REDjet defends flight cancellations
Low-fares airline REDjet will introduce three new routes this year, while cancelling more than 50 – a move Chief Executive Ian Burns said is not due to financial troubles.
Flights to Trinidad, Guyana, Jamaica and Barbados are among the 54 that would be affected when the changes are introduced from March 1
Burns said the airline is on budget and the adjustments would merely facilitate improved flight times.
“Flights are being cancelled but most are being put to a new flight time. Our market research shows that it was inconvenient for people to make it to the airport during high traffic times, especially in Trinidad and Jamaica,” Burns said.
Last November, the carrier’s largest Barbados investor, Ralph ‘Bizzy’ Williams, said excessive delays had sabotaged the airline’s progress, fuelling speculation that the low-fare model is unsustainable.
A leaked internal memo from the carrier’s customer service department stated that the flights would be cancelled for commercial reasons.
REDjet said in a statement that passengers can expect to benefit from new and more convenient flight times, and the launch of three new routes to two new destinations in time for Easter 2012.
The Barbados-based airline said it has added a third MD-80 aircraft to its fleet and hired additional pilots in preparation.
“These investments combined with the expansion of its call centre, maintenance department and operations team will enable the airline to comfortably deliver these new services and provide a safe and reliable operation for its passengers,” the airline stated.
“In addition, external factors such as traffic to and from the airport around flight times and capacity constraints at some airports around peak times of the day will be greatly improved,” it said further.
REDjet, which began serving the region in May last year, operates seven routes across the Caribbean and plans to launch up to eight new ones in 2012.
Bryant scores 40 points, Lakers beat Jazz in OT
Andrew Bynum wasn't on the court the first time the Los Angeles Lakers faced the Utah Jazz .
He made his presence felt Wednesday night, with five blocked shots, including a game-saver on Al Jefferson's short jumper with 1.9 seconds remaining in overtime as the Lakers held on for a 90-87 victory.
Kobe Bryant scored 40 points to lead the Lakers, including a pair of free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining for the final margin.
"Andrew kind of made of his own coverage on Al and we tried to keep telling him to get out of it," Lakers coach Mike Brown said. "But he didn't listen to us and whatever he did, worked. So I'm going to add it to my defensive package."
Jefferson, who was coming off a season-high 30-point effort against Cleveland on Tuesday, was held to 11 points on 5-of-17 shooting.
Paul Millsap led the Jazz with a season-high 29 points, hitting 14 of 24 shots.
The loss was the first at home for the Jazz this season and halted their five-game winning streak.
The Lakers embarrassed the Jazz in Utah's season-opener, winning by 25 even without Bynum on Dec. 27.
This one was close throughout, with Millsap's tip-in tying it at 78 with 21 seconds left in regulation.
Bryant, coming of a 48-point game Tuesday night at home against Phoenix, missed a shot at the buzzer that would have won it in regulation for Los Angeles.
Millsap then scored the first four points of overtime, but the Lakers fought back, with 3-pointers by Bryant and Pau Gasol.
"Pau's got a green light to shoot the 3," Brown said. "As you can tell, guys trust him. Kobe made a pass to him late in the game at a crucial point. To see him step and knock it down was huge for us."
Seven-foot Bynum came up even bigger.
He made just 5 of 13 shots, but his tip-in with 51 seconds left in OT put the Lakers ahead 88-87.
Millsap brought the Jazz within one, then after Bryant's miss, the Jazz found themselves with a chance to win.
Gordon Hayward had the ball and started toward the lane, only to pass it to Jefferson underneath.
Bynum was there.
"It was just a reaction," Bynum said about his block. "I'm lucky he went for the quick flip."
Hayward said he thought about shooting it himself.
"The clock's winding down, a final scramble and we didn't know what was going on," Hayward said. "There were 8 seconds left, so I got to make a play. Maybe I could have shot a 1-2 pullup, but I thought it was the right play, the right pass. We got a good look. Bynum just made a good play."
Bryant would block a long 3-point attempt by Devin Harris as the Jazz inbounded with 0.7 seconds remaining in OT.
The win was the first on the road for the Lakers (8-4), while Utah (6-4) is 5-1 at home.
"It felt good to get a road win here," Bryant said. "It's a very tough place to play and it was a huge test for us."
But even he wasn't so sure Gasol could knock down the 22-footer from the corner.
"Pau's been shooting them well in practice and coach has been urging me to trust him at the 3-point line," Bryant said. "I thought about passing it to him, it seemed like an eternity. But I said, `What the hell.'
"You think Tebow prays? When that ball left his hand, I must have said 30 Hail Mary's."
Gasol finished with 14 points. He was just 5 of 14 overall, but hit his only 3-point attempt - his first of the season.
"Tonight was not a very effective game on our part, for the most part," Gasol said. "But we continued to fight through it. We forgot about everything else and we made two big plays down the stretch with the put-back and the block and I was able to make a couple plays. Hopefully we'll get the bodies that we have injured right now and it will give us a deeper rotation."
