fbl afr maw profile
fbl afr ang star
fbl afr mli star
fbl afr alg star
fbl afr maw star
fbl afr ang coach
fbl afr mli coach
fbl afr alg coach
fbl afr maw coach
rugbyu wallaby cooper back in training awaiting court
sydney jan afp
wallaby back quade cooper has returned to training with the queensland reds as
he awaits court hearing on burglary charges club officials said on thursday
cooper was last month charged with breaking into house on the gold coast
and the australian rugby union said he would not be allowed to play
internationally or for the reds until he undertook counselling programme
the action plan formulated by queensland rugby the aru and the rugby union
players association is aimed at addressing number of off field issues for
cooper spokesman said
reds officials said cooper progress is being monitored and will be reviewed
early next month before any further decisions are made on his immediate playing
future
cooper underwent minor knee surgery soon after his return from the wallaby tour
of the united kingdom and ireland last november and is in the final stages of
recovery
new reds coach ewen mckenzie said cooper had been eased back into training
quade has made good progress on the medical front so he should be ready to
fully participate either this week or next week mckenzie said
as far as his eligibility to play is concerned that decision will be made
later based on his progress in following the programme set down for him
cooper said he remained committed to fulfilling his off field programme with the
aim of playing for the reds in the super season
it up to me it all about the things do off the field and how
control that will decide how quickly get back on the field cooper told
reporters on thursday
playing footy is what love so to get back out there as fast as can and
close that window is all up to me
cooper is due to face court in july
iranian foreign minister visits baghdad
tehran jan afp
iranian foreign minister manouchehr mottaki early thursday started two day
visit to iraq during which he was to discuss bilateral matters including
security co operation and border problems state television reported
mottaki who headed large delegation was to meet his opposite number hoshyar
zebari as well as president jalal talabani and other iraqi officials
microsoft natal for xbox coming in late
las vegas nevada jan afp
microsoft announced wednesday that project natal gesture recognition games
where the human body serves as the controller will be released at the end of
the year for the xbox videogame console
is going to be the biggest year in xbox history robbie bach the head of
microsoft entertainment and devices division said in speech which kicked
off the annual consumer electronics show ces here
this holiday you ll be able to bring home project natal which will work
with your existing xbox console bach told exhibitors and journalists at
the gadget extravaganza
with project natal we are removing the last barrier to gaming the
controller he said providing an entirely new but completely natural way to
play
bach announcement followed keynote speech by microsoft chief executive steve
ballmer who said the us software giant has raked in billion dollars from
sales of million xbox and more than million associated games
prototype of natal was unveiled to rave reviews by microsoft at the electronic
entertainment expo videogame industry show in los angeles in june
the technology uses camera and gesture recognition software to let people
play videogames using natural body movements instead of handheld controllers
natal lets people play driving games for example by simply moving their hands
as if turning car steering wheel
on screen figures in boxing skateboard soccer and other sports titles mimic
the body movements of real world players
microsoft last year released software kit for videogame makers interested in
designing titles to take advantage of natal capabilities
british videogame icon peter molyneux chief of lionhead studios has described
natal as landmark in computer entertainment
china zhang yimou set to direct turandot in taiwan
taipei jan afp
chinese film director zhang yimou is expected to stage version of turandot in
taiwan in the first leg of world tour of his acclaimed production taiwanese
official said thursday
two performances of giacomo puccini opera which ends with nessun dorma one
of the world best known tenor arias are scheduled for march and in
taichung the city cultural affairs bureau said
we are looking forward to having zhang turandot staged in taichung it would
be the first stop of world tour of the bird nest version of turandot said
official hsu shih shun adding that zhang would supervise the production
personally
the production at the bird nest olympic stadium in beijing in october
differed markedly from critically acclaimed version of turandot zhang directed
in the forbidden city in according to chinese media
the bird nest version features advanced sound and light effects and uses
projectors to provide various scenes in the opera local promoter said
promoters of the event are planning to stage turandot the love story of
chinese princess in south korea australia and europe
zhang nominated three times for an oscar for best foreign film is also known
for directing the games opening ceremony and for blockbusters such as
hero and the house of flying daggers
japanese conductor ozawa has esophageal cancer office
tokyo jan afp
acclaimed japanese conductor seiji ozawa has been diagnosed with esophageal
cancer and has cancelled his schedule for at least six months to undergo
treatment his office said thursday
ozawa the year old musical director at the vienna state opera was diagnosed
with the illness in medical check up last month his office said
he will cancel his engagements starting with concert at the vienna state
opera on january until at least june but hopes to make full recovery
by august said spokeswoman for his office
the maestro has suffered ailing health in recent years undergoing emergency
