the only scare for murray was when he clutched at his back after stretching for
backhand late in the first set
however he said it was nothing to worry abput
sometimes it happens on these courts he said
they re just really sticky
it back just gets little bit stiff but it was fine
murray charge towards victory was temporarily stalled during the third set
when serra reluctantly had scrape on his arm attended to
the scot growing confidence was displayed when he passed the time by balancing
his racquet on the end of his finger to entertain the crowd
alert
children missing from haiti hospitals raising trafficking fears unicef
urgent ge beats expectations with billion dollar profit in th
quarter
new york jan afp
us mega firm general electric on friday reported better than expected net
profits of billion dollars for the last quarter of
serbia orthodox church starts to elect new patriarch
belgrade jan afp
the serbian orthodox church top body the holy synod began session on
friday to elect new leader following the death of the patriarch pavle last
november
the synod which groups bishops met after liturgy held in the patriarchy
saborna church in central belgrade
the church elders will elect the new spiritual leader in what is likely to be
many rounds of voting from an eventual short list of three bishops
the new patriarch is scheduled to be enthroned on sunday
pavle died on november after an illness lasting more than two years his
funeral was witnessed by tens of thousands of people
under pavle rule the influence of the serbian orthodox church on society
steadily grew after the fall of communism in the in religion was
reinstated on the curriculum of schools after more than years of state
enforced atheism
the great majority of serbia population of seven million people identify
themselves as orthodox christians with only some four percent roman catholics
relations between belgrade and the vatican have improved since serbian president
slobodan milosevic ouster in and senior orthodox church officials have
even raised the possibility of papal visit in
tennis clijsters out but henin safina roll on
melbourne jan afp
kim clijsters suffered humbling third round defeat while justine henin
narrowly avoided the same fate on an intriguing day at the australian open on
friday
clijsters one of the favourites to win the title was blasted off court by th
seeded russian nadia petrova in only minutes shocking the large
crowd who had come to cheer her on
earlier henin was pushed to the brink by another russian alisa kleybanova with
the seven time grand slam winner forced to come from set and down to win
former world number one jelena jankovic of serbia joined clijsters on the
sidelines when she was beaten by ukraine alona bondarenko
but there were no such problems for second seed dinara safina who thumped
britain last remaining hope elena baltacha
clijsters was at loss to explain her unexpected defeat to petrova
the year old said she had not changed any of her preparation and felt
nothing was amiss during her warm up on court
very superstitious with my routines and everything so really stick to
that every day she said
ate the same slept the same everything that why it even more
confusing in way as well
it was petrova first win over the belgian in five meetings
really tried to focus on winning every single point petrova said adding
that she had been preparing for long three setter
but when broke her again in the second set then realised you know this
is like two set match for me and just started cruising through it
petrova raced through the first set in only minutes with clijsters winning
measly five points in the first six games
the second set was not much better for the belgian world number as the
year old petrova ruthlessly took advantage of her opponent struggles
henin also seemed headed for defeat aganist kleybanova before she staged
remarkable recovery
the year old playing her first grand slam since coming out of retirement
will now take on fellow belgian yanina wickmayer in the fourth round after she
beat italy sara errani
it was henin second marathon match in succession following her win over fifth
seed elena dementieva in almost three hours in the second round
well face few issues and my body suffered lot conceded the former
world number one
it not used to it anymore didn have hours since her last match
it been quite short recovery time
when woke up this morning felt it was going to be tough today because
was tired
safina buried some of her ghosts when she got through her match on rod
laver arena
it was her first appearance on melbourne centre court since last year final
when she imploded to lose to serena williams in straight sets
the second seed took heart from winning return to the scene of one of her
worst days in tennis
didn have good memories of the last match played on rod laver arena for
sure she said
am glad to be back and had to fight hard and make sure won to forget the
bad memories
glamour girl maria kirilenko will take on fellow russian safina next after she
beat roberta vinci of italy while china zheng jie ended french
hopes with win over th seed marion bartoli
markets tank as obama moves to rein in banks
washington jan afp
stock markets around the world slumped friday after president barack obama
unveiled plans to limit the size and scope of us banks and financial firms in
