dealers said
the euro slid to dollars in tokyo afternoon trade hitting its lowest
level against the greenback this year from in new york late tuesday
the european currency weakened to yen from the dollar
strengthened to yen from
the euro until recently favoured as high yielding currency is now being
shunned in favour of the dollar despite persistent weakness in the us economy
said hachijuni bank strategist masatsugu miyata
due to the uncertain economic outlook in europe markets are in no mood to buy
the euro he said noting increasing worries over greece fiscal health and
german survey that showed drop in business confidence
although the united states has its own problems at least it is in control of
its fiscal policies relative to europe he added
international rating agency moody on tuesday said it was maintaining
negative outlook on greece because it was unclear whether the government could
implement plan to shore up public finances
the greek government which last month suffered credit downgrade from all
three leading ratings agencies is struggling to overcome huge debt and public
deficit that have sparked concern among its eurozone partners
in germany investor sentiment fell for fourth month running in january as
europe biggest economy braced for burdensome and long recovery the zew
economic research institute said
the zew indicator of german economic sentiment fell more steeply than forecast
to an indexed points its lowest level since july
investors were waiting for us economic data due out later in the day bracing
for expected drops in producer prices and housing starts
although recovery in the us housing sector remains on track the rebound
appears fragile said calyon analyst mitul kotecha
markets will also be focused on fourth quarter us earnings reports including
bank of america and wells fargo after citigroup on tuesday posted net losses of
billion dollars for the final quarter of
the dollar gained against regional asian currencies rising to south
korean won from day earlier to indonesian rupiah from
and to philippine pesos from
it gained to singapore dollars from to thai baht from
and to taiwan dollars from
tennis was wrong in clash with umpire admits roddick
melbourne jan afp
andy roddick admitted he was wrong in his clash with the chair umpire over his
ruling on match point after he marched into the third round at the australian
open on wednesday
the straight shooting american finished his win over brazilian
thomaz bellucci by arguing with umpire fergus murphy over hawk eye video
review decision which went against him on the first of his two match points
the video review ruled that bellucci volley had fractionally clipped the line
saving the first match point but roddick contended that he wasn allowed to
play the shot by an out call from line judge
even when he won the next point to clinch victory the seventh seed continued
haranguing the umpire as he walked to the net to shake hands with the th
ranked bellucci
there was just disagreement about rule on continuation of call
roddick said
to be fair didn come in here press conference until watched the video
of it was more wrong than thought was out on court
that being said it was very close to take away match point at that juncture
in match it big call
roddick said his beef was that the out call came after he had let the ball pass
thought was going to be hundred percent right it definitely closer
than felt it was while was on court
roddick added that it was part of his nature to challenge what he feels is not
right
don do it for entertainment do it because strongly believe what
feel he said
that not just on the court think if believe in something strongly
enough pretty outspoken about it
but despite his initial rush of blood roddick said the hawk eye adjudication
technology was fair
it definitely puts less pressure on them umpires as far as having to stick
your neck out there he said
but still fan of hawk eye because there always going to be some
judgment calls
that like my match today where they have split second to make very
important call
apart from the late controversy roddick was satisfied with his work against the
brazilian left hander
felt good out there today with him it lot of just trying to keep the
ball out of his hitting zones because he hits pretty big he said
keeping the ball on the backhand side which is little trickier because he
lefty
it was just matter of kind of getting the ins and outs of the points
thought did pretty good job of that
the american was always in control and broke the brazilian service four times
while only conceding one break on his own serve
his next opponent will be spaniard feliciano lopez who beat former australian
open finalist rainer schuettler in four sets
roddick is now for the new season after winning the leadup brisbane
international tournament earlier this month
genting opens singapore hotels ahead of casino theme park
singapore jan afp
malaysian gaming giant genting on wednesday opened four premium hotels at
billion dollar resort in singapore in preparation for the launch of casino
and universal studios theme park
company executives cut ribbon to inaugurate the hotels at the resorts world
sentosa complex at am gmt an auspicious time whose cantonese
pronunciation sounds like to prosper in the language
festive hotel hard rock hotel singapore crockfords tower and hotel michael
together offer rooms and restaurants
they are located on the hilly islet of sentosa linked by causeway to the
