Taiwan’s China Steel to cut prices for Sept

July 13 (Reuters) – China Steel (2002.TW), Taiwan’s top steel maker, will cut domestic prices by an average of about 4 percent for September over July-August because of reduced demand for home construction materials in China, a company executive said on Tuesday.

Bigger rival Baosteel Group said in June that China’s steel industry will face its toughest time of the year during the third quarter, as iron ore contract prices will peak in the quarter while steel consumption by the auto and housing sectors will be sluggish. [ID:nTOE65703O]

(Reporting by Lin Miao-jung; Editing by Ken Wills)

Number of Russia companies may face debt issues – Fitch

June 22 (Reuters) – Fitch Ratings said on Tuesday that a number of Russian companies may face debt restructuring problems in 2011-2012.

“The peak of credit taking came in 2008 and so the peak of refinancing falls in 2011-2012, and something will have to be done with the peak,” Nikolai Lukashevich, senior director and Fitch’s Head of Russian/CIS Corporates, said at a conference. “From the point of view of crisis impact, it cannot be said that the situation is fully resolved.”

(Reporting by Oksana Kobzeva; Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Alfred Kueppers)

Lindsay Lohan wants to be appreciated for her acting, not body

Wellington, June 4 (ANI): ‘Mean Girls’ star Lindsay Lohan has revealed that she would never star in ‘Transformers’ as she wants to be appreciated for her acting and not her body.

Lohan, 23, had been rumoured to be in the running to replace Megan Fox in the third film in the action series, but the role ended up going to Victoria”s Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

“it’s just not my kinda movie- but it’s also a type cast situation- hot chick in short shorts, daisy duke situation, right??? (sic),” Stuff.co.nz quoted her as writing on her Twitter page when a fan asked why she hadn’t accepted the role.

Meanwhile, the actress is currently recovering from having her wisdom teeth extracted earlier this week. She is still in agony after the operation, and says her face is so swollen she looks like a chipmunk. (ANI)

Kirilenko shows champion Kuznetsova the exit

Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova was beaten 6-3 2-6 6-4 by fellow Russian and 30th seed Maria Kirilenko at the French Open on Friday.

Two days after saving four match points in the second round against Germany’s Andrea Petkovic, Kuznetsova found herself in a similar hole but this time there was no escape.

Kuznetsova, who beat Dinara Safina to win the title for the first time last year, hung on grimly by saving two match points but Kirilenko converted at the third time of asking when Kuznetsova prodded a backhand into the tramlines.

Kirilenko will face Italy’s Francesca Schiavone in the fourth round.

(Editing by Miles Evans; To query or comment on this story emailsportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Wozniacki breezes into French Open third round

Dane Caroline Wozniacki eased into the third round of the French Open with a 6-3 6-1 victory over Italy’s Tathiana Garbin on Wednesday.

Third seed Wozniacki was rarely troubled on Court Suzanne Lenglen by the world number 56 and relied on her forehand to break five times in a one-sided contest.

She wrapped up the win after 68 minutes when Garbin fired a forehand long.

Wozniacki will next face Romanian 31st seed Alexandra Dulgheru for a place in the fourth round.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Miles Evans.

To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Cilic given workout before advancing in Paris

Croatia’s Marin Cilic was given a tougher workout than he expected before beating Brazil’s Ricardo Mello 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-1 in the French Open first round on Sunday.

The 21-year-old 10th seed was in little discomfort as he raced through the first set in 25 minutes in the searing heat of Suzanne Lenglen Court before Mello, who has never won a match at Roland Garros, hit back to take the second.

Cilic, who reached the fourth round last year and has cuttingly pacy groundstrokes from the back of the court, finally ground down the 29-year-old. Mello lashed a forehand wide to hand the Croatian the match after two hours and 26 minutes.

Cilic will face Russian Dmitry Tursunov or Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver for a place in round three.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; editing by Miles Evans; To query or comment on this story emailsportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Kuznetsova glad form falling into place in Paris

Svetlana Kuznetsova has endured a miserable start to the European claycourt season but somehow the Russian knew that come the defence of her French Open title everything would fall nicely into place.

The sixth seed recovered from a terrible start, losing the first three games, to kick off her Paris campaign with a 6-3 6-1 win over Romanian Sorana Cirstea on Sunday.

“It was surprising for me, because I felt I had been preparing and giving my best in practice, and I was not having as good results as I would have liked,” Kuznetsova told reporters.

“But I knew this moment had to pass because I deserve better than that, and I worked harder than these results. I was just concerned about when it was going to pass.”

Last season Kuznetsova, 24, compiled an imperious 17-3 claycourt record on the European swing before bursting through the pack to claim her second Grand Slam crown in Paris.

This time round her record was a paltry 1-3, losing her last three matches before arriving in Paris, and a fourth consecutive defeat on the slowest surface loomed when she dropped the first three games.

