will not have immediate access to their deposits
the banking regulator said the three seized banks were facing serious
administrative and managerial problems that resulted in insufficient liquidity
to cover their short term obligations
sudeban also closed down investment bank baninvest and banco real banco de
desarrollo due to inefficient operations
the leftist chavez administration in november and december liquidated eight
small and medium sized banks four of which were nationalized and consolidated
into new bank called bicentenario
venezuela national assembly on december passed banking reform law that
boosted government control and depositors insurance to bolivars around
dollars from bolivars dollars
the banking reform coincided with chavez drive to revamp national finances
with an eye on legislative elections next year observers said
the bank seizures signal that the chavez government is still pushing ahead with
its socialist finance system which was boosted with the purchase of the banco
de venezuela from the spanish santander group earlier in
the bank seizures late last year caused dip in venezuelan bonds and the
country currency in free trading and prompted fears that investors would move
to withdraw funds sparking sector wide liquidity crisis
in bid to prevent run on banks venezuelan government officials insisted the
national financial system was strong and guaranteed the banks clients
that they would not lose their hard earned savings
the government currently controls around percent of the banking sector
the banking reform law also simplifies the red tape involved in liquidating
individual accounts when bank is closed
tennis dark horse davydenko hot run continues
melbourne jan afp
unfashionable russian nikolay davydenko continued his impeccable start to the
year when he advanced comfortably to the second round of the australian open
tuesday
the sixth seed cruised past german dieter kindlmann in just
minutes to remain unbeaten in
davydenko beat world number rafael nadal in the final and beat world number one
roger federer in the semis in doha before heading to australia for the year
first grand slam
although his previous encounter with kindlmann was closely fought three set
win at last year us open davydenko was impressive as he outclassed the th
ranked german from the outset
relegated to an outside court apparently because of his low profile the
year old rattled off the first five games as he claimed the first set in only
minutes
he didn drop game in the second set having broken the german serve seven
times in succession
kindlmann rallied in the third to break davydenko and claim lead but the
russian simply kicked into another gear and won the last five games of the
match
davydenko four times grand slam semi finalist but yet to reach decider hit
winners while the german managed just
he faces either veteran spaniard carlos moya or ukrainian qualifier illya
marchenko in the second round
korea agrees first joint venture with south in trade zone
seoul jan afp
south korean company said tuesday it is planning joint venture factory in
free trade zone in northeastern north korea the first such investment by seoul
in the faltering project
food processor merry co said pyongyang last month approved its partnership with
state run korea gaeson general trading corp in the rason zone near the north
border with china and russia
we re going to have first joint venture between the two koreas in rason
merry president chung han gi told afp
the north this month upgraded the status of the zone in an attempt to invigorate
anaemic foreign investment there
chung said his company would invest percent of the million dollar cost of
the new plant while its north korean partner would put in percent
he said he would this week ask the south unification ministry which must
authorise all cross border contacts to approve the joint venture
the communist state designated the rajin sonbong economic special zone later
renamed rason in its first such project but little foreign investment
materialised and senior officials who headed the project were reportedly sacked
in recent years the north has begun trying to revive it signing an accord with
russia to rebuild railways and the port there china has also been exploring
investment opportunities in the city
the north leader kim jong il paid his first visit to the zone last month and
state media said later that parliament has designated rason as municipality to
upgrade its status
the north economy has been hit by sanctions imposed to curb its nuclear and
missile programmes leaders have called for efforts to improve living standards
by promoting light industry and agriculture and developing foreign trade
south and north korea have joint venture industrial estate at kaesong near
their border its operations have often been hit by political tensions but the
two sides were to start talks tuesday on ways to develop it
chung said his firm joint venture at rason which would have some north
korean employees plans to produce canned and processed food including tuna for
exports
merry which also has factory in shanghai will send chinese engineers to
rason next month to install production facilities
philippines reports first fatality in haiti
manila jan afp
philippine officials on tuesday confirmed that one filipino un worker had been
found dead in haiti following last week quake the country first fatality
from the disaster
