the stadiums that will host gold medal winning performances at the olympic
games are fast taking shape in once rundown area of east london and
organisers promise they will avoid the mistakes of past host cities
words moved by guy jackson picture video
for questions email nancy shields afp com or call
tennis mirza to quit tennis after marriage
melbourne jan afp
indian starlet sania mirza said tuesday she will quit tennis when she marries
but this year commonwealth games and asian games were still on her radar
mirza crashed out of the australian open at the first hurdle to in form french
th seed aravane rezai but she will remain in melbourne to defend her
mixed doubles title
she got engaged to childhood friend sohrab mirza in july last year and said
once they marry she will no longer play on the wta tour
but she refused to say when they will tie the knot
marriage is big step there are still lot of things to work out she said
it long way off but after you marry your priorities change and would
like to live with my husband not be on the road for weeks year
before that happens mirza key focus is the commonwealth games in new delhi in
october and the asian games in guangzhou just weeks later
she said she was hoping to stay fit and healthy with long season ahead
of course every week is important to tennis player and the four majors are
very important she said
but also have the commonwealth games and the asian games this year it will
be very tough year because it will be very short off season but you have
got to deal with it
she said she was looking forward to competing in the commonwealth games in new
delhi
the commonwealth gmes is one of the biggest events that india has held and it
will be an honour to be there she said dismissing concerns that she could
cave in to the pressure of being one of india highest profile competitors
you learn to deal with the pressure
on her performance tuesday she said she was lacking match practice
she was also the seed and was high on confidence she said
mirza has had poor start to the year losing in the second round in auckland
followed by first round defeat in hobart
tokyo stocks down percent at break
tokyo jan afp
japanese stocks slipped percent in morning trade on tuesday as japan
airlines shares sank to new low ahead of an expected bankruptcy filing by the
debt ridden carrier
the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index declined points to
by the lunch break the broader topix index of all first section
shares fell points or percent to
trading was relatively subdued in the absence of lead from wall street where
markets were closed monday for the martin luther king holiday
japan airlines shares plunged one yen or percent to an all time low of just
four yen four us cents
more investors dumped the stock ahead of an announcement tuesday on state
backed restructuring package for the troubled airline which is widely expected
to seek court protection from creditors and may delist its stock
investors were also awaiting slew of us earnings reports later this week
including citigroup fourth quarter numbers later on tuesday
obama calls lula about joint us brazil canada relief effort
brasilia jan afp
us president barack obama called his brazilian counterpart wednesday to propose
joint us brazilian canadian leadership for relief efforts in quake stricken
haiti brazilian government official said monday
obama and president luiz inacio lula da silva spoke for about minutes the
official said with obama suggesting that his government and its chief ally in
the region brazil should work together in rescue efforts
the official with lula office said the us president proposed that the united
states brazil and canada should lead and coordinate efforts by the
international community of haiti donors and other parties
obama and lula discussed aid related issues with the brazilian leader stressing
the need to supplement the efforts of the un mission in haiti minustah
especially with regards to the distribution of food and water
brazil heads minustah which has roughly troops police and about
civilian personnel
un secretary general ban ki moon asked the un security council monday to deploy
an additional police and soldiers to haiti
the united states has approximately us troops overseeing and providing
security to the aid effort and has promised to send more in the coming
weeks
us allows entry for haitian orphans
washington jan afp
the united states on monday said it would allow orphaned children from haiti to
enter the us legally so they can receive care they need on the heels of the
killer earthquake in the caribbean nation
we are committed to doing everything we can to help reunite families in haiti
during this very difficult time said homeland security secretary janet
napolitano
while we remain focused on family reunification in haiti authorizing the use
of humanitarian parole for orphans who are eligible for adoption in the united
states will allow them to receive the care they need here she said
the us move does not open the country doors to all haitian orphans
rather it allows humanitarian entry to those legally confirmed as orphans
eligible for intercountry adoption by the government of haiti and are being
adopted by us citizens and children who have been previously identified by an
adoption service provider or facilitator as eligible for intercountry adoption
and have been matched to us citizen prospective adoptive parents
that presumably means us parents in the process of adopting the children need
not wait for all final paperwork or passports from haitian government
struggling against tough odds to cope with humanitarian disaster after
strength quake flattened much of the capital and killed thousands