southern tip of singapore
genting group chairman lim kok thay said his company was still working with
singapore authorities on finalising the casino licence and gave no date for the
start of gambling operations
as far as the casino licence is concerned we are still working closely with
the authorities through their checks and inspections lim told reporters after
the opening ceremonies for the hotels
so in other words we are still going through the motions we are waiting for
the gaming licence to be issued
high rollers can stay at the opulent crockfords tower which boasts
invitation only suites with hour personal butler services large magic
mirror that doubles up as television screen and personal steam room
lim said decision by universal studios to build its biggest theme park in asia
in south korea was unlikely to negatively affect the us film giant attraction
in singapore which is part of the sentosa casino complex
universal on tuesday signed deal with south korean partners to build its
largest theme park in asia at cost of around three trillion won billion
dollars
its singapore park is expected to open by march
it good for the industry overall lim said of the south korean project so
if you visit korea you would get curious about the park here in singapore
marine life park maritime museum spa and two more hotels will be
launched at resorts world sentosa after
marina bay sands another singapore casino resort is scheduled to open in april
following construction delays it is being built by us based las vegas sands
singapore gave the go ahead for casino gambling in setting off flurry of
construction that went ahead despite last year recession
the government hopes the casinos will boost the country tourism appeal and
draw more visitors to the small island republic which relies mainly on man made
attractions to entice tourists
the number of tourists visiting singapore rose in november after slumping during
the recession but overall arrivals are expected to fall to million
from million in
resorts world sentosa chief executive tan hee teck said he was confident the
resort will live up to its promise of drawing more tourists to sentosa former
british military outpost already packed with leisure attractions
we will literally transform the whole tourism industry here in singapore tan
told reporters
seoul says it would strike korea to thwart nuclear attack
seoul jan afp
south korea would launch pre emptive strike against north korea to thwart any
nuclear attack by the communist state seoul defence chief said wednesday
we would have to strike right away if we detected clear intention to attack
south korea with nuclear weapons defence minister kim tae young told
forum according to yonhap news agency
it would be too late and the damage would be too big if in the case of north
korean nuclear attack we had to cope with the attack
kim made similar remarks in when he was chairman of the joint chiefs of
staff
north korea reacted angrily at the time temporarily expelling south korean
officials from seoul funded industrial park at kaesong just north of the
heavily fortified border
international efforts to bring north korea back to six party nuclear disarmament
talks have so far made little headway
north korea abandoned the talks last april month before defiantly conducting
second atomic bomb test following its first in
its foreign ministry repeated monday it would not return to the talks with the
united states china south korea russia and japan until united nations
sanctions are lifted
the ministry also renewed demand for early discussions on peace pact aimed
at formally ending the war
the united states and south korea have rejected the demands saying the north
must first come back to the disarmament talks and show it is serious about
scrapping its atomic programmes
us assistant secretary of state kurt campbell will visit japan and south korea
early next month to discuss regional security issues including ways to revive
the six party talks
air china expects to return to black in
shanghai jan afp
flag carrier air china said wednesday it expected to return to profitability in
helped by recovery in domestic passenger demand and lower fuel costs
air china which posted net loss of billion yuan billion dollars in
said its air passenger services showed steady rebound in
according to statement with the shanghai stock exchange
the annual results of the company for are expected to show turnaround
from loss to profit said the nation second largest carrier by fleet size
which is scheduled to release its financial results in late march
the official people daily reported earlier this month that china aviation
industry had turned combined profit of billion yuan in and the
number of passengers increased percent on year to million
shanghai listed shares of air china were down percent at yuan in
afternoon trading wednesday compared with percent fall in the benchmark
shanghai composite index
four suspected rebel fighters killed in dagestan
moscow jan afp
four suspected militants were killed after they refused surrender to russian
police in the restive caucasus region of dagestan russian news agencies
reported wednesday
the shootout occurred at police checkpoint on main highway in the north
caucasus republic overnight to wednesday spokesman for the local fsb
intelligence services told ria novosti
people in the car shot at the police and were killed in the return fire the
