same half of the australian open women singles draw as us open champion kim
clijsters and world number two dinara safina
the seven time grand slam champion is on the comeback trail after months out
of the game and is rated the most dangerous unseeded floater in the women
draw
henin who begins with an opening round match against fellow belgian kirsten
flipkens and likely second round engagement with russian fifth seed elena
dementieva could face clijsters in the quarter finals in the bottom half of the
women draw
clijsters beat her great belgian rival henin in classic
final at the brisbane international earlier this month
clijsters who is seeded th opens the year first grand slam tournament
against qualifier
the third quarter of the women singles draw looks to be the most contested
with reigning french open champion and third seed svetlana kuznetsova of russia
likely to face clijsters in the fourth round
defending champion and world number one serena williams has sister venus
williams and us open finalist caroline wozniacki in her top half of the draw
williams opens against poland urszula radwanska and faces possible quarter
final against belarus seventh seed victoria azarenka or russian ninth seed vera
zvonareva
she is projected to meet venus in the semi finals
safina who was trounced by serena williams in last year australian open
final opens against slovak magdalena rybarikova and could face quarter final
against serbian seventh seed jelena jankovic
hong kong shares open percent lower
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares opened percent lower on friday with the benchmark hang
seng index down points in early trading to
us videogame sales hit record high in december
san francisco jan afp
npd group reported thursday that us sales of videogame hardware and software hit
billion dollars in december setting new monthly record and giving
blockbuster end to lackluster year
the big sales in december particularly on the hardware front is positive
move for the industry headed into what will hopefully be recovery year in
said npd analyst anita frazier
videogame industry revenues for totaled nearly billion dollars an
eight percent drop from the record high billion dollars seen in the prior
year according to npd
clearly was tough year for consumers and the national economy said
michael gallagher chief executive of the entertainment software association
that represents computer and videogame publishers
that said our industry structure is solid and anticipate strong
with pipeline full of highly anticipated titles
sales of videogame consoles and hand held devices hit an unprecedented high in
december with sony selling more than million of its playstation models in
its best monthly showing to date
we knew would be turning point for the platform due to the new price and
content line up that is fueling unprecedented consumer and industry interest
said sony computer entertainment of america communications director patrick
seybold
launches of hot titles such as god of war iii and new motion sensing
controller this year should bolster the popularity of ps consoles according to
seybold
nintendo also set new us records selling million wii consoles and
million ds hand held gaming devices here in december according to npd
wii nintendo ds lite and nintendo dsi combined to sell more than million
units in the month of december alone said nintendo of america executive vice
president of sales and marketing cammie dunaway
clearly there is overwhelming consumer demand for fun games motion controls
and value
microsoft weighed in with strong showing also selling of its xbox
videogame consoles in december according to the industry tracking firm
npd expects videogame sales to be buoyed this year as millions of console owners
go shopping for titles to play
hopefully the big increase in the overall install base of hardware systems
will bring good things for software sales in frazier said
especially with the incredible line up of content coming out early in the
year
game software for nintendo devices took six of the top ten sales spots for
december with new super mario brothers title topping the rankings
other big sellers on the list included ubisoft assassin creed ii and
modern warfare by activision
modern warfare was the top selling console game in the united states in
while the sims led sales for videogames played on personal computers
according to npd
us videogame sales hit record high in december
san francisco jan afp
npd group reported thursday that us sales of videogame hardware and software hit
billion dollars in december setting new monthly record and giving
blockbuster end to lackluster year
the big sales in december particularly on the hardware front is positive
move for the industry headed into what will hopefully be recovery year in
said npd analyst anita frazier
videogame industry revenues for totaled nearly billion dollars an
eight percent drop from the record high billion dollars seen in the prior
year according to npd
clearly was tough year for consumers and the national economy said
michael gallagher chief executive of the entertainment software association
that represents computer and videogame publishers
that said our industry structure is solid and anticipate strong
with pipeline full of highly anticipated titles
sales of videogame consoles and hand held devices hit an unprecedented high in
december with sony selling more than million of its playstation models in
