venus is in her th australian open campaign but is yet to win the singles
crown in stark contrast to serena
but the elder williams is not beating herself up about her comparative lack of
success insisting major part of her game plan was staying positive
she said she could break her australian drought this year
yeah ready to go and feel very good said venus who has won five
wimbledons and two us open titles
obviously hitting the ball pretty good especially against her today she
was really playing well
she faces li next after the th seed upset danish fourth seed caroline
wozniacki for her best ever performance at the australian open
li victory broke new ground for chinese tennis with the year old joining
compatriot zheng jie in the last eight the first time two chinese players have
reached that stage of grand slam
she is looking forward to meeting venus who she beat in their only previous
match at the beijing olympics
know it ll be tough but you have to play venus first and then maybe serena
she said
it was good experience for me for my tennis she added on beating williams
in beijing
but just want to forget because play her again don want to think about
the last match want to look forward
djokovic powered into the quarters with an emphatic win over
poland unseeded lukasz kubot and will meet either france jo wilfried tsonga
who he beat in the final or spanish th seed nicolas almagro
the serbian struggled with his form in the opening two rounds but has moved up
gear and is back with the dominant touch he displayed in the second half of
last year
think the first two sets was very dominant on the court then he lifted up
his level of the game little bit he said
that why we had longer third set in general was very happy with the way
performed today
tennis davydenko takes five set route to quarters
melbourne jan afp
nikolay davydenko smooth run at the australian open struck some road bumps
monday and he needed five sets to douse spaniard fernando verdasco and advance
to the quarter finals
the russian sixth seed bungled fourth set tiebreaker and was forced into
winner take all fifth set before prevailing over the ninth seeded verdasco
in almost four hours
in form davydenko improved his winning streak to matches and he will take on
either top seed roger federer or australian nd seed lleyton hewitt in the
quarters on wednesday
davydenko has beaten the time grand slam champion federer at their last two
encounters
the russian who now boasts record over verdasco was confident he would
be mentally stronger than the spaniard over the course of the long match
he strong physically but not mentally he said
for sure he can play five six sets but he can hold his concentration for
all five sets and he can make mistakes
mentally still strong don know if can win here but feeling
good about my tennis right now
it was great relief for the quirky russian who was known as the ice man
before becoming one of the hottest players on the men tour with his run of
form against the top stars
it was not so easy for me beginning the fifth set but it good fighting win
for me he said
it was four hours and won some good points and played well in the fifth
set
leading into his first match on the rod laver arena davydenko had dropped just
games in straight set victories in his three previous rounds
he looked like he would have few problems with the misfiring verdasco claiming
the opening two sets before he was hauled into dogfight as the left hander
surged back taking the third set and the fourth set in fluctuating
tiebreaker
davydenko worked his way to in the tiebreaker with two serves to come but
imploded with backhand and forehand errors for verdasco to claim send the match
into fifth set
played the tiebreak really bad davydenko said because and my two
serve to come it was so disappointing just sitting down after fourth set and
thinking what need to do now
the deflated russian recovered his composure to break verdasco in the sixth game
to power to victory
he broke verdasco erratic serve seven times and gave up his serve four times
it will be davydenko th grand slam quarter final and fourth in six years at
the australian open but he has yet to progress past the semi final stage in
grand slams
it was again more misery for verdasco who served double faults among his
unforced errors
at the beginning of the fifth set he looked more tired than any time in the
match verdasco said
but he really stayed there in the fifth set even though he was looking more
tired than usual and making more mistakes
last year verdasco reached his only grand slam semi final here losing in five
sets to eventual champion rafael nadal in five hours minutes the longest
ever men match at the australian open
european stocks fall at open london down percent
london jan afp
europe main stock markets fell at the start of trading on monday extending
recent run lower amid plans to rein in the banking industry
london benchmark ftse index dropped percent to points
frankfurt dax slid percent to points and in paris the cac
shed percent in value to reach
uncertainty over us president barack obama bank revamp plans and fears of
policy tightening by beijing spooked risk averse investors in asian trade on
monday as financial stocks continued to slide
world market sentiment has soured since obama last week unveiled plans for
tough banking reform that would limit excessive risk taking blamed for the
economic crisis move that would affect the scope of financial institutions
fears beijing will curb credit as it tries to rein in its scorching economy have
also eroded risk appetite while its calls for banks to raise funds to meet
regulatory requirements have prompted concerns of share value dilution
japan photographer probed over nude shots on tokyo streets
