Rory McIlroy nine behind leader Javi Colomo in Hong Kong
Rory McIlroy found himself nine shots behind a player 506 places below him in the world rankings after Thursday's first round at the Hong Kong Open.
Defending champion McIlroy managed only one birdie in his 73 to be just inside the top 100 on three over par.
Spaniard Javi Colomo shot a 64 to lead compatriot Miguel Angel Jimenez by one.
Little-known Colomo qualified through his Asian Tour ranking, having failed to come through the European qualifying school on three occasions.
The 28-year-old actually began with 10 pars in a row, but had five birdies in the next six holes before finishing finished his day's work with a four-foot putt for another birdie.
World number one McIlroy was hoping to put even more of a gloss on a season in which he won his second major title and topped the money lists on both sides of the Atlantic.
But he started with a bogey, turned in one over, made a mess of his approach to the 14th and three-putted from the fringe of the next.
It could so easily have been Jimenez's day, but after seven birdies the 48-year-old, twice a winner of the title and now trying to become the European Tour's oldest-ever champion, finished with two bogeys.
Australian Andrew Dodt matched Jimenez's 65 to lie one ahead of a group of five players on the four-under 66 mark which included Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal.
Scot Paul Lawrie stood three under until he found water at the last and carded a double-bogey.
Paul Casey overcame two double-bogeys for a level-par 70, one better than Padraig Harrington.
Tigers make West Indies toil
Naeem Islam’s maiden test century helped Bangladesh reach 455-6 to trail West Indies by only 72 runs on the first innings after three days of the first Test at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.
Stars fight Pandora music site over royalties issue
Billy Joel, Rihanna and Missy Elliot are among the stars who have signed an open letter to US music site Pandora over possible changes to royalties.
The online streaming service is currently lobbying lawmakers in US Congress to change regulations governing how artists are compensated.
Approximately 125 musicians have signed the letter opposing the new bill, called the Internet Radio Fairness Act.
The letter claims the new act will cut royalties by as much as 85 per cent.
US music industry magazine Billboard will publish the open letter this weekend, signed by musicFirst, a coalition of musicians and business people, and SoundExchange, a non-profit organisation that collects royalties for musicians.
It reads: "Why is the company asking Congress once again to step in and gut the royalties that thousands of musicians rely upon?
"That's not fair and that's not how partners work together."
The current manner in which musicians get paid for internet streaming of their songs has been a thorny issue for the US-based Pandora Media Inc, and other streaming sites around the world such as Spotify.
In 2009 a report published in Swedish newspaper Expressen claimed that one million plays of Lady Gaga's track Poker Face on Spotify had actually earned the singer just $167 (£105).
However, Spotify called the figure out of date, misleading and factually inaccurate.Pandora was founded more than a decade ago and is mostly supported by advertising, but the more customers it gains, the more money it has to pay overall for rights to stream music.
The company has joined forces with other music services such as Clear Channel Communications to support the bill on the grounds that different providers, such as satellite and cable, pay different rates.
Pandora said on its website: "The current law penalises new media and is astonishingly unfair to internet radio.
"We are asking for our listeners' support to help end the discrimination against internet radio. It's time for Congress to stop picking winners, level the playing field and establish a technology-neutral standard."
In October, it said its share of total US radio listening was almost 7 percent, up from around 4 percent during the same period last year.
The Internet Radio Fairness Act is a bi-partisan bill sponsored by US representatives Jason Chaffetz and Jared Polis, along with Senator Ron Wyden.
Mavado Still To Return $15K Down Payment
The BVI might be praying that David Constantine Brooks, the 'Gully God', better known as Mavado, will return a hefty down payment after he failed to perform as planned during the Territory's festival celebrations last August.
According to the Virgin Islands Festivals and Fairs Committee's 2012 report, released this week, the Carrot Bay Sub-Committee sent a deposit of $15,000 to Jullian Jones-Griffith, the manager of the Jamaican dancehall singer. According to the report, the Carrot Bay Sub-Committee was informed without explanation that Mavado would not be able to perform and that another date should be chosen.
"A refund was requested and to this date has not been returned," the report stated.
The Jamaican singer should have performed on August 10 during festival entertainment activities in Carrot Bay.
On August 1, BVI Platinum News confirmed with Marvin Blyden, Chairman of the Festivals and Fairs Committee that Mavado would not be performing. At the time, Blyden said there were some issues with the contract and it was no fault of the committee or Mavado. He said the Carrot Bay Sub-Committee would have issued a press release with further details, but the details and the press release were never made available to the press.
Initially, officials were tight-lipped about the saga and had not offered an explanation for the swirling questions that had started to mount regarding the Jamaican singer.
Stuart Donovan, head of the Carrot Bay Sub-Committee was contacted during the ordeal and was asked repeatedly about Mavado's appearance, but brushed aside the question as "nonsense".