unaccompanied minors entering the country without parent or legal guardian
are subject to special procedures regarding their custody and care dhs
coordinates with the department of health and human services hhs office of
refugee resettlement on the cases of these unaccompanied minors napolitano
added in statement
google suspects hacking by china staff report
beijing jan afp
google is checking whether any of its china staff helped hackers lead major
cyberattack against the us internet giant which is now mulling whether to leave
the country report said tuesday
the wall street journal citing unidentified sources said the internal network
access of some of google odd employees in china had been cut off for the
duration of the internal investigation
it was not immediately clear if google had found evidence to link any of its
china based staff to either the theft of its intellectual property or alleged
attempts to access gmail accounts of chinese dissidents
google said monday it was business as usual in china and its employees were at
work after local media reports that some staff had seen their access to
google global network cut off and could no longer work
the company last week announced it was considering abandoning its chinese search
engine and could shut its china offices over theft of its intellectual
property by hackers believed to have been based in china
google says it is no longer willing to bow to chinese internet censors by
filtering search results on google cn but is still seeking talks with beijing
on solution
the united states has asked for an explanation from beijing over the google
dispute china says the row will not affect sino us ties but has also insisted
that google and other foreign internet firms must obey its laws
the foreign correspondents club of china said monday that expatriate
journalists in few bureaus in beijing had discovered that their gmail
accounts had been hacked with messages forwarded to stranger account
kraft set to take over cadbury after sweetened offer
london jan afp
us giant kraft foods was poised to take over british confectioner cadbury on
tuesday after raising its offer to as much as billion pounds british media
reported
an agreement which reports said could be announced later in the day would put
an end to an acrimonious war of words that has raged since kraft launched
hostile takeover bid for cadbury last year
bringing together top brands including kraft dairylea cheese and cadbury
dairy milk chocolate deal would also signal the iconic british firm had
dropped determined efforts to fend off approaches from its us suitor
the bbc reported kraft may hike its offer to between and pence share
saying that at pence cadbury would be valued at around billion pounds
billion euros or billion dollars
this is significantly higher than the billion pounds previously offered and
is likely to be accepted by the cadbury board reports said
the two firms were highly likely to agree deal that would probably be
jointly announced at am gmt tuesday said the bbc business editor
robert peston
cadbury spokeswoman declined to comment late monday kraft could not be
contacted
bankers for both companies were working through the night to finalise an
agreement the times newspaper reported
midnight on tuesday is the deadline for kraft the world second biggest snacks
group after nestle to make its final offer
other leading brands that tie up would merge include kraft kenco coffee and
toblerone and the british group cadbury creme eggs and trident chewing gum
if deal is agreed by cadbury board then the kraft takeover would finally go
through after months of hostility between the two firms
cadbury has put up staunch defence against kraft and insisted recently
had been outstanding claim dismissed by the us firm as underwhelming
the deal has faced opposition in britain with protest from senior ministers over
the attempt by huge american firm to take over homegrown company which
traces its roots back to
if you think that you can come here and make fast buck you will find that you
face huge opposition from the local population and from the british
government business minister peter mandelson warned kraft last month
there have also been fears about job losses with trade union unite warning
kraft would be saddled with huge debts leading them to axe posts at
cadbury and at the company sub contractors
us chocolate maker hershey had also been considering counter offer for
cadbury the wall street journal reported friday
hershey planned to bid at least billion dollars this week for cadbury after
concluding it can top kraft offer the paper said
tennis australian open results day two st 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
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 by sesil karatantcheva kaz
paulina hercog slo bt yuliana fedak ukr
pm urges australians to become more productive
melbourne jan afp
australians must become more productive or risk losing their famously relaxed
lifestyle as the population ages and the workforce shrinks prime minister kevin
rudd has warned
while australians were urged in the past to populate or perish rudd said the
country now needed to boost productivity as the population becomes increasingly
elderly and the tax revenue from workers falls
it is productivity growth that must play the central role in building
australia future economic growth rudd said in speech delivered in
melbourne late monday
it is estimated that australia population will grow from the current
million to million by thanks to surging birth rates and rising
immigration
at the same time increasing life expectancy means the proportion of those