fresh offensive against wall street excesses
markets from new york to tokyo reacted with barely restrained panic to obama
drive to limit the size of the largest banks and introduce measures to curb
excessive risk taking
never again will the american taxpayer be held hostage by bank that is too
big to fail vowed obama flanked by former federal reserve chief paul volcker
who advised the president on the rules
he promised to protect taxpayers by preventing banks or financial institutions
from owning investing in or sponsoring hedge fund or private equity funds
wall street gave an immediate thumbs down to the plans as us stocks plunged
with the blue chip dow jones industrial average down more than points or two
percent in thursday trading
the news then sent shockwaves though asian stock markets with the region
financial centers suffering heavy losses in friday trading european exchanges
later opened under pressure
obama measures would effectively force financial firms to choose between
lucrative proprietary activities trading in stocks and sometimes risky
financial instruments for their own benefit and traditional activities like
making loans and collecting deposits
the initiative which must be approved by congress includes new proposal to
limit the consolidation of the finance sector placing broader limits on
excessive growth of the market share of liabilities at the largest financial
firms
obama blamed banks for sparking the worst economic crisis since the great
depression with huge reckless risks in pursuit of quick profits and massive
bonuses in binge of irresponsibility
my resolve to reform the system is only strengthened when see return to old
practices at some of the very firms fighting reform and when see record
profits at some of the very firms claiming that they cannot lend more to small
business cannot keep credit card rates low and cannot refund taxpayers for the
bailout the president said
he vowed to enact the reforms in congress even if wall street deployed an army
of lobbyists to kill them
if these folks want fight it fight ready to have he vowed
defiantly
the announcement was the latest attempt by the white house to harness public
rage at wall street bonuses and the financial crisis
david easthope analyst with celent research and consulting firm said the
effort could hit the banks in one of their most profitable areas
proprietary trading has been the sweet spot for leading investment banks over
the last few years and executives will be concerned that washington will be
taking away the frosting he said
the financial services roundtable which represents of the largest
integrated financial firms said the proposal would do little to improve risk
management or protect consumers from irresponsible loans and trades
the proposal will restrict lending increase risk decrease stability in the
system and limit our ability to help create jobs said steve bartlett
president and chief executive for the roundtable
the group represents top financial services firms providing banking
insurance and investment products and services
obama first year in office was dominated by efforts to rescue handful of
banks that threatened to topple the us economy after being exposed to massive
losses on the subprime mortgage market
according to treasury officials about billion dollars was pumped into
banks under the government rescue plans
obama has sounded tougher tone towards banks in recent weeks as he faced
widespread voter anger at the massive government bailout which came as
americans faced surging unemployment home foreclosures and national debt
top obama economic aide austan goolsbee sought to counter criticism that the
plan is returning to the depression era law creating wall between investment
and commercial banks
it not returning to glass steagall goolsbee said
while the act repealed in forbid underwriting securities or investing in
securities by any commercial bank goolsbee said this is not that this says
bank cannot own hedge fund cannot own private equity fund or do trading for
its own account that is not related to its client business
he added that the goal is to get back to the fundamental nature of the bank
which is serving its clients rather than investing for its own profit
football fergie steers clear as tevez neville spat escalates
manchester jan afp
sir alex ferguson has refused to become embroiled in the escalating spat between
carlos tevez and gary neville after the argentina striker branded his former
team mate boot licker and moron
tevez colourful outburst came after he and neville clashed during manchester
city win over manchester united on tuesday and has set the scene for
another explosive meeting between the clubs in next week second leg of their
league cup semi final
but ferguson has no intention of fanning the flames of dispute that was
triggered by neville writing in newspaper column that united manager was
right to sell tevez to city last year rather than pay the million pounds it
would have cost to sign him permanently
not interested ferguson told reporters on friday he tevez is not our
player any more ve nothing to say about it at all players argue with each
other and have go at each other time and time again it not an issue for
us
ferguson also refused to condemn neville united club captain for raising his
