Barbados take T20 title
A healthy dose of restrictive bowling, along with a composed knock from newly-appointed captain, Kirk Edwards, guided Barbados to a five-wicket victory over archrivals, Trinidad & Tobago, when the final of the UWI Cave Hill Campus Twenty20 Festival was played on Friday under lights at the 3Ws Oval.
For much of the quadrangular tournament, which was being used as preparation for the imminent Caribbean T20, Barbados had easily looked the strongest outfit. And Friday night’s match against the reigning Caribbean champions proved to be no different.
Winning the toss and electing to bat before a large and vocal crowd, Trinidad & Tobago struggled to build partnerships and a total of 135-9 off 20 overs reflected it.
Kevon Cooper’s 57 off 47 balls, decorated with two fours and four sixes, was the only knock of any real value in an otherwise deflated performance with the bat. Besides Cooper, only Jason Mohammed (17), Lendl Simmons (10) and Darren Bravo (10) recorded scores in the double digits.
The wickets for Barbados were spread evenly with the fiery Tino Best grabbing three for 26, lanky left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn taking two for 14, medium pacer Carlos Brathwaite two for 26, and off-spinner Ashley Nurse the same.
In reply, Kirk Edwards’ unbeaten knock of 42 off 53 balls, inclusive of one boundary, guided Barbados to their winning total of 136-5 with seven balls to spare.
Alcindo Holder got in on the action with 23, as did Shane Dowrich with 20.
In the preceding match between the Combined Campuses & Colleges (CCC) and the C.O. Williams All-Stars, the students crushed the All-Stars by 69 runs on their home ground.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, CCC’s batsmen pillaged the All-Star bowling for 165-7 before they stifled their opposition for 96-6 off 20 overs.
The CCC’s Kyle Mayers was in devastating form, cracking 59 from 33 balls, along with five fours and three sixes.
In contrasting fashion, Ryan Wiggins and Floyd Reifer both scored 38, with Wiggins facing 40 deliveries for his runs, and Reifer 20 for his. Obviously the more patient of the pair, Wiggins hit two fours and one six, while Reifer went on the attack with two boundaries and three sixes.
Dane Currency picked up three for 31 and Christopher Jordan two for 27 as the All-Stars struggled to contain a rampaging CCC middle order.
In reply, the All-Stars never came close, with Raymon Reifer’s run-a-ball 36 being the only real highlight in an otherwise lackluster performance with the bat.
Slow left-arm orthodox bowler, Kavesh Kantasingh, was the pick of the CCC bowlers, ending with three for eight from four overs.
Summarised Scores
THIRD PLACE
Combined Campuses & Colleges (CCC) vs C.O. Williams All-Stars
CCC 165-7 (20 overs) (Kyle Mayers 59, Ryan Wiggins 38 not out, Floyd Reifer 38; Dane Currency 3-31, Christopher Jordan 2-27).
All-Stars 96-6 (20 overs) (Raymon Reifer 36, Nekoli Parris 25, Omar Phillips 12; Kavesh Kantasingh 3-8).
Toss: CCC.
Result: Combined Campuses & Colleges beat C.O. Williams All-Stars by 69 runs.
SCORECARD
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
L. Simmons b Best 10
A. Barath c Brathwaite b Best 0
D. Bravo c Nurse b Best 10
J. Mohammed c wk Dowrich b Brathwaite 17
*+D. Ramdin c & b Benn 1
K. Cooper c Hinds b Benn 57
S. Ganga b Nurse 7
S. Narine c Smith b Nurse 3
R. Emrit b Brathwaite 9
S. Badree not out 5
S. Gabriel not out 1
Extras (b1, lb4, w8, nb2) 15
TOTAL (9 wks, 20 overs) 135
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-22, 3-27, 4-34, 5-58, 6-114, 7-116, 8-120, 9-134.
Bowling: Best 4-0-26-3, Hinds 3-0-16-0, Searles 2-0-22-0, Benn 4-0-14-2, Brathwaite 3-0-26-2, Nurse 4-0-26-2
BARBADOS
D. Smith c Emrit b Badree 9
*K. Edwards not out 42
R. Hinds b Gabriel 1
J. Carter c wk Ramdin b Emrit 5
+S. Dowrich c Narine b Cooper 20
A. Holder lbw b Narine 23
A. Nurse not out 7
Extras (b10, lb2, w12, nb5) 29
TOTAL (5 wks, 18.5 overs) 136
Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-16, 3-28, 4-63, 5-126.
Did not bat: C. Brathwaite, J. Searles, S. Benn, T. Best.
Bowling: Gabriel 3-0-27-1, Badree 4-0-15-1, S. Narine 4-0-23-1, R. Emrit 2-0-13-1, S. Ganga 3-0-17-0, K. Cooper 3.5-0-29-1.
Result: Barbados won by five wickets with seven balls to spare.
Toss: Trinidad & Tobago.
Umpires: Jonathan Blades, Patrick Grazette.
Match referee: Carlyle Carter
Mavericks sign Chinese forward Yi Jianlian
The Dallas Mavericks officially signed 6- foot-10 Chinese forward Yi Jianlian to a one-year deal contract on Friday.
Yi is expected to begin his stint with the Mavericks on the team's D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends in Frisco, when the club returns home on Sunday to play the Maine Red Claws.
"Time will determine that," coach Rick Carlisle said in regards to when Yi will join the Mavs. "It's going to take him awhile to get used to what we're doing. I can't give an accurate answer right now as far as when exactly he's going to be up and on the roster."
Yi, 24, has spent the past four seasons in the NBA but was still available in free agency thanks in part to a knee injury Yi suffered during a brief stint playing for the Guangdong Southern Tigers, after helping the Chinese national team clinch a spot in the 2012 London Olympics earlier in the summer.
Yi averaged 16.7 points and 10.3 rebounds in three games with Guangdong but has been recovering from a knee injury after a teammate fell on him during a game.
Playing in the D-League will reunite him with Legends coach Del Harris, who coached China to an eight-place finish at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
In 2011 with the national team under American coach Bob Donewald, Yi averaged 16.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks and earned tournament MVP honors while leading China to the championship.
Yi was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks with the sixth overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft, thanks to Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson's longstanding connections to China.
Dallas was the first NBA team to successfully sign a Chinese player, drafting Wang Zhizhi with the 36th overall pick in 1999 and ultimately bringing him over during the 2001-02 season.
Yi spent last season with the Washington Wizards and has career averages of 8.5 points and 5.3 rebounds.
FIFA rejects Warner's claims over $1 WCup TV deals
Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner peddled "inaccuracies and falsehoods" when he claimed last month that he got World Cup television rights for $1 in exchange for supporting Sepp Blatter's presidential campaigns, football's governing body said yesterday.
FIFA confirmed Warner's claim that he received Caribbean broadcasting rights for $1 per tournament, though from 1986 and not, as Warner said, from 1998 when Blatter was first elected.
"Such rights were ceded in order to provide an additional source of revenue for football development in the CFU (Caribbean Football Union)," FIFA said in a statement.
"This had nothing to do with the 1998 or 2002 election campaigns, or with any other election campaign.
"To imply the contrary is completely false," FIFA said.
FIFA said that, until 1998, World Cup rights were often sold for nominal sums to maximise coverage in developing nations, and provide football bodies with extra revenue from reselling rights to broadcasters.
alleged bribery
Warner was expected to raise money for his home Caribbean region, which he led for more than two decades until resigning all his duties last June to avoid a FIFA investigation into alleged election bribery.
FIFA said Warner detailed a television deal involving "his private company JDNG and Kirch Media" at executive committee meetings in late 2001. German media giant Kirch had acquired World Cup rights months earlier after FIFA's former marketing partner, ISL, collapsed into bankruptcy.
"Jack Warner explained that he then resold the rights to the Caribbean Football Union, subsequently ploughing the money back into football development in the Caribbean area," FIFA said in an extract of meeting minutes released in yesterday's statement.
Warner continued to control Caribbean World Cup television deals beyond 1998, and held the 2014 rights until his resignation.
In October, FIFA revealed it had sold rights "across the Caribbean" for 2014 to broadcaster IMC after it terminated the long-standing agreement with Warner.
Warner made his claims last month, days after FIFA paid for Caribbean football leaders to attend a summit in Zurich aimed at rebuilding the CFU's reputation and structures after the turmoil caused by the bribery scandal.
After years of backing Blatter, Warner had switched sides ahead of last June's presidential election to support challenger Mohamed bin Hammam.
The two invited Caribbean voters to a May meeting in Warner's native Trinidad where delegates were offered US$40,000 cash in brown envelopes.
Whistleblowers alerted FIFA to the conspiracy, and bin Hammam and Warner were provisionally suspended three days before the vote, allowing Blatter to win unchallenged.
Bin Hammam is challenging his life ban imposed by FIFA in a proceeding at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The scandal also revealed the CFU's financial problems, despite years of apparently benefiting from Warner's World Cup TV deals.
A presidential election conference to replace him last November was postponed because the CFU could not afford to stage the event in Jamaica.
AP
US economy creates 200,000 jobs in December
The US economy created 200,000 jobs in December, marking the sixth month in a row of gains, official figures show.
The rise was much more than expected. Analysts had forecast an increase of about 150,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate dropped to 8.5%, which was the lowest level in nearly three years, from a revised 8.7% in November, the Labor Department said.
Large job gains were seen in retail, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing and healthcare.
For 2011 as a whole, some 1.6 million jobs were created, which was the highest since 2006, led by rises in the private sector.
Employment in the private sector rose by 212,000 in December and by 1.9 million over the year.
'Showboating'
Government employment was little changed in December but was down by 280,000 over the year.
The unemployment rate had remained stubbornly high at about 9% for several years, peaking at 10.1% in October 2009. But December marked the fourth month in a row that it had fallen, after routine updates were made to previous months' data at the end of the year.
However, November's figure was revised up slightly from 8.6% to 8.7%.
The euro, which has fallen sharply against the dollar in recent days, continued its decline after the better-than-expected jobs report.
On Friday the euro fell under $1.27 for the first time since September 2010.
However, the jobs report failed to bolster Wall Street, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 indexes closing lower on continuing worries about the eurozone debt crisis.
But the fall in the unemployment rate will come as a welcome boost to President Obama who is bidding for re-election this year.
He said the report showed that the US economy was "moving in the right direction. We are creating jobs".
Marcus Bullus, trading director at MB Capital, said the data would "cheer everyone bar Republican spin doctors".
"The Obama administration could be forgiven for showboating over this convincing evidence that America's economy is pulling away from Europe's," he said.
But he added: "From a market perspective, strong US data like this will add to optimism, but nobody doubts the considerable downward pressure the eurozone will continue to place on the global marketplace during 2012."
Some 28,000 jobs were created in retail in December, 23,000 in manufacturing, and 23,000 in healthcare.
The transportation and warehousing sector was boosted by a rise of 42,000 jobs in the couriers and messengers industry, although the Labor Department said that seasonal hiring had been particularly strong.
"At first glance, [it] looks like the trend is going in the right direction. The number might be suspect, but if we get a second month of hiring like this, that will suggest a stronger trend," said Frank Davis, director of sales and trading at LEK Securities in New York.
"But there's still a long way to go until the labour market is strong, and there's still a lot that could happen with Europe."
Eurozone unemployment stays at record high
Unemployment in the eurozone stayed at a record high in November as the impact of the sovereign debt crisis rumbled on, according to official figures.
The jobless rate in the 17 nations that use the euro was 10.3% in November for the second month in a row, according to the Eurostat statistics agency.
There were 16.3 million people in the bloc out of work.
At the same time, an index of consumer confidence fell to a two-year low in December, the European Commission said.
The economic sentiment indicator fell 0.5 to 93.3 in December, which was well below the long-term average of 100, the Commission said.
Howard Archer, an economist at IHS Global Insight, said that the data suggested that Europe's economy had contracted in the last three months of 2011.
"Tighter fiscal policy, squeezed consumers, the seemingly never-ending eurozone sovereign debt crisis, weakened global growth and financial market turmoil are taking a serious toll on economic activity across the eurozone," he said.
Spain's unemployment rate was highest at 22.9%, accounting for more than a quarter of the total eurozone unemployment figure.
Spain's rate was more than four times as high as in Austria, for example, where only 4% of people were jobless.
For the whole of the European Union, which includes countries such as the UK and Sweden that do not use the euro, the unemployment rate was 9.8%.
Separately, Eurostat said that eurozone retail sales fell 2.5% in November, compared with the same month the previous year.
The steepest declines were in Portugal, which was bailed out last April, where sales fell 9.2% from a year earlier.
But there were also declines in the richer, northern European countries that are lifting eurozone growth, with Germany and the Netherlands both seeing declining retail sales.
IMF chief qualifies negative global outlook
The International Monetary Fund chief has said that it will downgrade predictions for global economic growth to lower than 4.0% later this month, due to the effects of a widening Eurozone crisis.
At a news conference in Pretoria, South Africa, Christine Lagarde warned 2012 "will not be a walk in the park, and that it will not be an easy journey." She said some European countries (may) already be technically in a recession but that does not necessarily apply to the 17-nation eurozone or the European Union as a whole.
She also said that any changes in the Eurozone crisis would effect other countries like South Africa and other African nations.
Lagarde was accompanied by South Africa’s Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, who said the European situation was creating more and more uncertainty.
Yahoo CEO scores $26 million pay package
Yahoo's new CEO is poised to score a rich payday for taking on the troubled company. He's eligible for up to $26 million this year in salary, stock and bonuses.
