the wwf says on its website that the tiger is one of the top species to watch
in pointing out that there may be just of the animals left globally
in the wild
china banned international trade in tiger bones and related products in
zhu said but preventing all poaching and illegal trade remains challenge
authorities in the asian nation have in the past meted out heavy punishment to
those found guilty of killing the endangered species
in december man who shot dead an indochinese tiger was sentenced to years
in prison and fined yuan dollars
zhu urged the chinese government to raise awareness of the issue by pushing
people not to hunt the tiger typical prey which include wild boar and deer
he added that local communities should be encouraged to find alternatives to
livelihoods such as timber harvesting as these activities contributed to the
degradation and loss of the tiger habitat
amid whaling row japan mps question australia defence bill
tokyo jan afp
japanese ruling party lawmakers have questioned plan to sign defence
logistics accord with australia as the two countries are at loggerheads over
japan annual whale hunts an official said tuesday
the move comes as anti whaling activists of the sea shepherd conservation
society have been harassing japanese whaling fleet on its annual hunt for
hundreds of the sea mammals in antarctic waters
australia opposes the hunts carried out despite international moratorium
on commercial whaling under loophole that allows lethal research whaling
and has threatened international legal action against japan
japan government is considering submitting bill to parliament on defence
pact that would allow the two countries militaries to share food fuel and
other supplies and services in their operations overseas
but some lawmakers of the ruling centre left coalition called on the government
to cautiously handle the accord when the vice defence minister kazuya shimba
explained the bill to them defence ministry spokeswoman said
the lawmakers argued that signing so called acquisition and cross servicing
agreement should be reconsidered in light of the recent harassment of japan
whaling fleet
according to our vice minister one of the lawmakers said he wants the
government to insist on japan current position defending its right to hunt
whales as part of its national heritage the ministry spokeswoman said
the vice minister had replied to the group of lawmakers that although any two
countries face their own particular bilateral issues it was important to
maintain military relations of trust she told afp
in the latest showdown between japanese whalers and the activists the
environmentalists high tech superboat the new zealand registered ady gil sank
in antarctic seas in early january after collision with the whaling fleet
security ship
new zealand and australian authorities are investigating the incident while
japan has lodged strong protest with the wellington government
both the whalers and the protesters blame each other for the crash
debt ridden japan airlines decides on bankruptcy
tokyo jan afp
japan airlines once proud flag carrier crippled by huge debts opted for
bankruptcy tuesday as part of painful overhaul involving thousands of job
cuts route closures and asset sales
asia biggest airline is set to keep flying with an injection of billions of
dollars in public aid while undergoing revamp that will reportedly see one
third of its workforce depart as it bids to halt its financial tailspin
according to local media jal management formally decided tuesday to begin
bankruptcy proceedings becoming one of the highest profile victims yet of
japan economic woes court filing was expected later in the day
with estimated debts of about two trillion yen billion dollars jal
bankruptcy would be japan biggest failure outside the financial sector since
world war ii according to tokyo shoko research an advisory firm
jal shares plunged to an all time low of just three yen three us cents at one
point tuesday reducing the market value of the group to about million
dollars far less than even the cost of new jumbo jet
investors are expected to be left out of pocket if jal goes bust although tokyo
says jal will stay in the skies during the restructuring which is expected to
be similar to the process used for us auto giant general motors
the government has prepared various support measures transport minister seiji
maehara told reporters we want to help jal to recover while operating
safely he added
the government has tapped kazuo inamori year old entrepreneur and ordained
buddhist monk to run the stricken airline during its overhaul
inamori is one of japan most respected business executives and management
gurus having founded both high tech parts supplier kyocera corp and company