middle finger to tevez as the argentina striker jubilantly celebrated the first
of his two goals on tuesday evening
asked whether he was disappointed in neville conduct ferguson replied no
what conduct didn see that at all
tevez admitted on wednesday that he had been hurt by neville comments and
through his representatives issued fairly measured statement accusing the
defender of showing uncharacteristic disrespect to former colleague
but in radio interview with espn argentina conducted in spanish the
forward tone was far more scathing
my celebration was directed at gary neville he confirmed he acted like
complete sock sucker boot licker when he said wasn worth million just
to suck up to the manager
don know what the hell that idiot is talking about me for never said
anything about him
tevez who has struggled to learn even basic english in his four years in
england added that he had been taken aback when his team mates alerted him to
press coverage of neville opinions originally expressed in column for the
times of malta
my team mates were asking what thought tevez recalled and wondered to
myself what the tarado translation cretin or moron talking about me for
when never said anything about him
tevez was hugely popular with the united fans during his two years on loan at
the club but having opted to cross swords with neville he is guaranteed
hostile reception at old trafford next week although that will not concern him
too much if he can help city reach wembley at the expense of his former
employers
alert
ge posts better than expected billion dollar net profit in th quarter
obama bank plans roil world stocks
london jan afp
global stock markets slid in confusion on friday at us president barack obama
vow to crack down on reckless big banks and on jitters over china economy
and soaring debts analysts said
in foreign exchange trade the yen rose against the dollar boosted by safe
haven flows as prospects for the global economy dimmed in light of recent
economic data and moves by governments to curb lending dealers said
oil prices rose slightly with gains capped by weak energy demand in the united
states and worries over the strength of china economy the world biggest
energy consuming nations
president obama words are still very much hanging over the market said
equities dealer arifa sheikh usmani at british trading firm spreadex
obama laid out tough programme on thursday to limit excessive risk taking
and protect us taxpayers by preventing banks or financial institutions from
owning investing in or sponsoring hedge fund or private equity funds
never again will the american taxpayer be held hostage by bank that is too
big to fail vowed obama
blaming the banks for causing the economic crisis he said my resolve to
reform the system is only strengthened when see return to old practices at
some of the very firms fighting reform
however experts and analysts on financial markets were varied in their views of
whether the measures proposed by obama were appropriate and would have the
desired effect
in european stock market trade approaching friday half way mark london
benchmark ftse index was down percent in value frankfurt dax slid
percent and the paris cac lost percent
the tokyo stock market closed down percent sydney shed percent and
hong kong recovered from early heavy losses to finish percent lower
investors followed the lead of wall street where the dow jones index suffered
its worst fall of the year on thursday
the dow jones industrial average slumped percent posting its biggest drop
for the year and extending losses after big fall on wednesday
obama words meanwhile capped tough week for markets which have taken hit
also from fears that beijing is set to tighten credit as it tries to rein in its
scorching economy
those worries were stoked on thursday after china said its economy expanded
percent in the december quarter while inflation reached month high
shanghai stocks dropped percent on friday
we had weak lead in asia from wall street on the potential moves from china
to slow things down and mr obama is going forward on bank regulation burrell
stockbroking director richard herring said
we had good run over the christmas period so maybe there just little
unwinding of some christmas excess
in foreign exchange deals on friday the dollar fell to yen from
late in new york on thursday
in oil deals new york main contract light sweet crude for march delivery
climbed cents to dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for delivery in march gained cents to dollars
barrel
the concern with china came against backdrop of investor nerves over the
global economy as whole with the imf and the united nations this week both
warning of possible double dip recession this year
those worries have been heightened in europe where several governments are
struggling to cope with rising debt levels debt troubles in countries like
greece and portugal have also dragged down the euro against the dollar
there was some good news for the stock markets as influential us banking giant
goldman sachs on thursday reported higher than expected fourth quarter and full
year profit despite the downturn
tennis del potro passes another test to reach last
melbourne jan afp
us open champion juan martin del potro survived another searching examination to