five more filipinos including three un peacekeepers and two women working in
supermarket are still missing foreign ministry officials said in an
interview with radio station dzbb
the body of jerome yap identified as executive assistant to the deputy head of
un mission in haiti was found in the ruins of the christopher hotel which had
housed the un headquarters in haiti the officials said
there were more than filipino civilians in haiti including people working
for un agencies when massive quake hit that country on january
the philippines also had strong contingent in the un peacekeeping force
comprising police soldiers and military observers
cricket fog delays play again in india bangladesh test
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
fog and murky conditions have delayed the start of the third day play in the
heavily curtailed first test between india and bangladesh on tuesday
inclement weather over this coastal city permitted of the stipulated overs
on the first day and just overs on the second day
bangladesh were due to resume their first innings at in reply to india
with raqibul hasan on one and mohammad ashraful yet to score
the second and final test of the short series will start in dhaka on january
haiti relief surge fails to bring security
port au prince jan afp
thousands of us marines joined the haiti relief effort on monday but lawlessness
prevailed on the streets with looters preying on the helpless and raiding the
flattened ruins
doctors working with limited equipment amputated limbs to save lives while
rescuers picked through debris to locate unlikely survivors more than six days
after the magnitude quake struck reducing the haitian capital to rubble
us president barack obama proposed joint us brazilian canadian leadership for
relief efforts as the massive international humanitarian operation was still
failing to bring security and alleviate the suffering of traumatised populace
despite the arrival of more than us marines
eu nations promised more than million dollars in aid and reconstruction
funds but dominican president leonel fernandez estimated billion dollars over
five years would be needed to help the recovery in haiti which was already the
western hemisphere poorest nation
he warned that what was most needed was central authority in haiti able to
channel all the aid that is arriving
obama suggested to brazilian president luiz inacio lula da silva that the three
countries should lead and coordinate efforts by the international community of
haiti donors and other parties brazilian government official said
secretary general ban ki moon requested more troops and police for the
battered un mission that was trying to bring stability to the dysfunctional
caribbean state even before disaster struck
in the stinking capital port au prince where corpses lay abandoned under the
rubble and palace gardens were turned into putrid slums groups of survivors
roamed the streets to scrounge supplies
troops in combat gear fired off rounds and hauled some people to the ground to
try to stop the worst of the looting but the paltry security presence in the
destitute city made that futile task
the red cross warned that violence by desperate haitians was growing though
lieutenant general ken keen the top us officer on the ground insisted the
level of violence we see now is below pre earthquake levels
un agencies said field hospitals and food distribution had multiplied in and
around the capital
around food rations and tents were distributed monday by the
world food programme and humanitarian groups from neighboring dominican
republic haitian official said
prices for food and transport have skyrocketed since last tuesday and incidents
of violence and looting are on the rise as the desperation grows the
international committee of the red cross said in statement
officials have expressed fears the final death toll may top if it is
ever known at all while government minister said sunday that bodies
had already been buried
as the relief effort was stepped up us paratroopers deployed out of the main
haitian airport in waves of navy seahawk helicopters to set up bases from which
to launch humanitarian operations
we have seen dramatic improvement in the efficiency and coordination of the
flow of goods coming in world food programme executive director josette
sheeran told reporters in rome
but conditions appeared to have barely improved for hundreds of thousands of
homeless injured and traumatized people many of whom trawled the streets
desperate for food water and medicine
international aid trickled in but supplies remained scarce amid the enormity of
crisis the united nations estimates affected three million people and left
homeless
former us president bill clinton special un envoy to haiti defended the pace
of the relief effort as he visited port au prince to meet haitian leaders and
get first hand accounts from survivors
no don think they were slow coming in clinton told afp as he walked down
hospital hallways cluttered with injured survivors the infrastructure broke
down and that what we re building up
amid the death and desperation the life affirming tales of survival that had
provided glimmers of hope in preceding days were drying up although an
month old baby was found alive on monday
from saturday to mid day monday out of operations performed by the french
team at the general hospital in port au prince ended in amputation