Donovan was asked to deny or confirm issues surrounding the Mavado show based on reports coming out of Jamaica, but he insisted that BVI Platinum News should check with Jamaica.
In May, Mavado was found guilty in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court, almost a year after he was arrested for assaulting a St. James man and his son and damaging their car in an apparent case of road rage.
According to a report published by the Jamaican Gleaner, Brooks was fined JMD $80,000 or a six-month prison term on the assault charge and JMD $20,000 or six months imprisonment on the malicious destruction charge. The sentences are to run concurrently if the fines are not paid.
Brooks was charged in connection with the incident on July 22, 2011, in which he and members of his entourage allegedly attacked the complainants, Henry Cunningham and his son Oshane, and damaged their car along the Belmont main road in St James.
Several countries have banned Mavado, mainly due to his lyrics and his role in the musical feud between his gully crew and Vybz Kartel's gaza crew. Regional Governments blamed the two singers for the escalating violence among youth, who professed to represent varying sides of the feud. Both Mavado and Kartel, who is now in jail facing murder charges, have vowed to end the feud.
Courtesy of Platinum News in the BVI
Christie's New York art sale sets post-war contemporary record
The US art season ended with a record-breaking sales total of $412m (£259.9m) for Christie's, with records set for works by 11 artists.
Jeff Koons sculpture Tulip, which graced New York's Rockefeller Center plaza, achieved an artist record of $33.7m (£21.2m).
New records were also set for Franz Kline and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Christie's claimed the $412m figure was the most successful sale of post-war and contemporary art in history.
"This truly was an extraordinary sale," said Jussi Pylkkanen, president of Christie's Europe, Middle East and Russia.
"Clearly there's an enormous amount of energy in the post-war and contemporary market. It's highly likely that we'll see a continuation of records being broken."
Smashing record
The previous day, rival auction house Sotheby's had staged its most successful auction in its history, taking $375m (£236m).
Koons' Tulip became the second highest figure paid for a living artist, following on from Gerhard Richter's 1994 painting Abstraktes Bild, which sold in October.
Tulip was created between 1995-2004 and is one of five versions of the work.
Kline's canvas, featuring broad black strokes, sold for $40.4m (£25.4m), smashing the previous $9.3m (£5.8m) record for his work.
The Christie's sale also included Andy Warhol's Statue of Liberty, which sold for $43.7m (£27.5m).
Basquiat's untitled work from 1981 sold for $26.4m (£16.6m), beating the artist's previous record of $20.1m (£12.6m), which was only set in June.
Basquiat started out as a graffiti artist before finding fame as a contemporary artist. He died of a heroin overdose in 1988 at the age of 27.
Rothko's Red Strip sold for $23.4m (£14.7m), just a day after large-scale masterpiece No 1 (Royal Red and Blue) sold for $75.1m (£47.2m) at Sotheby's.
Justin Bieber paparazzo case thrown out by US judge
Criminal charges filed against a photographer who chased Justin Bieber have been dropped by a judge.
Paparazzo Paul Raef was charged in July with two counts of violating a law which makes dangerous driving while taking commercial photographs a criminal offence in California.
He had been chasing Justin Bieber at high speeds on a road in Los Angeles.
LA superior court judge Thomas Robinson called the state's anti-paparazzi law "problematic".
He said the law was too vague in its definition of commercial photographs.
'Protecting celebrities'
If convicted Paul Raef could have faced up to a year in prison and a fine of $3,500 (£2,200).
His lawyer, Brad Kaiserman, said the law was "about protecting celebrities".
The photographer will still face charges of reckless driving and failing to obey police orders.
At the time of the incident, Bieber was stopped by police for driving at 80mph (130kph) in a 65mph (105kph) zone and received a speeding ticket.
He told officers that he was being chased by paparazzi.
The singer called police half an hour later to report that his car was still being pursued.
Raef was later identified by police in downtown LA.
Dave Lee Travis arrested on suspicion of sexual offences
Former Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis has been arrested as part of the police probe set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal, the BBC understands.
The 67-year-old was arrested at his home in Mentmore, Buckinghamshire, on suspicion of sexual offences.
He was bailed on Thursday evening to return in early January, police said.
The Met said their investigation into alleged abuse by Savile and others - Operation Yewtree - had so far recorded 200 allegations of sexual assault.
They have now identified about 450 potential victims of sexual abuse.
The arrest of Mr Travis is the fourth so far in connection with the Savile investigation.
In a statement, the Met said the latest arrest "falls under the strand of the investigation we have termed 'Others'", meaning the allegations are unrelated to Savile.
But the force said that the "vast majority" of the 450 possible victims were alleging sexual abuse by former BBC TV presenter and DJ Savile, who died last year aged 84.
