Bryant lifts Lakers to 102-98 win over Sixers
Kobe Bryant scored 33 points and hit a tiebreaking jumper with 1:15 to play, and the Los Angeles Lakers bounced back from consecutive home losses with a 102-98 victory over the pesky Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.
Pau Gasol had 20 points and eight rebounds for the Lakers, and Lamar Odom scored 18 points off the bench as the defending champions barely hung on to win the NBA's final game of 2010.
Los Angeles never trailed for the sixth time this season, but also could not shake the young Sixers until Philadelphia missed five shots in the final minute.
Jrue Holiday had 19 points and 11 assists and Lou Williams scored 18 points for the Sixers, whose eight-game road trip concludes Monday in New Orleans.
- Warriors 96 Bobcats 95
CHARLOTTE, NC (AP):
Monta Ellis scored 25 points and Golden State held off a late rally to beat Charlotte.
Stephen Curry added 24 points and Dorell Wright 17 for the Warriors, who led by as many as 11 points midway through the third quarter and held a six-point lead with 1:20 remaining.
Stephen Jackson scored 22 points for the Bobcats, but missed a 3-pointer with 2 seconds remaining that could have given Charlotte its third consecutive win under interim head coach Paul Silas.
Gerald Wallace added 20 points, D.J. Augustin 12 and Boris Diaw 10 points for the Bobcats.
- Hornets 83 Celtics 81
BOSTON (AP):
Trevor Ariza made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:34 to play and David West scored four of his 19 points in the final minute to help New Orleans beat injury-riddled Boston.
Chris Paul had 20 points and 11 assists for the Hornets, who won for just the third time in seven games. Emeka Okafor scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Ray Allen led Boston with 18 points, but hit the back rim a desperation 3 in the closing seconds. Paul Pierce had 12 points and seven boards. Nate Robinson scored 11 and had six rebounds.
Boston has lost three of four since winning 14 straight.
- Bulls 90 Nets 81
CHICAGO (AP):
Carlos Boozer scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, and Chicago won for the 12th time in 14 games.
Luol Deng and Derrick Rose scored 19 apiece, and the Bulls made enough shots down the stretch after struggling from the field for much of the game.
Brook Lopez led New Jersey with 19 points. Travis Outlaw and Stephen Graham each scored 16, but the Nets dropped their fourth straight.
At least they didn't get blown out this time.
Outscored by a combined 51 points over the previous three games, the Nets hung in against the Central division leaders.
- Pacers 95 Wizards 86
INDIANAPOLIS (AP):
Danny Granger and Darren Collison scored 18 points apiece and Indiana pulled away early.
Granger shot 8 of 12 from the field and scored 13 of his points in the first half in helping the Pacers snap a three-game losing streak.
John Wall scored 25 for the Wizards, who are 0-16 on the road this season and 8-7 at home.
The Pacers took control of the game with a 20-4 run in the second quarter, getting eight points from T.J. Ford in a spurt that gave them a 45-26 lead. The Wizards shot 2 of 14 in the quarter.
Washington drew within 83-72 early in the fourth quarter, but got no closer until the final margin.
The Wizards have lost 15 of 18 games, but beat Indiana at home Wednesday, 104-90.
- Rockets 114 Raptors 105
HOUSTON (AP):
Reserve guard Chase Budinger scored a season-high 22 points, Kevin Martin added 20 and Houston won for the eighth time in 10 games.
Rookie Patrick Patterson set career highs in points (15) and rebounds (10) for the Rockets, who shook off a poor first quarter to shoot 48 per cent (44 of 91) and win for the ninth time in 10 home games.
DeMar DeRozan scored a career-high 37 points and Jose Calderon added 11 assists for the Raptors, who have dropped 10 of their last 13 games. Linas Kleiza had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Amir Johnson added 14 points and 11 rebounds for Toronto.
- Thunder 103 Hawks 94
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP):
Kevin Durant hit a season-high five 3-pointers and scored 33 points, and Russell Westbrook finished off a triple-double with his 10th assist in the final seconds to lead Oklahoma City.
Durant went 3 for 3 on 3s during a 16-6 run in the fourth quarter as the Thunder put the game away after Atlanta had pulled within two points.