that later became part of kddi corp now japan number two telecoms firm
he seems to have charisma which is good thing said makoto murayama an
analyst at nomura securities
at the moment jal employees don really want to admit that they work for the
company if someone can restore their pride and lead them the chances of
recovery could increase
eyeing its lucrative asian landing slots us carriers american airlines and
delta air lines are now in bidding war for slice of jal
dutch carrier klm said on monday that talks involving air france klm and delta
on jal future were going well after reports that the japanese airline had
agreed to tie up with delta and switch to the skyteam alliance
the government was expected to announce tuesday new financial lifeline for
jal which has received series of public bailouts and lost about billion
dollars in the six months to september
jal is reportedly set to slash more than jobs while withdrawing from
unprofitable routes and selling hotels and other assets
experts say radical downsizing is long overdue at jal which has been hobbled by
high costs since its days as state owned flag carrier and is overexposed to
unprofitable domestic and overseas routes
the problem is that the government lacks clear vision on what to do with
jal international network said yasuhiro matsumoto credit analyst at
shinsei securities they are focused on assisting jal
according to japanese media the company is set to receive an injection of
government funds worth several hundred billion yen several billion dollars
under prepackaged restructuring plan that would see it file for bankruptcy
at the same time jal creditor banks are expected to be asked to forgive loans
worth several hundred billion yen
jal has been hit hard by industry turbulence unleashed by the september
terror attacks in the united states the iraq war and the global financial
crisis as well as global health scares in the past decade
tennis low key jankovic happy under the radar
melbourne jan afp
eighth seed jelena jankovic saw off romania monica niculescu in the
opening round of the australian open on tuesday as she enjoyed low key start
to the year first grand slam
this time last year jankovic entered the australian open as world number one
but failed to live up to expectations as she fell to frenchwoman marion bartoli
in the fourth round
it is different story in with the year old almost forgotten amidst the
return of belgian stars kim clijsters and justine henin and the rise of
newcomers such as caroline wozniacki and victoria azarenka
jankovic started slowly against niculescu but found her range in the second set
as she raced to an easy win and second round clash with england katie
brien
first matches are the toughest especially after not competing for two months
jankovic said
you know it nice to feel that rhythm again and feel that atmosphere and the
pressure that you have from playing real match
it never the same when you are playing practice matches or doing practice
drills on the court
made some errors in the beginning and then just tried to stay calm and
just tried to focus then came back into the game
second set figured out what she was doing and what needed to do that
was basically it finished the job in two sets
jankovic said she welcomed the return of clijsters and henin saying their
presence on the tour would boost the women game
think it great for tennis that kim and justine are back she said
think when they were playing and was obviously younger but they
always motivated me to work hard on my game
and you know always played some of my best tennis at the time they were
playing
played against kim just when she came back in montreal or in toronto don
know don remember anymore where we were playing it was toronto and
jankovic won in three sets
think they bring lot to tennis that the most important thing
love the competition even though it doesn really sound logical that
happy that they re back
for me it is the case because love to play against some of the greatest
athletes and seeing where am where is my level
they always bring the best out of me so happy that they re back
basketball marbury hopes to peddle shoes in china
beijing jan afp
former nba all star stephon marbury has said he hopes to use his on court skills
to market his brand of low cost basketball shoes when he laces up for china
shanxi zhongyu in the coming weeks
want to bring love to chinese fans and want to feel the love of the chinese
fans so going to play hard and work to help shanxi win more games marbury
told tuesday titan sports weekly top chinese sports paper
ve already decided every game going to give away shoes to the fans this
is my own brand hope they will like them he said in an interview from
houston where he was in training ahead of his arrival in china