surgery for hernia last year
he has had long international career spending nearly three decades at the
boston symphony orchestra before moving to vienna in
football little joy as china qualifies for asian cup
beijing jan afp
football fans in china called for heads to roll thursday despite the national
team qualification for the asian cup finals slamming their performance
in draw with minnows syria
during much of wednesday match played in hangzhou yellow dragon stadium
fans shouted for coach gao hongbo to be fired while at game end group of
supporters surrounded the team bus shouting fire the national team
right now we do not have the level to beat any opponent this is the
aftermath of the paralysis of chinese football over the last few years gao
said after the match
he refused to discuss fans demands for his sacking saying this has nothing
to do with the match
china who lost to syria at the start of the qualifying campaign almost
year ago under caretaker coach yin tiesheng had recorded three straight wins
before wednesday draw
but according to an online survey by portal sina com percent of nearly
polled said they were unsatisfied with china play in the qualifying
rounds while percent said they felt hopeless after the national side
failure to beat syria at home
nearly percent said china was unlikely to get out of the group stage of the
asian cup which kicks off in doha in january
in wednesday match china star midfielder shao jiayi missed three scoring
opportunities when his header was cleared off the line by defender in the nd
minute and when he struck the post with shot five minutes later
late in the first half the year old shao who plays for germany energie
cottbus had powerful shot from inside the box punched away by the syrian
goalkeeper
of course it is bad that we created so many opportunities but didn have any
luck dejected shao said after the game but am fully confident of the
future of this team
taiwan aircraft maker revenues at year high
taipei jan afp
taiwan sole aircraft maker aerospace industrial development corp said
thursday its revenues hit year high in despite the global crisis
the company said revenues came in at billion taiwan dollars million us
dollars in beating its own previous forecast of just under billion
taiwan dollars
the increase in revenues mainly came from new orders for components from us
based bell aircraft and contracts for the maintenance of military aircraft the
company said
it said it expected revenues to further improve this year on the back of orders
from japan mitsubishi aircraft corp
under contract it signed with mitsubishi the company will design and
manufacture flaps rudders and other components for new regional jet
child soldiers leave maoist camps in nepal
sindhuli nepal jan afp
thousands of former child soldiers who fought for the maoists in nepal decade
long civil war will thursday begin leaving the un monitored camps where they
have spent the past three years
around young men and women are due to swap their blue people liberation
army pla uniforms for civilian clothes and begin their journey home after an
official ceremony at the sindhuli camp in central nepal
they are the first of almost former maoist fighters living in camps
around the country to be officially discharged as part of the agreement
key step forward in nepal faltering peace process
after lot of delays we are finally ready to discharge the disqualified maoist
combatants from the un monitored camps it is milestone for the country
peace process spokesman for the peace ministry told afp
we hope it will pave the way for the crucial step of rehabilitating and
reintegrating maoist combatants
the former fighters were confined to un supervised camps as part of the
accord that followed the end of the conflict between maoist guerrillas and the
state
in december the united nations mission in nepal unmin completed
verification process and found that were minors when the war ended and
another were not genuine combatants
they had been slated for release soon afterwards but the process was repeatedly
delayed by disagreements between the maoist party now in opposition and its
political rivals
over the next month all will leave the camps move pla spokesman chandra
prasad khanal said would send message to the world that we are committed to
peace
for us this is sad moment because we are sending away our fellow fighters in
the decade long people war he told afp but we are taking this step in
order to bring the peace process to logical conclusion
media access to the camps is restricted but in briefing organised by the pla
one former child soldier expressed his regret at leaving the camp
not happy to be leaving doing so because the party has told me
must said year old toyaraj koirala who joined the pla aged
leaving the pla but my involvement with the maoist party will continue
the discharge of the former child soldiers will allow the maoists to be removed
from un list of organisations that use children in conflict
rights groups say the former rebels forcibly recruited child soldiers during the
conflict sometimes demanding one person from every home in areas under their
control although some signed up voluntarily
many became cooks or porters or did medical work but they also received
military training
the maoists want the remaining pla members to be integrated into the
regular army key tenet of the peace agreement
but the military opposition to such move has hampered progress and last
year row between the then army chief rukmangad katawal and maoist leader
pushpa kamal dahal over the issue brought down the maoist led government
no one is even sure how many former fighters remain in the camps they are not
being kept there by force and several thousand are believed to have walked out
in the three years since the end of the war
those being officially discharged will receive set of civilian clothes and
identity papers and each will be given rupees dollars to travel
