Floyd Mayweather to make return against Victor Ortiz
Floyd Mayweather has announced he will end his latest spell in retirement by challenging Victor Ortiz for the WBC welterweight title on 17 September.
Mayweather has not fought since outpointing Shane Mosley in May 2010.
"My fans have been waiting long enough," said the 34-year-old American.
The return of unbeaten Mayweather, a five-time world champion, will raise hopes of an ultimate showdown with Philippine superstar Manny Pacquiao.
But first he must negotiate his way past Ortiz.
"At this stage of my career, these are the challenges I look for, a young, strong, rising star looking to make his mark in boxing by beating me," added Mayweather.
"Trust me, I will be ready."
American Ortiz, 24, won his title from defending champion Andre Berto in Connecticut in April. He was knocked down twice en route to winning a unanimous decision.
"I respect Mayweather because he has been a champion for many years and I know he will be ready but so will I," said Ortiz, who has lost twice in 33 fights.
"I'm a world champion for a reason and I am not going to let go of my title any time soon. This is going to be a great fight, but I will remain a world champion for many years to come."
Mayweather's time away from the ring has not been without incident.
Unbeaten in 41 fights, Mayweather faces felony charges in a domestic argument with his ex-girlfriend and two of their children last year.
He also faces misdemeanour harassment charges accusing him of threatening two homeowner association security guards outside his Las Vegas home.
The charges stem from an October dispute over parking with guards in the gated community where Mayweather lives.
Mayweather also faces a September trial on a misdemeanour battery charge stemming from allegations he poked a 21-year-old guard in the face during a separate argument over parking tickets in November.
The venue for the September fight has yet to be determined.
Rafael Nadal beats qualifier Matthew Ebden at Queen's
Rafael Nadal effortlessly reached the third round of Queen's with a straight-forward 6-4 6-4 victory over Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden.
Fatigue did not seem to overly trouble Sunday's French Open champion as he broke in the opening game against an opponent ranked 168th in the world.
Nadal, hoping to reclaim a title he won in 2008, broke early in the second set and easily served out the match.
"I feel a little tired," said the Spaniard. "I had a tough French Open."
The top seed admitted adjusting to his first singles match on grass this year was tricky, saying: "It's never easy at the start of the grass-court season.
"Everything is completely different, and you don't have a lot of days to adapt to the different surface.
"It's not enough, but I've progressed. I am a little bit tired because I had a tough Roland Garros and clay-court season but I am here to try my best like always."
Ebden served well throughout but offered little in the way of a real threat, apart from a solitary break-back point at 3-2 in the second set, which Nadal saved easily.
The world number one will play Radek Stepanek in the third round, after the Czech player fought back to beat Croat 16th seed Ivan Ljubicic 0-6 7-5 6-4.
The ATP confirmed on Wednesday night that Nadal's victory over Ebden means he has enough ranking points to secure a place at this year's World Tour Finals.
Nadal, the beaten finalist in 2010, joins Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic in qualifying for the event, to be held in November at The O2 in London.
Mavs' guard Stevenson: LeBron 'checked out' of Game 4
Mavericks guard DeShawn Stevenson is directing some sharp words toward Miami's LeBron James on the eve of Game 5 in the NBA finals.
Stevenson says the Heat forward "checked out" in the final minutes of Game 4 on Tuesday night, when James was held to eight points - the lowest he managed in 90 career playoff games.
Stevenson isn't worried about the perception of his comments, either.
After Dallas practiced Wednesday, Stevenson was saying that the Heat are still getting to know each other, that James wasn't himself in Game 4 and that the two-time MVP is "talented enough that he can use anything in the paper to kind of boost his ego."
Game 5 is Thursday night. The series is knotted at two games apiece following Dallas' 86-83 win on Tuesday night.
No Lord’s Test for Windies in 2012
West Indies could miss out on having a Test at Lord’s when they tour England in the summer of 2012. A combination of the Olympic Games archery competition, and financial procedure could see the Caribbean side forced to play matches at other venues in England. “The Olympics is the Olympics,” said Keith Bradshaw, chief executive of the Marylebone Cricket Club, which owns the ground. “Everyone understands that, and if cricket is moved aside for a period of time while the Olympics are on, we all accept that and will work around it.