citizens aged or over will jump to almost one in four by that time
these demographics mean that public finances will be burdened with the increased
costs of looking after the elderly at the same time as smaller proportion of
australians will be contributing to tax revenues rudd said
with smaller proportion of australians in the workforce the size of the
national economic pie will grow more slowly and as result average family
incomes will grow at slower rate than we ve become accustomed to he said
unless we make big changes we will either generate large unsustainable budget
deficits into the second quarter of the century or else we ll need to reduce
government services including health services as the needs of an ageing
population become greater
rudd said productivity growth had fallen to percent in the first decade of
this century
if we let this trend of lower productivity growth continue australia will
struggle to meet the major challenges facing our economy in the decades ahead
he said
hong kong shares open percent higher
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares were percent higher in the first few minutes of trade on
tuesday with the benchmark hang seng index points up at
hong kong gold opens higher
hong kong jan afp
hong kong gold opened higher tuesday at us dollars an ounce
up from monday close of dollars
rugby union gatland tells england to give johnson time
cardiff jan afp
wales coach warren gatland has said england must learn from their experience
with world cup winning supremo clive woodward and give martin johnson time to
develop as their manager
england have lost eight of their tests since johnson was appointed to the
post of team manager without any previous coaching experience in
wales will look to add to those tally of defeats next month when they begin
their six nations campaign at twickenham in search of third straight win over
england something they last achieved more than years ago
hope england give him some time gatland said of johnson after announcing
wales squad for the six nations on monday
it has been tough for martin everyone knows what great player he has been
he was given an opportunity to coach international rugby and he probably
thought it was chance he thought he could not turn down
having taken gamble on johnson ability to transfer the skills that made him
their world cup winning captain to beyond the touchline without the
benefit of any evidence england have little option but to stick with him
throughout the team involvement in next year world cup in new zealand
otherwise the likes of former england fly half rob andrew now the director of
elite rugby at the rugby football union will have their own positions called
into question
woodward said judge me on the world cup ahead of the edition in france
only for england to lose to south africa in the quarter finals
but four years later england having persevered with woodward were world
champions after beating hosts australia in thrilling extra time final
clive woodward was given lot of time with some ups and downs gatland
added
gatland sees similarities between england and wales situations in that both
countries are struggling to get club teams into the last eight of this season
european cup
there are two countries going into the six nations at the moment little bit
concerned about where their teams are the new zealander said
potentially you have four french pool winners and two irish winners in the
european cup although leicester northampton and the ospreys and london irish
have chance
that is not just concern for england it has to be concern for wales as
well former ireland coach gatland added
wales will head into the six nations without their two senior scrum halves as
the british and irish lions duo of dwayne peel groin and mike phillips ankle
are both injured
peel sustained his injury playing for english club sale during their european
cup pool defeat by cardiff blues last weekend and now it seems the scarlets
year old martin roberts will be lining up in the key scrum half position for
his first six nations start at twickenham on february
we are not percent sure how long dwayne is going to be out for said
gatland we are just going to assess him over the next few weeks and when he
is back fully fit we will make decision on him
wales and england suffered disappointing november international home series with
both nations well beaten by new zealand and australia
looking ahead to their six nations opener gatland said this is huge game
for both sides victory for either team will give huge amount of confidence
and give you chance to win the six nations championship
gatland urged wales to follow the example of ireland who won six nations
grand slam last year and ended an unbeaten with win over world champions
south africa
the welsh love to be underdogs he said at times we still struggle to cope
with the favourites tag
the irish have crossed that bridge and know that having been involved there
and spoken to lot of their players
you want to be installed as favourites for every game as new zealander
know the way that have taken losses and criticism and need to see how the
welsh react
cricket alastair cook factfile
london jan afp
factfile on alastair cook following his appointment as england captain for the
tour of bangladesh
alastair cook factfile
birthdate december
birthplace gloucester england
left handed batsman
test match batting record matches innings not outs runs highest score
average catches
cook makes his name at bedford school north west of london where he
scores century aged against mcc and is coached by former england batsman
derek randall
scores century in each innings for essex nd xi against surrey at the
