the philippines said wednesday it was concerned over the safety of its
peacekeepers in haiti who could not be contacted after massvie quake destroyed
the un headquarters there
the philippine mission to the un in new york is trying to establish contact
with the philippine contingent in the un stabilisation mission in haiti
foreign department spokesman ed malaya told afp
the philippines has not yet been able to establish contact with lieutenant
colonel lope dagoy their commanding officer he said adding that neither had
the un
total of soldiers and policemen are serving with the un force in haiti
malaya said
of course we are very much concerned malaya said when asked if the government
feared for the safety of the filipino soldiers and police in the mission
an earthquake measuring rocked the caribbean nation of haiti on tuesday
toppling buildings and triggering fears that hundreds had been killed
the headquarters of the united nations stabilisation mission in haiti was
reduced to rubble in the quake
alain leroy the head of the un department of peacekeeping operations which
oversees the world body various missions around the world said large
number of personnel remain unaccounted for in haiti following the quake
the philippines does not have resident diplomatic mission in port au prince
and malaya said he was not aware if there were other filipinos living in haiti
asia markets lower as china moves to curb credit
hong kong jan afp
fears that the global recovery may lose steam weighed on asian shares wednesday
as china moved to curb its credit boom and wall street earnings season got off
to weak start
in tokyo the nikkei drifted percent lower as shares in stricken japan
airlines tumbled percent to just seven yen eight us cents hit by flood
of sell orders on fears the ailing carrier will be delisted from the bourse
hong kong shares slumped percent and the shanghai composite index fell
percent in early trading after beijing moved to raise the amount of money banks
must hold in reserves by basis points dealers said
that followed decision to raise the yield on one year chinese government bills
for the first time in five months after last week similar move on another
benchmark sale in sign of tighter borrowing costs
it shows beijing increasing concerns over inflation and the hike will cap
banks lending impulses shanghai securities analyst yu zuojie told dow jones
newswires
singapore was percent lower while sydney was down percent at noon after
commodity prices fell overnight dragging down the resources sector
the region took its cue from wall street where the dow jones industrial average
dropped points or percent to end at
traders mulled monday disappointing profit forecast from aluminum giant alcoa
the first of the blue chip us companies to release financial results
possible new us government fee or tax on financial institutions to help recoup
taxpayer bailout funds also weighed on banks
the dollar rose in asian trade as china policy moves sparked demand for the
safe haven greenback dealers said the dollar gained to yen in tokyo
morning trade from in new york late tuesday
the euro dipped to dollars from and was stable at yen
in singapore trading oil fell from month highs overnight on prospects of
easing fuel demand in the united states the world biggest oil consumer
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
lost cents to dollars brent north sea crude for february delivery was
down cents to dollars
hong kong gold opened lower at us dollars an ounce down from
tuesday close of dollars
students fake foreign status to enter china universities
beijing jan afp
students born raised and educated in china are using fake foreign passports to
get into top universities which have higher entrance standards for domestic
candidates state media said wednesday
fake foreign passports can be bought in eastern china for around yuan
dollars the global times said of the bogus enrolment scam
admission requirements for domestic students at china top universities are
extremely high with only the top scorers on annual nationwide entrance exams
offered places
but for foreign students enrolment requirements are much lower as many
universities want more foreigners to foster an international environment on
campuses the report said
typical student imposter cannot speak the native language of his purported
motherland and can tell you the name of the nation capital his family is
chinese it said
most of the bogus students carry fake passports from african south american or
southeast asian nations it said adding that many of the documents are issued
only months before the youth sends in university application
the scam has prompted crackdown by the education ministry which is now
demanding proof from foreign students that they have lived in their purported
countries of origin for at least four years it said
the paper did not say how many fake foreign students enter china universities
every year
safety violations reported at jetstar pacific airlines
hanoi jan afp
top managers at vietnamese budget airline jetstar pacific part owned by
australia qantas violated maintenance regulations official media reported
late tuesday
the civil aviation administration of vietnam caav ruled the three officials
made mistakes in monitoring maintenance work and had not fulfilled the company