its best monthly showing to date
we knew would be turning point for the platform due to the new price and
content line up that is fueling unprecedented consumer and industry interest
said sony computer entertainment of america communications director patrick
seybold
launches of hot titles such as god of war iii and new motion sensing
controller this year should bolster the popularity of ps consoles according to
seybold
nintendo also set new us records selling million wii consoles and
million ds hand held gaming devices here in december according to npd
wii nintendo ds lite and nintendo dsi combined to sell more than million
units in the month of december alone said nintendo of america executive vice
president of sales and marketing cammie dunaway
clearly there is overwhelming consumer demand for fun games motion controls
and value
microsoft weighed in with strong showing also selling of its xbox
videogame consoles in december according to the industry tracking firm
npd expects videogame sales to be buoyed this year as millions of console owners
go shopping for titles to play
hopefully the big increase in the overall install base of hardware systems
will bring good things for software sales in frazier said
especially with the incredible line up of content coming out early in the
year
game software for nintendo devices took six of the top ten sales spots for
december with new super mario brothers title topping the rankings
other big sellers on the list included ubisoft assassin creed ii and
modern warfare by activision
modern warfare was the top selling console game in the united states in
while the sims led sales for videogames played on personal computers
according to npd
japan naval refuelling mission for afghanistan to end friday
tokyo jan afp
japan naval refuelling mission in the indian ocean that has supported the us
led war in afganistan since will end friday defence minister toshimi
kitazawa said
will order that today at midnight the refuelling mission will end and that
they will come home kitazawa told reporters adding that the two ship mission
will do its last refuelling later friday before heading back
hong kong gold opens higher
hong kong jan afp
hong kong gold opened higher on friday at us dollars an ounce
up from thursday close of dollars
haitian star wyclef jean pulls bodies from rubble
port au prince jan afp
haitian native wyclef jean spent thursday clearing bodies from the streets of
port au prince as he called for the government to impose state of emergency
and warned of impending chaos
jean who became famous as front man for the superstar fugees hip hop group
has long been active in promoting haiti development but that focus has
shifted markedly to disaster relief in the wake of the magnitude earthquake
describing conditions in the haitian capital as the apocalypse he said haiti
needed to raise million dollars day to survive
we spent the day picking up dead bodies all day that what we did there so
much bodies in the streets that the morgues are filled up the cemeteries are
filled up he told fox news
the count is not there at least has to be four to five hundred
thousand people that is about to die
born near port au prince jean has raised money through his yele haiti charity
since
we have to raise million dollars day in four or five days this whole
country is going to be in chaos we are calling for state of emergency he
said
we are calling for state of emergency please president barack obama
secretary of state hillary clinton we have to do something for this country
baseball beltran mets at odds over knee op
new york jan afp
carlos beltran said thursday he was following doctor orders with surgery to
repair his right knee and the mets didn ask him to delay the procedure until
it was underway
the all star center fielder contradicted the assertion of officials of the major
league baseball team who said they asked him to put off surgery until their
medical staff had evaluated his condition
have done nothing but follow the directions of my doctors any accusations
that ignored or defied the team wishes are simply false beltran said in
statement released thursday by his agent scott boras
no one from the team raised any issue until wednesday after was already in
surgery beltran said do not know what else could have done
boras said mets medical director david altchek and trainer ray ramirez approved
the operation on tuesday
boras said chief operating officer jeff wilpon asked for the delay on wednesday
morning when doctor richard steadman was already operating to remove cartilage
fragments and bone spurs
mets assistant general manager john ricco said beltran had permission to be
examined on tuesday by steadman but said the team weren given the chance to
evaluate steadman diagnosis
ricco said the mets request to boras to delay surgery was made tuesday evening
boras said beltran didn need the team permission for the surgery but ricco
indicated the team could seek to take action against the player they could
withhold his salary while he is on the disabled list
we sent letter to the agent reserving our rights ricco said and that
where it stands right now
beltran five time all star missed months last season with painful
bone bruise on his right knee he still finished with team leading
batting average and on base percentage he had homers and rbis
urgent japan naval refuelling mission for afghanistan to end friday
tokyo jan afp