french doctor jacques lorblanches said he had lost count of the number of
amputations he had performed in the past hours but would never forget the
ghastly conditions
have never seen anything like this infected wounds full of larvae he
told afp did my first amputation with three forceps five scissors and
scalpel without water and just flashlight to illuminate the injury
emergency workers expanded their operations to battered communities outside of
port au prince including gressier petit goave and leogane which were all
leveled by the quake
boxing haitian boxer berto pulls out of fight
las vegas nevada jan afp
andre berto pulled out of next week world boxing council welterweight title
fight with shane mosley saying the pain of dealing with the horrific earthquake
has taken too big toll on him emotionally
berto whose parents are haitian and represented haiti in the athens olympics
said even though this was the biggest fight of his career he cannot continue to
train
as result of this disaster am mentally and physically exhausted and
therefore have no choice but to withdraw from my bout berto said
the undefeated berto was to defend his title against mosley at the luxury
mandalay bay resort in las vegas on january
mosley who has held titles in three different weight classes was to be his
biggest test
berto who has many relatives in haiti had been in training in florida and was
scheduled to arrive in las vegas on wednesday
but he said he could not go forward despite the fight being an opportunity he
has dreamt of since he was boy
lost several family members to the earthquake and after two days without
word was relieved to learn that my sister naomi and her daughter jessica
survived but were left homeless said berto who has straight wins and no
losses
have seen the pain in my parents eyes as they attempt to understand what has
happened to our homeland and recognize place they once called home
berto was born in miami but boxed for haiti in the olympics he had been
involved in charity and relief efforts in haiti even before the killer
earthquake hit
berto decision could open the door for mosley to fight someone like floyd
mayweather who lost out on chance recently to fight manny pacquiao
mosley hasn fought since stopping disgraced boxer antonio margarito year
ago
disappointed that the fight has been called off but understand that
andre is going through very difficult time mosley said my heart goes out
to him his family and the people of haiti during the aftermath of this terrible
tragedy sorry for the losses that andre and all of the haitian people are
suffering have everyone in my prayers
oil prices mixed in asian trade
singapore jan afp
oil was mixed in asian trade tuesday after the energy minister of major crude
producer united arab emirates said he was comfortable with current price levels
in morning trade new york main contract light sweet crude for february
delivery gained cents to dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for delivery in march eased five cents to dollars
think investors are buying on this weakness in prices we ve seen in the
last few days said ben westmore minerals and energy economist with national
australia bank in melbourne
think investors are perceiving that the base levels are reasonably low given
the outlook for the global economy and the oil markets
the new york contract hit an intra day peak of dollars barrel last week
its highest level since october before easing
on monday united arab emirates energy minister mohammad bin dhaen al hamli said
world oil prices were very reasonable at the moment
asked if he preferred prices to be in excess of dollars barrel he told
reporters on the sidelines of four day alternative energy forum in the uae
capital don like over and don like
the uae is member of the organisation of the petroleum exporting countries
opec
at its last meeting in december the opec cartel warned of lingering weakness in
the world economy as it decided to keep crude output quotas unchanged
the international energy agency said last week that oil demand in would be
sluggish in the developed world with emerging markets accounting for any
increases
the agency left unchanged prior forecast of percent rise in global
demand this year to million barrels per day
tennis serena starts title defence in best possible way
melbourne jan afp
world number one serena williams got her australian open title defence off to
the best possible start when she demolished poland urszula radwanska
on tuesday
playing with no sign of the left knee injury that hampered her last week in
sydney but with her right thigh heavily strapped williams broke radwanska twice
in the first set and three times in the second on her way to comfortable
victory
despite the lopsided scoreline williams was made to work hard for her victory
with radwanska keeping the top seed on court for minutes
the year old pole was not overawed by the occasion and tried to move williams
around the court throughout the match but the defending champion was always in
control
the nature of the victory will make williams rivals sit up and take note as the
american can be slow starter at grand slams
while williams made unforced errors against radwanska she also hit
winners to her opponent and looks good chance to add fifth australian
open title to her collection
she now faces either petra kvitova of the czech republic or fellow american jill
craybas in the second round