commitment to safety vietnam news agency said
it identified the managers as former general director luong hoai nam and two
foreigners who headed the airline maintenance and technical quality sections
it did not say where the foreigners were from
key jpa executives have to take responsibility for these systematic mistakes
the report quoted the caav as saying
spokesman for the agency could not be immediately reached by afp
hanoi police arrested luong hoai nam last week for alleged neglect of
responsibility in the performance of his duty causing serious consequences
local media reports said
he resigned from his post late last year they said
jetstar pacific jpa is percent owned by australia qantas group according
to the airline website which says the carrier was known as pacific airlines
until may
the largest shareholder is the vietnamese government
caav deputy director lai xuan thanh said jetstar pacific had made numerous
mistakes which put flights at risk according to vietnam news agency he cited
faults related to personnel appointments hangars equipment and the licences
and certificates of maintenance technicians
the caav demanded jetstar pacific restructure its quality supervision system
the report added
local media have not clearly explained the alleged neglect which led to the
arrest of former general director nam but the people police newspaper
reported the airline lost more than million dollars related to aviation fuel
purchases
qantas said on friday that two of its senior executives have been ordered not to
leave vietnam as they help authorities explain how jetstar pacific lost
million us dollars in fuel hedging
the employees had done nothing wrong qantas chief executive alan joyce said
china rights activists elated by google
washington jan afp
human rights activists rejoiced tuesday over google threat to pull out of
china hoping it would be wake up call for businesses that make compromises
to enter the giant market
blogging sites including twitter were swarmed with messages of elation after the
internet giant shock announcement that it would reconsider its china business
due to sophisticated cyberattacks on human rights activists accounts
through international pressure finally big business in the west has come to
realize its own conscience prominent chinese dissident wei jingsheng told afp
some western businesses thought that by making compromises with the chinese
communists regime they could do business as they wished however this is
impossible because the chinese government would not be satisfied said wei who
lives in exile in the united states after years in prison in china
international human rights group amnesty international hailed google and called
for other companies to follow suit
we welcome google stand and urge other internet companies to follow through
and not be party to china state sponsored internet censorship said kumar
amnesty international washington based advocacy director
we re glad that at last international internet companies are waking up to the
reality that they cannot go along with oppressive nations like china kumar
said
human rights watch arvind ganesan said that google set great example and
voiced hope that more companies and governments would take policies that
safeguard rights
rights champions said that the turn around was especially welcome coming from
google which has long faced the wrath of activists for cooperating with china
official censors
the internet giant in launched its google cn service with an explanation
that it had removed content from search results to conform with local law
it extremely significant because google went in under cloud of criticism
it was quite public that it was making human rights trade off said sharon
hom executive director of new york based human rights in china
it really wake up call to the international community about the real risks
of doing business in china she said
she noted that the decision also came as china takes an increasingly hard line
on domestic dissent both by controlling the internet and clamping down on
activists
intellectual liu xiabao the author of landmark petition for democratic
reform was last month sentenced to years in jail despite vigorous protests
overseas
but even with google pledging to stop filtering searches internet users in
china will have plenty of obstacles to finding sensitive content
china routinely blocks social networking and blogging sites such as facebook and
twitter although beijing struggled last year to enforce rules that all new
computers be installed with filtering software
global technology companies bristled at the imposition of the green dam
system which china says is designed to protect children from pornography but
activists suspect is really meant to target politically sensitive information
one major target of internet censorship in china is the falun gong spiritual
movement which was banned by china in
levi browde head of the falun dafa information center in new york said that
internet restrictions were way not only to identify and target falun gong
practitioners but to maintain public opinion
prohibiting people from having access to free information about what
happening is one of the biggest enablers not just in the persecution of falun
gong but any sort of large scale persecution this is what makes it possible