spokesman said adding that one of the men had been identified as on russia
wanted list grenades and assault rifles were found in the car he added
concerns have mounted over increased militant attacks throughout the mountainous
caucasus region where tenacious islamist insurgency is pitched against pro
kremlin authorities and russian security forces
russian president dmitry medvedev on tuesday sought to boost kremlin control
over the mostly muslim russian caucasus by appointing powerful envoy to
oversee new federal district that groups its seven most volatile republics
including chechnya
in dagestan region on the caspian sea bordering war torn chechnya the
tensions have been particularly acute in recent months suicide bombings
attacks on local officials and clashes between police and rebels are frequent
oil dips in asia new york crude stays above dollars
singapore jan afp
oil prices dipped in asian trade wednesday on profit taking and as the easing of
cold snap in the northern hemisphere dents demand for heating fuel
strengthening greenback also weighed on demand as it makes the commodity
which is traded in us dollars more expensive to those who hold weaker
currencies
in afternoon trade new york main contract light sweet crude for february
delivery was down cents to dollars barrel after surging dollars
in us trade overnight
brent north sea crude for delivery in march dipped cents to
oil is pulling back and it part of the volatility said victor shum an
analyst with energy consultancy purvin and gertz in singapore
the cold weather is ending in the northern hemisphere he said
he added that closely watched weekly report on us energy stockpiles is
expected to show an increase which would indicate weaker demand in the world
biggest energy consuming nation
the stockpiles report by the us department of energy is due for release later
wednesday
fundamentals are weighing on prices at this point investors and traders lack
the conviction at this time to push prices much higher shum said
the us dollar has gained strength versus the euro and the yen so that
consistent with oil coming down bit
shum said he expects pricing support at dollars barrel in the near term
when prices approach dollars then many investors will look at that pricing
level as buying opportunity he said when we get above dollars
investors are concerned about fundamentals
australian police hunt koala shooters
sydney jan afp
australian police said wednesday they were investigating the shooting of koalas
in two separates incidents including one involving baby animal which was
repeatedly hit
police in the southern state of victoria are looking for group of men who
allegedly killed one of the marsupials late tuesday as passer by watched
the witness told police she saw three men from late model dark blue
utility shooting up tree before seeing the animal fall to the ground
statement from victoria police said
it is believed they fired another two shots as the koala lay there
in the second incident mother and baby koala were found with injuries
inflicted by slug gun north of the east coast city of brisbane on tuesday
the baby which has been named doug after one of his rescuers has two pellets
lodged in his abdomen and ribs and will face surgery on friday
his mother has already had one slug removed and is expected to make full
recovery
conservationists fear koalas once hunted for their thick fur could become
extinct within decades as result of disease and loss of habitat due to
development and climate change
cricket bangladesh india first test scoreboard
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
scoreboard at lunch on the fourth day of the first test between india and
bangladesh on wednesday
india st innings tendulkar not out sehwag shahadat hossain
shakib al hasan
bangladesh st innings mohammad mahmudullah zaheer khan mishra
india nd innings overnight
gambhir nafees shafiul
sehwag raqibul shakib
mishra tamim mahmudullah
dravid run out
tendulkar not out
laxman not out
extras lb nb
total for four wickets overs
fall of wickets sehwag mishra gambhir dravid
bowling shafiul shahadat rubel nb
shakib mahmudullah ashraful
toss bangladesh
umpires billy bowden nzl and marais erasmus rsa
tv umpire enamul haque ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
hong kong remains world freest economy report
hong kong jan afp
hong kong remains the world freest place to do business while the united
states has lost its claim to an unrestricted economy according to an annual
report published wednesday
hong kong former british colony which was returned to china in edged
out rival singapore to claim top spot for the sixteenth consecutive year in the
index of economic freedom
australia and new zealand grabbed third and fourth spot respectively
the report is compiled by the heritage foundation conservative washington
based think tank and the wall street journal
ireland switzerland canada the united states denmark and chile rounded out
the top ten list which is based on criteria including economic openness trade
the efficiency of domestic regulators and the rule of law
but canada pushed the us from the top seven economies deemed to have an entirely
free economy due to notable decreases in financial freedom monetary freedom
and property rights the report said
the us government interventionist responses to the financial and economic
crisis that began in have significantly undermined economic freedom and
long term prospects for economic growth the report said
