Venezuela demands extradition of accused Cuban terrorist
The president of the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice, Luisa Estella Morales, said in Havana on Monday that the government of the United States should immediately extradite accused terrorist Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela.
In a press conference in the Cuban capital, the jurist noted that the Venezuelan request is made in compliance with international treaties signed with many countries, including the United States.
“He should be extradited to judge him in Venezuela for the crimes he organized and committed in our country,” she pointed out.
Regarding the recent trial in El Paso, Texas, in which Posada Carriles faced minor charges of immigration fraud -- of which he was acquitted -- Estella Morales added that, according to international treaties, as he does not have pending processes in US territory, he should then be extradited to Venezuela.
“Our demand also lies in the fact that, although Posada Carriles was born in Cuba, he became naturalized as a Venezuelan and, according to our Constitution, Venezuela has the right to judge its nationals,” she stated.
Among other crimes, Luis Posada Carriles is accused of masterminding the 1976 mid-air bombing of a Cuban airliner in which 73 people were killed. He is also said to have organized a series of bomb attacks against tourist facilities in Havana in the late 1990s, as a result of which several people were injured and an Italian tourist died.
Estella Morales is in Cuba to hold meetings with the president of the Cuban Supreme Court, Ruben Remigio Ferro, and with other personalities.
Forbes list posts 19 sports figures of top 100 celebrities
Tiger Woods has not finished a tournament atop the leaderboard in 18 months. Nonetheless, Forbes says the world's former No. 1 golfer remains the biggest celebrity in the sports world.
Woods is No. 6 on Forbes' annual "Celebrity 100" compilation of the most powerful people or groups in the entertainment business, the highest rank of any of the 19 athletes who made the list.
Miami Heat star LeBron James is 10th, up 18 spots from a year ago, and the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant was at No. 14 for the second straight year.
Lady Gaga tops Forbes' overall rankings, followed by Oprah Winfrey, Justin Bieber, U2 and Elton John.
Woods will fall out of the top 10 in golf's world ranking next week, the first time he'll be 11th or lower since 1997. His last tournament win was at the 2009 Australian Masters.
His star power apparently remains nearly as bright as ever.
Woods was No. 5 on Forbes' list in 2010, when the magazine estimated his annual earnings at $105 million -- $30 million less than what it figured him to make over the most recent 12-month period. Even after taking major endorsement hits following the scandal that ended his marriage, Woods still made $22 million more than Bryant in the past year, Forbes said.
Forbes listed James' earnings at $48 million, up $5 million from the previous year, and ranked him No. 2 behind only Winfrey in terms of media visibility. Forbes said its formula includes pretax income for the year ending May 1, media visibility and social media power through Facebook and Twitter.
Tennis star Roger Federer was 25th on the list, placing him fourth among athletes.
The Heat had two of the top 100, with Dwyane Wade (No. 57) joining James. And the New York Yankees also had two mentions, with Alex Rodriguez at No. 49 and Derek Jeter at No. 69, tying him with actress Julia Roberts.
Other sports figures on the list: David Beckham and Phil Mickelson (tied at No. 35), Cristiano Ronaldo (No. 43), Rafael Nadal (No. 46), Tom Brady (No. 55), Dwight Howard (No. 59), Lionel Messi (No. 62), Peyton Manning (No. 72), Maria Sharapova (No. 80), Serena Williams (No. 84), Venus Williams (No. 86) and Danica Patrick (No. 96).
Combined, Forbes said the 19 athletes on the list this year earned a combined $647 million.
Among those from the sports world who were ranked in 2010 but fell off the most recent Forbes celebrity list were Michael Jordan (20th in 2010), Floyd Mayweather (31st), Shaquille O'Neal (52nd), Manny Pacquiao (55th) and Lance Armstrong (65th).
Man Utd's Wayne Rooney threatens Twitter follower
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has told a Twitter follower: "I'll put u asleep within 10 seconds" after being provoked on the social networking site.
The 25-year-old England star, who has a following of over 570,000, was replying to an abusive tweet on Tuesday.
Rooney suggested a meeting at the training ground, tweeting: "hope u turn up if u don't gonna tell everyone ur scared u little nit. I'll be waiting."
In an effort to defuse the situation, Rooney tweeted: "Haha bit of banter".