shanxi zhongyu announced monday on their website that the often troubled point
guard would arrive to china in the coming week but team officials told afp that
contract would not be signed until after his arrival
marbury averaged points and assists game during years in the nba
statistics that would make him the most high profile player to grace the
chinese professional league since houston rocket star yao ming left in
in the interview marbury made it clear that only by winning basketball games
would he be able to market his low cost starbury brand shoes to china
billion consumers
there are lot of kids who cannot afford shoe that costs more than
dollars but their love for basketball is the purest so thought could help
them he said of his trainers which sell for as little as dollars in the
us
if he signs the year old marbury will be joining team sitting near the
bottom of the chinese basketball association cba table with three wins
losses and only faint hopes of making the post season playoffs
turning the team around could make marbury household name among china rabid
basketball fans
looking forward to joining shanxi hope that can stay long time and
can help them get to the postseason and after that go even further he said
don need to prove that can play basketball the cba fans only need to
watch me to see that can still play
during the nba season marbury refused to play for his team the new
york knicks after being benched by coach isiah thomas in an ugly spat that drew
national headlines
his unhappiness lasted into the following year before the knicks bought out his
million dollar contract in early he was subsequently signed by the
boston celtics the last nba team for which he played
tennis tsonga through in straight sets
melbourne jan afp
the finalist and th seed jo wilfried tsonga of france powered into the
second round of the australian open with win over sergiy
stakhovsky of ukraine on tuesday
tennis tamarine through but asian hopes dive
melbourne jan afp
evergreen thai tamarine tanasugarn kept asian hopes alive at the australian open
on tuesday but the region only men hope lu yen hsun was sent packing
joining lu as early casualties were indian starlet sania mirza japan ayumi
morita and chinese qualifier han xinyun who had the privilege of centre court
appearance against australia samantha stosur
taiwan chan yung jan also fell at the first hurdle going down to kaia kanepi
of estonia
the region best hope li na of china was due to play tuesday but heavy rain
on monday forced many matches to be cancelled they were rescheduled forcing
li match to be pushed back until wednesday
japanese veteran kimiko date krumm match was also moved to wednesday
tamarine who has appeared in more grand slams than any other woman in the
draw produced typically gutsy performance to beat sesil karatantcheva of
kazakhstan in rain delayed match carried over from monday
she said it was tough going with the blustery conditions and chilly temperatures
not to her liking
yesterday when we started it was hard very windy and cold and missed some
easy shots in the second set she said
glad could finish it easily today
she joins zheng jie who beat fellow chinese peng shuai on monday in the next
round but it could all end there for the year old with kim clijsters awaiting
her
it won be easy but will give it my best shot said tamarine
han was always going to be struggling against stosur the th seed who was
playing before home crowd
but she gave it good crack pushing the australian hard before succumbing
mirza who revealed plans to retire once married to fiancee sohrab mirza never
looked likely to beat french th seed aravane rezai losing to
continue her poor start to the year
as usual she was philosophical and will remain in melbourne to defend her mixed
doubles title with partner mahesh bhupathi
that tennis she said
ve not had the match practice and she was high on confidence she was the
seed and it was never going to be easy disappointed and will just keep
trying
asian men tennis has been in the doldrums for years and lu was the only one to
make the main draw and he didn last long
taiwan top player who shocked th seed david nalbandian for the biggest win
of his career here last year bowed out to qualifier louk sorensen
the first irishman to compete in grand slam singles for years
tennis australian open results day two th update
melbourne jan afp
results from day two of the australian open at melbourne park here tuesday
denotes seeding
men singles
st round
jarkko nieminen fin bt nick lindahl aus
tomas berdych cze bt robin haase ned
evgeny korolev kaz bt daniel brands ger
igor kunitysn rus bt jose acasuso arg
louk sorenson irl bt yen hsun lu tpe
marin cilic cro bt fabrice santoro fra
gael monfils fra bt matthew ebden aus