back to their villages and begin setting up home
there they will be given access to vocational training and education while un
observers will monitor their progress amid concerns they could be lured into
nepal growing number of criminal gangs many of which have political links
the release of these young people sends out symbolic message for the new
year said gillian mellsop nepal representative of the united nations
children fund unicef
not only can these young people now finally get on with their lives but this
also marks new beginning at the start of new decade for nepal so that it
can move forward to more stable peaceful future
shares in philippines san miguel climb after defensive move
manila jan afp
shares in philippine food and beverage giant san miguel corp soared on thursday
after it announced plans to buy into one of its stakeholders in defensive move
by management to maintain control of the firm
san miguel announced wednesday it would acquire percent of top frontier
holdings inc company that owns about percent of san miguel outstanding
stock
top frontier which is owned by san miguel directors roberto ongpin and inigo
zobel is set to become san miguel biggest shareholder after it recently
announced plans to acquire another percent from tech alliance
san miguel shares climbed percent to close at pesos dollars on
thursday in the first market reaction to the announcement
while ongpin is seen as an ally of san miguel president ramon ang san miguel
acquisition of top frontier ensures that san miguel current management cannot
be easily changed
it strategy for them to have greater management stability patrick elia
an economist with security bank told afp
the most important thing there is that the same people who managed smc in the
past will most likely be managing it after this takeover of top frontier
elia said that top frontier is poised to become the single biggest owner of san
miguel once it acquires the san miguel shares of tech alliance
additionally once the acquisition of the tech shares is completed top
frontier will be required by law to make tender offer for the remaining shares
of san miguel which could boost its ownership of the company further
sources within san miguel told afp the year old company had been aware that
top frontier was bent on acquiring more of its shares and that its financial and
legal advisers warned ang team to buy into top frontier
ang has been leading san miguel thrust away from its core businesses of beer
beverages food and packaging and into such areas as utilities infrastructure
and mining
china expectorates better from spitting tenants
beijing jan afp
residents in state subsidised housing in the southern chinese city of guangzhou
could be evicted if caught spitting or dropping cigarette butts too often under
draft proposal unveiled this week
the proposed penalty system has been designed to build civilised hygienic
safe and harmonious community environment the guangzhou land resources and
management bureau said in statement posted on its website
residents would be penalised three points for offences such as spitting
building greenhouses to grow flowers and vegetables parking illegally and
drying their laundry on fences
more serious offences such as unsafe storage of flammable explosive
poisonous radioactive and other hazardous materials would carry higher
penalties according to the draft plan
residents who accumulated more than points within two year period would be
thrown out of their homes
the government said it was seeking public feedback on the proposal before
implementing it
abu dhabi firm eyes taiwan umc report
taipei jan afp
an abu dhabi based investment firm wants to acquire leading taiwan chip maker
united microelectronics corp umc as it tries to become the world leader in the
market report said thursday
advanced technology investment company atic is targeting umc following its
acquisition of singapore chartered semiconductor manufacturing last year the
taiwan based economic daily news said citing unnamed sources
the firm hopes that by buying umc it can overtake taiwan semiconductor
manufacturing company tsmc the world largest contract microchip maker by
revenue the report said
spokesman at umc declined to comment on the report
owned by the abu dhabi government atic focuses on the high tech sector and is
the main shareholder in globalfoundries joint venture with us microprocessor
giant advanced micro devices which makes next generation chips
asia urged to mull common currency monetary fund
singapore jan afp
asia should consider common currency and push for regional monetary fund as
economic integration picks up speed former top japanese finance official said
thursday
eisuke sakakibara who served as japan vice finance minister for international
affairs during the asian financial crisis admitted that common currency may
be some time off but argued it was time to think about the idea
it may be several decades to create an asian currency but it may be the time
to start thinking about it because asian economic integration is gradually
approaching the level of europe he told regional forum in singapore
his comments come as the global economy slowly moves out of its worst crisis in
more than years with most analysts acknowledging asian nations were leading
the way
key asian states have been moving to tear down trade barriers and streamline
disparate trading rules and procedures in bid to better link their economies
network of free trade agreements have already been signed and more are under
negotiation and on january giant free trade zone covering billion
consumers in china and southeast asian nations went into effect
sakakibara now university professor in tokyo also said an asian version of
the international monetary fund imf has become more relevant given the
region deepening economic linkages
such fund will help ensure that central banks have enough to shield their
currencies from speculative attacks like those during the asian
crisis
