salt lake city utah jan afp
rookie sundiata gaines was utah unlikely hero thursday hitting three
pointer at the buzzer to lift the jazz to nba victory over cleveland
superstar lebron james had led cleveland on scoring run earlier in the
fourth quarter and the cavs led by six with seconds remaining
but cleveland couldn seal the victory from the foul line
zydrunas ilgauskas missed one of two free throws with seconds to play
leaving utah needing one basket to tie or three pointer to win the game
after timeout utah ronnie price got locked up behind the three point line
and managed to get the ball to gaines who drained the winner
gaines who signed to day contract with the jazz when starter deron
williams sprained his right wrist earlier this month finished with nine points
in nine minutes he notched his first three pointer in five career nba games
williams was back in action on thursday before re injuring his right wrist early
in the fourth quarter in collision with mo williams an injury that led to
gaines going into the game
utah also lost forward andrei kirilenko in the third quarter with hyper
extended right knee
james led cleveland with points scoring in the fourth quarter but the
cavaliers committed season high turnovers
thai red shirts plan anti government rally
bangkok jan afp
thailand red shirts supporters of ousted premier thaksin shinawatra will
rally in bangkok next month ahead of court ruling on the fugitive politician
frozen fortune leader said friday
the anti government protest group has held several rallies over the past year in
support of thaksin who was deposed in military coup in and is living in
exile to escape two year jail term for corruption
one of the group leaders jatuporn prompan said he expected up to one million
protesters dressed in their trademark red tops to attend the event although the
exact date in february has not yet been set
am convinced that with the large number of protesters we expect to come the
government will have to dissolve parliament jatuporn said adding that the
group would rally until its goals were met
thailand supreme court is set to rule on february whether authorities can
continue to hold thaksin assets worth billion baht billion dollars
which were frozen in the months following the coup
the assets represent most of the profits his family earned when they sold his
shin corp telecommunications empire in january to singapore state linked
investment firm temasek holdings
the sale sparked public uproar bringing tens of thousands of anti thaksin
protesters into the streets which led to the coup in september
thaksin has continued to stir up political unrest in thailand from abroad with
both his opponents and supporters staging numerous mass rallies over the past
year which have sometimes turned violent
thousands of red shirts protested monday at the house of royal adviser accused
of involvement in the coup
leadership shake up in china tibet state media
beijing jan afp
the public face of an ongoing crackdown on unrest in tibet has been named the
region top legislator during leadership shake up in china himalayan
region state press reported friday
qiangba puncog has stepped down as the chairman of the tibetan autonomous region
and quickly been named head of tibet people congress xinhua news agency
reported
padma choling an ethnic tibetan and year veteran of the people
liberation army was also promoted by an ongoing congressional meeting to the
chairman job it said he had been vice chairman since
as chairman qiangba puncog served as the public face of government crackdown
on ethnic separatism in the region which began following anti china riots in
lhasa in march
china said people were killed by rioters and that security forces killed
only one insurgent
but the tibetan government in exile headed by the dalai lama claimed that more
than people were killed and some hurt in the unrest and subsequent
crackdown
at least people were arrested during the period the government has said
with many buddhist monks given long prison terms
chinese troops invaded tibet in and officially annexed the region year
later the dalai lama who fled his homeland following the uprising has
repeatedly accused beijing of widespread rights violations there
although tibet is nominally an autonomous region its top leaders remain ethnic
han members of the ruling communist party regional party secretary zhang qingli
is expected to retain his post in the ongoing reshuffle
the ongoing crackdown has also spread to other tibetan inhabited regions of
china such as sichuan province where respected buddhist lama phurbu tsering
rinpoche was sentenced to over eight years in jail for illegal possession of
ammunition and embezzlement in december
the monk has denied all charges with supporters claiming the evidence was
planted by police eager to silence the leading tibetan spiritual leader
china says google row will not affect trade ties with us
beijing jan afp
china said friday that google threat to stop operating in the country would
not affect sino us trade ties after washington pressed for an explanation of
china based cyberattacks on the internet giant
however china insisted that google must obey its laws after the company said
it would no longer bow to the communist country army of internet censors by
filtering search results available on google cn
the us firm whose unofficial motto is don be evil said it could
abandon its chinese search engine and perhaps shut its offices in the world
largest online market by users over theft of its intellectual property
no matter what decision google makes it will not affect overall trade and
economic relations between china and the united states commerce ministry
spokesman yao jian told reporters
the two countries have multiple communication channels we are confident in the
healthy development of economic and trade relations between china and the united
states