“It’s business as usual, with the bonus of having London 2012 coming to Lord’s.” The opportunity of staging the Test, along with Nottingham and Birmingham, has been offered by the England & Wales Cricket Board instead to the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff, a comparatively new international venue in a principality in which cricket is not established as a major sport. The omission of a match at “Headquarters”—where they took such pride in the historic victory of 1950—will hit West Indians living in Britain particularly hard. Nor will they have a Test at The Oval, which for many years, was considered to be a “home” fixture because of the large attendance drawn from the large Caribbean.
It is understood that with the Olympic Games in London dominating the summer sporting schedule, and two of the six Tests being also staged in the city, the ECB wants to give the outer regions a share of the other major events. The London 2012 organising committee (Locogo) and the MCC have unveiled plans for transforming Lord’s, the “home of cricket”, into a temporary archery venue for the Olympics. It will be subject to a small-scale test event being held there in October 2011. The ground will be out of use for cricketing purposes for a month during July and the start of August 2012 causing the prestigious “set-piece” Test against South Africa to be held considerably later than usual in the season. (CMC)
Greek joblessness at record as new austerity looms
Unemployment in debt-ridden Greece hit new record highs in March as government officials wrangled over tough new austerity measures required to tap vital international rescue funds. The jobless rate increased to 16.2 per cent in March from 15.9 per cent in February, the country’s statistics agency said yesterday. The total number of Greeks out of work was 811,340, up 40 per cent from a year earlier, when the unemployment rate was 11.6 per cent. March’s is the highest level of joblessness recorded since the statistics agency began issuing figures in 2004. The government had projected an overall unemployment rate of 14.5 per cent for this year in its 2011 budget.
The situation is expected to get worse as the governing Socialists impose yet more austerity measures to meet targets set out in the agreement for Greece’s €110 billion (US$161 billion) package of rescue loans.
Cutbacks and tax increases taken over the past year have already led to anger among workers and unions, which has been compounded by the realisation that the measures did not produce all of the results they were expected to. Ministers are now tussling over the details of additional cutbacks and across the board tax hikes, including €6.4 billion worth of remedial austerity measures for this year, and a midterm programme to run from 2012-2015, two years beyond the current government’s mandate.
The government is also pushing through a €50 billion privatisation programme that includes public utilities. Workers at state companies facing privatisation have called their first strike against the plan for today. Joined by much of the state sector in work stoppages, the strike will affect public transport, banks, post offices and the state television and radio stations. Strikes have affected virtually all sectors at some stage, with workers holding demonstrations or picketing ministry buildings. Yesterday, radiology technicians became the latest group to protest, with about 300 gathering outside the Health Ministry in central Athens. The technicians, who held up placards printed on x-ray film, were protesting cuts to extra time off they receive due to their exposure to radiation at work.
Prime Minister George Papandreou is also faced with increasing frustration from within his own Socialist party — and among his ministers — over the new austerity. Several Socialist lawmakers have criticised the measures, although none have said outright they oppose the plan, due to be voted on in Parliament by the end of this month. During lengthy consultations with his party deputies late yesterday, Papandreou stressed the need for lawmakers to back the plan — which the Cabinet will discuss today before submitting it to Parliament. “Above all, we have to remain within our fiscal targets, to reduce the deficit,” Papandreou said, according to excerpts released by his press office. “Secondly, we must take measures that will bolster the sense of justice, which protect the weak and distribute the burden in a fair manner.”
His finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, came under heavy fire from disgruntled deputies during a marathon meeting Tuesday. Greek media reported that Vasso Papandreou, head of parliament’s financial affairs committee, accused Papaconstantinou of “lacking a plan and taking measures that will be short-lived.”