snooker sullivan downplays selby world title hopes
london jan afp
ronnie sullivan has dismissed mark selby chances of winning the world title
because his fellow englishman suffers from the same faults that afflict his own
game
selby won the last four frames to regain the masters title from sullivan who
beat him in the final in thrilling climax at the wembley arena here
on sunday
sullivan three times world champion and four times masters winner
believes selby lacks the consistency to win over the course of the day world
championship at sheffield crucible theatre
not that the rocket who has history of talking down his own game gives
much for his chances of adding to his world title tally
as far as winning world titles that is mission impossible for me he said
too hot and cold to go in with any confidence in doing it
don think selby has the game either to win world title because of the
same reasons that is why it is tough you are up against players that have that
relentlessness
sullivan widely regarded as the most talented player currently in the
professional game was frustrated by what he said was his hot and cold play
saying that if he could produce better general standard he would demolish
plenty of opponents
ve been playing like plum for years he said ve had my struggles
and lot of people have put it down to depression or my demons but it has
nothing to do with demons
the hot and cold snooker did and does make me depressed felt myself getting
sucked in during the final but said don go there you ve had good week
don have those expectations any more
it sad for me because if was able to put my finger on it and get it right
would smash all these players up would demolish lot of them
sullivan added for me to win three world titles is miracle in itself
didn think win one because over days it requires you not to have bad
spells
if didn have my problems with the game over the years maybe could have
possibly chased stephen hendry record of seven but ve just got to be
happy that ve had quite successful career when ve either been really good
or really poor
meanwhile selby who is from leicester central england said his relationship
with vikki layton one of europe top female pool players had been big
factor in his success
we ve been together for just over three years and before was living on my own
and didn have the stability that she has brought he said
she moved down to leicester and we ve got house together and that has been
the making of me
that was all needed because after won the regal scottish final when was
young but went off the rails for few years needed the stability of someone
to come to tournaments with me and someone to go home to
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
will not have immediate access to their deposits
the banking regulator said the three seized banks were facing serious
administrative and managerial problems that resulted in insufficient liquidity
to cover their short term obligations
sudeban also closed down investment bank baninvest and banco real banco de
desarrollo due to inefficient operations
in its bid to socialize the finance system the leftist chavez administration in
november and december liquidated eight small and medium sized banks four of
which were nationalized and consolidated into new bank called bicentenario
prince william visits australia for first time in years
sydney jan afp
prince william touched down in australia for the first time in years tuesday
for an unofficial tour which will take in poor inner sydney aboriginal
community and towns devastated by wildfires
the second in line to the british throne personally requested the visit as way
to get to know the country arriving from new zealand where he had been on his
first official visit representing his grandmother queen elizabeth ii
prince william walked down the steps of royal new zealand air force shortly
after pm gmt before being whisked off to meet the queen
representative in australia governor general quentin bryce
foreign minister stephen smith said australians would welcome the year old
royal who last visited the country as nine month old baby with his parents
prince charles and the late princess diana in
think there an affection for the queen herself and there clearly an
affection for prince william smith told sky news as australian television
showed images of the baby prince in his mother arms on his last trip
it quite clearly the case that he going to be welcomed very
enthusiastically in australia as he was in new zealand and as he should be
although described by the british press as prince charming following his
relaxed tour of new zealand seasoned royal watcher has warned while william
was as lovely as can be he was no longer as good looking as he once was
at he was divine at he wasn bad but now standing here next to all
these sun tanned kiwis he looks like pale pommie prince with thatch in his
patch hello reporter judy wade reported from new zealand
he comes off looking second best harry the heart throb now and he far more
fun
but wade noted that prince william has got his mother magic
he reminds the world of diana and that wonderful thing she said
the prince schedule for the whistlestop tour will include visiting the
impoverished inner city aboriginal neighbourhood of redfern and communities
outside melbourne destroyed by last year deadly bushfires
in keeping with his personal interest in young people and the armed services he