japan naval refuelling mission in the indian ocean that has supported the us
led war in afganistan since will end friday defence minister toshimi
kitazawa said
shiseido to buy bare escentuals for billion dollars
tokyo jan afp
japan top cosmetics maker shiseido co said friday it had agreed to buy bare
escentuals of the united states for billion dollars in friendly takeover
the managements of the two companies have struck definitive agreement on an
all cash tender offer of dollars per share for bare escentuals maker of
mineral based cosmetics shiseido said in statement
bosch says to close british factory with loss of jobs
london jan afp
german engineering giant bosch is set to close british car parts factory with
the loss of jobs said the company blaming the economic downturn which has
hit the automotive industry hard
the division in charge of the plant near cardiff wales will recommend to the
firm board that production be phased out at the factory which makes
alternators for the motor industry
consultation period runs to the end of february so all involved can agree
terms for the phase out of production before final confirmation from the
board
bosch just the latest in long line of automotive firms caught up in the
fierce global downturn said thursday demand for the alternator had dropped
dramatically and the firm was on track to make its first loss for six decades
the bosch group is currently facing the worst economic downturn for many
decades and has been especially hit in the automotive sector said the company
in statement
in parallel to this the automotive industry is undergoing major change as core
technologies are being completely transformed to accommodate demand for smaller
more fuel efficient and less polluting vehicles
all this has left its mark on the bosch group in which will show
negative operating result for the first time in years
union representative described the news as terrible blow for hundreds of
workers
tennis results from the kooyong classic
melbourne jan afp
results from the third day of the kooyong classic here friday
relegation round
fernando gonzalez chi bt ivan ljubicic cro
hailing google us lawmakers seek internet law
washington jan afp
us lawmakers on thursday sought to prevent internet companies from censoring
information overseas hailing google threat to pull out of china as turning
point but saying it needed official support
members of congress said they had new momentum to enact bill that would
prohibit us firms from storing users personal information in countries that
restrict the peaceful expression of political and religious views online
google sent thrill of encouragement through the hearts of millions of
chinese 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 without us government support they are inevitably forced to be ever
more complicit in the repressive governments censorship and surveillance said
smith republican from new jersey
under the bill called the global online freedom act the us government would
list nations that restrict the internet and prohibit us companies from storing
personally identifiable information in those countries
companies would have to report to the state department which terms countries are
trying to filter out china blocks citizens from accessing uncensored
information on sensitive topics such as the tiananmen square crackdown the
dalai lama and the banned falungong spiritual movement
the bill would also prohibit companies from cooperating in jamming us government
websites such as us funded broadcasters voice of america and radio free asia
google said tuesday said it would stop bowing to china censors and could pull
out of the china lucrative online market of million users after
discovering chinese attacks against dissidents email accounts
smith has tried for years to bring the global online freedom act to the floor of
the house of representatives but it had met lukewarm response from internet
companies including google
smith declined to say if he expected other companies to lobby against the bill
but said his concerns have focused on actions by four us companies cisco
google microsoft and yahoo
yahoo came under intense criticism in for allegedly providing china with
details leading to the email account of journalist shi tao who was sentenced to
years in prison
human rights campaigners say that yahoo has improved its record since the
experience but have been more critical of cisco and microsoft which both have
cooperated extensively with china
some republican supporters of the bill complained of tepid support from
president barack obama who has tried to broaden relations with china
the obama administration needs to be standing up and supporting google
instead unfortunately we have seen muted response at best representative
frank wolf said
white house spokesman robert gibbs said thursday the administration strongly
support google in the row day after declining to give many details beyond
saying it backed free internet
under the proposed law employees of it companies could face up to five years in
us prison if they knowingly give information to foreign government that
would cause person to be detained or harmed for peacefully expressing
political or religious beliefs
the law aims to bring greater internet freedom not only to china but to other
nations such as iran where online activism has turned into powerful tool for
opponents of the clerical regime