Labour Minister Louka Katseli said some of the proposed measures would be “re-evaluated.” The government also appears shaken by sustained anti-austerity rallies in Greek cities, which climaxed on Sunday with tens of thousands of peaceful protesters in central Athens. Papandreou suggested after an informal Cabinet meeting on Monday that he was open to holding a referendum on austerity measures, although government spokesman George Petalotis said the following day that there were no immediate plans for such a vote. (AP)
EU offers farmers US$300m for E coli crisis
Pressed hard by outraged farmers, the European Union farm chief yesterday increased his offer of compensation for the E coli outbreak to €210 million (US$306 million). EU Farm Commissioner Dacian Ciolos had initially proposed €150 million (US$219 million) to the struggling farmers, who have tons of unwanted produce rotting in fields and warehouses as Europeans shun vegetables, fearing they are contaminated with a deadly strain of E. coli. But under pressure from big producers like Spain, Italy and France, he was forced to offer more help. The 27-nation bloc is expected to make a final decision on Tuesday. The package covers the period from when the farm crisis began late last month till the end of June, in the hopes that the scare will have abated by then.
"We don't know how things are going to evolve. We cannot predict," Ciolos said. "At the end of June we will see where we stand." The proposed aid still falls far short of the losses that European farmers have estimated — over €400 million (US$600 million) a week — and farmers are expected to demand even better terms. The European farmers federation Copa-Cogeca immediately rejected the new offer as insufficient. "More funds must be made available to help pull the sector out of this deep crisis," Copa-Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen said. Ciolos had hiked the compensation from 30 percent of the value of the crops to 50 percent, but the industry is still demanding 100 per cent compensation for the losses.
Ciolos said he came up with a better offer Wednesday because he included zucchini and peppers on top of his initial offer for cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce. He said the funds would be covered by the existing EU farm budget. At least 26 people have now died since May 2 in the world's deadliest known outbreak of E. coli, and over 2,700 have been sickened by the bacteria. No cause for the outbreak has yet been found. (AP)
No output deal as OPEC talks collapse
OPEC talks broke down in acrimony yesterday without an agreement to raise output after Saudi Arabia failed to convince the oil cartel to lift production. “We were unable to reach an agreement—this is one of the worst meetings we have ever had,” said Ali al-Naimi, oil minister for Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s biggest producer. The failure to do a deal is a blow for consumer nations hoping the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would take action to stem fuel inflation. It also underlines concerns about OPEC’s willingness to help control prices, perhaps leaving the oil market more open to speculative attack. It is absolutely amazing,” said Alirio Parra, Venezuela’s former OPEC president. “This is not market leadership.”
“OPEC has for the moment been removed as a force for moderating prices on the upside,” said Barclays Capital. Brent crude rose $1.05 a barrel to $117.83, gains limited by a pledge from Saudi Arabia to unilaterally ensure plentiful supplies.
The United States had put pressure on Saudi to deliver a credible deal to cap crude prices and underpin faltering economic growth. “We have noted with disappointment that OPEC members today were unable to agree on the need to make more oil available to the market,” said the West’s energy adviser the International Energy Agency. The agency was “ready to move” if necessary to release emergency reserves, its executive director Nobuo Analysts said that while there were opposing views on whether markets required more crude, the backdrop to the disagreement revolved around political tensions in the Middle East and North Africa and differences over how to respond to consumer demands.
“One factor is a diverging market view. Another is politics,” said analyst Samuel Ciszuk at IHS. “At times of heated politics/ideological debate, Saudi struggled to dominate as much as it could have given its size vis-a-vis others in OPEC.” Gulf Arab producer Qatar has given support to Libyan rebels fighting the government of Libya’s Mummar Gaddafi. And Saudi Arabia has angered Shi’ite Iran by using force to support the Sunni Bahraini government in suppressing a Shi’ite rebellion. Saudi’s Naimi said OPEC’s four Gulf Arab countries proposed the 12-member group increase output by 1.5 million barrels a day to 30.3 million barrels a day, including Iraq which is not bound by an OPEC quota.
