melbourne jan afp
belgium kim clijsters battled for over minutes before beating gritty thai
veteran tamarine tanasugarn to reach the third round of the australian
open on wednesday
democrat concedes in massachusetts election
boston massachusetts jan afp
democratic candidate martha coakley conceded defeat in tuesday election to the
us senate after her republican opponent scored stunning upset
am heartbroken at the result and know you are also but know we will get
up tomorrow and continue the fight she told supporters in boston
massachusetts
initial results showed republican scott brown five points ahead of coakley
capturing the seat held for five decades by democratic icon edward kennedy
we wish him luck in his public service coakley said
urgent obama congratulates republican over us senate win
washington jan afp
president barack obama on tuesday congratulated massachusetts republican scott
brown after he stunned his democratic rival to win election to the us senate
the white house said
republicans deal obama massive blow with senate victory
boston massachusetts jan afp
republicans won stunning upset in massachusetts senate election tuesday
dealing potentially fatal blow to us president barack obama health care
reforms
republican scott brown pulled off the surprise victory capturing the late
democratic icon edward kennedy seat in stern rebuke of obama exactly year
after he swept into office
with more than percent of the vote in brown had an invincible lead of five
percent over his democratic rival martha coakley cnn and msnbc reported
coakley originally expected cakewalk in historically left leaning state but
brown populist challenge to democratic rule in washington turned the race into
an unstoppable insurgency
wish we were here with other and better news tonight but we are not
coakley told supporters in concession speech shortly after speaking with
brown
have offered him my congratulations she said
coakley loss strips democrats of their th vote in the senate and with that
the end to the supermajority allowing them to override republican blocking in
the upper house on the obama agenda
the first big victim analysts say is likely to be obama health care reforms
package which has been struggling to pass in congress even with the democrats
hefty majority
brown who will become the st republican in the senate has promised to vote
against health care thereby derailing the bill
think you can make pretty good argument that health care might be dead
democratic congressman anthony weiner told msnbc television
the white house admitted obama who rushed to campaign alongside coakley on
sunday was surprised and frustrated and not pleased about the race but the
administration denied the election showed he was out of touch with the angry
mood felt by americans
analysts point to lackluster campaign by coakley and misreading by the
democrats of popular anger at washington in time of recession and at what
republicans say is an over expanding government
beyond health care brown triumph will have wider implications for obama
agenda and political prestige and complicate his bid to pass items like cap
and trade climate legislation and immigration reform
republican win will also likely scare some conservative democrats from obama
side as they face mid term congressional polls in november with the
president approval ratings slipping and the economy in the mire
the reality of it is that people of boston have very definite idea of what
they want and what they don want republican national committee chairman
michael steele told cbs
the white house has been arguing that the massachusetts vote is not referendum
on obama pointing out he still enjoys high approval in the state
they also reject the idea voters are out to thwart his bid to rein in health
insurance companies cut costs and grant health care to of the million
americans currently without coverage
obama will nevertheless call the winner of tuesday election his spokesman
robert gibbs said and views the race as more evidence of the popular upset and
anger at incumbent politicians which powered his own election race
that not surprise to us in this administration because in many ways
we re here because of that upset and anger gibbs said
tennis determined li na targets top
melbourne jan afp
asia top player li na vowed wednesday to break into the world top this
year after storming into the second round of the australian open
the chinese th seed currently ranked wasted little energy in disposing of
new zealand marina erakovic to set up second round clash with
hungary agnes szavay
it was gritty performance by li whose preparations for the opening grand slam
of the season were disrupted when she was thrashed by unseeded estonian kaia in
the opening round of the auckland classic lead up tournament
she used the unexpected time off to train but also to do bungy jump
after the bungy jump feeling much better she joked adding that it
fulfilled long held ambition
she admitted to first round nerves at melbourne park but was happy to get the
job done
actually when walked out on court and saw all the fans were for her was
little bit nervous she said
at the beginning of the match just told myself don play three sets if
played three sets then maybe would be too nervous
you never know who might win in three sets so told myself hold on to every
point don give her chance
li has long been asia most high profile player and continued her steady rise
through the ranks last year making the fourth round at roland garros and her
second grand slam quarter final appearance at the us open
the year old from wuhan who played badminton as youngster before coaches
advised her to switch to tennis because she played with more of her shoulder
than her wrist was in good form against erakovic despite the nerves
she hit winners to her opponent two all from the baseline and only one
double fault