some cyber activists are jailed around the world for what they posted online
according to paris based rights group reporters sans frontieres or reporters
without borders which helped draft the proposed law
china imprisons by far the most at followed by vietnam and iran it said
we don want other shi taos said clothilde le coz the group washington
director
invoking google motto of do no evil le coz said don let us internet
firms become evil by not giving them the means to challenge the chinese
restrictions
yachting america cup descends into further chaos
madrid jan afp
the america cup tarnished by battle of egos and legal wrangling has been
plunged into even more confusion just weeks before its rd edition is scheduled
to begin in the spanish port of valencia
swiss defender alinghi and us challenger oracle are resuming court battle
which has already left the world most prestigious yachting competition in
chaos
oracle said wednesday it has asked the supreme court of the state of new york to
rule on whether alinghi had infringed the competition nationality rules by
allegedly using us made sails for its catamaran
the two sides had failed to reach settlement on the issue during two days of
talks in singapore this week
the world of sailing and the port of valencia have been observing the conflict
with dismay since oracle first launched legal challenge against alinghi after
the swiss syndicate won the last cup in july
the new york court finally ruled last april that the world oldest
international sporting competition should be settled by one on one multihull
duel between the two sides in february instead of the traditional fully fledged
regatta involving several teams
it deplorable on sporting level it has no interest even if
technologically it interesting and more than that the winner on the water
could subsequently be disqualified said bruno trouble former official of
the louis vuitton cup the elimination round of the america cup
the mayor of valencia rita barbera said she is disappointed by the lack of an
agreement in singapore given the massive investment the city has made in the
cup
we were hoping they could agree to longer event and that it would happen
sometime in the spring she said
the face off is set to be best of three event but both sides had indicated
they would like to hold it over seven legs
other consequences are that hundreds of sailors are out of work and that
potential sponsors are taking their business to other events such as the volvo
around the world race
the cup has seen off the water conflicts before
one similar episode ended in duel between teams from the us and new zealand in
the competition quickly recovered but this time the economic crisis is
threatening this time to prolong the debacle
oracle trimaran and alinghi giant catamaran were set to begin training off
valencia this weekend with no clear indication if the event will start on
schedule
the billionaire owners of oracle and alinghi larry ellison and ernesto
bertarelli have spent tens of millions of euros on lawyers and on the
construction of high tech yachts
that holds out the promise of some spectacular races particularly with oracle
massive metre fixed wing sail
instead of dueling with pistols they will duel with masts and sails said
barbera
alert
japan naval refuelling mission for afghanistan to end friday minister
urgent shiseido to buy bare escentuals for billion dollars
tokyo jan afp
japan top cosmetics maker shiseido co has agreed to buy bare escentuals of
the united states for billion dollars in friendly takeover the company
said friday
avatar eyes awards season gold at golden globes
los angeles jan afp
hollywood awards season cranks into overdrive on sunday with science fiction
epic avatar hoping to score vital pre oscars momentum with victory at the th
golden globe awards
james cameron spectacular has electrified the movie world since its
release in mid december becoming the second highest grossing movie of all time
and earning more than billion dollars in matter of weeks
the film about peace loving blue aliens battling greedy human corporation
seeking to plunder their planet resources is being talked about as
milestone in the history of cinema
the million dollar blockbuster is vying for four honors at this weekend
awards which begin in beverly hills at pm gmt
as well as best picture avatar has nods for best director cameron best
original score and best original song
however the film faces stiff competition from recession era drama comedy up in
the air which has six nominations as well as the gripping iraq war drama the
hurt locker which has three nominations
nods for up in the air include best actor george clooney best director
jason reitman as well as nominations for vera farmiga and anna kendrick
in quirk of fate the hurt locker director kathryn bigelow finds herself
nominated for best director alongside ex husband cameron
quentin tarantino inglourious basterds and clint eastwood invictus
complete the field
but while up in the air and the hurt locker remain critical darlings awards
season pundits say the members of the hollywood foreign press association
hfpa who pick the golden globes may lean towards avatar
globes voters are foreign journalists who consider it their job to track the
hot new thing said tom neil of the los angeles times theenvelope com
and there nothing hotter right now than avatar
neil noted that while the golden globes traditionally preferred to honor