he said
tennis li zheng spearhead asian hopes
melbourne jan afp
asian hopes at the australian open have heavy chinese focus with li na and
zheng jie the region best chance of success and japanese veteran kimiko date
krumm dark horse
going into the tournament nine asian women are ranked in the top one more
than last year but only taiwan lu yen hsun sneaks in for the men
once again li and zheng carry the baton
li has crept up to in the world and needs good run to reinforce her
reputation but zheng has slipped down the rankings to after abandoning the
chinese state sports system to manage her own career
others making the grade include china peng shuai indian underachiever
sania mirza and japan year old date krumm at
the veteran who was once four in the world made comeback last year after
more than decade in retirement and has been showing some solid form beating
two top players virginie razzano and nadia petrova over the past week
other asian women certain of direct acceptance into the main draw are fellow
japanese ayumi morita taiwanese pair chan yung jan and chang kai chen
and evergreen thai star tamarine tanasugarn
but there will be no ai sugiyama who called it quits last year after
successive australian open campaigns leaving just two japanese to carry the
flag next week
li has long been asia most high profile player and continued her steady rise
through the ranks last year winning through to the fourth round at roland
garros and making her second grand slam quarter final appearance at the us open
first round exit at the asb classic in auckland didn bode well but she
bounced back with an impressive victory over us open finalist caroline
wozniacki now world number four at the sydney international this week
zheng who has won three tour singles titles and doubles titles including
the australian open and wimbledon doubles trophies made the fourth round
last year and is confident that chinese players will continue improving
think people can see the improvement in our ranking in the last few years
she told reporters in hong kong at warm up tournament last week
they can see more chinese players active on the tennis scene so think there
will be top player from china
meanwhile mirza who won the mixed doubles title partnered by mahesh bhupathi
last year said her key focus this year was staying fit
it not that easy to win grand slam singles title she recently told
reporters
my target this year will be to stay fit for as long as possible and to play in
as many matches as possible
once again there is little hope for the asian men who have been in the
doldrums for years
while japan hottest new prospect kei nishikori climbed the rankings last year
he has since faded to after an elbow injury forced him onto the sidelines
he has yet to fully recover and on tuesday pulled out of open qualifying
it leaves taiwan lu who shocked th seed david nalbandian for the biggest
win of his career here last year once again as asia best singles hope
tennis australian open champions
melbourne jan afp
winners of the australian open over the past years
men
rafael nadal esp
novak djokovic srb
roger federer sui
roger federer sui
marat safin rus
roger federer sui
andre agassi usa
thomas johansson swe
andre agassi usa
andre agassi usa
yevgeny kafelnikov rus
petr korda cze
pete sampras usa
boris becker ger
andre agassi usa
pete sampras usa
jim courier usa
jim courier usa
boris becker ger
ivan lendl cze
ivan lendl cze
mats wilander swe
stefan edberg swe
no competition
stefan edberg swe
women
serena williams usa
maria sharapova rus
serena williams usa
amelie mauresmo fra
serena williams usa
justine henin hardenne bel
serena williams usa
jennifer capriati usa
jennifer capriati usa
lindsay davenport usa
martina hingis sui
martina hingis sui
martina hingis sui
monica seles usa
mary pierce fra
steffi graf ger
monica seles usa
monica seles usa
monica seles usa
steffi graf ger
steffi graf ger
steffi graf ger
hana mandlikova cze
no competition
martina navratilova usa
tennis federer imposing claim for another slam win
melbourne jan afp
resurgent roger federer is again the man to beat in next week australian
open as he shoots for his th grand slam crown in the year opening major
just when his rivals appeared to have closed the gap on the swiss the world
number one had another stellar season in winning his first ever french
open and sixth wimbledon title
the year old great became the all time grand slam leader in men tennis in
the process passing the won by american pete sampras
federer was duly crowned the international tennis federation itf champion for
the fifth time and finished the year end atp top ranked player for the fifth
time in six years
underlining his incredible consistency federer has only missed playing in one
of the last grand slam finals his sole slip up coming when he lost to
russian marat safin in the semi finals of the australian open
when it comes to determining the likely winner of this year tournament it is
hard to go past federer
if healthy this year can win many more tournaments and that could also
help get me more confidence more momentum he said ahead of the open
federer will be chasing his fourth australian open victory and takes
match record into the melbourne event
if there is to be an upset it looks likely to come from defending champion