If the Lakers were celebrating a little more than usual, they say they earned the right.
"It was a tough game. It's hard to get a win here. Back to back, getting in here late last night, going to bed late. It's something to be proud of as a team," Gasol said. "Hopefully, we'll get some sleep and get ready for another back-to-back."
The Jazz also left feeling pretty good despite the loss, saying they are a different team than the one that faced the Lakers in the opener.
"We kept playing hard, didn't give up," Jefferson said. "It's one of those games at the end of the day we wish we could have won, but we could walk out with our head up. We played hard until the end. We just got to get ready for New Jersey."
The Jazz face the Nets on Saturday in a game that marks the return of Deron Williams for the first time since he was traded away last February.
"We're coming, we're getting better," Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. "We played against a good team tonight. They were a little bit better but our effort was great."
Australian Open 2012: Ward, Robson & Broady win in qualifying
Britain's James Ward, Laura Robson and Naomi Broady won their opening matches in qualifying for the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Ward resumed a set down against Spain's Inigo Cervantes-Huegun after rain stopped play on Wednesday, and fought back to win 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-3) 6-1.
Robson began her campaign with a 6-3 6-4 win over American Melanie Oudin after converting her 10th match point.
Naomi Broady opened with a 6-4 5-7 6-3 win over Ashley Weinhold of the USA.
Ward, the 32nd seed in qualifying, had looked in trouble after losing a tight first set on Thursday but won the second when play resumed and dominated the decider. The British number two next faces Czech Ivo Minar.
Robson, seeded 14th, was cruising at 5-0 in the second set against 2009 US Open quarter-finalist Oudin before a nervous period when she twice dropped serve.
But the Melbourne-born Londoner held her nerve at the third time of asking and she will next face Italy's Anna Floris.
Players have to win through three rounds of qualifying to reach the main draw.
Andy Murray has been seeded fourth in the men's singles, while three British women have qualified as of right for the main draw - Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothavong and Heather Watson.
Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt has been given a wildcard into the main draw, which takes place at 2300 GMT on Thursday ahead of the start of play on Monday 16 January.
There are two all-British pairings in the men's doubles draw, Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins, and Jamie Delgado and Jonny Marray.
Jamie Murray partners Australian Paul Hanley, while Ken Skupski is playing with Belgium's Xavier Malisse.
Keothavong is the only British woman in the doubles competition, playing with Germany's Mona Barthel.
Nathan Robertson & Jenny Wallwork beaten at Malaysian Open
British duo Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork lost to Indonesia's Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Yu Yan Vanessa Yeo in round two of the Malaysian Open.
The British pair had beaten compatriots Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier in round one on Wednesday - a major boost in the battle for an Olympic place.
But they could not build on that strong start, going down 21-13 21-17 to Chrisnanta and Yeo on Thursday.
Robertson and Wallwork defend their English national title next month.
They are currently the third-ranked British mixed doubles pair, behind Adcock and Bankier and Gabby White and Robert Blair.
Only the highest-ranked British pair are guaranteed a place at this summer's Olympic Games in London, unless the second-ranked duo are also in the world's top eight.
Energy costs push German inflation rate up to 2.3%
Rising energy prices pushed German inflation up to 2.3% in 2011, according to official figures from Destatis.
The inflation rate compares with 1.1% in 2010 and 0.4% in 2009. It was the highest annual figure since 2008, when inflation was 2.6%.
It takes Germany outside the European Central Bank's target rate for eurozone inflation, which is close to, but below, 2.0%.
Excluding energy prices, inflation would only have been 1.3%.
Energy prices, including motor fuels, rose 10% in the year. Motor fuel and heating oil prices alone rose 13.9% in the year.
The figures come on the day of the European Central Bank's latest monthly interest rate decision.
Rates are expected to be left unchanged at 1.0%, following two consecutive months of cuts.
China inflation rate little changed at 4.1% in December
China's rate of inflation was little changed in December, despite government efforts to rein in prices.
Consumer prices rose 4.1% from the same month last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said. That is down from 4.2% in November.
For the full year, inflation was at 5.4%, well above government targets.
Analysts said that while inflation remains a concern for policymakers, price growth should slow further and more quickly in 2012.
Shifting to growth?
Jain Chang, China economist at Barclays Capital, said that there was usually a lift in prices in the month before and after the Chinese New Year, which is due to start on 23 January.
However, she said that the expectation was for price growth to continue moderating throughout 2012.
She added that China's policymakers were likely to remain cautious over inflation and were unlikely to significantly ease their monetary policy until it was clear that inflation was fully under control.
China had implemented tightening measures to rein in inflation, including cutting interest rates and increasing the amount of money banks must keep in reserve.
However, once inflation is brought under control, China will probably shift some policies towards underpinning domestic growth, especially as it is facing a number of external issues such as the eurozone debt crisis.