But she got her act together to see off the world number 34 on a sunsoaked centre court where close friend Amelie Mauresmo was watching from the stands.

She clinched nine games in a row after the shaky opening, wrapping it up on her second match point with a backhand passing shot.

Kuznetsova will face German Andrea Petkovic in the second round.

(Editing by Miles Evans; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

‘Tall and dangerous’ Harmison not out of contention for Ashes: Saker

London, May 19 (ANI): England’s new bowling coach David Saker has said that he is not ruling out fast bowler Steve Harmison as a contender for the Ashes series in Australia this year.

“There’s no way Steve Harmison is out of the picture. I’m not going to write off someone as tall as he is and someone who can really cause some damage to the Australian team,” Saker told The Wisden Cricketer magazine.

“I know the Australian batters sometimes talk about him as one of the hardest guys to face and he troubles them more than anybody. I want to see the best XI represent England. I’m never age-biased in the way I pick a team,” he said.

The former Victoria coach is gearing up for a highly competitive Ashes series and said that England’s bowlers will be up for the battle.

“I can assure you that the English bowlers won’t be backing down. You’ve got to really get into the contest and be competitive. Most fast bowlers are like that.

“The ones that come in and out of the game are the ones that aren’t that competitive. The ones that last are unbelievably competitive people. All of the fast bowlers I’ve met have all had that competitive streak and the aggression comes out when it’s needed.”

But Saker believes England must add defence to their aggression to be successful against Australia.

“You’ve got to have a good defence as a bowler, not just a good attack. The English team is a good attacking side but at times they leak runs. And that’s one of my jobs, to make sure we don’t leak as many runs in those middle overs when you really need to defend,” Saker said.

Indian appearance like Sydney toddler reunited with parents

Sydney, May 18 (ANI): The toddler who was found wandering unsupervised on a Western Sydney street has been reunited with his parents.

He had previously been spotted by two off-duty paramedics and was in the police’s care.

His parents contacted the New South Wales Department of Community Services (DoCS) around 6 hours after he was found.

The reunion has come as a relief for the police who were even considering holding a press-conference to appeal to the boy’s parents to come forward.

“You can only just think about what could happen with a busy road with that number of vehicles at that time in the morning,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Perinth duty officer Inspector Cox, as saying.

Police will investigate the matter but it is too early to know if the parents will face criminal charges, he added.

“DOCS will advise us and police will be conducting further inquiries into this matter,” he told reporters. (ANI)

Lucknow to face Varanasi in state hockey final

Lucknow Division beat Allahabad Division by 5-4 while Varanasi Division outclassed Gorakhpur Division by 2-0 in their respective semi-final matches to set-up a title clash against each other in the State Level Boys’ Hockey Tournament being held at KD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium, Lucknow.

The match between Lucknow and Allahabad proved to be a real thriller. Owais (14th minute) netted the first goal through a penalty-corner awarded to Lucknow in the 14th minute.

Thereafter, Salman sounded the boards twice— in the 31st and 42nd minute to impart a 3-0 lead to the team. Lalit Nishad succeeded in bringing down the margin through a well-timed goal in the 47th minute. Owais netted another goal in the 51st minute to make the score 4-1.

Thereafter, Allahabad players Ajit Yadav (52nd minute), Manoj Kumar (62nd minute) and Salman (67th minute) scored apiece each to level the scores.

However, Rohit Pandey of Lucknow netted a beautiful goal in the dying moments of the play to pave the way for a 5-4 win for the team.

In the second semi-final of the same tourney, Varanasi beat Gorakhpur by 2-0.

The goal scorers were Robins Jaiswal (6th minute) and Sumit Kumar (33rd minute). The final match will be played at 6.30 am on Saturday.

Unpaid dues: ICL officials face legal action

Chandigarh, May 15 (IANS) A court here Saturday issued notice to three officials of the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) for not paying the Rs.700,000 dues of a local hotel.

Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation (CITCO), a semi-government corporation here, had filed a complaint in the court alleging that the ICL authorities had not paid the dues of hotel Mountview where the teams had stayed in 2008.

Mountview is a five-star hotel run by CITCO.

‘Out of the bill of Rs. 11 lakh, ICL officials have not paid nearly Rs.700,000. We had intimated them through mails, calls and even sent them various reminders. But they have not paid the money till date,’ a CITCO official said Saturday.

‘They asked us provide them detailed bills that we had submitted to them before January 2010. After seeing no developments, we had to approach the court.’

Chief Judicial Magistrate J.S. Sidhu Saturday issued notice to chief of accounts department, manager accounts and assistant vice president of Essel group that started the ICL.

The court has sought their reply July 26.

The first edition of the ICL, which was not recognized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was held in November-December 2007.