mainland china was ranked in the list of countries with cuba zimbabwe
and north korea rounding out the bottom of the list
cycling tour down under stage two results
adelaide australia jan afp
results on wednesday from stage two of the tour down under over kilometres
miles from gawler to hahndorf
stage
andre greipel ger htc columbia hr min sec greg henderson nzl
team sky robbie mcewen aus team katusha robbie hunter rsa garmin
transitions graeme brown aus rabobank allan davis aus astana
danilo wyss sui bmc racing team luke roberts aus milram baden cooke
aus saxo bank jose rojas esp caisse epargne all same time
selected cadel evans aus lance armstrong usa team radioshack
overall
andre greipel ger htc columbia greg henderson nzl team sky at
sec gert steegmans bel team radioshack robbie mcewen aus team
katusha jurgen roelandts bel omega pharma lotto danilo wyss
sui bmc racing team graeme brown aus rabobank baden cooke
aus saxo bank robbie hunter rsa garmin transitions jose
rojas esp caisse epargne
selected cadel evans aus bmc racing team lance armstrong usa
team radioshack
tokyo shares end down percent
tokyo jan afp
japanese stocks ended down percent on wednesday giving up early gains as
investors turned cautious ahead of another batch of us corporate earnings
results
the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index shed points to close
at the broader topix index of all first section shares dropped
points or percent to
investors continued to dump shares in japan airlines day after the debt
ridden carrier filed for bankruptcy and announced it would delist its shares
next month in move expected to wipe out investors
jal shares ended at record low of two yen two us cents down three yen or
percent from tuesday close
investors were eyeing more fourth quarter us earnings reports from companies
including bank of america and wells fargo after citigroup on tuesday posted net
losses of billion dollars for the final quarter of
tennis safina cruises into third round
melbourne jan afp
russian dinara safina advanced to the third round of the australian open with
the second seed and runner up beating the czech republic barbora
zahlavova strycova on wednesday
football zambia go for broke against gabon
benguela angola jan afp
zambia have to beat high flying gabon here on thursday to reach the africa cup
of nations quarter finals
zambia are bottom of group with point from two matches but victory at the
ombaka stadium could well take them to their first last eight spot since
on thursday we play against gabon and we must win said zambia midfielder
isaac chansa who added that the team were unlucky to lose to cameroon on
sunday in their second group match
chansa must win declaration comes on the heels of controvery stirred by
coach herve renard back in zambia when he said that the team are not welcome in
their country and that they are more at home when they play away from zambia
zambians are not proud of zambia renard said
he added when you are home comments from zambia are hard but from europe and
africa they are happy you have to be realistic and believe in yourselves
because it is long process building this team
fans in lubango cheered the team in their opening group match against tunisia
which finished in draw
you know why they supported us he asked it is because we played some very
good football in the first minutes
gabon are the in form team in having lost out to cameroon for place at the
world cup
they avenged their failure to reach south africa in part when they beat
cameroon in lubango to get their nations cup campaign off to fine start
before they drew with tunisia
as co hosts of the next nations cup gabon are under pressure to post an
impressive outing in angola and they have already proved that this is not
one man band hull city daniel cousin and others
midfielder eric moutouloungui who plays with nice in france has been full of
running and enterprise and could have grabbed at least two goals against tunisia
on sunday while ebang ovono has looked safe and assured in goal
we must work hard to win this match le mans goalkeeper ovono told afp at the
team hotel tropicana in lobito about kilometres from benguela
zambia are good team and they were unlucky to lose through late goal to
cameroon we have to be at our best
it equally important that we start preparing our team for the nations
cup which we will host with equatorial guinea
we have good chance of winning very difficult game against good and young
team victory will qualify us for the quarter finals and further lift our
confidence added skipper cousin
angola is their fourth appearance at the nations cup and they recorded
their best showing at the bi ennial tournament when they reached the
quarter finals before they were sent packing on penalties by eventual finalists
tunisia after scores were tied at even after extra time
ovono added that the biggest asset for gabon with an average age of is that
most of the players have been together since the african youth championship
in burkina faso
we are not like cameroon who have so many individual stars he added
rather we play together as team and that way it is often difficult to beat
us
united arab emirates based midfielder cedric moubamba is the team only injury
worry and will face late fitness test on wednesday
football africa cup of nations group scenarios
lubango jan afp
group of the africa cup of nations is so tight that leaders gabon could be
eliminated thursday while bottom of the table zambia advance to the quarter