oval and is selected for england under
scores back to back hundreds in under world cup in bangladesh
captains england under against bangladesh scores maiden first class
century against leicestershire
during an english season in which he makes nearly first class runs
at an average of just over scores an unbeaten double century for essex
against the australians at chelmsford the day after he receives the cricket
writers club young player of the year award
in february called up by injury hit england to india from the team tour
of the west indies
in march marks his first test at nagpur with debut hundred after making in
the second innings
in july scores hundreds in successive tests against pakistan
in december scores against australia in the third test in perth during an
ashes series england lose
in may scores two centuries in the test series against the west indies
in august makes maiden one day international century against india at the rose
bowl just over year after making his odi debut
in february scores and not out as england draw fourth test with the
west indies in barbados
in may scores test best against the west indies at chester le street
in july scores and takes the final catch of the series as england clinch the
ashes at the oval
in november makes debut as england captain as they lose twenty
international against south africa at centurion by runs is later fined by
icc for england slow over rate
in december scores th test century as england win the second test against
south africa in durban by an innings and runs
on january named as england captain for the tour of bangladesh after
the selectors decide to give regular skipper andrew strauss rest break
cricket england face tricky journey under captain cook
london jan afp
alastair cook has long been touted as future england captain but whether his
appointment for the upcoming tour of bangladesh has come too soon for his or the
team good remains an open question
the move was prompted by the selectors decision to give regular captain andrew
strauss cook fellow opening batsman break decision slammed by former
england captains david gower and nasser hussain among others
it left england having to find captain already worth test place or revive
their dormant tradition of picking someone with leadership qualities first and
then selecting other players to make up the team
england have former captain in their squad in kevin pietersen but going back
to the star batsman year after he was stripped of the captaincy for his bust
up with then coach peter moores was never realistic option
although england squad includes paul collingwood who has one day captaincy
experience the selectors decided to look to the future by appointing the
year old cook
however michael atherton himself once touted as future england captain
before ascending to the role and an opening batsman during his playing days
was scathing about the selectors decision to entrust the leadership to cook
atherton now the cricket correspondent of the times newspaper presented
damning case in monday edition before the appointment was confirmed against
the essex left hander standing in for strauss
cook has shown nothing that indicates he is the right man to take over in
charge atherton said he should be left to concentrate on becoming more
dominant player than he is now
besides nothing that cook has said in ghosted newspaper articles ghosted
books or in press conferences has suggested leader in waiting the suspicion
remains that he has been promoted on the basis of very little evidence
cook though insisted he was ready for the role saying feel behind the
scenes that have done lot of work and feel am growing into the role
it did not take long for cook to show his test match temperament
he scored second innings century on his debut against india in nagpur in march
and has scored hundreds in his tests at respectable average of
but the growth in the international programme means that unlike past captains
he has had no chance to learn the ropes of leadership at county level as his
essex mentor graham gooch former england skipper and fellow opening batsman
once did
cook perhaps downplaying expectations told reporters when his appointment was
announced in johannesburg on monday day after south africa had beaten england
by an innings to end four match test series all square at not to expect
much in the way of risk taking captaincy
am probably not gambling captain you have to be true to your nature and
think things through before making decisions he said
that cook previous experience of england captaincy ended in crushing run
twenty international defeat by south africa in november ought not to count too
heavily against his leadership claims for cricket shortest format often lends
itself to lopsided results
more concerning was the sight of players regardless of experience constantly
running up to cook when england were in the field
whatever else happens in bangladesh who if their recent form against india is
guide may be shedding their status as the utter whipping boys of
international cricket at an inconvenient time for england the new captain must
be seen by both team mates and opponents alike to be in charge
for as he has probably been told more times than most too many cooks do indeed
spoil the broth
football moyes is not just another brick in the wall cahill
liverpool england jan afp
australia tim cahill has said everton players would run through brick walls
for david moyes insisting trust in the manager had been key factor in the
merseysiders recent revival
injuries and an inability to spend their way out of trouble contributed to
difficult start to the season for everton
but lately the toffees have hauled themselves out of sticky situation with