The Twitter account belonging to the follower who taunted Rooney was subsequently deleted.
A number of footballers have already been reprimanded for inappropriate use of Twitter this season.
West Ham striker Carlton Cole was recently charged by the Football Association for improper conduct for remarks made during England's 1-1 draw with Ghana at Wembley in March.
While Liverpool striker Ryan Babel was fined £10,000 for a Twitter post and warned about his future conduct after being linked to a mocked-up picture of referee Howard Webb in a Manchester United shirt after a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford in the FA Cup.
Rooney was banned for two matches in April after accepting a Football Association charge for swearing into a TV camera after scoring a hat-trick at West Ham.
On Wednesday night at the Manchester United awards, Rooney's overhead kick against Manchester City at Old Trafford in February was the clear choice for goal of the season.
Portuguese winger Nani received the players' player of the year award, while Javier Hernandez was voted fans' player of the year.
Europa League final: Porto 1-0 Braga
Falcao scored the only goal of a scrappy Europa League final to give Porto victory over their Portuguese neighbours Braga in Dublin.
Custodio wasted an early Braga chance when he smashed a shot wide from the edge of the penalty area but they soon settled into a defence-minded strategy.
Braga held out until 44 minutes when Fredy Guarin crossed for Falcao to plant a header in the top corner.
Mossoro almost equalised when through one-on-one but Helton saved well.
Porto's victory continues their superb season, in which they have won their league title and remain on course for a Treble - they face Guimaraes in the Portuguese Cup on Sunday.
And coach Andre Villas-Boas becomes the youngest man - at 33 - to win a Uefa club competition.
But Porto, whose dominance in their domestic league saw them go unbeaten and finish 38 points ahead of Braga, were far from their best in Dublin.
With two sides from the same nation competing for the trophy, it was always likely to be a cagey affair.
As so it proved as underdogs Braga opted to keep things tight and flooded the midfield and defence.
The ploy worked well for them for 44 minutes - and they even had a decent chance very early on for Custodio - but it made for a tedious game to watch.
However, Braga were undone by carelessness in possession and then a lapse in marking - Alberto Rodriguez gave the ball away and the defence failed to pick up Falcao, who finished with style.
Until that point Falcao had cut an anonymous figure, while his strike partner Hulk had been on the end of a number of very strong challenges by Braga.
Only 38 seconds after the interval, Braga should have hauled themselves level when substitute Mossoro was clean through on goal but he hit his shot at the legs of keeper Helton.
Mossoro and fellow substitutes Kaka and Albert Meyong did their best to rouse Braga and their side did respond to exert a degree of pressure on Porto for the first time.
But the number of chances were outweighed by the number of bookings - eight in total - as the game continued to be feisty rather than fluent.
Meyong did get a sight on goal but scuffed his shot from the edge of the box and the ball dribbled out of play.
Porto were able to comfortably defend and even looked the more threatening when they countered - Hulk sent a shot over and Fernando Belluschi went closer with a drive from distance.
In the end, one moment of clinical finishing proved enough to give Porto the edge in a game that failed to live up to hopes and expectations.
Porto coach Andre Villas Boas: "Without a doubt this is a great feat. We have one trophy left for a memorable season.
"This has a huge emotional impact for us. Round after round, we kept believing more. Porto becomes an even more special club, even more unique.
"It adds another trophy, which is important and builds its future."
Braga coach Domingos Paciencia: "I am very proud, I lived unique moments here. These players also did, it's a beautiful story.
"May Braga continue to grow, we dignified Portuguese football."
Mills backs Bolt
Glen Mills, coach of world's fastest man Usain Bolt, has backed up statements made by his star athlete who dismissed recent concerns that back problems have continuously hampered his preparations this season.
Bolt suffers from scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine, which has caused the world's fastest man to constantly undergo treatment from German specialist Hans Muller-Wohlfahrt several times per year.
worrisome
Yet to open his 2011 season and having already gone to see the physician twice this year, speculation has been rife that the condition is proving to be more worrisome than usual. However, his coach insisted that none of the situations were unusual.
"Going overseas to Wohlfahrt is a routine thing, he has five visits every year regardless of what condition he is in, that's standard. He goes five times a year and he has only gone two, so he is doing well," Mills said.
