind closed doors meaning the banks clients