Westbrook finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, the last coming when he rushed the ball up to Serge Ibaka for a dunk with 6.9 seconds left instead of running out the clock. Players from both teams stayed on the court for a few moments after the game as the Hawks were apparently upset by the final sequence.
Jamal Crawford led Atlanta with 26 points and Josh Smith scored 23. In another match in Phoenix, the Suns beat the Pistons 92-75.
Source: AP
Europe's Eastern periphery
"There are more risks to being inside the eurozone than being outside."
Those were the words of the Polish central bank governor, Marek Belka, earlier in December 2010, echoing the private thoughts of leaders across Central and Eastern Europe.
Many of them are thinking long and hard about the promise to join the euro that they made (or will make) when they signed up for the European Union (EU).
They will certainly be watching the fates of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain (PIIGS) with some trepidation.
The PIIGS are now caught in a euro-trap. The boom years swelled their labour markets and their public finances.
Now the bust leaves them uncompetitive and with a major debt hangover.
But the usual cheap cure to these ailments, currency devaluation, is not an option inside the euro.
So does this mean the EU's newcomers and wannabes have decided to kick their own euro-membership plans into the long grass?
"The consensus has pushed back right to the end of this decade," says Martin Blum, economist at Ithuba Capital, an Austrian hedge fund that specialises in the region.
The Czech Republic and Poland, countries with notable Eurosceptic politicians, do not especially want to join the eurozone at all, he adds.
Both did very well outside the euro during the 2009 downturn, thanks in part to the sharp drop in their currencies, which helped them keep a competitive edge, he explains.
Poland did not even experience a recession, an almost unique achievement in Europe, though government spending had a lot to do with this.
Devaluation dilemma
But for some East European countries it may already be too late to escape the same euro-trap now afflicting their Mediterranean peers.
Although technically outside the single currency, many have pegged their currencies to the euro.
Estonia, which will join the euro in January, saw its economy shrink by a cumulative 20% in 2008-09, after it slashed government spending and refused to devalue the kroon.
Its Baltic neighbour Latvia fell a whopping 25% over the same period.
For others, notably Hungary, devaluation was not the easy option that it would have liked.
For years, ordinary Hungarians had taken out their mortgages in foreign currencies, such as the euro, Swiss franc or even the yen.
The Hungarian forint was going to join the euro eventually anyway, so why pay the much higher interest rates demanded in their own currency?
The reason, as so many were to discover, is that their foreign currency mortgage payments became unaffordable when the forint lost a quarter of its value.
That gave the authorities in Budapest a nasty dilemma: keep the forint strong and suffer a deeper collapse in exports, or let the forint fall and watch its banking system sink under a mountain of unrepayable mortgage debts.
In the end, they called in the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Playing catch-up
While playing the devaluation card may have helped some countries in the region ease the short-term pain of the recession, what about the longer term?
"They need to think about other drivers [of competitiveness] than low cost," says Erik Berglof, chief economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Romania, for example, whose currency dropped 20% last year, has seen a big rise in labour costs wipe out much of its price advantage.
More importantly, the entire region still suffers from a huge "convergence gap" with the West, marked by lower living standards and poorer infrastructure.
Normally this would create the potential for a lot of catch-up growth.
But Mr Berglof says the crisis in the eurozone, the region's biggest export market by far, is bad news.
What a drag
If Europe's leaders fail to deal with the weaknesses in the single currency exposed by the crisis, the continent could face years of grindingly low growth.
And slow growth in Western Europe will inevitably be a serious drag on Eastern Europe's exports.
Selling their wares to other parts of the world could provide an alternative, but only in theory.
"In our region there's not much of an option," says Mr Berglof. "It's like asking Mexico to diversify away from the United States."
The nearby Russian market may at least be one alternative, as the country has very little manufacturing industry of its own and pays for a lot of imports with all the oil and gas it exports.
But Russia is not a big market, cautions the EBRD economist.
A path already well-trodden by the Central Europeans, such as the Poles, Czechs and Hungarians, is closer integration into the German manufacturing leviathan, says Mr Blum at Ithuba Capital.
"I wouldn't undercut the importance of the German recovery," he advises.
The Central Europeans now do a lot of business selling equipment to West European manufacturers, or playing host to factories that form part of Western companies' supply chains.
As such, a lot of the European demand for these countries' exports is actually driven by global demand for the German export machine.