in beijing first official reaction thursday foreign ministry spokeswoman
insisted china internet was open but defended its censorship system and said
foreign firms must abide by the law
yao echoed those remarks saying foreign firms operating in china should
respect the laws public interest culture and traditions in host countries
and take on social responsibilities accordingly
china is transferring from traditional planned economy to socialist market
economy stability and development are our top priorities at the current stage
the commerce ministry spokesman said
he said google should make the right choice about its future noting that
china development would benefit both the country itself and companies doing
business there
google said the cyberattacks were likely aimed at gaining access to the gmail
accounts of chinese human rights activists but has said it does not believe
that goal was achieved
the row has threatened to rattle ties between washington and beijing already
frayed over number of issues from the copenhagen climate change debacle to
the value of the chinese yuan and number of other trade disputes
earlier this week secretary of state hillary clinton demanded answers from
china over the google case on thursday state department spokesman philip
crowley said chinese embassy and us officials had met in washington
crowley said the issue raises questions about both internet freedom and the
security of the internet in china home to more than million web users
according to latest chinese government figures
google said more than other unidentified firms were targeted in the highly
sophisticated attacks believed to have originated in china while other
reports have put the number of companies attacked at more than
officials in washington have been reluctant to comment on how the google case
could affect ties but one official warned of future diplomatic fallout
if this was part of deliberate strategy on behalf of china it has
implications said the official who asked not to be named
us lawmakers on thursday hailed google move and touted draft bill that would
prohibit us firms from storing users personal information in countries that
restrict the peaceful expression of political and religious views online
under the proposed global online freedom act companies would also have to
report to the state department which search terms countries were trying to
filter out
google sent thrill of encouragement through the hearts of millions of
chinese republican representative chris smith the bill chief sponsor told
news conference it is game changer
but it companies are not powerful enough to stand up to repressive government
like china said smith
without us government support they are inevitably forced to be ever more
complicit in the repressive governments censorship and surveillance
web security firm mcafee said the attacks on google and other companies showed
level of sophistication beyond that of cyber criminals and more typical of
nation state
microsoft on thursday advised internet explorer users to boost their security
settings after discovering that weakness in the web browser allowed the
hackers to attack google
microsoft chief executive steve ballmer said the us software giant took
cyberattacks seriously but has no plans to pull out of china
we ve been quite clear that we re going to operate in china ballmer told cnbc
television we re going to abide by the law
bargain hunting lifts stocks as intel boosts tech firms
hong kong jan afp
investor concerns that china will move to further rein in lending were brushed
aside in asia on friday as bargain hunters moved in following the morning
losses
technology plays were big gainers after us bellwether intel the world biggest
chipmaker posted profit surge of almost percent
chinese shares fell early on but lifted percent in the afternoon as
investors picked up cheap property and banking stocks
the two sectors have been the main losers on fears that beijing was likely to
impose more stringent rules to stop soaring house prices and cap lending
it is just technical rebound and the upside is likely limited as concerns
over monetary tightening are still lingering guoyuan securities analyst simon
wang told dow jones newswires
and huatai securities analyst dai shuang said there are expectations that the
government may take fresh administrative measures to rein in rapid bank lending
growth near term
in bid to ease runaway economic growth the government this week increased the
amount of money banks must hold in reserve and raised the yield on one year
bills for the first time in five months
despite the chinese rebound hong kong shares were percent off by the break
japan nikkei rose percent or points to its best since
october
shares in cosmetics maker shiseido soared percent to yen on news it
will spend billion dollars to buy bare escentuals of the united states
and troubled japan airlines which has lost around percent this week over
fears it is about to apply for bankruptcy fell one yen to yen
sydney closed flat after spending much of the day in the red
the amp asx was up points at thanks to late rally after
commonwealth bank of australia said it expected big rise in first half cash
profit
taipei rose percent or points to its best level since
june
and seoul was percent or points up at
regional stocks had been weighed by disappointing data from the united states
that showed retail sales fell unexpectedly by percent in december
analysts had expected gain of percent in sales the key driver of us
economic activity
but technology stocks were boosted after intel said net profit soared nearly
nine fold by percent to billion dollars in the three months to
december
intel also said it expects revenue of between billion dollars and
billion dollars this quarter better than the billion dollars forecast by
analysts
in japan tokyo electron was up percent and elpida memory added percent
while in seoul hynix semiconductor rose percent and samsung electronics