tokyo jan afp
japanese police are investigating celebrity photographer kishin shinoyama for
indecency after he took pictures of nude models in public locations around
tokyo police said monday
the tokyo metropolitan police department has sent the case to prosecutors who
will decide whether to indict shinoyama best known for his nude photo
collections of top actresses rie miyazawa and shinobu otake
police charge that shinoyama and two models committed acts of public
indecency during dozens of nude photo shoots around tokyo in including on
streets at the foot of bridge and in front of vending machine
the women identified by police as adult video actresses aged and had
posed in situations that the general public could witness as they shot the
book no nude by kishin xx tokyo tokyo police spokesman said
the photos were all taken between pm and am in august and september
said police who raided his studio last year after the book was published
the maximum punishment for public indecency is six months in jail or
yen dollar fine
shinoyama office said he would not comment during the investigation
the jiji press news agency reported that shinoyama had told police wanted to
make monumental piece celebrating years since started taking photos but
lacked consideration
former vietnam official jailed five years for corruption
hanoi jan afp
vietnam on monday jailed former high ranking official for five years over
embezzlement linked to multi million dollar it project court official said
vu dinh thuan was convicted of abuse of power after trial in hanoi said the
official who declined to be named
he said accomplices were also found guilty with sentences ranging from an
month suspended jail term to six years in prison
these people were accused of having caused losses of billion dong
dollars between and he said
thuan who held rank equivalent to vice minister headed the government
project which was launched in to computerise the government apparatus
state linked media said
he was accused of personally siphoning off almost million dong and could
have been sentenced to up to years in prison the reports said
others in the scandal were accused of taking kickbacks from it companies for
awarding them contracts under the project
prime minister nguyen tan dung shut project in before thuan arrest
later the same year
vietnam ranked as one of the world most corrupt countries last year ratified
the united nations convention against corruption
retired communists urge review of china dissident case
beijing jan afp
four retired communist party officials have signed an open letter to china
government calling for review of the case of jailed dissident liu xiaobo one
of their relatives said monday
the letter penned by hu jiwei former editor of the party newspaper the people
daily suggested that liu christmas day subversion conviction violated some of
the principles the old revolutionaries had fought for
liu was sentenced to years in prison for subversion after he helped
write charter bold call for political change and democracy in china
released in
if the democracy the rule of law and the human rights that we old comrades
have struggled for our entire lives is cast aside then our hearts will never be
at peace the letter said
we believe that we must propose to the incumbent leaders that the legal issues
and the evidence of conviction in the liu case made by the beijing court be
reviewed
the letter was posted last week on the website of the independent chinese pen
centre group of writers that liu once headed
the signatories could not immediately be reached by afp on monday
however the family of he fang one of the four confirmed that the elderly
academic had signed the letter
he signed the letter but he does not want to take any calls on this woman
at he home who identified herself only as family member told afp by
telephone
liu has appealed the conviction according to his lawyers
the four signatories to the letter were all in their and
besides hu and he who is an honorary member of the chinese academy of social
sciences they included li pu former deputy chief of the official xinhua news
agency and dai huang former xinhua senior reporter
liu conviction drew widespread criticism overseas including from the european
union and the united states liu lawyers said the verdict violated china own
constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech
if the judicial authorities violate the constitution don understand the
party history cannot draw difference between right and wrong and
manufacture wrong and unjust cases then the image of the nation will be
seriously tarnished the letter said
ericsson says to cut more jobs profit plunges
stockholm jan afp
swedish telecom giant ericsson announced on monday it would cut an additional
jobs under restructuring plan that contributed to percent fall in
net profit in the fourth quarter
ericsson reported net profit of million kronors million euro
million dollars between october and december compared to billion kronors
in the same period in the company said in statement
the profit margin was much lower than expected as analysts polled by dow jones
newswires had forecast net profit of billion kronors
restructuring costs reached billion kronors in the fourth quarter compared
to billion kronors in the same period in and for the full year the
charges totalled billion kronors the company said
when the initial restructuring programme was announced in january it
was anticipated that the actions would result in reduction of the number of
employees by some of which about in sweden ericsson said
the has been exceeded and is estimated to reach approximately the
company said in the statement
sales fell by percent to billion kronors in the fourth quarter in the