"He is scheduled to start in Rome next week. We were a bit behind in our training schedule but it's a long season. This year is the latest that the World Championship will be held so we have to strategise our preparations. If you notice most of his serious major competitors have just started running, so it's not anything out of the ordinary to start at a later point in the season."
Bolt is expected to make his long-awaited season debut when he faces compatriot Asafa Powell at the Golden Gala meet in Rome over 100 metres next week. In his 100m opener last year, Bolt clocked 9.86 seconds in South Korea after registering an impressive 19.56 over 200m earlier in the season.
Mills, has however, revealed very little about what kind of shape he believed the sprinter was in, time-wise, this time around. The coach at the same time rubbished rumours that the sprinter had clocked 24-plus over 250 metres at a time trial last week.
"That's a false report. I do not predict the times, I too am interested to see what he can do in his first race," he said.
Beach soccer to find home in CFU
Fifa Development Officer, Daryll Warner, believes that beach soccer may well find a home in the Caribbean region. While addressing a participants at a the closing ceremony of a Beach Soccer Course in the Cayman Islands yesterday Warner stated: “The potential of beach soccer in Caribbean Region is immense, our coastlines are pristine and known worldwide while this sport is still in its infancy we have the ability to tap into something great. The possibilities are endless.” Commenting specifically on the situation in the Cayman Islands, Warner stated: “With coastline that features some of the world’s best beaches and a population of roughly 45,436 that includes more than 4,000 footballers according to the last Fifa count, Cayman Islands certainly has huge potential when it comes to beach soccer.”
Until recently, however, the football authorities on this island nation were focusing their efforts almost entirely on the well-established grass version of the game. Beach soccer was just something for the weekend, a casual kickabout that people could enjoy as an alternative to sunbathing or swimming.
Of course, beach soccer thrives on this fun, laid-back image and will continue to be played on the world’s beachfronts in exactly this kind of informal manner. But there is also much more to the sport than that. To take their game to the next level, players need an understanding of the Laws of the Game. They need referees who can apply those rules, coaches who can work on their skills and tactics, and national or regional structures to make sure these elements are available.
“Considering that for most participants beach soccer was totally new, I was impressed by how quickly they got familiar with the Beach Soccer Laws of the Game and improved their level of refereeing during the festival,” according to Fifa beach soccer refereeing instructor Raveino Massimo of Tahiti. Though the game is still in its infancy as an internationally organised sport, beach soccer World Cups have been held regularly since 1995, coming under the Fifa umbrella with the staging of the first official Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup in Rio de Janeiro in 2005.
Japan back in recession as earthquake cuts consumption
Japan, the world's third largest economy, contracted sharply in the first three months of the year, after a tsunami and earthquake caused devastation in March.
Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 0.9% in the first quarter, the Cabinet office said. That meant the annualised rate of contraction is 3.7%.
Japan is now in recession, after two consecutive quarters of decline.
Analysts say consumption and exports were worst hit.
The contraction was bigger than expected with most forecasts of the annualised rate at around 2%.
"Japan's economy is expected to remain weak for the time being," said Japanese Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano on Thursday.
However, Mr Yosano said that supply constraints are easing and reconstruction demand will likely spur growth.
"The economy has the strength to bounce back," Mr Yosano said.
Pessimistic consumers
Naomi Fink of Japan strategies says the most worrying part of today's data was the decline in private consumotion of 0.6%, as people cut their spending after the quake.
Private consumption accounts for almost 60% of the Japanese economy.
"It was already soft in the final quarter of 2010," said Naomi Fink, Japan Strategist at Jefferies.
The earthquake, however, has further dampened sentiment.
The consumer confidence index fell to 33.1 in April, according to the Cabinet Office.
A reading below 50 suggests consumer pessimism.
"Judging by the drop in retail sales and household expenditures over March, consumption should be one of the greater contributors to negative growth in the first quarter," said Ms Fink.
Damaged supply chains
The second biggest component of the world's third largest economy is trade.
Exports made up 13.5% and imports 12.7% of GDP in 2009.
The massive quake and tsunami devastated exports, while the costs of imports rose due to high commodity prices.
Japan's trade surplus fell by 34.3% in March compared with the same month a year ago.
"One issue on the export side is the ongoing struggle to restore damaged production lines and supply chains," said Ms Fink of Jefferies.