gained percent
and in taiwan au optronics added percent to taiwan dollars and innolux
rose percent to
the dollar dropped to yen in tokyo morning trade from in new york
late thursday as the impact of the retail data set in while the euro slipped to
dollars from and to yen from
in asian oil trade concerns over demand in the united states sent new york
main contract light sweet crude for february delivery cents lower to
dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for march delivery dropped cents to dollars
gold was at us dollars an ounce in hong kong in the afternoon down
from thursday close of dollars
in other markets
manila lost percent or points to on profit taking
wellington fell percent or points to
possible peacekeeping role looms for us troops in haiti
washington jan afp
the us relief mission in haiti remains focused on saving lives but american
troops could be called on to help keep order if security deteriorates officials
said
with more than us ground troops bound for haiti this week as part of
major relief effort after tuesday devastating earthquake us and international
officials were watching closely for signs of potential rioting or unrest
at this time we re not seeing any security concerns defense official who
spoke on condition of anonymity told afp
the focus of the us troops on the ground will be providing humanitarian
assistance and relieving the suffering of the haitian people
but he added soldiers and marines are trained to conduct security operations
if they need to
haiti has no army and its police forces have all but collapsed in the aftermath
of the country worst earthquake in over century
security has fallen almost entirely to the un peacekeeping mission whose force
of troops and police have been deployed since to help stabilize
the impoverished caribbean nation of nine million
amid looting and scenes of chaos some rescue crews in the haitian capital said
they faced dangerous conditions that forced them to stop work at nightfall
our biggest problem is insecurity yesterday they tried to hijack some of our
trucks today we were barely able to work in some places because of that said
delfin antonio rodriguez civil defense chief and rescue commander for the
dominican republic whose teams worked to rescue victims trapped under rubble in
port au prince
mounting tensions in the street could complicate international plans to pour in
aid and assistance but us officials said they were not alarmed over the state of
security at the moment
the pentagon said strong brigade from the nd airborne ordered to
deploy to haiti with an advance corps of arriving late thursday would
be charged in part with maintaining safe environment for the delivery of
humanitarian aid
more than marines heading to haiti over the weekend also could be asked to
carry out similar role officials said
ensuring safe conditions was crucial for steady flow of international aid and
urgent medical care the us state department said
obviously in those situations one of the keys is maintaining law and order
spokesman pj crowley said so far it been pretty good
he said us efforts were designed not only to provide life saving support to the
haitian people but to rebuild the capacity of the haitian government
us officials are anxious to avoid breakdown in order that could trigger mass
exodus from the impoverished country as in years past with desperate haitians
on rickety boats trying to flee to us soil
but diplomats and military officers were cautious in discussing the sensitive
issue stressing that americans were not out to assert control in the caribbean
nation and would work to support the haitian authorities and the un
peacekeepers
confident that this government in haiti is not looking for the us to take
over said state department counselor cheryl mills
they are looking for partner and we will be their partner and provide the
kind of leadership that is necessary but we have no intention of supplanting
the leadership of haiti she said
in natural disasters elsewhere armed us combat troops have provided security
for engineers or other expert teams
but us officers said their military sometimes has to tread lightly to avoid
antagonizing the population they are trying to help
mindful that heavy military presence could backfire some us marines helping
with humanitarian efforts in indonesia after the tsunami operated without
weapons helmets or flak jackets
general douglas fraser head of the us southern command said wednesday that the
situation in haiti was calm and that it was too early to speculate about
possible security operations
the general praised the united nations stabilization mission in haiti
minustah and said the peacekeeping force had performed significant job in
sustaining and maintaining stability and security within the country
so we will work with minustah and get assessments and figure out what the
security situation is and then decide what to do from there he said
oil down in asian trade stays at around dollars
singapore jan afp
oil prices extended losses in asian trade friday on weak energy demand and news
the us commodity and options regulator was looking to tighten controls in the
energy futures market analysts said
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
fell cents to dollars per barrel in the afternoon
brent north sea crude for march delivery dropped cents to dollars
barrel
prices dipped after the us department of energy doe reported wednesday an
unexpected increase in us petroleum reserves analysts said
new york crude rose to month high of dollars monday on the back of
robust chinese data but subsequently tumbled on news that beijing was tightening
money supply in bid to tame economic growth
think this was much needed correction because oil had run up to almost
dollars per barrel tony nunan risk manager with mitsubishi corp in tokyo
said
lot of this optimism and euphoria was driven by chinese demand like the us