wake of the global economic crisis and growing competition from telecom
equipment industry with the rise of china huawei
during the second half of networks sales were impacted by reduced
operator spending in number of markets chief executive hans vestberg said in
statement
afghanistan delays parliament vote
kabul jan afp
afghanistan postponed parliamentary vote for four months in the face of
spiralling taliban insurgency and lack of funds move welcomed by the un
which had raised concerns about graft and logistics
the independent election commission announced the delay on sunday just days
ahead of an international conference in london on the future of the country
after more than eight years of war
the international community had been pushing for postponement amid concerns
that graft and logistical problems were undermining democracy in one of the
world poorest and most corrupt nations
senior election commissioner fazil ahmad manawi said the ballot would now be
held on september instead of may as originally planned because of lack
of budget security and uncertainty and logistical challenges
kai eide the top un representative to afghanistan welcomed the decision
saying the postponement gave afghanistan electoral institutions additional
time to carry out the necessary preparations for the elections
this would have been extremely difficult to do by the original date eide said
in statement
it also provides time to make improvements to the electoral process based on
lessons learned during the presidential and provincial council elections in
president hamid karzai won second five year term in office following
controversial election in august that was marred by fraud low voter turnout and
taliban violence
afghanistan has relied on foreign funding for elections since when us
led invasion overthrew the hardline taliban regime
the election commission had previously said it was short about million
dollars to hold the ballot for the wolosi jirga afghanistan lower house of
parliament
but the united nations has said it would need to see evidence of significant
reform including replacing senior election commission officials before
agreeing to release money to stage the election
sayed aqa fazil sancharaki spokesman for an opposition group led by karzai
challenger in the august polls abdullah abdullah said they supported the delay
and also called for reform
their decision to postpone it is legitimate and understandable taking into
account the security situation the need for reform in the electoral commission
and electoral law he said
afghanistan held its first direct parliamentary election in september
under the constitution the next poll was due to be held no later than days
before the end of the legislative cycle which ends on june
the country western backers are anxious to avoid repeat of august
election when most cases of fraud were reported in areas rife with taliban and
other islamist militants battling the government
militants launched wave of attacks killing and maiming dozens in an attempt
to disrupt ballot they called an american process
karzai is expected to give details at thursday conference in london on peace
plan to offer money and jobs to tempt taliban fighters to lay down their arms
and bring militants back into mainstream afghan society
fighting corruption is also one of the key topics to be discussed at the
conference along with the security situation good governance and
reconciliation with taliban fighters
more than foreign troops are fighting the taliban under us and nato
command with another troops being deployed this year
us general stanley mcchrystal the nato and us commander in afghanistan said
the troop surge could lead to negotiated peace with the taliban result
afghan and western governments are increasingly moving toward
by using the surge to secure territory from the taliban southern heartlands to
kabul the general told the financial times that he aims to weaken the militia
so much its leaders would accept political settlement
believe that political solution to all conflicts is the inevitable outcome
and it the right outcome mcchrystal told the british newspaper
karzai is due to hold talks in istanbul on monday with his turkish and pakistani
counterparts before travelling to germany on tuesday
tennis serena cruises past stosur into quarter finals
melbourne jan afp
defending champion serena williams ended australian hopes in the women draw
when she cruised past samantha stosur monday to reach the quarter
finals of the opening grand slam of the season
williams will next play either seventh seed victoria azarenka or ninth seed vera
zvonareva
sudan sets two month deadline for deal with rebels
doha jan afp
negotiations between the sudanese government and darfur rebel groups must be
completed within two months ahead of sudan presidential and legislative
elections senior official has said
some groups are demanding more time we have told mediators that time is
running out and that negotiations must not exceed the third week of march
sudan minister of culture amin hassan omar said in doha late sunday
talks do not require month or two as outstanding issues are simple if
parties have the political resolve it won take more than two weeks as we have
discussed everything and what remains is to take decisions he said
sudanese government officials and rebel groups present in doha have not been yet
involved in direct talks omar told reporters in the qatari capital
instead consultations are being held with mediators from the united nations
african union and the host nation he added
omar member of the official government delegation said sudan is prepared to
talk with any of the four rebel groups that is ready for negotiations
representatives from the justice and equality movement jem the main rebel