Mr Travis has not been officially named by police, who made the arrest at 07:45 GMT. He was released on bail late on Thursday.
The DJ - known by the nicknames DLT and the Hairy Cornflake - is best known for his 25-year stint on Radio 1.
Japan averts 'fiscal-cliff' as it passes financing bill
Japan's lawmakers have approved a crucial bill that will ensure that the government does not run out of money at the end of this month.
It will allow the government to borrow additional money by selling bonds to pay for a large chunk of its expenses.
The approval comes amid fears that Japan's economy may be heading towards a recession.
The opposition had previously stalled the bill, demanding that the government call for elections first.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda had said that he was ready to dissolve the parliament and hold snap elections.
He is expected to make a formal announcement on the issue later on Friday.
'Signs of weakness'
In a separate move, Japan's government warned that the economy is showing "signs of weakness", adding to concerns about the health of the world's third-largest economyIt said that industrial production is falling and exports continue to remain weak due to slowing global demand.
It added that private consumption and business investment also remain subdued.
Japan's economy shrunk 0.9% in the July to September quarter, from the previous three months, and there are fears it may contract further in the current quarter.
"Concerning short-term prospects, weak movements would remain for the time being," the Cabinet Office said in its monthly report.
This is the fourth successive month that Japan has lowered its assessment of the economy, the longest such streak since the 2008 - 2009 global financial crisis.
Bernanke blames banks for holding back housing market
Ben Bernanke has said that the overly stringent lending requirements of banks are hurting the US housing recovery.
In a speech, he said the housing market showed signs of recovery but was "far from being out of the woods".
The Federal Reserve chairman said "the pendulum has swung too far" from the easy lending days of the housing boom.
While mortgage interest rates have fallen to record lows, he said many borrowers, especially minorities and low earners, could not get a loan.
Mr Bernanke was addressing a summit in Atlanta held by Operation Hope, a charity that provides financial advice to American citizens on middle and low incomes.
'Missing piston'
The Fed has been actively supporting the housing market since September, by restarting its policy of buying up mortgage debts.
It has helped to push long-term average mortgage interest rates down to new lows, setting a record of 3.34% for a 30-year fixed rate on Wednesday.
However, Mr Bernanke complained that "overly tight lending standards may now be preventing creditworthy borrowers from buying homes, thereby slowing the revival in housing and impeding the recovery".
The housing sector traditionally leads recoveries in the US economy following recessions, and the weakness of the housing market is a major reason why the recovery has been so sluggish this time around, prompting the Fed chairman to dub it "the missing piston".
The low interest rates have prompted an increase in borrowers refinancing their existing mortgages.
However, those able to take advantage of the lower interest rates have been wealthier or higher income earning Americans who are considered more creditworthy by the banks, and who have a lower propensity to spend the extra income they save on mortgage interest payments.
Mr Bernanke noted that 20% of mortgage borrowers remain underwater on their loans after house prices fell 30%, meaning that their mortgages are worth more than their homes and they are unable to refinance and benefit from lower interest rates.
Cheaper borrowing has also spurred a recovery in demand for housing, and house prices have been rising for the last nine months.
But Mr Bernanke noted that, despite these positive trends, house prices, sales and new homebuilding still remain far below their pre-recession levels.
Minutes from the Fed's last meeting, released on Wednesday, indicated that the policy-setting committee may step up its debt purchases, perhaps by shifting into longer-term debts.
However, Mr Bernanke made no indication about possible future policies in his speech.
US Postal Service in $16bn loss
The US Postal Service has reported an annual loss of a $15.9bn (£10bn), ending a year in which it defaulted on payments twice to avert bankruptcy.
Its financial losses were more than triple the previous year's.
Most of the mail agency's financial woes come from mounting mandatory costs for future retiree health benefits.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the Postal Service's hands are tied by congressional inaction on a bill that would allow it to reduce the payments.
"It's critical that Congress do its part and pass comprehensive legislation before they adjourn this year to move the Postal Service further down the path toward financial health," Mr Donahoe said, calling the situation "our own postal fiscal cliff".
One version of the bill would cut down on the required $5bn annual health-benefit payment and allow it to eliminate Saturday mail delivery.
Earlier in 2012, the Postal Service defaulted for the first time in its history on two of the health payments.
The Senate passed a postal bill in April that would have reduced the mandatory advances and refunded overpayments to a federal pension fund.
But legislation proposing an end to Saturday delivery has stalled in the House of Representatives.
The mail agency has seen other structural problems in declining mail volume, but has seen growth in it shipping services, up 9% in 2012.
Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, blamed Congress for mandating the annual health pre-payments in 2006, but suggested lawmakers should wait to act on legislation until next year.
His union is opposed to the current version of the House bill, which gives the Postal Service wide leeway to close post office branches and make employee cuts to balance its budget.