"On the import side, the increase in demand for fossil fuels, to offset the drop in supply of nuclear energy, is unlikely to fade anytime soon," she added.
Reconstruction demand
Once rebuilding gathers momentum, however, it should have a positive impact on the economy.
But that is only likely to happen towards the end of this year.
"I do not expect positive growth in the second quarter," said Ms Fink.
The country's central bank begins its two-day meeting on Thursday to discuss its monetary policy.
"Japan's economic strength is gradually declining," Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Masaaki Shirakawa told a parliamentary committee meeting on Tuesday.
Analysts say this signals that the central bank will stick to its ultra-loose monetary policy.
"The BOJ is likely to fine tune its existing policies," said Ms Fink.
The bank has pumped billions of dollar into the financial system to stabilise the economy since the massive earthquake.
The BOJ is also expected to keep the rates unchanged at the lowest level in a range of 0.0% to 0.1%, to help stimulate the economy.
Greece warned over economic reforms by IMF
The man leading the IMF mission to Greece has warned that the country's plans for reducing its budget deficit will fall short without further reform.
Greece must cut its budget deficit to 7.6% of GDP this year to meet the terms of its EU and IMF bail-out.
Poul Thomsen told a conference in Athens that it would struggle to get the deficit below 10% at the moment.
Also on Wednesday, Greece appointed banks to help with its privatisation programme.
The government is considering selling some of the state gaming monopoly OPAP and the racetrack operator ODIE and establishing a new company to run state lotteries.
Greece has a target to raise 50bn euros ($71bn; £44bn) through the sale of state assets.
"We will frontload this process by announcing the reduction or elimination of the stake which the state owns in listed companies in telecoms, ports, water management, as well as electricity and gaming," said Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou
The EU and IMF are waiting for Greece to give further details of its plans before paying the next tranche of cash.
Mr Thomsen said: "The programme will not remain on track without a determined reinvigoration of structural reforms in the coming months.
"Unless we see this invigoration, I think the programme will run off track."
'Recipe for catastrophe'
There has been much response to Tuesday's comments from the head of the eurozone finance ministers Jean-Claude Juncker, when he said that a "soft restructuring" of Greece's debts was a possibility.
The European Central Bank's chief economist Juergen Stark said restructuring the debt would be a "recipe for catastrophe".
He blamed "vested interests" in the UK and the US for fuelling pressure on Greek financial markets.
Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, a member of the board of the ECB, also rejected the soft restructuring idea, saying it would bring the Greek economy "to its knees" and be bad for the whole eurozone.
Greece is receiving a package of bail-out loans worth about 110bn euros ($156bn; £96bn) as it struggles to cope with its debts.
US Stocks Advance
U.S. stock indexes advanced in Wednesday's trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose seven-tenths of a percent to close at 12,560. The S&P 500 index gained nine-tenths of a percent to end at 1,341 while the NASDAQ gained 1.1 percent to finish at 2,815.
European stock prices closed higher. London's Financial Times index ended up 1.1 percent to finish at 5,923. The CAC-40 in Paris advanced nine-tenths of a percent to close at 3,978. The DAX index in Frankfurt gained seven-tenths of a percent to end at 7,304.
In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained one percent to finish at 9,662. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up half a percent to finish the day's trading at 23,011.
The price of gold rose nearly $7 to trade at $1,493.45 an ounce.
The dollar is up against the yen and down against the euro.
ECCU accounting professionals increase capacity in financial reporting standards
Over 50 accounting professionals from the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) member countries are engaged in a train the trainers workshop on the international financial reporting standards (IFRS) at the ECCB headquarters in St Kitts and Nevis.
The workshop, which opened on Monday, seeks to develop the capacity of regional financial reporting trainers to provide training in the use of IFRS for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). The workshop is also designed to provide a forum for interaction among trainers, the sharing of experiences and the discussion of common issues in relation to the application of IFRS in SMEs.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Eastern Caribbean (ICAEC), the IFRS Foundation and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), are coordinating the workshop, which is part of a World Bank sponsored project.
The IFRS are a set of accounting standards developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). They are being adopted globally as the standard for the preparation of public company financial statements. Three members of the IASB are conducting the sessions, which focus on the standards, interpretations, framework and requirements of the IFRS.