finals
the gabonese panthers have exceeded expectations to garner four points
entering the final series of fixtures while four time champions cameroon have
three winners tunisia two and zambia one in the lubango based pool
amid myriad permutations that give all four contenders chance of reaching the
last eight the one certainty is that first and second seeds cameroon and
tunisia respectively cannot both progress
scenarios
gabon
draw against zambia in benguela will secure second last eight appearance for
team coached by former france midfield maestro alain giresse but loss could
eliminate the daniel cousin captained central africans
cameroon
recovered from gabon defeat to pip zambia in five goal thriller thanks to late
header from mohamadou idrissou and win over tunisia in lubango will assure
progress draw might be enough but defeat definitely will not be
tunisia
veteran coach faouzi benzarti need not worry about head to head goals scored or
goal difference as his team must defeat cameroon to survive the first round
cull draw or loss and the carthage eagles fly home
zambia
it is win or bust for side that rediscovered their finishing touch against
cameroon only to be undone by poor defending if zambia win and cameroon draw
three way tie with gabon on four points ensues leading to frayed nerves
standings
played won drawn lost goals for against points
gabon
cameroon
tunisia
zambia
note group winners and runners up qualify for quarter finals
fixtures
times gmt
thursday
at lubango
cameroon tunisia
at benguela
gabon zambia
previous results
all lubango
jan
gabon cameroon
tunisia zambia
jan
gabon tunisia
cameroon zambia
eurostar reports turnover up in despite challenges
london jan afp
the eurostar train service said wednesday its turnover edged up last year
despite the economic downturn and high profile breakdown which stranded
hundreds of passengers in the channel tunnel
the turnover at the railway service which links britain france and belgium
rose percent in compared to the previous year the company said in
statement
it hit million pounds million euros billion dollars last year
said eurostar
passenger numbers also rose to million people an increase of percent
according to the statement
eurostar said the economic downturn hit the number of business travellers using
the rail service in the first half of the year but this began to pick up in the
final six months of
the company pointed out the results included the weekend of december and
when more than people were trapped for hours overnight in the channel
tunnel after trains stopped working in breakdown blamed on the cold weather
the breakdown and disruption were pr disaster for eurostar both because
people trapped in the tunnel blasted the company response to the crisis and
because it affected traffic in the hugely busy pre christmas period
football star skipper eto backs his cameroon fighters
lubango angola jan afp
african superstar samuel eto is banking on fighting spirit driving cameroon
into the cup of nations quarter finals on thursday
the indomitable lions tackle fellow former champions tunisia at the new
seat tundavala stadium in this southern angola town and the stakes are
sky high
victory for four time title holders cameroon over the carthage eagles and they
are definitely through to the last eight phase of the biennial african football
showcase
draw might suffice depending on what happens between leaders gabon and lowly
zambia at ombaka stadium in benguela loss will condemn one of the pre
tournament title favourites to humiliating early exit
but three time african footballer of the year and inter milan striker eto says
the thrilling come from behind victory over zambia last sunday rekindled his
pride in the national team
was so proud to be cameroonian that night to be part of team that
displayed so much character and could rise to the occasion in the most difficult
of situations said the lions captain
it was very difficult match for us with zambia playing so well and defeat
stared us in the face midway through the second half but we fought on knowing
the implications of not securing maximum points
the striker who succeeded long serving defender rigobert song as skipper when
french coach paul le guen took control last august played central role in the
recovery by scoring the second goal with trademark clinical finish
and eto who helped cameroon conquer africa in and and is the
leading all time cup of nations scorer with goals has reason to be hopeful
against tunisian side that must triumph to survive the group phase cull
the countries have clashed three times in the year africa cup of nations with
stalemate in followed by cameroon victories in semi final and
quarter final
it was in nigeria years ago and after extra time in ghana two years
ago after one of greatest games of great tournament was settled by stephane
mbia strike on minutes
this nations cup may have kicked off with ivory coast the almost unanimous media
favourites but few rejected the possibility that cameroon could go all the way
and come within one title of six time champions egypt
captain and defender karim haggui accepts tunisia came into the cup wearing
work in progress tag as caretaker coach faouzi benzarti put his faith in youth
after shock failure to reach the world cup in south africa
we have young team in angola that is improving with every game chances were
missed in our draws against zambia and gabon due to inexperience confessed the