But they were left isolated by a majority of seven—Libya, Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Venezuela, Iraq and Iran—who wanted to keep production unchanged. Nigeria remained neutral. Algeria’s Youcef Yousfi was lead spokesman in opposition, a delegate said. Iran said the view of the majority was that supplies were adequate for the time being and that it had proposed delaying a decision on more oil by two or three months. “Iran believes there is no shortage of supply,” acting Oil Minister Mohammad Aliabadi told Reuters. “There is no request that we cannot meet, therefore there was no need to raise output and that was the opinion of many other OPEC members.”
Easily OPEC’s biggest producer, Saudi Arabia normally gets its way. But this time those in OPEC politically opposed to the United States—in particular Iran and Venezuela—found enough support to block Riyadh.
“Saudi is the cartel member most interested in earning political ‘points’ with consuming countries, and maintaining its image as a reliable supplier of last resort,” said Katherine Spector at CIBC World Markets.
“Venezuela and Iran likely feel they have less to gain politically by increasing quotas as a symbolic gesture.”
The only country with significant spare capacity, Saudi Arabia will now raise output unilaterally. “The market is not going to see any shortage because we couldn’t reach an agreement in this meeting. We are willing and we are able to deliver what is needed,” said Naimi.
“This agreement ... means death to the existing quota system, an invitation for countries to do anything they want until the next OPEC meeting,” said a senior Gulf delegate. Earlier in the week a Gulf official said Saudi was already raising output in June to 9.5-9.7 million bpd. Even OPEC’s own forecasts suggest more oil is required to stop oil prices rising again. OPEC’s Vienna secretariat sees demand in the second half of the year 1.7 million bpd higher than current cartel output—in line with Saudi Arabia’s proposals. “We know the third quarter and the fourth quarter need additional crude,” said Naimi. “We have the capacity to deliver and we will deliver it.” OPEC has six months to cool off before it reconvenes. Iran offered to host a meeting in August or September but Gulf producers declined. The next scheduled meeting is on December 14 in Vienna. (Reuters)
New Gulf of Mexico energy finds for Exxon
Exxon Mobil Corp has made two big new oil discoveries and a natural gas find in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, news that underscores the importance of the prolific basin to US crude output.
Oil and gas exploration in the Gulf was halted by the US government last year after the blowout at BP Plc's Macondo well, and activity in the Gulf remains at levels far below those seen before the oil spill.
Exxon estimated the new wells could produce about 700 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE). "Seven hundred million barrels doesn't happen very often," John White, an analyst at Houston-based Triple Double Advisors in Houston, said. "That's a lot of oil."
The lower tertiary geological formation which stretches across the deepwater Gulf, is thought to hold as much 15 billion barrels of oil. Recent large discoveries there include BP Plc's Kaskida, estimated to hold 3 billion barrels of oil. Irving, Texas-based Exxon had reserves of 24.8 billion barrels oil equivalent at the end of last year. Exxon shares were up 1 per cent in afternoon trading. The discoveries are the company's first in the Gulf since the government moratorium was lifted. The Irving, Texas, company was on the verge of drilling its Hadrian prospect when the government suspended deepwater activity. "(The discovery) speaks to the fact there are resources in the Gulf and if we have a tax and regulatory environment that will encourage us to find and produce our own domestic oil, the industry will respond," said Mark Routt, an energy industry consultant with KBC Advanced Technologies.
Exxon has not finished its development plan yet, and more drilling will be needed to further appraise how much oil is in the reservoir. Production could be years away. The wells are located in the Keathley Canyon at a water depth of about 7,000 feet, 250 miles southwest of New Orleans. Other operators in Keathley Canyon include Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC.N) and Chevron Corp (CVX.N). Last month, Noble Energy Inc (NBL.N) said it had made an oil discovery at its Santiago prospect in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Noble was the first company to receive a drilling permit from US regulators after the drilling halt.
Exxon owns a 50 per cent interest in the three new wells, which are part-owned by Eni Petroleum US, part of Italy's Eni SpA (ENI.MI), and Brazil's Petrobras (PETR4.SA).