china is major oil consumer
nunan said the increase in us energy stockpiles was reality check because
people realised that the inventories were still high so there lot of fear
and uncertainty in the market now
the doe said crude reserves soared million barrels in the week ending
january far more than the consensus forecast for million barrel gain
distillates including heating fuel and diesel rose million barrels
the doe said confounding forecasts for million barrel drop
distillates are currently in focus amid an ongoing cold snap in the united
states the world largest energy consumer but forecasters have predicted
milder weather for the weeks ahead
prices were also impacted by the commodity futures trading commission proposal
thursday to regulate the energy futures market
there strong feeling that it could impose positions on energy contracts so
think that was one of the bearish catalyst to oil prices nunan said
cricket india confirm south africa tour dates
new delhi jan afp
south africa will begin their tour of india next month with the first test at
nagpur from february the indian cricket board said on friday
the second and final test will be played at the eden gardens in kolkata from
february the board said in media release
the tests will be followed by three one day internationals in jaipur february
kanpur february and ahmedabad february
india and south africa are the two top teams in the international cricket
council official test rankings
schedule
feb first test nagpur
feb second test kolkata
feb first one dayer jaipur
feb second one dayer kanpur
feb third one dayer ahmedabad
us soldier killed in afghan bombing nato
kabul jan afp
an american soldier has been killed in afghanistan by the type of crude bomb
used by taliban militants in their war against the kabul government nato said
an isaf service member from the united states was killed today thursday in
southern afghanistan as the result of an ied strike said statement from
nato international security assistance force referring to an improvised
explosive device
the death brings to the number of foreign soldiers to have been killed
afghanistan so far this year according to an afp count based on tally kept by
independent website icasualties org
ieds along with suicide bomb attacks are the main weapons deployed by taliban
militants and have become more powerful and deadly as foreign forces enhance
security procedures military officials have said
the bombs made principally from fertiliser and detonated by remote control can
range up to pounds kilograms senior us military intelligence
official said recently destroying even the heaviest armoured vehicles
the southern provinces of helmand and kandahar are the most violent but the
taliban has spread its fight to previously peaceful regions
pedestrian suicide bomber blew himself up in crowded market on thursday in
the province of uruzgan province which borders both helmand and kandahar killed
at least people officials said
foreign troops under us and nato command currently number around and are
being reinforced with another over the course of this year as the
counter insurgency strategy moves into high gear
hundreds of civilians are also moving into afghanistan to back up the military
effort with renewed emphasis on development and aid to enable afghans in
insurgency hotspots to shift their allegiance to the government
recent public opinion poll in afghanistan commissioned by the bbc and other
media organisations found that percent of afghans are optimistic about their
future and believe the country is heading in the right direction
that figure derived from survey of people across the country is up
from percent last year
indian group likely to bid for hollywood icon mgm report
mumbai may afp
india reliance entertainment is likely to bid for us film group metro goldwyn
mayer mgm the hollywood studio behind classics such as james bond and the
pink panther report said friday
the economic times citing an unnamed person familiar with the deal said
reliance could be one of dozen potential bidders in the running for mgm which
has been put up for sale
the revered studio was bought by group of investors including private equity
groups in for around five billion dollars it faces crushing debt
repayment obligations stemming from the buyout and has been put on the block
mgm has massive film library which boasts around titles and more than
television episodes
reliance entertainment part of the reliance business empire controlled by
billionaire anil ambani has invested in steven spielberg dreamworks studios
but is looking to increase its presence in hollywood the newspaper said
the indian group is behind current bollywood box office hits idiots the
highest grossing bollywood movie of all time and paa father starring
indian superstar amitabh bachchan
golf six share lead at log jammed sony open
honolulu hawaii jan afp
aussie robert allenby shrugged off an ailing ankle thursday to join six way
tie for the first round lead at the sony open joining leading group that was
nothing if not diverse
allenby was joined on five under by defending champion zach johnson tour
veteran davis love and pga newcomer troy merritt along with ryan palmer and
john merrick
love is playing his first tournament in two months while merritt was teeing it
up on the pga tour for the first time in his career allenby almost didn play
at all but after the long flight to hawaii decided to give despite twisting his
ankle on monday
allenby arrived at waialae after victories in the nedbank challenge and
australian pga but he took bad step while out walking with his wife
he played with the ankle taped and despite having trouble hitting fade still
managed seven birdies including three in row from the th to balance two
bogeys
my putting was the best part of the day allenby said did hit some good
shots but my putting was good it the same as left off last year