next up is szavay who beat canada stephanie dubois
li played her last year but admits to not knowing much about her game
played her last year at the beginning of the year and that year ago and
lot can change in year she said
want to see her play know she plays very fast
with the injuries to her ribs and then right knee that that troubled her up to
recently now healed li is looking forward to successful
the goal for me this year is to break into the top yeah that good
goal
oil dips in asia new york crude stays above dollars
singapore jan afp
oil prices dipped in asian trade wednesday on profit taking and as the easing of
cold snap in the northern hemisphere dents demand for heating fuel
strengthening dollar also weighed on demand as it makes the commodity which
is traded in us dollars more expensive to those who hold weaker currencies
in morning trade new york main contract light sweet crude for february
delivery was down cents to dollars barrel after surging dollars
in us trade overnight
brent north sea crude for delivery in march dipped cents to
oil is pulling back and it part of the volatility said victor shum an
analyst with energy consultancy purvin and gertz in singapore
the cold weather is ending in the northern hemisphere he said
he added that closely watched weekly report on us energy stockpiles is
expected to show an increase which would indicate weaker demand in the world
biggest energy consuming nation
the stockpiles report by the us department of energy is due for release later
wednesday
fundamentals are weighing on prices at this point investors and traders lack
the conviction at this time to push prices much higher shum said
the us dollar has gained strength versus the euro and the yen so that
consistent with oil coming down bit
shum said he expects pricing support at dollars barrel in the near term
when prices approach dollars then many investors will look at that pricing
level as buying opportunity he said when we get above dollars
investors are concerned about fundamentals
boxing pacquiao looks to clobber clottey after blood feud
dallas texas jan afp
filipino superstar manny pacquiao began promoting his march welterweight
fight against ghana joshua clottey on tuesday moving past failed talks with
floyd mayweather and looking ahead
pacquiao with two drawn and knockouts will defend his world boxing
organization title against clottey with knockouts on the same date he
was expected to face unbeaten us star mayweather before negotiations broke off
it going to be good fight pacquiao said clottey he is good fighter
top fighter and he is bigger than me have to prepare hard for this fight
and train hard and focus
mayweather request for unprecedented random blood testing was rejected by
pacquiao camp to deny boxing fans long awaited showdown between the sport
pound for pound kings that could have been million dollar payday for each
but clottey served notice that he intends to be more than simply fill in
fighter destined to fall to the philippines powerhouse
this is going to be hell of fight clottey said love manny pacquiao
if you throw punches at him he will throw back at you know what going
to face
the matchup will headline the first fight card at billion dollar cowboys
stadium home of the famed american football squad from dallas each fighter
sported cowboys jersey as cheerleaders screamed beneath huge video screen
it building for great competitions it bodes well for us to get manny
pacquiao into the ring said cowboys owner jerry jones whose guarantee of
million dollars was not enough to bring pacquiao mayweather fight together
freddie roach pacquiao trainer made it clear after the news conference that
hard feelings remain over the failure to make pacquiao mayweather happen after
compromise of no blood test within two weeks of the fight
pacquiao is disappointed the fight is not here roach told espn life goes on
without mayweather he wouldn agree to limit of days before the fight
we did our best to appease him but he wouldn go along with it
mayweather people agreed to it but mayweather wouldn go along with it
don think he wants to fight manny it was smoke screen for him to say no
want to beat this guy ass believe me but he won give us the
opportunity we will fight him any day of the week but he doesn make the
rules
pacquiao dislikes having blood drawn so near fight saying it weakens him
roach said he could not afford blood test to distract pac man so near
fight and dismissed the idea his fighter had anything to hide
there are always doubters out there but manny pacquiao is clean roach said
he has passed every drug test in the world
urgent democrat concedes in massachusetts election
new york jan afp
democratic candidate martha coakley conceded defeat in tuesday election to the
us senate after her republican opponent scored stunning upset
alert
obama congratulates massachusetts republican for us senate win
bhp billiton posts record iron ore production figures
sydney jan afp
anglo australian mining giant bhp billiton wednesday posted record iron ore
production figures for the second half of but warned that while china had
driven commodity prices higher volatility remained
the world largest diversified mining group said its iron ore production for
the half year ended december was up six percent over the same period year
earlier at million tonnes
it was another half year production record for petroleum and iron ore due to
successful growth project delivery the company said in statement
total petroleum production rose percent over the previous corresponding half
year to million barrels of oil equivalent it said
the global miner said the december quarter had seen strong price recovery
across the commodity suite driven by demand in china and restocking in the
developed world
but it noted that the speed of recovery in the developed economies remained
uncertain while the impact of measures to control loan growth in china would