seven match unbeaten run that includes last weekend win over cash rich
manchester city result that saw everton go th in the premier league table
the manager and players don become bad overnight and it isn fluke what we
have achieved in the past everton midfielder cahill told monday edition of
the liverpool echo
the manager buys players he can trust we would run through brick walls for him
and the poor run hurt us as much as it hurt him
we were letting him down even when you have got knocks you play and that says
something about the relationship here
cahill also said the way in which everton board had backed moyes since the
scot arrival at goodison park in march had also helped cement their
place in english football top flight
the patience of the club is something the relationship the chairman bill
kenwright has with the manager is an honest one cahill said
the patience shown is credit to the board and think it is good lesson to
other clubs because in the modern era of football it is hard for managers
they get the blame for everything but it is the players who cross the line
he added
cahill said it was important everton used their recent good form as
springboard to challenge for european place as they have done in the past few
seasons
sometimes everything just falls into place and now it is about kicking on
keeping momentum and the attitude and making sure we are always fitter than the
other team he told the liverpool echo
if we make sure we are fitter stronger and always up for it then we will do
well
we have got the grit back and playing here is an absolute delight think that
for me is what got us to where we were in the past
football world cup talk no bother for england lampard
london jan afp
frank lampard is adamant england will not get swept up in the hype surrounding
their prospects at this year world cup in south africa
england may have won the world cup just once on home soil in but every
subsequent appearance they have made at major football tournament has sparked
hopes of similar outcome among their fans
chelsea midfielder lampard was member of the england squad at the world
cup in germany where the team lost in the quarter finals to portugal after some
players had suggested they could win the event
during fabio capello two years in charge of england the team has undergone
major upsurge in fortunes from failing to qualify for euro under former
boss steve mcclaren to world cup contenders
but the italian is not one for getting carried away and friendly defeats by
brazil france and spain have served to reinforce awareness of the scale of the
task facing england in south africa
meanwhile lampard is confident england have learnt their lessons from four years
ago
there an inner confidence within the squad but don think we re thinking
about winning the trophy we ve been here before he said
the experienced players who have been here before know that it doesn really
matter what you say before the tournament or what your form like few months
before the tournament what really matters is how you play when you get there
you get asked the question million times can you win it and the obvious
answer is yes we can if we are playing well but you have to go there and win
it
with the squad we have got and the way we have played we are doing everything
right but when we go there we have to do everything right there
lampard the guest of honour at football writers association dinner in
london on sunday knows that at the age of this is likely to be his last
world cup
this year is big year for me he said it obviously world cup year so
it career defining if we were to go there and win it then who knows what
would happen after that
before the world cup gets underway in june lampard has the chance to win yet
more club honours with chelsea the premier league leaders
don think ll become distracted by the world cup said lampard who has
been capped times by england
when play for my club you get into the zone about playing club football
don look too far ahead
it nice when the draw comes around you get excited and when it gets nearer
you get more excited but there too much going on at chelsea it too
important
we are in everything at the moment so we are focused completely on that
hopefully when it comes to the end of the season ll be confident after winning
things with chelsea and go to the world cup
prince william arrives in australia
sydney jan afp
prince william touched down in australia for the first time in years tuesday
for tour that will take in poor inner city aboriginal community and towns
devastated by wildfires
the second in line to the british throne walked down the steps of royal new
zealand air force plane to meet new south wales governor marie bashir and
premier kristina keneally shortly after pm gmt
the year old prince who last visited australia with his parents in
arrived in australia from new zealand where he carried out his first official
visit as the representative of his grandmother queen elizabeth ii
during the three day australia tour he will visit barracks and an aboriginal
community centre in sydney as well as meet with prime minister kevin rudd and
attend luncheon with governor general quentin bryce
foreign minister stephen smith said australians would welcome the visit
think there an affection for the queen herself and there clearly an
affection for prince william he told sky news
it quite clearly the case that he going to be welcomed very
enthusiastically in australia as he was in new zealand and as he should be
prince william will visit melbourne on thursday before leaving australia the
following day
tennis nervy ivanovic makes open second round
melbourne jan afp