The biggest crisis may instead be faced by their Balkan cousins, the Romanians and Bulgarians, to the south, according to Peter Brezinschek, chief economist of Austrian bank RZB.
"In Central Europe, most foreign investment went into greenfield sites, promoting exports," says Mr Brezinschek.
But in the Balkans, he says, money poured into sectors such as housing construction, utilities or telephone networks that were oriented towards the domestic economy and did little to improve export competitiveness.
Investment binge
Mr Brezinschek thinks the Balkans would do well to follow the Central Europeans' lead.
But he says there is also still a shortage of basic infrastructure.
"The infrastructure is really terrible," says Mr Brezinschek, who points as an example to the near absence of motorways in Romania.
He says there also need to be major improvements in energy efficiency.
Mr Berglof at the EBRD agrees that serious investment spending is needed across the whole of Eastern Europe, with one big area being education.
"Managers typically list skills as being the number one obstacle they face," he notes.
So could these countries copy China's example, and offset weak export demand by ramping up government investment spending?
"An investment binge is not an option," cautions Mr Berglof. Why? Because the money simply is not there.
Just like their West European counterparts, governments in the region are busy cutting back their spending.
And, says Mr Berglof, private investment spending is also more difficult "in an environment of no very well functioning institutions" - a well-known euphemism for corruption and organised crime.
Home grown
Borrowing from abroad is less of an option these days. It was an abuse of cheap foreign loans that helped push Hungary and others into the arms of the IMF during the 2008 crisis.
Instead, with their own citizens likely to be a lot more cautious with their money in the coming years, governments will need to find better ways of funnelling those savings into local businesses.
Mr Berglof points out that, unlike many of its eastern neighbours, the Czechs have been borrowing and lending to each other in their own currency - the koruna - for years.
Because of this, "the least affected by the financial aspect of the crisis was the Czech Republic", he points out.
In its latest transition report, the EBRD recommends other countries follow the same route of financing themselves in their own currency, using their own domestic savings and home grown capital markets.
So is this a tacit recognition by the multilateral agency that euro membership is now off the cards?
"No," insists Mr Berglof. "It is an important step on the way to the euro."
The Czechs may beg to disagree
Source:
Russia-China oil pipeline opens
The first oil pipeline linking the world's biggest oil producer, Russia, and the world's biggest consumer of energy, China, has begun operating.
The pipeline, running between Siberia and the northeastern Chinese city of Daqing, will allow a rapid increase in oil exports between the two countries.
Until now, Russian oil has been transported to China by rail.
Concentrated in western Siberia, Russia's network of pipelines for oil exports has so far run towards Europe.
Russia is expected to export 15m tonnes of oil through the new pipeline each year during the next two decades - about 300,000 barrels a day.
The project cost $25bn ($16bn) and was partly financed by Chinese loans.
Russia overtook Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil producer in 2009.
China surpassed the US as the world's largest consumer of energy last year.
"The operation of the China-Russia crude oil pipeline is the start of a new phase in China-Russia energy co-operation," said Yao Wei, general manager of Pipeline Branch of Petro China, as he pushed a button near the Russia-China border to start the flow of oil.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said in the past that the pipeline would help Russia diversify its exports.
A second stage of construction on the pipeline is due to be finished by 2014. It will then span a distance of about 4,700 kms (2,900 miles).
Source: BBC
FirstCaribbean hikes fees on New Year's Day
FirstCaribbean International Bank Jamaica has slapped huge increases on a range of transactions effective New Year's Day, closing some of the gap between the big- two banks for which fees and commissions are a multibillion-dollar business.
In what appears to be a Caribbean-wide mass mailing out to customers directly from its Barbados office in December, FirstCaribbean advised of the fee hike on some 16 products and services types as of January 1, a move apparently calculated to boost revenues following sizeable income declines on its international and Jamaica operations last year.
The fee hikes range up to 200 per cent in Jamaica. FirstCaribbean Jamaica made J$853.125 million in 'non-interest income' - which incorporates fees and commission - at yearend October 2010, representing a 19 per cent or J$204m slide from the previous year's intake of J$1.06 billion.
Proportionately, non-interest income also fell from 24 per cent to 20 per cent of total net revenue.
For big fee collectors Scotiabank Jamaica and National Commercial Bank, the just under J$5 billion that each take in annually in fee and commission income, represents 14 per cent and 18 per cent of net revenue, respectively.