In fact China has already taken some small measures to bolster economic expansion, and in November it cut for the first time in three years the amount of cash banks need to keep in reserve .
China "will continue the policy easing cycle", said Zhiwei Zhang from Nomura.
Important year
Some analysts warned that any future boost to the economy may result in the rate of inflation accelerating again, and it may be a problem China just has to get used to.
Many economists attribute the run of high inflation over the last year to the stimulus measures China injected into its economy during the previous global financial crisis in 2008.
Fraser Howie, from CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, said Chinese authorities will "be prepared to let inflation go up again because they are going to go after growth ultimately".
"It's a political handover year in China and that means they are going to want a strong economy," he added.
RBS to cut 3,500 jobs in investment bank shake-up
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has said it will cut a further 3,500 jobs, with most of them to happen this year.
The cuts are part of a reorganisation and shrinkage of its investment bank.
The losses, which will be split between its UK and international offices, come on top of 2,000 cuts announced earlier.
A further 950 jobs are also to go at Irish subsidiary Ulster Bank, split between 350 in Northern Ireland and 600 in the Irish Republic.
New focus
RBS' "wholesale banking" business, which provides services to large clients including investment banking services, will be split into separate "markets" and "international banking" divisions.
The new markets division - which comprises RBS' main trading activities - will focus on the bank's traditional strengths of debt, currency and money markets, the bank said in its statement.
The international banking division will provide services for the bank's biggest clients.
These will include corporate advisory services transferred from its investment bank - such as helping major companies borrow money by issuing bonds - as well as cash management and payments services.
The bank has already shed some 30,000 employees over the last two years, 22,000 of them in the UK.
Suicide Bombing Kills Afghan District Chief
Authorities in southern Afghanistan say a suicide car bomber has killed at five people, including a local district chief.
Provincial officials say the governor of Kandahar province's Panjwayi district was traveling in his car with his two sons when the bomber rammed a vehicle full of explosives into them. All three were killed in Thursday's blast.
Two of the district governor's guards were also killed in the explosion near Kandahar city.
Officials say nine police officers and a civilian were wounded.
On Wednesday, Kandahar's police chief escaped unharmed after a suicide bombing outside his office in Kandahar city.
There has been no claim of responsibility for either attack.
Taiwan President In Tough Re-Election Fight
Taiwan incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou says he is the only candidate in Saturday's election who can continue Taipei's strong and beneficial relationship with mainland China.
Speaking to foreign journalists in Taipei Thursday, President Ma emphasized his success in the reconciliation effort that has changed the nature of Taiwan's cross-strait relationship with China.
“Cross-strait relations is so important to Taiwan that we need someone with a very comprehensive set of mechanism which could properly deal with the niceties of the relations between the two sides. And we have been able to achieve peace across the Taiwan strait. Obviously we will continue to do that to make sure the peace will be a long lasting one.”
Mr. Ma faces an unexpectedly tough bid for re-election Saturday. His main challenger, Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party, has exploited complaints by middle- and working-class Taiwanese that economic benefits of the president's embrace of China have largely passed them by.
Opinion surveys published a week ago indicated the incumbent clinging to a narrow lead, despite Tsai's relative inexperience in public office.
Taiwanese voters will also elect a new legislature on Saturday, with the ruling Nationalist Party trying to hold its 64-percent majority of the 113 seats. The Nationalists could use their majority to block the political process if they lose the presidency.
President Ma, who took office in 2008, has reached out to China by entering landmark talks with Beijing. The talks have produced a series of agreements designed to boost the island's economy while easing decades of tension with the mainland.
Tsai has campaigned for increased trade with China, but only if Beijing respects Taiwan's autonomy. Her government is also unlikely to renounce its goal of formally declaring independence.
Taiwan split from China amid civil war in 1949, but Beijing continues to regard it as part of its territory.
Japanese, S. Korean Nuclear Envoys Hold N. Korea Talks
Japanese and South Korean nuclear envoys held talks Thursday in Seoul, to explore further initiatives aimed at persuading North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program.
The meeting between Japanese negotiator Shinsuke Sugiyama and South Korean counterpart Lin Sung-nam comes just days before the duo travels to Washington for high-level nuclear consultations next week.
Last month, envoys from North Korea and the United States met in Beijing — just days before North Korea announced the death of longtime leader Kim Jong Il. Those talks, described by participants as positive, were aimed at persuading the North to rejoin a larger forum of countries seeking an end to Pyongyang's nuclear activities. North Korea quit the six-party nuclear talks involving the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States in late 2008.
Western news reports had said the North was poised to announce an agreement with Washington to suspend its uranium enrichment program and accept international nuclear oversight of its nuclear activities, in exchange for urgently needed food aid.
Analysts say it is not yet clear whether Mr. Kim's successor and son, Kim Jong Un, will agree to suspend enrichment efforts.