nikolay davydenko rus bt dieter kindlmann ger
fernando verdasco esp bt carsten ball aus
feliciano lopez esp bt pablo cuevas uru
stanislas wawrinka sui bt guillermo garica lopez esp
thomaz bellucci bra bt teimuraz gabashvilli rus
marsel ilhan tur bt sebastien grosjean fra
john isner usa bt andreas seppi ita
ivan sergeyev ukr bt dudi sela isr
viktor troicki srb bt nicolas lapentti ecu
rainer schuettler ger bt sam querrey usa
james blake usa bt arnaud clement fra
lukasz kubot pol bt mischa zverev ger
julien benneteau fra bt david guez fra
philipp kohlschreiber ger bt horacio zeballos arg
marc gicquel fra bt simone bolelli ita
santiago giraldo col bt tommy robredo esp
florent serra fra bt jurgen melzer aut
roger federer sui bt igor andreev rus
marcel granollers esp bt robin soderling swe
women singles
st round
ana ivanovic srb bt shenay perry usa
sandra zahlavova cze bt coco vandeweghe usa
aravane rezai fra bt sania mirza ind
marion bartoli fra bt rossana de los rios par
ekaterina makarova rus bt virginie razzano fra
angelique kerber ger bt olga govortsova blr
nadia petrova rus bt edina gallovits rou
katie brien gbr bt patricia mayr aut
sara errani ita bt klara zakopalova cze
samantha stosur aus bt han xinyun chn
tamarine tanasugarn tha bt sesil karatantcheva kaz
polona hercog slo bt yuliana fedak ukr
barbora zahlavova strycova cze bt regina kulikova rus
serena williams usa bt urszula radwanska pol
vania king usa bt dominika cibulkova svk
casey dellacqua aus bt anastasiya yakimova blr
sorana cirstea rom bt olivia rogowska aus
kaia kanepi est bt chan yung jan tpe
carla suarez navarro esp bt ayumi morita jpn
alona bondarenko ukr bt kathrin woerle ger
kristina barrois ger bt akgul amanmuradova uzb
tennis eighth seed soderling falls in first round
melbourne jan afp
swedish eighth seed robin soderling crashed out of the australian open on
tuesday to become the highest ranked man to fall
he lost his opening round match to spain marcel granollers in five sets
cycling tour down under stage one results
adelaide australia jan afp
results from stage one of the tour down under over kilometres miles
from clare to tanunda on tuesday
stage
andre greipel ger htc columbia hr min sec gert steegmans bel
team radioshack jurgen roelandts bel omega pharma lotto danilo wyss
sui bmc racing team greg henderson nzl team sky baden cooke aus
team saxo bank graeme brown aus rabobank robbie mcewen aus team
katusha jose rojas esp caisse epargne valeriy dmitriyev kaz
astana all same time
selected lance armstrong usa radioshack cadel evans aus bmc
oscar pereiro esp astana
overall
andre greipel ger htc columbia hr min sec gert steegmans bel
radioshack at sec martin kohler sui bmc jurgen roelandts bel
omega pharma lotto biel kadri fra ag la mondiale timothy roe
aus greg henderson nzl sky danilo wyss sui bmc baden
cooke aus saxo bank graeme brown aus rabobank
selected lance armstrong usa radioshack cadel evans aus bmc
oscar pereiro esp astana
japan airlines decides to file for bankruptcy kyodo
tokyo jan afp
japan airlines management formally decided tuesday to file for bankruptcy
protection for the debt ridden carrier kyodo news reported
the decision was taken at at meeting of jal board of executives the news
agency said quoting an unnamed company source
asia biggest airline is expected to keep flying with an injection of billions
of dollars in public aid while undergoing painful restructuring that will
reportedly see one third of its workforce depart
the carrier was set to file for one of japan biggest ever bankruptcies later
in the day according to local media
urgent japan airlines decides to file for bankruptcy kyodo
tokyo jan afp
japan airlines management board decided at meeting tuesday to file for
bankruptcy protection for the debt ridden carrier the kyodo news agency
reported quoting an unnamed company source
thousands pay final respects to indian communist leader
kolkata india jan afp
tens of thousands of people thronged the streets of kolkata in eastern india on
tuesday to pay their last respects to veteran communist leader jyoti basu who
died at the weekend
basu who was the longest serving chief minister in indian political history
headed the world most electorally successful communist party for two decades
from his base in kolkata in the eastern state of west bengal
he died on sunday at the age of after long illness
crowds began lining streets in the early morning many weeping as his funeral
cortege passed on its way from private mortuary to the state legislative
assembly
shops shut in the centre of the city and schools and colleges declared holidays
he was friend of the poor the working class young elders women and
children everyone is here to pay their last tributes to the leader sohini
roy college teacher told afp