The new transaction fee increases are spread over FirstCaribbean International and its country operations' range of services in personal and small- business banking, credit card and corporate services at all locations.
Revising its pricing
The bank's December circular to clients advised that it would be revising its pricing on products and services including in-branch/over-the-counter withdrawals, debits and cheques; ABM withdrawals and deposits; printing of ABM mini-statements; replacement of lost ABM cards; incoming wires transfers; drafts; cheque books; stop payments; charge backs; non-sufficient funds; night depository wallets and services; and standing orders. Also attracting higher rates are in-branch bill payments; transfers between accounts; duplicate statements; early account closure; dormancy protection; safekeeping and securities; and confirmation letters.
The website of the bank's local operations, Jamaica's fourth-largest commercial bank, also details the latest fee hike, but gives no reason for the increases.
The fee for replacing a lost ABM card has gone up 201 per cent, from J$205.75 to J$620.
Price changes to personal banking services include a 112 per cent increase to J$150 for over-the-counter withdrawal on regular saving, up from J$70.60.
There is also a more than 52 per cent rise in the cost of local currency standing orders which, following a previous move from J$156 to J$262.24 at the time of the release of the Consumer Affairs Commission's banking fee survey in July, has now risen to J$400.
Withdrawals at FirstCaribbean ABMs now attract a J$20 fee per transaction while the charge for withdrawals at the machines of other banks has risen to J$40.
Bill payment via the branch counter will also now attract a cost of J$200. Charges to corporate accounts have also been adjusted, with the minimum monthly fee on business current account moving to J$450 from J$403.43.
Interest rates and fees payable on credit cards will also move upward, but those changes are to take effect in February.
The issue of banks hiking fees to counteract revenues declines, particularly from the Jamaica Debt Exchange (JDX), has been a contentious matter.
Dialogue is now ongoing with sector players and regulators following the publication of the findings of a survey done by the CAC, which confirmed that banks had in fact hiked rates since the Government's debt reduction scheme.
In that 2010 study, FirstCaribbean Jamaica was among the banks which had imposed the smallest transaction fee increases, with most changes to bank charges reflecting a one per cent move.
Other bank charges at FirstCaribbean, the survey found, had actually gone down.
Since the JDX, fees and commission income has gained importance as a major revenue source for many financial firms, representing the second-largest income stream for banks, the largest being net interest income.
Pepsi pumps 12 million into Rebel Salute
There is a special buzz surrounding the next staging of Rebel Salute set for January 15, 2011 at Port Kaiser in St Elizabeth. As usual, there will be a galaxy of musical stars on show including Romain Virgo, Toots and the Maytals, Tarrus Riley, Queen Ifrica, Tony Rebel, Tanya Stephens, I-Octane and Khago.
There will also be an emerging talent on stage too. His good fortune came courtesy of Pepsi's $12-million sponsorship of the long-running reggae festival.
A refreshing new act, Noah was selected from among hundreds of contenders during a series of road shows that were held in Montego Bay on November 13; Negril on December 4; and in Junction on December 18.
This is all a part of the sponsorship geared towards the perpetuation of quality music in Jamaica and its importance to Jamaicans. "Music is important to our consumers," said Carlo Redwood, head of marketing for Pepsi here in Jamaica. "And Rebel Salute has always been a high-quality event with high-quality performances."
That was among the main reasons why Pepsi decided to partner with Jamaican music icon Tony Rebel. That, and the fact that the entertainer has always been about creating positive music, Redwood said.
A portion of the sponsorship money went into staging the Rebel Salute road shows that also served to build momentum for Rebel Salute, Redwood explained.
The remainder, he said, will go directly towards promotions, production costs and paying the entertainers, who also include Fantan Mojah, Chuck Fenda, Stevie Face, Nadine Sutherland, Spanner Banner, and AJ Brown among others.
In the lead-up to the show, Pepsi will also be running promotions in St Elizabeth, Clarendon and Mandeville. Redwood explains that wherever Pepsi product is being sold at wholesale stores and supermarkets at these locations, consumers will get the opportunity to win prizes, including tickets to Rebel Salute.
Of course, on the night of the show there will be a special VIP booth set up where specially invited guests and some patrons will be able to enjoy free drinks and engage in special activities during the show.
These special activities will involve local music, Redwood says.