east asian countries together now own close to five trillion dollars of foreign
reserves if we could use about five percent of those foreign reserves it
would be around billion dollars which is enough to create the common fund
he said
think it is about time that we start to try to coordinate our foreign
exchange policies and eventually try to coordinate our monetary policies
he added that regional monetary fund today is possible and probably
desirable
japan proposed the creation of an asian monetary fund during the meltdown
after the imf came under heavy fire for the way it handled the crisis
sakakibara who was japan top currency official at the time had said the
united states opposed the idea fearing an asian fund could dilute the influence
of the washington based imf
he told the forum on thursday that billion dollar currency swap fund to be
launched by east asian economies in march could be developed to become an asian
monetary fund adding it could be supplementary to the imf and not replace it
white house to release first terror probe
washington jan afp
the white house will thursday release unclassified findings of first probe
into an al qaeda attack on us jet which president barack obama has blamed on
an intelligence screw up
obama seeking to scotch criticism that he was slow to respond in the immediate
aftermath of the thwarted christmas day strike will meanwhile make another
public statement on failings in the us homeland security system
think you ll see that this is failure that touches across the full
waterfront of our intelligence agencies white house spokesman robert gibbs
said on wednesday
the review will simply identify and make recommendations as to what was lacking
and what needs to be strengthened gibbs said
furious obama ordered swift government reviews into the december attack on
northwest flight from amsterdam to detroit on the existing terrorist watch
list system and on airline security and screening
on tuesday obama said that the review into the terrorist watch listing had
revealed human and systemic failures
he said it showed that us intelligence agencies missed series of red flags
related to umar farouk abdulmutallab who is accused of trying to bring down
the jet outside detroit with explosives sewn into his underwear
abdulmutallab had known extremist links but was still able to get on the jet
obama said us intelligence also knew that al qaeda in the arabian peninsula
wanted to strike not only us targets in yemen but in the united states itself
over the holiday season
the bottom line is this the us government had sufficient information to have
uncovered this plot and potentially disrupt the christmas day attack but our
intelligence community failed to connect those dots obama said
this was not failure to collect intelligence it was failure to integrate
and understand the intelligence that we already had
in highly unusual public rebuke of the us spy community on tuesday obama said
errors by intelligence agencies before the attack were not acceptable
in private he was even more vociferous telling spy chiefs in meeting in the
white house situation room this was screw up that could have been
disastrous an official said on condition of anonymity
japan new finance chief vows to boost economy
tokyo jan afp
japan new finance chief pledged thursday to revive the economy and shake up
his powerful ministry after his predecessor quit due to poor health in fresh
setback to the government
want to help revitalise japan naoto kan told reporters outside his home
day after being named by prime minister yukio hatoyama to take the helm of the
world second largest economy reeling from its worst slump in decades
kan who will have his hands full as both the finance minister and the deputy
prime minister has criticised the finance ministry as the symbol of old style
politics led by unelected but powerful bureaucrats
if make meaningful changes at the ministry it would be model for changing
kasumigaseki the centre of japan bureaucracy as whole he said
the year old faces the daunting task of steering asia biggest economy out
of its worst post war downturn while also keeping the soaring national debt
under control in the face of growing global concerns about sovereign debt
unless kan shows strong leadership to organize growth strategies japan
economy will not be able to get out of the trap of deflation and mounting
government debt said jp morgan economist masaaki kanno
hatoyama said thursday that kan appointment was the best conclusion because
his deputy prime minister had been involved in drafting the budget
fujii who was seen as proponent of fiscal discipline was hospitalised on
december suffering from fatigue and high blood pressure after months of
wrangling over the national budget
veteran politician he was picked by hatoyama as finance minister less than
four months ago returning to post he held briefly in the early
fujii was one of the few cabinet members with previous government experience and
his departure is setback to hatoyama efforts to fix the economy
his departure has weighed on the yen as traders bet that kan will be less
tolerant of stronger currency than his predecessor
fujii has repeatedly said that in principle tokyo should refrain from market
intervention to weaken the yen and protect exporters
compared to his predecessor who had tolerated higher yen kan has said that
he wanted to avoid strong currency said hideaki inoue chief forex manager
at mitsubishi ufj trust and banking corp
qaeda says cia attack revenge for drone killings site
kabul jan afp
al qaeda hailed the suicide bombing at cia base in afghanistan that killed
seven agents as revenge for the deaths of top militants in us drone strikes
the monitoring group site said thursday
jordanian doctor who was said to be triple agent blew himself up at the base
in khost near the pakistani border on december in the deadliest attack
against the cia since
the head of al qaeda in afghanistan mustafa abu al yazid said the bomber wrote