basu led the communist party of india marxist cpm to power in west bengal in
and ruled the state for an unbroken years
after an inconclusive general election in he very nearly became prime
minister at the head of centre left coalition prospect that prompted the
headline red star over delhi in one national newspaper
basu was my hero said year old asit banerji who came from malda
kilometres miles north of kolkata the capital of west bengal on tuesday
senior indian politicians including the leader of the governing congress party
sonia gandhi and senior opposition figure advani as well as bangladesh
prime minister sheikh hasina are in kolkata for the ceremony
before reaching the assembly basu cortege stopped briefly at the communist
party of india marxist cpm office in the heart of the city where senior
leaders laid floral wreaths
west bengal chief minister buddhadeb bhatterjee and senior government officials
also paid tribute to basu as the funeral procession stopped in front of the
colonial era writers buildings the state administrative headquarters
basu instructed his son in that he wanted his body donated to medical
science apparently in line with his atheist beliefs which ran against the
devout hindu practices of most indians
his body was to be handed over to the anatomy department of the sskm hospital in
kolkata media reports said
prince william given rousing aboriginal welcome to australia
sydney jan afp
britain prince william was tuesday welcomed to australia by an aboriginal
elder daubed in body paint and bearing smouldering gum leaves as he began his
first visit to the country in years
up to cheering fans in poor inner city aboriginal neighbourhood in
sydney greeted the prince who last visited the country in the arms of his
late mother princess diana when he was just nine months old in
indigenous leaders wearing red loincloths one clutching boomerang another
didgeridoo and third wearing possum skin treated the second in line to
the throne to traditional smoking ceremony to welcome him to the continent
we re over the moon that he come to this part of the city to spend time with
us said aboriginal australian lewis kelly who went to sydney run down
redfern area to see the visiting royal
was surprised when heard it on the grapevine that he was coming here to see
the indigenous people the real australians
well wishers in the in mostly indigenous crowd cheered and clapped after the
prince arrived while some people held up pictures of his mother
virginia hickey relative of year old tj hickey whose death while
being pursued by police in redfern sparked racially tinged riot said she was
thrilled william had chosen to visit the area
we re mixing the culture we re mixing black and white she told afp
glad he came to redfern it very important because we can talk to
each other as people
aboriginal leaders had earlier said they would ask william for help in finding
and returning the head of an indigenous warrior pemulwuy who opposed british
settlers and was shot dead in
his head was cut off and is believed to have been placed in jar and sent to
england its location is unknown it was not immediately clear whether the
prince was asked to intervene
william who requested the three day unofficial visit to get to know australia
flew into sydney after an official visit to new zealand where he represented his
grandmother queen elizabeth ii for the first time
after stepping off new zealand air force jet he was whisked off to meet the
queen representative in australia governor general quentin bryce at her
harbourside mansion
during tour of the grounds the prince described the view of sydney famed
opera house and harbour bridge as thrilling and waved to stunned passengers
on passing ferry
he and bryce were joined for lunch by prominent young australians including
singer delta goodrem cricketer michael clarke olympic diver matthew mitcham
and wallabies skipper rocky elsom
foreign minister stephen smith said australians welcomed the prince
think there an affection for the queen herself and there clearly an
affection for prince william smith told sky news
in redfern senior citizen greta grayden who turned out to see the queen during
her inaugural visit to australia in said the prince reminded her of diana
he is special because really feel that he has had lot of sadness in his
life and really feel that he is going to do good like his mum did she told
afp
but the prince after visiting hospital in wellington earlier tuesday
dismissed any comparisons with diana
wouldn say anywhere near her level she had fantastic affinity with
kids and with everyone just go and meet people and enjoy their company
like meeting people so it helps he told reporters
the prince tour comes as poll revealed the majority of australians who in