add another future variable
consequently we expect some degree of volatility in the short term outlook for
our commodities it said
bhp also said for the six months to december percent of the iron ore
produced in western australia was shipped on the annually agreed benchmark price
with the remainder sold on shorter term reference pricing
in years past only about percent of the key steel making ingredient was sold
outside the benchmark price on the spot market the spot market currently prices
the commodity about percent above the benchmark contract price
the production figures came as australian media reported that annual iron ore
contract price negotiations between the miners and the china iron and steel
association cisa were in trouble with substantive talks yet to take place
an unnamed mining executive told the sydney morning herald the association was
behaving every bit as irrationally as they did last time adding there is no
way that anybody is going to want to engage with them
price negotiations collapsed last year after chinese authorities arrested four
executives with rio tinto including australian passport holder stern hu on
allegations of industrial espionage relating to iron ore prices
hu remains in detention awaiting decision on whether he will face trial
dow jones newswires contributed to this story
golf tiger staying at sex addiction rehab clinic reports
jackson mississippi jan afp
tiger woods is receiving treatment for sexual addiction at sex rehabilitation
clinic in nearby hattiesburg according to two television stations and an author
on the topic
television stations wjtv and wlbt reported citing unnamed sources that woods
was at the pine grove behavioral health and addiction services center where
security is tight and dark tarps have been placed upon wire fences
benoit denizet lewis who wrote book on sex addiction wrote in blog entry
that woods was receiving treatment at the sex rehab facility where he spent
time while working on the book regarding sexually compulsive behavoir
clinic officials have refused to confirm woods is there to the television
stations espn also reported officials would not confirm woods is patient
woods has admitted infidelity to wife elin and more than dozen women have
claimed to have had affairs with the world top golfer scandal touched off
when woods drove his vehicle into hydrant and tree nearly two months ago
woods who became punch line for comedians in december has said he is taking
an indefinite leave from golf to sort out his personal life giving no hint as
to when he might return
the us pga tour third event of starts wednesday
gsk releases chemicals to help find malaria cure report
london jan afp
british drug maker glaxosmithkline gsk is to make thousands of chemical
compounds that have the potential to cure malaria available for research
newspaper reported wednesday
andrew witty gsk chief executive told the guardian newspaper that
multinational drug companies must balance social responsibility with their need
to make profits to please shareholders
firms had an imperative to earn the trust of society not just by meeting
expectations but by exceeding them he said
the company will publish details of chemical compounds from its library
that have the potential to act against the parasite that causes deadly malaria
in sub saharan africa the guardian said
in major speech in new york witty will also announce an eight million dollar
million pound million euro fund to pay for scientists to investigate
the chemicals according to the paper
think it is significant contribution to give scientists around the world
new opportunities to start research witty said
it is trying to create permissiveness around scientific research in an area
where we know the marketplace isn going to stimulate massive research he
added
the drug company chief said it was an opportunity to get thousands of
researchers involved in the fight against malaria
it is development on speech almost year ago by witty when he vowed to put
all drugs for neglected diseases in so called patent pool waiving
intellectual property rights so any researcher could examine them the guardian
reported
aid groups oxfam and medecins sans frontieres gave the announcement cautious
welcome
alert
democratic candidate concedes defeat in massachusetts election
china baidu sues us web firm over hacker attack
beijing jan afp
china top search engine baidu has filed lawsuit against its us domain name
registration service over an attack on its website last week the beijing based
company said wednesday in statement
baidu filed lawsuit against its domain name registration service provider
register com inc in us court in new york seeking damages over the incident
of baidu service interruption last week the firm said
nfl seahawks hire schneider as new gm
seattle washington jan afp
the seattle seahawks hired john schneider who has years experience in nfl
front offices as their new general manager on tuesday
schneider comes to seattle via the green bay packers and will work closely with
new coach pete carroll who recently replaced fired coach jim mora
the team will officially introduce schneider on wednesday at news conference
schneider has been the packers director of football operations since
this is his second stint with seattle as he was the director of player personnel
nine years ago
schneider replaces former general manager tim ruskell who resigned in december
after seattle finished the season with disappointing record
vietnam dissidents set to go on trial
ho chi minh city jan afp
group of democracy activists are set to go on trial in vietnam wednesday
facing possible death sentences on charges of trying to overthrow the communist
regime in case which has sparked global concern
french trained computer expert and blogger nguyen tien trung human rights
lawyer le cong dinh and internet entrepreneur tran huynh duy thuc are