make his way into the last at the australian open on friday
the argentine fourth seed emerged from two hour minute dogfight with
florian mayer to down the th ranked german on rod laver
arena
del potro will play th seeded croat marin cilic in the fourth round
he said he expected tough encounter after mayer eliminated th serbian seed
viktor troicki in the previous round
felt very confused with my game especially in the second set del potro
said
but after that improved little bit and then finished the match playing
some very good points
it has been rugged work for the argentine giant at the year opening grand
slam
he needed four sets to get past american michael russell in the first round and
five sets to overcome another american james blake in the second round
he has now spent almost hours on court in his three matches and should he
get past the next round he could face american seventh seed andy roddick in the
quarters
del potro who won the us open in his th grand slam appearance last september
broke mayer serve five times twice in the opening set once in the third and
twice in the final set
but he found mayer determined customer and only had one point to spare over
the german at the end to
he beat mayer in straight sets in the second round at last year australian
open but lost to him in their first meeting in stuttgart in
think he playing better this year del potro said of mayer
his forehand has improved lot as has his serve he was focused until the last
point
he said in the past mayer would lose concentration during his matches
he felt maybe confused with the game he goes south for two or three games but
today it didn happen think he could have very good season
del potro utilising his superior reach cracked winners and aces but
that was offset by unforced errors
the argentine year old looked to be heading for comfortable afternoon
work on centre court when he twice broke mayer opening three service games
but hit rut when he failed to win game in the second set
del potro gained some measure of control in the third and fourth sets to see off
mayer challenge
mayer was bidding to reach the round of at grand slam for the first time
since wimbledon
del potro became hero in argentina when he became the first south american to
win us open since compatriot guillermo vilas in
his accomplishment was all the greater for ending roger federer five year us
open title run
cilic qualified for the round of with win over swiss
th seed stanislas wawrinka
hungary to go to polls on april
budapest jan afp
hungary will hold general election on april with second round of voting
set for april president laszlo solyom announced friday
the official announcement of the date of the vote is the starting gun for the
election campaign
under the hungarian constitution there are two rounds of voting in the general
election two weeks apart
according to the latest polls conservative opposition party fidesz looks set to
win over the current socialist administration of prime minister gordon bajnai
according to poll by median fidesz would win more than two thirds of votes
followed by the socialists with percent and the far right jobbik party with
percent
european bank shares drop after obama us blast
paris jan afp
european banking shares dropped sharply on friday over tough words and proposals
from us president barack obama to crimp and curb us banks
analysts warned of volatility as they tried to evaluate the effects of obama
measures to restrict the scope and risk taking of us banks
stock markets in general recoiled in uncertainty over the measures and the
price of shares in many leading european banks fell in range of about
percent
in london shares in barclays bank slumped by percent to pence
having lost percent late on thursday
barclays has become giant on wall street with the purchase in of the
north american business of collapsed us investment bank lehman brothers which
was at the centre of the financial crisis as it spread into global economic
trauma
analysts at cm cic bank in paris commented that obama outlined legislation
will cause difficulties in valuing banks and will slow down reorganisation of
the sector
throughout regulatory issues would continue to poison the sector they
said
they also questioned whether proposals being put forward by politicians
wanting to change everything in the heat of the moment for sector in the
middle of an economic crisis were appropriate
at brokers aurel analyst christian parisot said the sector could experience
strong volatility because of the impossibility for analysts of working out the
fundamental value of banks
but he noted that obama proposals were vague and far from being approved by
congress and that in the very short term the measures might encourage the
buying of banking shares
british banks said that they were scrutinising obama measures to work out
whether they wanted to head the same way
we will be studying the proposals in detail to see where the us and
international proposals align with what is already being discussed in terms of
reforms in britain the british bankers association said
the country banks are listening and they are changing working with our
regulators and the international authorities to restore confidence in the
world financial system the group said discussions were continuing on
whether further measures are necessary