Tony RebeL, who will be celebrating his birthday as the 18th staging of Pepsi Rebel Salute takes place, is asking fans to be present at the show as his present.
After a Bad Choice for 1st Release, Keyshia Cole Back on Track
Keyshia Cole is starting to experience the repercussions of her defiant choice to release her Nicki Minaj collaboration, “I Aint’ Thru,” as the first single for her latest album. She said she should have followed her label’s advice.
“The label didn’t really want to drop the record because they knew … that people wanted a more intense, soulful record from me about love and I really should have followed (their) direction,” Keisha told Associated Press.
Nevertheless, she insisted she doesn’t regret it, saying:
“I wanted that to be a statement record. It’s like saying, ‘I’m doing me, you know. I don’t have no regrets for nothing that I’m doing.” Chairman of Geffen Records Ron Fair also backs her up, “There’s no way to predict how people will respond to things. It’s something that Keyshia really wanted to say.”
But in a quick response, she and her people released another song, “Long Way Down” to recover from the lack of response. And so far, things are looking better.
“People are gravitating more toward [the song],” she stated. “I just think that people expect me to be, you know, an artist that sings about just love. But I’m always growing as an artist and I have to feed my artistry.”
Oprah Winfrey launches OWN TV network
US talk-show host Oprah Winfrey has launched her own TV network, which will offer round-the-clock lifestyle programmes.
The channel is called OWN, or the Oprah Winfrey Network. It is a joint venture with the Discovery channels.
OWN's start date has been delayed twice and its cost has reportedly swollen to $189m (£121m).
Among the programmes scheduled is a reality show starring the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson.
Winfrey has built up a huge fan base during 25 years as the host of the syndicated Oprah Winfrey Show.
The programmes on the new station have a focus on empowerment, improvement, positivity aimed mainly at women, who are Ms Winfrey's core audience.
"I wanted to build a network which empowers you, the viewer, to turn your dreams into reality," Ms Winfrey said on a preview programme that launched the network on Saturday.
One of the programmes offered will be a reality show in which 10 finalists from thousands of applicants will compete for the chance to host their own TV show.
There will also be a programme called Why Not?, hosted by Canadian country singer Shania Twain.
Discovery cancels Michael Jackson autopsy TV show
The Discovery Channel television network has said it will not air a re-enactment of Michael Jackson's autopsy, amid concerns the programme was distasteful.
Executors for the late star's estate had requested the programme - entitled Michael Jackson's Autopsy: What Really Killed Michael Jackson - be cancelled.
John Branca and John McClain had said the show was "in shockingly bad taste".
Discovery said an forthcoming court hearing was also a factor.
"Given the commencement of legal proceedings beginning next week, and at the request of Michael Jackson's estate, the scheduled broadcast of the medical documentary related to Michael Jackson's official autopsy has been postponed indefinitely," Discovery Networks International said in a statement.
Mr Branca and Mr McClain said they were pleased with the network's decision.
In a letter previously sent to Discovery, the pair had accused the company of being motivated by "blind desire" to exploit the singer's death.
"Your decision to even schedule this programme is in shockingly bad taste and insensitive to Michael's family," the co-executors wrote.
Sequined glove
The programme was scheduled to be aired in Europe on 13 January.
An advertisement used to promote the show reportedly depicted a body covered by a sheet with one hand wearing the singer's trademark sequined glove visible.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled to begin on 4 January where it will be decided if there is sufficient evidence to try Jackson's physician, Dr Conrad Murray, on involuntary manslaughter charges.
Dr Murray has repeatedly denied causing Jackson's death.
The singer died suddenly in June of 2009 from a prescription drug overdose at age 50, weeks before beginning a set of concerts.
Chuck Berry taken ill during gig
Rock 'n' roll legend Chuck Berry cut short a concert in Chicago after collapsing on stage.
He slumped over his keyboard and did not move for a couple of minutes before being helped off stage, Chicago Sun-Times reporter Dave Hoekstra wrote.
Concertgoer Steve Handwerker told the Associated Press news agency that Berry fell face first onto his keyboard.
Berry, 84, later re-emerged but told fans he had no strength to continue performing, the Sun-Times reported.
With hits like Johnny B Goode and Roll Over Beethoven, the singer and guitarist is one of the pioneers of rock 'n' roll and influenced artists including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys.