Former Australia captain Murray Barnes dies at 57
Former Australia captain Murray Barnes has died at the age of 57.
Barnes skippered the Socceroos during their unsuccessful campaign to qualify for the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
He won 51 caps, scoring nine goals, and won four domestic titles with his club Sydney City Hakoah.
Football Federation Australia chief executive Ben Buckley said Barnes "will be remembered as a fierce competitor and as a proud Australian" who led his country "with distinction".
Players will wear black armbands as a mark of respect to Murray in the five A-League matches scheduled for Wednesday 4 January, when fans will be invited to join a minute's applause.
Barnes spent a year with Leeds United as a youth player in the early 1970s.
A tall, strong and aggressive player, he was predominately a midfielder but often played in attack and occasionally in defence.
Victor Cruz continues rise to stardom
The Cowboys will hear that sound all offseason long — a haunting cry that will nestle into their souls and keep them up at night, lest they slip back into a nightmare.
Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuzzzzzzzzz.
Two-hundred-and-fifty-five players were drafted in the 2010 NFL Draft. Victor Cruz was not one of them. He signed with the Giants and fought his way onto the team, before an injury ended his season. He then battled into the offensive plans again in 2011.
He made his first two career catches in Week 2 of this season. Over the next 14 games, he would haul in 80 more passes and compile more than 1,500 yards.
Sunday night, he was unstoppable. Seemingly every time Eli Manning dropped back to pass in a key situation, he looked for No. 80. And, try as they might, the Cowboys simply could not keep him from making plays in a 31-14 Giants win
In the first quarter, on a 3rd-and-1, he burned Terence Newman — who, incidentally, played the type of hands-off defense usually saved for the meaningless Pro Bowl. Cruz ran a simple out route, caught a pass from Manning, then turned up the left sideline and sprinted to the end zone for an early 7-0 Giants lead.
Cruz then set up Ahmad Bradshaw’s TD in the second quarter by coming up with a 5-yard catch on 3rd-and-4 from the Dallas 10.
Then, just as the Cowboys decided to show up, Cruz delivered the biggest play of the night. The Giants’ lead had been trimmed from 21-14, and Manning found himself in trouble on 3rd-and-7. But New York’s QB somehow spun from pressure and threw a jump ball up for Cruz — a play so much like Manning’s famous Super Bowl highlight against the Patriots that you couldn’t help but notice the similarities.
And, just like David Tyree did, Cruz got inside of the deep coverage, leaped and came down with a 44-yard reception. That one led to a Lawrence Tynes field goal that put the Giants back up 10 and allowed the New York players and fans to breathe again.
“He’s done a great job — working hard, understanding this offense, knowing how to get open,” Manning said of Cruz. “He’s a big-play guy. He’s done a great job making big plays for us.”
A Hakeem Nicks touchdown and a couple of defensive stops later, the Giants were NFC East champs, bound for the playoffs and a home date with Atlanta.
The Giants earned this win, and they earned the division title. While Dallas struggled to find its footing on the Sunday night stag in e, New York stormed out and grabbed the bull by the horns. Before Dallas knew what was happening, it was 21-0.
Give some credit to a wounded Tony Romo, who shed the glove protecting his injured throwing hand at halftime and pulled his team back within seven in the fourth quarter. This season never went the way Dallas expected, with some of the blame falling on injuries and a rash of second-half letdowns.
But the Cowboys’ failures ultimately came down to two losses to the Giants. Dallas had a 34-22 lead on its division rivals late in a Week 14 game, before watching Manning rally Big Blue back.
The ‘Boys did not have a chance to blow the rematch, because the Giants never gave them much life. The first half was a total clinic, with New York’s defense schooling Dallas’ offensive line, and Manning and company nearly scoring at will.
Things got a little dicier for the home team after halftime, with Romo threatening to turn the tables and cap off a rally. That is, until Cruz skied in the air and pulled one away from Orlando Scandrick — the latest moment of heroism from New York’s amazing second-year receiver.
“(This season has) been amazing,” Cruz said, “to come in, relatively unknown trying to find a spot on this team … it’s been incredible.”
It’s hard to imagine New York winning Sunday night without him, just as Week 16′s win over the Jets might have been a different story for the Giants had Cruz not turned in an incredible individual effort on a 99-yard touchdown.
The Giants have other playmakers on the their roster: Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham and Bradshaw, to name a few. But ever since that Super Bowl XLII win on Feb. 3, 2008, they’ve been struggling to find a real go-to guy, someone who can rise above the occasion and steal the moment for himself.
Call it great scouting, luck or whatever you want, but New York finally appears to have found that player in an undrafted wide receiver out of Massachusetts.
Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuzzzzzzzzz.
Dallas will spend all offseason trying to forget that sound. But the Cowboys may not be the last team burned by the Giants’ formerly unknown superstar.
Eurozone manufacturing decline persists, PMI survey says
Activity in the eurozone manufacturing sector fell for the fifth successive month in December, but showed a slight improvement on the previous month, a closely-watched survey suggests.
The Markit eurozone manufacturing PMI was 46.9, up from November's 28-month low of 46.4. Any score under 50 represents a contraction.
Markit said production levels and new orders fell in all 17 member nations.
Employment rose in Germany and France, but fell across the bloc as a whole.
Markit said manufacturing growth in the final three months of last year was the weakest since the middle of 2009.
"Eurozone manufacturing is clearly undergoing another recession," said Markit's chief economist Chris Williamson.
"Despite the rate of decline easing slightly in December, production appears to have been collapsing across the single currency area at a quarterly rate of approximately 1.5% in the final quarter of 2011."
No country in the eurozone saw an increase in manufacturing activity in December.
Austria recorded the highest score of 49, followed by France on 48.9 and Germany on 48.4.
The survey also found that input prices across the eurozone fell for the third straight month.
Many economists believe the eurozone economy as a whole is heading for recession, after growing by just 0.2% between July and September - the latest figures available.
"Eurozone manufacturers are now very much on the back foot and finding life extremely challenging as domestic demand is hit by tighter fiscal policy across the region, squeezed consumer purchasing power, and heightened eurozone sovereign debt tensions leading to tightening credit conditions and financial market turmoil," said Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight.
The economic think tank believes the latest PMI data provides "significant support" to the case for the ECB to cut interest rates again in the next few months.
A poll conducted among leading economists by the BBC last week found that, of the 27 who responded, 25 forecast a return to recession for Europe next year.
Exxon wins $908m from Venezuela in oil dispute
Oil giant Exxon Mobil has won $908m (£586m) from an arbitration panel after the nationalisation of its Venezuelan oil project in 2007.
However, this is less than 10% of what the oil giant had reportedly sought.
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris set the award, ruling that Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA, did have liability to Exxon after its assets were nationalised.
The award is less than the $1bn Venezuela offered in September.
Exxon had reportedly sought $10bn in compensation for the nationalisation of its heavy crude upgrading project in Venezuela's oil rich Orinoco belt.
Future cases
It is one of many arbitration cases currently under consideration after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ordered the nationalisation of the assets of some oil companies including Exxon and Conoco Phillips.
"They must be elated that they got off so cheap. It's certainly a happy new year for Venezuela," said Russ Dallen at Caracas Capital Markets.
The decision was made by an arbitration tribunal at the ICC. Under the rules of the arbitration, its decisions are binding.
Exxon will hope for a better result in the next case concerning the nationalisation of its Cerro Negro heavy oil project, which is being heard by a different arbitration panel.
Much of Venezuela's so far untapped reserves are harder-to-process heavy oil, and the Venezuelan government has been keen to increase state revenues from these reserves.
Analysts have said the country's aggressive nationalisation strategy may have deterred foreign investors and limited oil production.
But despite the moves, which saw Exxon and Conoco Philips leave the country, other oil firms have continued to invest .
In 2010, US firm Chevron and Spain's Repsol signed investment deals to exploit resources in the country's Orinoco belt.
Hyundai and Kia predict slower sales growth in 2012
Hyundai and its affiliate Kia Motors have said they expect sales growth in 2012 to be sharply slower than 2011 due to the global economic downturn.
The South Korean carmakers said they expect sales to rise by 6% next year to 7 million vehicles. Their combined sales rose by 15% in 2011.
The group is the fifth largest vehicle maker in the world and performed well during the recession.
But the company said weak European growth will limit expansion this year.
"I expect the automotive industry to see growth slowing because of the European debt crisis and the global economic slowdown," said Hyundai Motor's chairman, Chung Mong-koo.
Competition
The company also expects increased competition from Japanese manufacturers recovering from last year's earthquake and tsunami.
"Hyundai and Kia have offered a conservative sales target based on the negative economic outlook," said car analyst Ahn Sang-jun from Tong Yang Securities.
"I expect it to be fully achievable and sales to reach 7.2 million [vehicles] next year."
The group has also said it is to invest 4.6trn Korean won ($4bn, £2.6bn) for fuel efficient and electric cars.
Last month, Japanese carmaker Toyota forecast a 20% increase in sales in 2012, to 8.48 million cars.
India may 'reverse' monetary policy to boost growth
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said it may ease its monetary policy amid fears of a global economic slowdown.
Duvvuri Subbarao, the governor of RBI, told the BBC the bank is likely to shift its focus towards boosting growth.
The RBI has raised its key interest rate 13 times since March 2010 in a bid to control rising consumer prices.
However, there have been fears that excessive tightening may hurt growth.
"From here on we could expect reversal of monetary tightening," Mr Subbarao told the BBC's India Business Report.
However, Mr Subbarao added that it was "difficult to say when that will take place and in what shape it will roll out".
'Mindful of growth'
Over the past two years, the RBI has focused on controlling the high rate of inflation in the country.
Rising costs of food and other essential commodities such as fuel saw consumer prices rise sharply in India, prompting the central bank to raise the cost of borrowing in a bid to slow domestic demand.
The tightening measures have started to have some impact on stemming price growth, with the rate of inflation falling to 9.1% in November, from 9.7% in the previous month.
However, there have been concerns that the high cost of borrowing has also hurt businesses in the country.
Industrial production in India fell 5.1% in October from a year earlier, the first such fall in almost two years.
That, coupled with a slowdown in the eurozone and the US, has raised fears that India's economic growth may slow further in the coming months.
Mr Subbarao said that although inflation still remained a risk, the RBI was aware that it needed to boost growth amid an uncertain global economic environment.
"We have always been mindful of growth concerns, contrary to popular perceptions," he said.
"In fact, in our December statement we said that growth is a serious concern. So I think the balance between growth and inflation will shift in 2012," he added.
China Hints at Loosening Exchange Rate
China's central bank governor hinted Saturday that the exchange rate for country's currency - the yuan - could be loosened in the near future.
In an interview with the weekly magazine Caixin, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, said the bank was close to reaching its goal of allowing the yuan to be converted at market-determined exchange rates.
Beijing's trading partners, including the United States, have long criticized its exchange rate, saying it is kept artificially low, causing massive trade deficits between some countries and China.
On inflation, Zhou said the outlook has improved and the task of keeping prices down would not be as urgent in 2012.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
Fiji Announces Lifting of State of Emergency
Fiji's military strongman Voreqe Bainimarama said Monday that he will lift a two-year state of emergency next Saturday and begin a process of drafting a new constitution leading to new elections in 2014.
In his New Year's message, Mr. Bainimarama stressed that public order would be maintained and that he would soon announce nationwide consultations for a new constitution to establish a democratically-elected government.
“I will in the next few weeks announce the nationwide consultation process, which will commence in February 2012.”
Mr. Bainimarama gave no details of what will replace martial law, but rather, he described the values on which the constitution should be based.
“The constitution must establish a new government that is founded on a new electoral system that guarantees equal suffrage. A truly democratic system based on the principal on one person, one vote, one value.”
When he seized power in a bloodless coup in December 2006, Mr. Bainimarama said Fiji's ruling political classes were corrupt, and that the existing voting system was racially based to give indigenous Fijians greater voting power than the ethnic Indians who make up about 35 percent of the nation's 900,000 people.
“We will not have a system that will classify Fijians on ethnicity, and our young men and women – those 18 years old – must have the right to vote.”
Draconian regulations, including tight censorship on the news media and a ban on public meetings, were imposed after a Fiji court ruled that Commodore Bainimarama's military coup was illegal.
Mr. Bainimarama has broken earlier pledges to return to democracy, but says he will hold elections in 2014.
Jon Fraenkel at the Australian National University told VOA he remains hopeful democracy can return to Fiji but remains skeptical the military will stay out of the election process.
“Well, we'll have to wait and see. There were previous times since the 2006 coup where they lifted the public emergency regulations. And the minute there was any signs of dissent, they slapped them straight back on.”
Relations between Fiji and many countries have deteriorated since Mr. Bainimarama seized power, and he has remained under heavy pressure to return Fiji to democracy.
Australia, New Zealand, the European Union and the United States have imposed sanctions and financial penalties imposed on the government.
Fiji also remains suspended from the 53-member, British-led group of former British colonies known as the Commonwealth.
Nigeria fury as fuel prices double after subsidy ends
Ordinary Nigerians and trade unionists have condemned the government for withdrawing a fuel price subsidy which has led some petrol prices to double and many filling stations to stay shut.
The BBC's Chris Ewokor in the capital, Abuja, says Nigerians are angry at the announcement, fearing the price of many other goods will also rise.
The main trade unions have called people to prepare for a strike.
Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer, but imports refined petrol.
Years of mismanagement and corruption mean it does not have the capacity to refine oil, turning it into petrol and other fuels.
Analysts say many Nigerians regard cheap fuel as the only benefit they get from the nation's oil wealth.
Our correspondent says that many petrol stations in Abuja are closed as the owners are not sure what price they should charge.
He says there are long queues outside some filling stations.
'Long drawn battle'
In the commercial capital, Lagos, most petrol stations are closed, while those which are open have more than doubled their prices, reports the BBC's Tomi Oladipo in the city.
Prices have increased from 65 naira ($0.40; £0.26) per litre to at least 140 naira in filling stations are from 100 naira to at least 200 on the black market.
The government has spent more than $8bn (£5.2bn) on the subsidies in the past year and says it will use some of the money to improve infrastructure.
"Consumers are assured of adequate supply of quality products at prices that are competitive and non-exploitative and so there is no need for anyone to engage in panic buying or product hoarding," said a government statement.
Nigeria's two main labour organisations, the Trades Union Congress and the Nigerian Labour Congress, issued a joint statement condemning the move.
"We alert the populace to begin immediate mobilisation towards the D-Day for the commencement of strikes, street demonstrations and mass protests across the country," the statement said.
"This promises to be a long-drawn battle; we know it is beginning, but we do not know its end or when it will end."
"We are confident the Nigerian people will triumph," it said.
State of emergency
Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer but most of the available 2 million barrels per day are exported in an unrefined state.
The country lacks refineries and infrastructure so has to import refined products such as petrol, which is expensive.
Nigerians are heavy users of fuel, not just for cars but to power generators that many households and businesses use to cope with the country's erratic electricity supply.
Previous attempts to end the subsidies in Nigeria have prompted industrial action and street protests.
A strike against fuel price rises in Nigeria in 2004 caused most petrol stations to close, leading to transport chaos and a thriving black market in petrol.
Correspondents say the measures just announced could add to the difficulties faced by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who declared a state of emergency on Saturday in areas hit by Islamist violence.
BBC
Egypt's generals move up next round of elections
Egypt's ruling military council has moved up the scheduled elections for the upper house of parliament by nearly three weeks, with voting now scheduled to start in late January, the state news agency MENA reported Sunday.
Balloting will be held in two stages instead of three, first on January 29-30 and then on February 14-15, MENA said, citing a decree from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. If necessary, runoffs would be held on February 7 and 22, with a goal of having winners seated by February 28.
Elections for the upper house had been scheduled to wrap up by March 12. Elections for the lower house were completed in December, with Islamist parties winning the largest share of the votes.
The generals have ruled Egypt since the revolt that toppled longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak last February. Sunday's announcement follows weeks of street protests calling on them to cede power to a civilian government, and a crackdown on opposition that saw police raiding several rights groups, including three based in the United States.
Egyptian authorities agreed to halt the raids and return all equipment and documents seized after protests from Washington, which provides more than $1 billion per year in military aid to Egypt.