arthouse movies they do occasionally go for the blockbusters
remember they picked lord of the rings the return of the king for best
picture he said
however avatar almost certainly needed to triumph this weekend if it was to
emerge as an awards season favorite for the coveted best picture prize at the
oscars which will be handed out in hollywood this year on march
this is the award that avatar needs if it going to become the official
front runner for the oscars neil said if avatar gets crowned ahead of
time then it could be oscar bound
sasha stone who runs the los angeles based awards blog awards daily
www awardsdaily com described this year season as one of the most open for
years
avatar can win but there question mark right now as to which are the top
three movies it seems to be between avatar up in the air and the hurt
locker stone told afp
traditionally the hollywood foreign press prefer intimate dramas to epic sci fi
films but avatar is so emotionally affecting that they might go for it even
so think it between up in the air and the hurt locker
in the acting stakes clooney will be up against jeff bridges crazy heart
colin firth single man morgan freeman invictus and tobey maguire
brothers for best drama actor
the women acting awards could unfold as duel between sandra bullock and
meryl streep who both have two nominations each
bullock is nominated as best actress in both drama and comedy categories for her
respective roles in the blind side and the proposal while streep hoping
to win her seventh globe is double nominee in the comedy category for her
performances in julie amp julia and it complicated
unlike the oscars the golden globes splits its best picture prizes between
genres honoring best drama and best comedy musical
the globes are often viewed as key barometer of which films may go on to
challenge for honors at the oscars
although percent of films which won best picture at the academy awards also
won golden globe in recent years the awards have proved an unreliable guide
for likely oscar winners
rags to riches drama slumdog millionaire is the only film in the past five
years to have followed up best picture statuette at the golden globes with
victory at the oscars
us carrier to serve as floating airport for haiti operation
washington jan afp
us nuclear powered aircraft carrier speeding towards haiti on thursday will
serve as landing pad for fleet of helicopters rushing in emergency teams and
vital supplies to quake victims
military officials said the uss carl vinson nimitz class super carrier is
designed for war and projecting american power but is well suited for the
humanitarian mission in haiti after tuesday massive earthquake
the carrier which was due to reach haiti by friday is outfitted with water
purifying equipment dozens of hospital beds three operating rooms and giant
flight deck that can accommodate numerous helicopters military officers said
they are going to serve as floating airport for lot of different
helicopters navy lieutenant nate christensen told afp
the carrier flight deck and helicopters can support medical evacuations
transport doctors and expert teams to shore and deliver aid and large supplies
of drinking water he said
you have ship that very ready and very flexible
with haiti airport overwhelmed and unable to handle crush of relief flights
the giant carrier will provide vital landing space for choppers both large and
small
with power from two nuclear reactors and water purifying machinery the carrier
can make gallons of drinking water day vital capacity as haiti
faced desperate need for water and food
the ship which cost more than billion dollars was off the us east coast
near the port of norfolk virginia when commanders ordered the carrier to speed
toward haiti after the magnitude quake
instead of its usual complement of fighter jets the ship is carrying
helicopters ranging from larger heavy lift ch sea stallions to smaller
seahawk choppers pentagon spokesman bryan whitman said
the vinson has robust capacity he said
the ship is meters long feet and its flight deck is meters wide
feet with four elevators to move aircraft from the deck to hangar bay
according to the us navy
the carrier has crew of about sailors including doctors dentists
nurses and psychologists officials said
the vinson is one of nimitz class aircraft carriers the largest warships in
the world and the us navy describes them as the centerpiece of american naval
power
alert
japan shiseido to buy us bare escentuals for billion dollars
rugbyu european cup tables
paris jan afp
european cup tables before this weekend round matches played won drawn
lost points for points against bonus points points
pool
munster
northampton
perpignan
treviso
pool
biarritz
gloucester
newport gwent
glasgow
pool
ospreys
clermont
leicester
viadana
pool
stade francais
edinburgh
ulster
bath
pool
toulouse
sale
cardiff blues
harlequins
pool
london irish
leinster
scarlets
brive
note the six pool winners and two best placed runners up qualify for the
quarter finals
chicago businessman charged over mumbai attacks
chicago jan afp
chicago businessman was charged thursday with helping an old friend from
military school in pakistan plot the deadly mumbai attacks that killed
people officials said
tahawwur hussain rana has been held in jail since his october arrest on
charges of helping plot an attack on the danish newspaper that published
incendiary cartoons of the prophet mohammed in