despite windy conditions more players were just stroke back on
argentina masters champion angel cabrera sweden carl pettersson jeff
quinney pat perez shane bertsch tom lehman steve stricker brian stuard
roger tambellini and martin flores
three more players ricky barnes michael allen and troy matteson carded
love was among the first in the clubhouse on completing his five under round
without bogey
was optimistic love said of his goals after his long layoff but was
anxious about competing once got it going once got under par ve been
out here long time you don forget
merritt didn have that wealth of experience to draw on the qualifying school
medallist said he told his fiancee he be thrilled with three under effort
but birdied his final hole to join the leaders he finished with six birdies and
just one bogey
things went way better than thought merritt said
merritt is so little known that he had played three holes before someone pointed
out that his name was wrong on the scoring sign being carried with his group
it read merrick
we have lockers right next to each other said the real merrick who ended up
with the same score probably will all year
johnson rebounded from an early bogey with six birdies
really played pretty solid all day he said didn get off to the best
of starts but was hitting it solid and remained patient so kept the golf
course in front of me hit lot of fairways and hit lot of greens
the first round of the million dollar tournament the first full field event
of the season after last week sbs championship for winners only wasn quite
complete
tom gillis was facing foot eagle putt on his final hole when he decided it
was too dark to continue electing to return on friday morning to putt
football inamoto returns to league
kawasaki japan jan afp
japanese international midfielder junichi inamoto has signed three year
contract to play for league first division club kawasaki frontale with his
eyes set on the world cup
inamoto who failed to make an impact at french first division outfit rennes
before returning home made his league debut in and scored goals in
games for gamba osaka before joining arsenal in
really looking forward to playing in japan after long time going to
enjoy playing here the year old told reporters on friday
it will be more advantageous to be named for the world cup than when play
in foreign country
after arsenal he moved on to fulham and also saw service in britain with west
brom and cardiff then with turkish giants galatasaray and german team eintracht
frankfurt
massive us ship heads to haiti for relief effort
washington jan afp
nuclear powered us aircraft carrier sped towards haiti early friday to assist
an international relief effort as anger and despair mounted in the stricken
country
in the ravaged capital untold numbers of victims faced third night trapped
under rubble while others gathered to once again sleep in the streets of the
capital port au prince alongside rows of corpses
as the uss carl vinson sailed toward the devastated country us president barack
obama promised haitians they would not be forgotten and pledged to devote every
element of us power to their recovery
in port au prince aid flights jostled for space on the small airport tarmac
and single runway as aid poured in from around the world
the vinson nimitz class super carrier was dispatched from norfolk virginia
shortly after tuesday earthquake which may have killed up to
people in the western hemisphere poorest country
designed for war the ship space ordinarily reserved for fighter jets was filled
instead with helicopters due to dispatch water medicine and other aid to
thousands of desperate haitians
the ship was just part of massive us response to the disaster which obama
described as one of those moments that calls out for american leadership
secretary of state hillary clinton and defense secretary robert gates both
cancelled foreign trips to help coordinate the effort which includes
million dollars in immediate assistance and the deployment of over us
troops
we stand in solidarity with our neighbors to the south knowing that but for
the grace of god there we go obama said
us businesses joined the effort pledging millions of dollars in cash and
assistance as images of corpse lined streets of port au prince made their way
into newspapers and television broadcasts
the us department of health and human services said it was deploying
personnel to haiti and white house official said obama national security
chief of staff denis mcdonough would also head to the country
rajiv shah director of the us agency for international development which is
helping coordinate us relief efforts in haiti said the deployments were ramping
up to become one of the most extensive aid operations in recent years
we are working aggressively to try and address the needs and try and save lives
while we still can shah told cnn late thursday
we re responding strongly he said
three large amphibious ships with marines on board and several coast guard
cutters were dispatched along with the uss carl vinson
the carrier is outfitted with water purification equipment that can produce
gallons of drinking water day and also boasts hospital beds operating
rooms and giant flight deck
they are going to serve as floating airport for lot of different
helicopters navy lieutenant nate christensen told afp
you have ship that very ready and very flexible
the desperate need for more ways to deliver aid was illustrated thursday when
planes were forced to circle over port au prince waiting for an opportunity to
land on the lone runway
planes eventually made it down with craft on the ground at the same time at
one point according to us military official helping run the toussaint
ouverture airport
the us air force said it had flown five air missions so far delivering
tonnes of supplies carrying out seven evacuations and transporting rescue
and aid workers