Scott Thompson, formerly the president of PayPal, was appointed Yahoo CEO on Wednesday and will officially take the helm on January 9. He will try to pull off the kind of turnaround promised by the last Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) CEO, Carol Bartz, who was fired by phone in September.
Thompson will receive a base salary of $1 million for 2012. He's guaranteed a bonus of at least $1 million, and it could be as much as $2 million if he hits various performance goals.
The contract, which doesn't lock Thompson into the role for any set number of years, also awards him lucrative stock grants. Thompson will get a grant this year valued at $11 million, plus an additional $5 million grant as a one-time hiring perk.
But that's not all. Yahoo will compensate Thompson for the loss of bonus and stock awards he would have received from PayPal (a subsidiary of eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500)). He'll get a cash bonus of $1.5 million, plus a grant of restricted stock units worth $6.5 million.
Of those restricted stock units, $5.5 million worth will vest on March 15. The remaining $1 million will vest in 2013 if Thompson remains in his position.
Thompson's hefty pay package, which Yahoo disclosed in a late-Friday regulatory filing, pales in comparison to Bartz's first-year windfall. Yahoo calculated her 2009 pay at $47 million -- though most of that is a paper gain based on stock options that may not ever pay out. The company has not yet disclosed how much it paid Bartz in severance, though Yahoo's earlier estimates put the figure at around $10 million.
Obama strengthens military in Asia-Pacific
US President Barack Obama has unveiled a defence strategy to expand the country’s military presence in the Asia-Pacific region amid defence cuts.
It’s a time of transition for the world’s largest military power.
To cope with budget cuts and transitional national security interests, the US government is reducing spending in Europe and moving its’ military resources further East.
Barack Obama,US President, said, "We will be strengthening our presence in the Asia Pacific and budget reductions will not come at the expense of that critical region."
The President’s Strategic Review will reset defence priorities and guide defence budget cuts over the next decade.
Despite the good relationship China and the US hold, the review indicates the US is still worried about the strategic intention of China’s military build-up, and thinks its’ rise could affect US economy and security.
The new strategy also seeks to improve US capabilities in areas such as cyber-warfare and missile defence.
The detailed plan won’t be available for several weeks.
Russian warships heading for Syria
The Russian Navy's warships patrolling the eastern Mediterranean Sea were heading for a Syrian port, the state-owned Itar-Tass news agency reported on Friday.
The warships were scheduled to arrive in Tartus, a point of logistics supplies of the Russian navy on Saturday, according to preliminary information.
"It is planned that the port of Tartus will be visited by a big anti-submarine ship of the Northern Fleet 'Admiral Chabanenko' and an escort ship 'Yaroslav Mudry'," Itar-Tass quoted a source with the Russian Navy as saying.
"Our ships are supposed to stay in Syria for several days," the source said, without giving more details about the warships' mission in the country.
Russian Navy dispatched their warships to the Mediterranean sea in November, and claimed the move was part of scheduled exercises and had no connection with the situation in Syria.
The warships, led by "Admiral Kuznetsov", the country's only aircraft carrier, have started their patrol missions in the Northeast Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea since Dec. 6 to "ensure the security of the sea navigation and other Russian maritime economic activities," according to Russian Navy.
Pro-Democracy Demonstrators Rally in Bahrain
Hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators in Bahrain gathered Saturday in the capital, Manama, for a protest led by the Shi'ite-led opposition, defying a government ban.
The demonstration was organized by opposition groups led by Al Wefaq, a leader of the Shi'ite majority's protest movement.
Riot police blocked roads leading to the city center, forcing demonstrators to gather elsewhere. The protest ended peacefully.
Also Saturday, the United States expressed concern over continued violence in the Persian Gulf nation, as well as the fate of a Bahraini human rights activist, Nabeel Rajab, who was injured during a demonstration Friday.
The U.S. State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, said in a statement that U.S. embassy officials in Manama met with Rajab and urged the Bahraini government to refrain from using excessive force against protesters, as well as launch a full investigation into Rajab's case.
More than 40 people have died since the unrest in Bahrain began nearly a year ago. The protest movement is aimed at breaking the Sunni minority's hold on power in the Shi'ite majority country.
Bahraini security forces faced off against protesters through much of 2011 in a series of confrontations. Analysts say the protesters have drawn inspiration from the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
In November, the head of a special commission probing the violence said the government used excessive force, including the torture of detainees, at the height of its crackdown on demonstrators in March 2011.
But the report concluded there was no evidence that Gulf-area troops committed human rights abuses, after Bahrain called in Saudi troops to help crush the protests.
Bahrain is an important U.S. ally and home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Washington has taken a cautious line with authorities, urging the country's leaders to open more dialogue with the opposition.