in his will that the attack was revenge for our righteous martyrs and named
several top militants killed in drone attacks in pakistan site reported
yazid described the bomber humam khalil abu mulal al balawi mission as
successful epic to penetrate both american and jordanian intelligence
according to the statement published by the us based site intelligence group
he vowed that qaeda would continue to fight the americans until they inflict
upon them the greatest and most astonishing deaths and wounds
the slain militant masterminds named by al qaeda included baitullah mehsud the
leader of pakistan taliban blamed for wave of deadly attacks notably the
killing of former prime minister benazir bhutto in december
mehsud was killed when us missile slammed into his father in law house on
august last year
abu saleh al somali described as part of al qaeda core leadership and
responsible for plotting attacks in europe and the united states was killed in
drone strike in the north waziristan area in december last year
the khost base has been described by us media as key anti terror facility
that oversaw the drone strikes targeting al qaeda and taliban on the pakistan
border and centre for recruiting and debriefing informants
the al qaeda statement surfaced after another round of attacks by the remote
controlled aircraft that left militants dead in north waziristan on the
border with afghanistan wednesday the first strikes since the cia bombing
the targeted area is stronghold of hafiz gul bahadur who fought with the
taliban during the us led invasion and is said to control up to fighters
whom he sends across the border but who do not attack in pakistan
washington has put pakistan at the heart of new strategy for turning around
the eight year war against the taliban in afghanistan hinging success on
dismantling militant sanctuaries along the porous border
strikes by unmanned us spy planes have soared over the past year with about
people killed since august and the extremists have vowed fierce
retaliation
but the attacks fuel anti american sentiment in the nuclear armed muslim nation
and the government publicly condemns the operations although analysts say they
have islamabad tacit approval
balawi blew himself up at forward operating base chapman during meeting with
the cia killing seven agents and his jordanian handler who was top
intelligence officer and member of the royal family
jihadist websites have said that balawi was triple agent who duped western
intelligence services for months before turning on his handlers
the jordanian intelligence services believing the bomber to be their double
agent had taken him to eastern afghanistan with the mission of finding al qaeda
number two ayman al zawahiri the websites and western intelligence agents cited
by us media said
intelligence experts said it was possible the base let its guard down in
searching the bomber because he was coveted informant
it was the deadliest single incident for the cia since when eight agency
employees were killed when islamic militants bombed the us marine barracks in
beirut killing americans and french
the united states is increasingly reliant on the cia and other covert forces to
pursue its strategic goals cia and special forces were at the forefront of the
us invasion of afghanistan after the september attacks paving the way
to overthrow the taliban extremist regime
hong kong shares down percent by midday
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares were percent lower by the break thursday in choppy trade
as investors mulled weak lead from wall street overnight
the benchmark hang seng index drifted points to turnover was
billion hong kong dollars billion us
nhl stars ribeiro takes stick to throat
new york jan afp
dallas stars center mike ribeiro stayed behind in new york wednesday after
taking stick to the throat in national hockey league loss to the new
york rangers
new york christopher higgins inadvertently hit ribeiro under the chin with his
stick as the two crossed paths at center ice in the second period
ribeiro stayed down for several minutes before he was helped to the dressing
room
he was taken to hospital to be examined and then released ribeiro was
expected to return to dallas on thursday
there is something wrong with his throat stars coach marc crawford said
they have him at the hospital making sure everything is ok after taking the
stick in the throat they are checking to make sure everything is all right in
his airways
troops besiege gunmen in indian kashmir
srinagar india jan afp
standoff between troops and two armed militants in indian kashmir summer
capital srinagar ran into second day thursday with the gunmen ensconced in
city centre hotel
the gunmen had taken refuge in the hotel on wednesday after throwing grenades
and opening fire in srinagar main market area in an assault that left one
police officer dead
the four storey building was quickly surrounded by security forces but no
attempt was made to storm the building overnight amid reports that some
civilians may still be trapped inside
we will arrest or eliminate the gunmen soon prabhakar tripathi spokesman for
the paramilitary central reserve police force crpf told afp
there were sporadic exchanges of fire during the night but police said all the
civilians in the surrounding area had been evacuated
pro pakistan militant group jamiat ul mujahedin said it was behind the
assault
overnight police fired teargas to disperse scores of pro militant kashmiri
youths who threw stones at security forces chanting kashmiri mujahedeen we
are with you and we want freedom
the last such attack in the city was staged by two militants on paramilitary
camp in october the two gunmen were eventually killed while three soldiers
were wounded
incidents of unrest in kashmir wracked by muslim separatist insurgency for
two decades were down by about percent last year police say
the unrest has so far left more than people dead according to official