rafael nadal the champion novak djokovic british hope andy murray or
federer conqueror at last year us open final argentine juan martin del
potro
nadal who toppled federer from the number one ranking in august and held
it for weeks until handing it back to the swiss last july admits to
suffering crisis of confidence heading into his title defence
he has had increasing problems with arthritic knees suffered from an abdominal
injury and reportedly been affected by the recent break up of his parents
marriage
have had lot of problems in the head nadal said but that life you
have to accept problems and you have to come back am trying we will see what
happens in the next six months
nadal who will be seeded to face federer in the australian final holds an
impressive record over him but disrupted season may count against
the spaniard over the next two weeks
djokovic finished third on the year end rankings by big space ahead of del
potro and murray and has shown liking for the court and the conditions of
melbourne with his win here two years ago
last year ended my title defence in the quarter finals with the retirement
against andy roddick djokovic said
that was what you would call the ugliest way that could have finished that
tournament
always try to set up in the best possible shape and form for the grand slams
and have all the reasons to believe can perform my best tennis this year
del potro has leap frogged murray into the fourth ranking spot and although his
australian open record is modest with just quarter final appearance at three
attempts his epic win over federer at flushing meadow last year earns him
respect
murray is burdened with the national expectation of becoming the first british
player to win grand slam since fred perry us open triumph
think ready to win it murray said at last week hopman cup in perth
feel like serving well moving well and playing the ball better than
have done for long time at the back of the court and am volleying well
tennis serena on top but henin clijsters open threat
melbourne jan afp
defending champion serena williams heads into the australian open as firm
favourite but the return of justine henin and kim clijsters adds an enticing
twist to the opening grand slam of the season
dominant williams crushed dinara safina in the final last year and went on to
claim the wimbledon title improving her collection to majors as she ended
the season as world number one
opting to start her year at the sydney international this week the american
insisted she didn feel any extra pressure with the belgian pair coming out of
retirement
don think about it lot ve got lot on my plate everyone assumes that
number one anyway she said
my main goals are always to stay healthy and that huge goal for any
athlete
for me it all about doing the best that can obviously love playing
well in all the grand slams and hate to lose regardless of where it is
she is gunning for her fifth australian title and is one of only three players
in the field to have lifted the trophy maria sharapova and henin are the
others
world number two safina is back to try and avenge her humiliating defeat to
williams in less than an hour last year but she has been hampered by back
injury
it forced her out of tennis in october but the russian said all is now well and
she is confident of challenging for the title once again
percent ready to play she said
if play my best let see what can happen
she leads strong russian challenge which also includes svetlana kuznetsova
elena dementieva and vera zvonareva all top players
also back in business after long lay off with shoulder injury is sharapova
the champion and former world number one
she said she was feeling fit and raring to reclaim her place in the top
keep getting stronger ready for the challenge in australia mentally
and physically said the year old now ranked
obviously stepped away because had to she added
it was frustrating very frustrating and boring but there is no better
healer than time
serena sister venus will also be threat but it is the return to melbourne
of clijsters and henin that has whetted appetites
clijsters crowd favourite in australia retired in may to have baby
but made partial comeback last year which saw her sensationally win the us
open
this year is her first full season back on tour and few will bet against her
making the second week of the tournament after beating henin to win the brisbane
international last week
think we are both capable of getting back into the top and think it
won take long for justine to have crack at that she said
henin retired in may when world number one with seven grand slam titles
including the australian open citing lack of desire
but the lure of the game has drawn her back and she looks as good as she ever
now she injured her leg late in the brisbane final but said the tournament
had given her big boost ahead of the open
really happy it gives me the confidence need before the open she said
others players in contention include popular serb jelena jankovic and her
compatriot ana ivanovic who is desperate to recover from disappointing
when she slumped to in the world after run of injuries and poor form
baseball family says roger maris is the true home run king
los angeles jan afp
the son of new york yankees legend roger maris says he hopes baseball chiefs