charged with activities aimed at subverting the people administration
according to an indictment cited by the state linked thanh nien newspaper
the charges carry minimum penalty of years in prison and maximum of
death
it is the most high profile case in series of arrests and convictions of
dissidents and bloggers in the communist country over the past year
fourth man to be tried le thang long is accused of being an accomplice he
faces five to years in prison if convicted
ahead of the trial dozens of uniformed police surrounded the people court
complex in central ho chi minh city the former saigon
the defendants were arrested in the city between may and july last year an
initial accusation of propaganda against the state charge punishable only
by prison was later replaced by the more severe charge
analysts said the arrests were part of long running crackdown and reflected
the one party state sensitivity to perceived foreign enemies
the indictment as reported by thanh nien alleges that the three main
defendants prepared dozens of anti state documents and blogs
it says that thuc foresaw new government this year and the liquidation of
the ruling communist party by dinh drafted new constitution while
trung together with students in france established democratic youth
movement
the newspaper carried allegations that the accused have links to the banned
democratic party of vietnam dpv
the dpv has its roots in the communist party it was dissolved in the but
revived in by hoang minh chinh former communist official turned
dissident who died in
dinh arrest in particular sparked concern from europe the united states
global association of lawyers human rights watchdogs and press freedom groups
around the world
french european parliament member nicole kiil nielsen called for trung release
in letter to vietnam embassy in france describing him as democrat and
pacifist the letter was posted on blog set up by trung supporters
former senior official in the communist party told afp that both trung and
dinh have good reputation among vietnam youth and authorities fear their
ideas could spread
their views on pluralism and democracy are intolerable for the regime said
the official who asked not to be identified
carl thayer vietnam specialist from the university of new south wales at the
australian defence force academy cited another reason
dinh articles and blogs on wide range of issues represented direct
challenge to the authority and hence political legitimacy of high ranking party
and state officials thayer wrote in recent academic paper
another dissident was jailed for five and half years last month for attempted
subversion tran anh kim former military lieutenant colonel was accused
of involvement with the democratic party of vietnam
state media reported months ago that the accused had all admitted their guilt
tennis australian open results day three st update
melbourne jan afp
results from day three of the australian open at melbourne park here wednesday
denotes seeding
women singles
st round
li na chn bt marina erakovic nzl
vera zvonareva rus bt kristina kucova svk
victoria azarenka blr bt stephanie cohen aloro fra
agnes szavay hun bt stephanie dubois can
iveta benesova cze bt chang kai chen tpe
yaroslava shvedova kaz bt kimiko date krumm jpn
caroline wozniacki den bt aleksandra wozniak can
tsvetana pironkova bul bt galina voskoboeva kaz
julia goerges ger bt tamira paszek aut
tathiana garbin ita bt elena vesnina rus
shahar peer isr bt lucie hradecka cze
sofia arvidsson swe bt jarmila groth aus
nd round
svetlana kuznetsova rus bt anastasia pavlyuchenkova rus
urgent china baidu sues us web firm over hacker attack
beijing jan afp
china top search engine baidu has filed lawsuit against its us domain name
registration service over an attack on its website last week the beijing based
company said wednesday in statement
taiwan looks to china for nip and tuck boom
taipei jan afp
beijing entrepreneur li jinxun first trip to taiwan was life changing
experience but not because of the sightseeing
the year old took advantage of short trip to the island last month to
undergo minor cosmetic surgery at clinic in kaohsiung city something he said
had made him feel younger and better looking
very satisfied feel better already he told afp
li who runs construction firm is among new wave of affluent chinese eager
to fit some nips and tucks into their trips to taiwan where they can expect to
find better medical staff and facilities than back home
think the doctors in taiwan are more skillful the clinic is comfortable and
the service is more cordial than on the mainland he said
the members of li tour group paid taiwan dollars us on
average for nine day trip covering sightseeing and cosmetic enhancements
according to the kaohsiung aesthetic medical tourism promotion association
they opted for simple procedures such as tooth whitening botox injections to
smooth wrinkles and surgery to remove bags under the eyes or create double
eyelids popular procedure in asia aimed at making the eyes look bigger
the demand from china is much higher than what we expected and the visitors
just keep coming in said chen chun ting secretary general of the association
which plans to host three member mainland groups in january
as china gets richer more and more people are paying attention to their
appearance and are willing to spend money in this area chen said
the growing interest in medical tourism coincides with an influx of chinese
visitors to the island under more relaxed rules introduced since beijing
friendly president ma ying jeou took office in
more than tourists arrived from the mainland from january to november
nearly five times as many as during the same period in according to
government figures
industry watchers are upbeat that taiwan which has been promoting medical
tourism for two years can hold its own against competitors in the region such