will also meet australian soldiers at sydney barracks
the prince tour comes as poll revealed the majority of australians who in
voted against model to become republic would prefer prince william to
be their next king instead of his father prince charles
the survey for british television channel itv news found percent of those
interviewed thought william should be the next monarch compared with percent
for charles
it had closer result on the question of monarchy with percent voting in
favour of the queen remaining australia head of state and percent against
the australian republican movement dismissed the poll as irrelevant but said
prince william visit did highlight the fact that australia head of state was
british
but people don spend all day in australia worrying about constitutional
issues the movement president michael keating told afp
keating said he did not expect republicans to protest the prince visit
we won be in the street throwing lamingtons or anything else at him he
said referring to australia national cake cube sized white sponge covered
in chocolate and coconut we think that ridiculous
prince william will visit melbourne on thursday before returning home the
following day
tennis davydenko into open second round
melbourne jan afp
russian nikolay davydenko advanced comfortably to the second round of the
australian open tuesday with the sixth seed beating german dieter kindlmann
tennis australian open results day two nd 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
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 rou
katie brien gbr bt patricia mayr aut
sara errani ita bt klara zakopalova cze
samantha stosur aus bt xinyun han 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
australia boosts haiti aid
sydney jan afp
australia has boosted its aid pledge for quake ravaged haiti by five million
dollars million us taking its total donation to million dollars
canberra last week announced it would be giving million dollars to help in
the aftermath of the quake with half the money earmarked for immediate
emergency aid and the other half for longer term reconstruction
today ve announced the doubling of the emergency assistance for food for
water for shelter for medicines foreign minister stephen smith told sky
news
the key priority now other than search and rescue is the life saving
materials and so we ve doubled our contribution today he said
the nature and the extent of the tragedy has far exceeded the initial reports
and that is of course further reason why australia today makes an additional
contribution smith said
despite some initial difficulties smith said he remained confident that
australian aid would reach the areas most in need
while he expected the united nations to boost its peacekeeping force in the
increasingly lawless caribbean state smith said australia did not intend to
send troops
we re not proposing to contribute to any peacekeeping force either military
personnel or through police personnel smith said
he said canberra was working with the united nations to see whether it could
provide logistics communications and engineering expertise
dual australian british citizen who was working for the united nations in
haiti was confirmed dead in the quake on monday and smith said the government
had now accounted for all australians thought to be in the area
there are fears that the eventual toll from the catastrophe could be around
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
will not have immediate access to their deposits
sudeban also closed down investment bank baninvest and banco real banco de
desarrollo due to inefficient operations
tennis serena starts title defence in best possible way
melbourne jan afp
world number one serena williams got her australian open title defence off to
the best possible start when she beat poland urszula radwanska in straight
games on tuesday
tennis sorensen sets irish eyes smiling for first time in years
melbourne jan afp
qualifier louk sorensen became the first irishman to compete in grand slam
singles for years on tuesday and did his country proud by winning his opening
round match at the australian open
sorensen defeated taiwan lu yen hsun on an outside
court
tennis runs in the family with his father sean the last irishman to play in
grand slam singles at the wimbledon
sorensen ranked in the world booked his place in the main draw when he
downed new zealander daniel king turner in two sets during qualifying last
saturday
taiwan china likely to postpone trade talks official
taipei jan afp
taiwan and china are likely to delay plans to start negotiations wednesday on
major trade pact taipei official said as local media reported disagreements
over who should represent the two sides
taiwan premier wu den yih said earlier the first round of talks was due to
kick off january in the hope of signing the pact in may but an official told
afp on tuesday that the time and place had yet to be finalised
it be extremely difficult to begin talks wednesday as planned as we re still
discussing the details with china said maa shaw chang spokesman of the
quasi official strait exchange foundation which handles china ties
the taipei based economic daily news said the delay was likely related to
taiwan wish to have its vice economic minister lead the talks while china
wanted lower level trade officials in charge
china usually prefers to keep contacts with taiwan as low key and low rank as