group on saturday held consultations with mediators to resolve questions of
procedure before direct negotiations
darfur rebels had two rounds of talks with khartoum government officials in
qatar in february and may
but other factions have refused to join the talks in doha and the jem later said
there is no point in taking part if there is no unity among the rebels
rebels and government officials were also due to meet in november but the talks
failed to materialise
the united nations says up to people have died and million fled
their homes since the ethnic minority rebels in darfur first rose up against the
arab dominated sudan government in february
khartoum says people have been killed
sudan is due to hold presidential and parliamentary election in april the
first polls in years
cricket azam steers pakistan into final
wellington jan afp
all rounder hammad azam inspired pakistan to four wicket win over the west
indies at christchurch on monday to book their place in the finals of the
under cricket world cup
the second finalist will be determined in the other semi final between sri lanka
and australia on wednesday
pakistan won the toss and struck early with two wickets in the first four overs
before west indies opener kraigg brathwaite led the fightback as the caribbean
side posted for eight in their overs
brathwaite who top scored with before he was run out anchored the recovery
with andre creary in run stand for the third wicket
the west indies appeared to be in command when they tied the pakistan openers
down and had them at after overs
but man of the match azam turned the innings around with whirlwind off
balls including boundaries as pakistan reached their target with balls to
spare
azam put on in overs in fifth wicket stand with rameez aziz before
adding in nine overs with wicketkeeper muhammad waqas for the sixth
wicket
ethiopian plane crashes in lebanon no sign of survivors
beirut jan afp
an ethiopian jet carrying people plunged into the sea off the coast of
lebanon in ball of fire just after takeoff in stormy weather early monday with
no sign of survivors officials said
helicopters and navy vessels rushed to the crash site as president michel
sleiman ruled out foul play
transport minister ghazi aridi said ethiopian airlines flight lost contact
with the airport control tower shortly after takeoff and crashed into the
mediterranean sea nautical miles off the coastal town of naameh south of
the airport
the control tower was assisting the pilot of the plane on takeoff and suddenly
lost contact for no known reason aridi told reporters
families of the passengers some of them weeping could be seen huddled at the
vip lounge of beirut international airport while awaiting news of their loved
ones
one woman was sobbing and screaming why why as others fainted and had to be
carried away by red cross volunteers
know they won find him wailed one woman referring to her husband who was
on board the doomed flight
government official said there were several children on board the plane which
crashed about five minutes after takeoff at am gmt
witnesses reported seeing ball of fire as the boeing plunged into the sea
defence ministry official told afp that bodies had been recovered at the
crash site by early morning
sleiman said authorities had ruled out terrorism or sabotage as the cause of the
crash
up until now we have ruled out foul play sleiman told reporters
this is painful tragic event we are sparing no efforts in trying to find
survivors he added
our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the families of those on board
the ethiopian news agency in addis ababa said ethiopian airlines has sent team
to beirut to investigate the crash
the accident took place amid heavy rains and storms in lebanon in the past two
days that have caused heavy flooding and damage in some parts of the country
officials listed passengers and seven crew members as having been on board
the flight
aridi said the passengers include lebanese ethiopians one iraqi one
french woman one syrian and seven crew members there were also several dual
nationals including one british lebanese one canadian lebanese and russian
lebanese
among those on board the flight was marla sanchez pietton the wife of france
ambassador to lebanon denis pietton the french embassy told afp
thousands of ethiopians are employed as domestic workers in lebanon and
ethiopian airlines operates regular flight between addis ababa and beirut
aridi said he had formed an investigative committee to determine the cause of
the crash and had contacted nearby countries to assist in the search and rescue
effort
the lebanese army navy as well as the united nations interim force in lebanon
unifil were assisting in the rescue aridi added
we have contacted everyone inside and outside the country that can assist us
and the lebanese navy the army and unifil have joined in the rescue the
minister added
he said the french organisation responsible for technical investigation of civil
aviation accidents was taking part in the probe
government official said cyprus was assisting in the search and rescue efforts
as were naval vessels from the un force stationed in lebanon unifil
prime minister saad hariri declared monday national day of mourning as the
government cancelled scheduled cabinet meeting
the boeing which entered into commercial service in is one of the
latest versions of the world most widely used short to medium haul airliners
and is capable of carrying up to passengers
the accident comes just one month after panamian flagged ship transporting
livestock capsized in stormy weather and sank off the coast of northern lebanon
with around sailors on board
the majority of the sailors were rescued but were unaccounted for and