as japan singapore south korea and thailand
the prospect is greatly boosted by taiwan advantage in attracting chinese
clients their common language the island geographical proximity and
competitive pricing all help they said
we had late start compared with our competitors but we re confident we can
achieve as much there is lot of room for growth said shih chung liang head
of the bureau of medical affairs at the island health department
in around visitors came to taiwan for health check ups and cosmetic
surgery creating an industry worth to million us dollars according to
shih
our main target has been mainland chinese since cross strait ties improved he
said shih said the island medical tourism market was expected to grow by
percent annually
private sector forecasts are even higher with one group of hospitals
expecting its business to more than double to million us dollars this year
according to its chief executive officer wu ming yen
the potential clientele from the mainland is huge as there are now around
million chinese who can boast spending power equivalent to the average consumer
in taiwan and hong kong wu said
china is picking up in surgical skills as its economy rises but it still trails
behind taiwan in services unlike china most hospitals in taiwan are private
and very competitive he said
li the year old beijinger is already planning his second visit to taiwan
this time bringing along his wife
as we get older we need to look after ourselves more carefully want to have
my teeth whitened and get face lift for my wife
alert
china baidu sues us domain name firm over hacker attack
korea eyes bigger slice of medical tourism market
seoul jan afp
it built its economy on ships steel and semiconductors but now south korea is
pushing new growth engine major share of the world booming medical
tourism market
the government goal is one million foreign patients year by and
hospitals have launched aggressive marketing campaigns since they were allowed
to advertise for foreign patients under law that took effect last year
today demand for medical services is higher than ever and medical tourism is
growing rapidly vice knowledge economy minister kim young hak told the opening
of three day medical tourism expo recently
the event organised by the korea global healthcare association which links
hospitals clinics and state agencies drew about visitors including
nearly foreigners
the association which has members said foreign buyers reached deals worth
million dollars with hospitals that took part
our medical tourism is growing fast we can easily catch up with singapore and
other asian countries association chief park in chool told afp just under
people visited singapore for treatment in according to official
figures
park said he expected south korea final figures for would show some
foreigners had visited for treatment compared to year before
so far we have tried to attract more patients from china japan russia and the
united states from now on we will step up our marketing in wealthy middle east
countries
competition is already tough among asian countries our government must move
quickly to ease regulations and help our medical industry catch up with asian
rivals
but the figures show south korea to be long way behind rivals such as
thailand where around people travelled for medical purposes in
according to tourism authorities there
bumrungrad hospital one of the biggest private hospitals in bangkok said it
treated around foreign patients year from countries including the
united states japan oman and australia
south korea is in good position given its high medical standards according to
casey chosewood director of the us centers for disease control and
prevention who attended seminar arranged by the korea global healthcare
association
think south korea has considerable advantage over many other countries
it very developed country and it already has very safe healthcare
industry
scott edelstein healthcare counsellor from us based law firm squire sanders
and dempsey forecast that the value of global medical tourism would rise to
billion dollars in from billion dollars in
many americans visit latin america because of its proximity but south korea and
other asian countries are gaining popularity he said
it not for lower costs but it for quicker access to high quality care
very optimistic about the growth of medical tourism in korea edelstein said
south korea opened centres in august to give medical tourists one stop service
and is training coordinators to help foreigners find the care they want
the language barrier is the biggest hurdle experts say
you are not able to communicate to american patients about possibilities
available here said woody anderson head of us based public relations agency
emmi korea
south korea which is known for its high success rate in treatment of cancers
and liver transplants needed to advertise more and offer tour packages that
appealed to prospective patients he said
think that korea if they can communicate to the rest of the world about
their facilities would be lead country in asia anderson said
one opportunity for smaller clinics and hospitals here is the area of oriental
medicine because that an area americans are very enthusiastic about china has
faith in oriental medicine but korea has science
along with its strength in traditional asian medicine south korea is considered
competitive in plastic surgery dental care and ophthalmology according to
government survey
vice minister kim said the cost of medical services in south korea was around
percent of the price of treatment in the united states and around percent of
that in japan but the industry lacked recognition overseas
doctors want better promotion abroad standardisation of services and systematic
government support
publicity and infrastructure are not sufficient said lee dae yong an