Exxon shares were up 83 cents at $80.83 in afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock was outperforming a flat CBOE index of oil companies (.OIX). (Reuters)
Fitch to review US rating if no debt ceiling deal
Fitch Ratings says it might downgrade US debt if lawmakers fail to increase America's borrowing limit before the government runs out of money in August. The rating agency, based in New York, said yesterday that it will put the debt on watch for a possible downgrade if lawmakers have not reached a deal by August 2. That’s the date by which the Treasury Department will have exhausted stopgap measures it is using to delay a default. Fitch expects the debt ceiling to be increased. If that doesn't happen, the nation might default, implying "a crisis of governance" and threatening the stability of the world financial system, the rating agency said. "Default by the world's largest borrower and issuer of the pre-eminent reserve currency would be extraordinary and threaten the still fragile financial stability in the US and the world as a whole, especially against the backdrop of the European sovereign debt crisis," said David Riley, head of Sovereign Ratings at Fitch, in a statement.
A lower credit rating could spread through the economy, increasing the cost of borrowing for consumers and businesses That's because many loans, including mortgages, tend to follow yields on US Treasury bonds. If investors demand higher yields to offset the increased risk associated with Treasury debt, rates for other loans would rise, as well. If borrowing and spending decrease sharply, the sluggish economic recovery could run out of steam. The government reached its borrowing limit of $14.29 billion on May 16. Since then, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has employed what he calls "extraordinary measures" to continue paying the government's bills. They include borrowing from two federal employee pension funds and halting a program under which Treasury issues securities to help state and local governments meet their investment obligations.
President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans agree that the nation must reduce its annual deficit. They disagree about how to do it. Republicans want to solve the problem with spending cuts, while Democrats insist that tax increases also must be part of the plan. Failing to increase the borrowing limit could upend the financial system and imperil the economic recovery, the administration has warned. Business groups and Wall Street firms agree. But some Republicans believe that a default would not have long-term reverberations. They refuse to support a higher debt ceiling unless Democrats agree to billions in spending cuts.
If Congress and the Obama administration fail to reach a deal before Treasury runs out of time, Fitch will place US debt on "Rating Watch Negative." Major banks and other companies closely linked to government debt also would be reviewed, Fitch said. If Treasury can't repay $52 billion of Treasury notes and coupon payments due on Aug. 15, the nation's sovereign debt rating would be deemed in "Restricted Default" until the government has made good on its debts, Fitch said. At that point, Fitch would increase the sovereign rating to "a level commensurate with Fitch's assessment of the creditworthiness of the US government," the rating agency said.
It is not the first such warning. Moody's Investors Service said last week that it might begin reviewing the nation's credit rating next month. In April, Standard & Poor's lowered its long-term outlook for the government's fiscal health to "negative" from "stable." S&P warned that it could strip the government of its top credit rating over the next two years if lawmakers failed to rein in the deficit. (AP)
Torrential rains spark deadly floods in Haitian capital
United Nations peacekeepers and humanitarian staff are helping with relief efforts in Haiti, where floods sparked by torrential rains earlier this week have killed at least 10 people in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
At least four neighbourhoods of the city – Carrefour, Cité Soleil, Delmas and Pétion-Ville -- as well as the southern areas of Gressier and Les Palmes, have been badly affected by flooding that began on Monday night, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Tuesday.
OCHA said there are enough pre-positioned medical kits to assist 120,000 people and emergency shelters ready to house as many as 110,000 families, with trauma kits and cholera kits available as well.
Stocks of food supplies, such as cereals, pulses, vegetable oil and salt, are also available at short notice if required.
Blue helmets serving the UN peacekeeping force (MINUSTAH) and OCHA staff have been working with emergency officials and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to assess the damages wrought by the rains and floods.
Peacekeepers have also transferred some internally displaced persons (IDPs), along with their belongings, to camps situated on safer ground.
MINUSTAH reported that it has helicopters on standby in case evacuations are needed and engineering equipment also available if required.
Last week the UN said that Haiti was better prepared than last year to handle the annual hurricane season, which officially began on 1 June.
But meteorologists have warned that this season could be unusually active, with as many as 18 major storms or hurricanes expected in the Caribbean region.