obama announcement sought to roll back corporate excesses and limit dangerous
risk taking blamed by many for sparking the worst economic crisis since the
great depression
it was also the latest attempt by the white house to harness popular fury at
wall street bonuses and tight credit markets
in london rbs bank shares fell percent to pence after shedding
percent on thursday and hsbc shares slipped percent to pence
but lloyds banking group gained percent to pence and standard
chartered percent to pence
in germany shares in the biggest bank deutsche bank fell by percent to
euros the overall dax index was showing fall of percent
commerzbank shares fell by percent to euros after having fallen by
percent late on thursday postbank stock fell percent to euros
in paris bnp paribas shares fell percent to euros credit agricole
percent to euros and societe generale percent to euros
the overall market was showing fall of percent
dexia bank shares lost percent to euros and natixis percent to
euros
and in switzerland stock in ubs bank declined by percent to swiss
francs the smi stock index was down percent
stock in credit suisse bank fell percent to francs but shares in the
third biggest swiss bank julius baer which specialises in the management of
private fortunes rose by percent to euros
insurance stocks were also affected shares in zurich financial slipped by
percent to francs and in swiss re by percent to euros swiss
life stock was down percent to swiss francs
lithuanian deputy minister detained in graft probe
vilnius jan afp
lithuania deputy health minister has been arrested on suspicion of bribe
taking the baltic state anti graft squad said friday
arturas skikas was detained thursday after tip off that he had demanded and
accepted litas euros dollars from the director of
public body the special investigation service said on its website
the baltic news services reported that skikas was facing corruption charges that
could put him behind bars for five years if he is found guilty
skikas who is doctor became deputy health minister last year he is head of
western lithuanian branch of the liberal and centre union junior member of
the conservative led coalition government
battling corruption was among the criteria used by brussels to judge the
readiness of ex communist countries to join the european union which ex soviet
lithuania did in
graft became ingrained during communist rule and has remained problem since
the fall of the region regimes in the late and early
alpine skiing women world cup results
cortina ampezzo italy jan afp
women world cup super results on friday
lindsey vonn usa
fabienne suter swi
anja paerson swe
tina maze slo
andrea fischbacher aut
andrea dettling swi
tina weirather lie
jessica lindell vikarby swe
lucia recchia ita
elisabeth goergl aut
nadia fanchini ita
viktoria rebensburg ger
nadja kamer swi
martina schild swi
maria riesch ger
ingrid jacquemod fra
emily brydon can
regina mader aut
monika dumermuth swi
leanne smith usa
gina stechert ger
chemmy alcott gbr
marie marchand arvier fra
anna fenninger aut
marusa ferk slo
carolina ruiz castillo esp
britt janyk can
nicole schmidhofer aut
johanna schnarf ita
stacey cook usa
kajsa kling swe
alice mckennis usa
julia mancuso usa
aurelie revillet fra
shona rubens can
margret altacher aut
lotte smiseth sejersted nor
kathrin zettel aut
keely kelleher usa
chelsea marshall usa
ilka stuhec slo
daniela ceccarelli ita
federica brignone ita
marie michele gagnon can
sarka zahrobska cze
edith miklos rom
sanni leinonen fin
olivia bertrand fra
maria pietilae holmner swe
nina tipotsch aut
maria belen simari birkner arg
did not finish
st leg fraenzi aufdenblatten swi alexandra coletti mon elena fanchini
ita stefanie koehle aut daniela merighetti ita macarena simari birkner
arg georgia simmerling can wendy siorpaes ita verena stuffer ita
nadia styger swi
india reliance industries profit rises percent
mumbai jan afp
indian refining and energy giant reliance industries announced its first profit
rise in over year on friday as its performance was boosted by higher natural
gas production
reliance india largest private sector company said net profit rose
percent to billion rupees million dollars in the fiscal third
quarter to december from billion rupees year earlier
it marked the company first profit increase since october when earnings
were hit by the global economic slowdown
income for the third quarter jumped percent to billion rupees the
company controlled by billionaire mukesh ambani said in statement
the profit was broadly in line with market expectations
reliance is well poised to benefit from the improving global economic
environment and domestic markets opportunities said ambani who is company
chairman
the company said the year ago quarterly results had been restated to include
earnings from subsidiary reliance petroleum which was amalgamated with the
parent last year
after the earnings announcement reliance shares ended down rupees or
percent at having recovered from an intraday low of
reliance gross refining margins fell to dollars barrel in the quarter
from dollars barrel in the same period year earlier
reliance showed decent set of numbers refining margins appear to be
bottoming out and should improve from here said deepak pareek oil analyst at
angel broking
global oil prices were steady at dollars barrel on friday