presumed dead
mummified corpse of ancient vietnam king reburied
hanoi jan afp
the mummified corpse of vietnamese king who died hundreds of years ago was
reburied on monday half century after farmers discovered it
state television showed red cloth decorated with dragons being draped over
the coffin at the vietnam museum of history in hanoi where the body of king le
du tong had been preserved for decades
dark suited officials held incense around the coffin which weighed
kilograms pounds the television reported more than royal robes were
buried with the king
this event made us very glad said le van duat representative of the le
clan it met the aspiration of several generations of the le family it also
reflected the aspiration of the vietnamese people
after the museum ceremony procession of at least cars escorted the body of
the king who died in south to thanh hoa province for the reburial said
witness who declined to be identified
early this morning in hanoi lot of people especially those from the le
family clan came to the museum of history area to say farewell to the king
she told afp
the motorcade took few hours to reach bai trach village where according to
the vietnam news farmers accidentally dug up the king coffin in
it is god and the people wish to bring the king body back to where he first
rested le van tam another le family representative earlier told the thanh
nien daily
officials and experts first opened the wooden coffin in buried with the
king were other items that included pillow clothing utensils and wrapping
cloths the museum told afp all were rotting it said
the corpse itself had not maintained its original state due to vietnam then
lack of budget and technique but since its condition has remained largely
unchanged the museum said
this is the only case where one of the kings of the vietnam feudal regime was
excavated and studied this is precious historical thing it said in
statement emailed earlier
authorities refused afp permission to attend the reburial
ten bodies recovered from lebanon plane crash
beirut jan afp
lebanese rescue teams on monday recovered bodies from the wreckage of an
airliner that crashed after takeoff in stormy weather off the coast just south
of beirut
we have so far found bodies at the crash site off the coast of naameh
kilometres seven miles south of the beirut airport defence ministry
official told afp on condition of anonymity
ethiopian airlines flight carrying passengers and crew lost contact
with the airport control tower shortly after takeoff and crashed into the
mediterranean sea around am gmt
the accident took place amid heavy rains and storms in lebanon
this is painful tragic event we are sparing no efforts in trying to find
survivors our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the families of those on board
lebanese president michel sleiman told reporters
hospitals and medical teams must now be prepared as well as all those who will
be involved in keeping the families updated sleiman said the weather
conditions are terrible but rescue efforts are still underway
the lebanese army navy and the united nations interim force in lebanon unifil
are searching the area
lebanese prime minister saad hariri declared monday national day of mourning
corrected ericsson says profit shrinks to cut jobs
stockholm jan afp
swedish telecom giant ericsson said monday its net profit fell by percent in
the fourth quarter due to the costs of restructuring plan in which jobs
will be cut
ericsson reported net profit of million kronor million euro
million dollars between october and december compared to billion kronors
in the same period in the company said in statement
the profit margin was much worse than expected as analysts polled by dow jones
newswires had forecast net profit of billion kronors
ericsson had planned to slash jobs under cost cutting plan that was
launched in january but the swedish company said it would now lay off
people
urgent ethiopian airlines sends team to probe lebanon crash agency
addis ababa jan afp
ethiopian airlines has sent team to beirut to investigate monday crash of
one of its airliners carrying people shortly after takeoff the ethiopian
news agency said
quake hits off japan no damage reported
tokyo jan afp
magnitude earthquake struck off southern japan on monday but there were
no immediate reports of casualties or damage and no tsunami warning was issued
government agencies said
the quake struck at pm gmt at depth of kilometres miles
below the sea floor kilometres southeast of kyushu island kagoshima
prefecture said the us geological survey in preliminary report
around percent of the world most powerful earthquakes strike japan
korea to hold fta talks with japan and china
seoul jan afp
south korea japan and china will hold talks this week to launch joint
research project into possible free trade pact officials said monday
the meeting involving government officials scholars and business
representatives will be held in seoul on tuesday the south trade ministry
said
this will be preliminary meeting to launch joint research on trilateral
free trade accord ministry official told afp
the three countries agreed at their summit in october to push for the joint
research
south korea has been actively pushing for free trade agreements worldwide to
bolster its export dominated economy
it already has free trade agreements with chile singapore india the european
free trade association and the association of southeast asian nations
free trade pact was signed with the european union in october and awaits
ratification deal signed with the united states in also needs
ratification
alert
ethiopian airlines sends team to probe lebanon crash agency
more trouble and strife for israel pm
jerusalem jan afp