voted against model to become republic would prefer william to be
their next king instead of his father prince charles
the survey for british television channel itv news found percent of those
interviewed thought william should be the next monarch compared with percent
for charles
it had closer result on the question of monarchy with percent voting in
favour of the queen remaining australia head of state and percent against
william will visit bushfire ravaged areas near melbourne on thursday before
returning home the following day
alert
japan airlines board decides to file for bankruptcy kyodo
tennis federer sweeps past andreev in four sets
melbourne jan afp
swiss world number one roger federer swept home after sluggish start to
eliminate russian igor andreev in four sets in his opening match at the
australian open on tuesday
federer chasing his th grand slam title dropped the opening set but rattled
home against the th ranked andreev winning in two
hours minutes on rod laver arena
it set him up with second round encounter against either argentina juan
ignacio chela or romania victor hanescu
although he stormed through the final set to love with three service breaks it
looked early on as though the swiss legend was facing tough tussle against the
man who took him to five sets in the fourth round at the us open
it needed federer to win in the fifth set back then to see off andreev but
once he got over dropping the first set here he charged home
federer broke andreev serve nine times but perhaps of concern to him will
have been his own serve broken five times
federer who is bidding to win his fourth australian titles has never lost in
the first round of the year opening grand slam in attempts
it was his first match since going down in straight sets to russian nikolay
davydenko in the semi finals at doha earlier this month on his way to australia
his latest victory took federer australian open record to as he competes
in his st consecutive grand slam tournament
if all goes to lan federer is projected to face davydenko who has won their
last two meetings in the quarter finals
federer has missed playing in only one of the last grand slam finals and
bookmakers have again installed him the favourite to capture his th grand
slam
last year he finally broke through at roland garros clinching the french open
at his th attempt and followed up with sixth wimbledon crown in seven years
he became the all time grand slam leader in men tennis in the process passing
the won by american pete sampras while retrieving the number one ranking off
rafael nadal after period of weeks
france carrefour set for india breakthrough report
new delhi jan afp
french supermarket group carrefour the world second largest retailer is
close to deal that will finally see it set up franchise stores in india
report said wednesday
the french group has been looking for partnership in india for years and was
first reported to be in talks with indian group future value retail unit of
pantaloon retail in january last year
the economic times reported tuesday that the two companies were now close to
deal that would soon be formally announced
tie up would follow similar alliances between india bharti telecoms group
and us wal mart and the indian tea to steel tata group and britain tesco
future value retail owns supermarket chains big bazaar and food bazaar
the carrefour franchises would be aimed at affluent customers in cities the
newspaper said
under india tight foreign investment rules no overseas chains are permitted
in the retail sector except for single brand outlets such as nokia or reebok
to protect local retail players
foreign groups such as wal mart or carrefour can only be wholesalers and must
partner with domestic companies to enter the retail market valued at
billion dollars and forecast to grow rapidly in the coming years
debt ridden japan airlines set for bankruptcy
tokyo jan afp
japan airlines once proud flag carrier now crippled by massive debts was
expected to file for one of the country biggest ever bankruptcies tuesday in
bid to halt its financial tailspin
asia biggest airline is set to keep flying with an injection of billions of
dollars in public aid while undergoing painful restructuring that will
reportedly see one third of its workforce depart
the carrier was believed to be on the verge of seeking court protection from
creditors and delisting its shares from the stock exchange becoming one of the
highest profile victims yet of japan economic woes
with estimated debts of about two trillion yen billion dollars jal
bankruptcy would be japan biggest failure outside the financial sector since
world war ii according to tokyo shoko research an advisory firm
jal shares plunged to an all time low of just three yen four us cents at one