do the right thing by recognizing his father as the sport greatest pure
home run hitter
too many things have gone on and now this has come out rich maris the son of
roger maris told the san francisco chronicle
we think baseball will end up doing the right things with the records
we think baseball will get it right whether they restore or make some sort of
mark on what what
the families comments come in the wake of mark mcgwire admission monday that
he used steroids on and off for nearly decade including during the
season when he broke maris then single season home run record
mcgwire feels his legacy should be one of great long ball hitter because he
claims he didn need performance enhancing drugs to break maris record of
homers
but mcgwire also said the maris family have every right to consider their
father home runs as the authentic record mcgwire hit and then barry
bonds surpassed him with in
both mcgwire and bonds have been linked to performance enhancing drugs leaving
the maris family to question whether their father should be considered the true
single season home run king
think my dad still holds the record rich maris said
mcgwire called the widow of roger maris pat maris on monday before he went
public with his admission and rich said the family is willing to accept his
apology
he told her he had something to tell her rich maris said to the chronicle
he just wanted her to know the news was going to break and that he did
steroids
he apologized and that speaks volumes to the kind of guy he is
we love him like brother am glad he got it out
asked about the phone call on mlb network mcgwire said felt that needed
to do that they ve been great supporters of mine she was disappointed and she
has every right to be
mcgwire has been eligible for american baseball hall of fame for the past two
years but he received minuscule percent of the vote from the baseball
writers association of america his first year on the ballot and this year
received percent
mcgwire claims he used drugs like androstenedione and human growth hormone to
rehabilitate his body from injury and not to cheat
mcgwire didn hesitate to blow his own horn when asked during mlb network
interview if he could have hit home runs in single season without steroids
look at what god gave me mcgwire told the network there is not pill or an
injection that will give an athlete the hand eye co ordination to hit
baseball
they still talk about home runs hit in high school
tennis australian open advisory
melbourne jan afp
the australian open the first grand slam of the season starts in melbourne on
monday with rafael nadal and serena williams defending their titles
afp will move series of previews and profiles over the next three days we
will shortly file the following
tennis open aus men
melbourne
resurgent roger federer is again the man to beat in next week australian
open as he shoots for his th grand slam crown in the year opening major
words by robert smith
we will also move tennis open aus winners
tennis open aus women
melbourne
defending champion serena williams heads into the australian open as firm
favourite but the return of justine henin and kim clijsters adds an enticing
twist to the opening grand slam of the season
words by martin parry
tennis open aus asia
melbourne
asian hopes at the australian open have heavy chinese focus with li na and
zheng jie the region best chance of success and japanese veteran kimiko date
krumm dark horse
words by martin parry
moving thursday
tennis open aus nadal
tennis open aus murray
tennis open aus delpotro
tennis open aus serena
tennis open aus clijsters
tennis open aus safina
moving friday
tennis open aus federer
tennis open aus djokovic
tennis open aus roddick
tennis open aus henin
tennis open aus venus
tennis open aus sharapova
ireland parties hopeful of deal as crisis focuses minds
belfast jan afp
political parties in northern ireland have expressed hope of striking deal to
avert crisis in the province fragile administration despite scandal
engulfing its leading politician
day after first minister peter robinson took six week break following
allegations about his wife affair with teenage lover the parties tuesday
were upbeat after emergency talks on the thorny issues of policing and justice
robinson decision to stand aside has prompted concerns the once troubled
province already strained administration could collapse altogether
even before the current crisis erupted northern ireland was tense over the
failure of the parties sharing power to agree on when policing should be handed
from london to belfast key step in the devolution of powers to the
province
but both robinson democratic unionist party dup and their power sharing
partners sinn fein said tuesday they were determined to find solution to the
vexing issue
sinn fein president gerry adams refused to be drawn on the details of the
discussions but hinted that progress had been made on what is key piece of
the province devolution jigsaw
we believe that with political will these difficulties can be resolved adams
said
these discussions and it has to involve all of the parties but particularly
between ourselves and the dup are hugely important
meanwhile finance minister sammy wilson of the dup expressed optimism that
deal could be done although he stressed many hurdles still remained