MJ’s doc unlikely to face trial for two years

London, May 16 (ANI): Michael Jackson”s doctor is unlikely to go before a jury over the singer’s death until 2012, it has been revealed.

Huge delays in preparing the case against Conrad Murray mean he probably will not face trial over the singer’s death for two years.

Ed Chernoff, Murray”s lawyer, is fuming ‘many pages’ of documents collected by Los Angeles police have not been handed to the defence even though Murray was charged in February.

Proceedings could be drawn out even longer over problems with choosing a jury.

Chernoff fears his client will not get a fair hearing in LA.

The doctor is next due in court on June 14, but his lawyer says he will push that hearing back to September.

“We are looking at the trial starting in about two years in September. We”ve got a huge load-3,500 pages-of evidence to go through. And we have witnesses to speak to all over the world who have had contact with Jackson over the years. To properly defend Conrad it”s gonna take time to get all of our stuff together,” News of the World quoted Murray”s spokesman as saying. (ANI)

Dementia ‘can take away meaning of flavors’

Washington, May 16 (ANI): Dementia sufferers can lose their capacity to understand sights, sounds and words. And in some cases, researchers say, they have a harder time identifying flavors and determining whether a certain flavor combination would generally be considered unusual.

According to the boffins, those with a specific type of dementia, called semantic dementia, face such a problem, reports Live Science.

The new study suggests that this type of semantic dementia causes a semantic deficit across the board (semantics is the study of meaning).

“It”s quite interesting and unexpected that one would find these sensory signals behaving in the same way words or music might behave,” said study researcher Jason Warren, of the University College London. “Flavor information is one example of a complex environmental signal that people can lose understanding about, it”s part of a more general problem,” he said.

The results are published in the June issue of the journal Cortex. (ANI)

Catherine Zeta Jones says she’s not aesthetically beautiful

London, May 15 (ANI): Welsh born Hollywood actress Catherine Zeta Jones has admitted that she is not “aesthetically beautiful”.

Despite being voted one of the world”s most beautiful women many times, the 40 year-old admits to having insecurities about her looks, reports The Telegraph.

“I am not aesthetically beautiful,” she said in an interview.

“I have a broken nose, I had a tracheotomy when I was a kid, I have broken capillaries and I’m always asking my husband ‘do I look fat in this dress? Can you see that spot on my face’.”

She admitted she was “crazy in love” with her older husband, Michael Douglas.

“I am crazy in love with my husband. The biggest misconception of me is that I’m some diehard, ambitious, do anything-get-anything kind of person,” she said.

“But actually I’m very shy socially. I get perceived sometimes like ‘ta da!’ Here comes the showgirl’ but I’m a lot more reserved and quiet than I let on,” she told the Sunday Express magazine. (ANI)

Clinton clarifies ‘serious consequences’ remark by saying Pak must hit ‘common enemy’

Washington, May 15 (ANI): While doing nothing to ‘clarify’ her recent ‘serious consequences’ warning over attacks in the US by Pakistan based militants, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton once again stressed that Islamabad has to do more against what she described as a ‘common enemy’.

Clinton reiterated that militants breeding on Pakistan’s soil are a matter of great concern for the Obama Administration.

Speaking at the US Institute of Peace, Clinton told a gathering of experts that though Pakistan has been assisting America in the probe concerning the botched Times Square bombing, there is more that it has to do to tackle the scourge of terrorism in that country.

“There is a lot of effort that is being undertaken on the Pakistani side to provide information to our teams over here. And we just believe strongly that there is more that Pakistan must do to face what is now a common enemy,” The Daily Times quoted Clinton, as saying.

“The attacks by the extremists inside Pakistan are no longer aimed across their borders. They are aimed at destroying and killing people in mosques, in markets, in every walk of society. So this is a matter of great concern to the American people and to our government,” she added when asked to clarify her earlier comment that Pakistan would have to face “severe consequences” if terrorists from that country succeed in attacking the US in future.

Clinton explained that the relationship between Islamabad and Washington goes far beyond the counter-terrorism programme, so it (Pakistan) it must realise that any terror attack emanating from that country would have far reaching effects.

“I started by talking about the importance of the strategic relationship we are developing with Pakistan, the fact that we have expanded our interactions far beyond the counterterrorism agenda, that we are focused on trying to create a broader and deeper understanding between the two countries,” Clinton said, when asked as to what her blunt talk during the CBS interview meant.

It may be noted that following Clinton’s diatribe, the top brass of the Obama Administration had went into a damage control mode, saying Washington is ‘satisfied’ with Islamabad”s cooperation in the probe into the botched Times Square bombing plot, and that her remarks were misreported by the media.

Richard Holbrooke, President Obama”s Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Holbrooke had clarified that Clinton”s remarks were “misconstrued”.

“We think our relations with Pakistan have improved greatly in the last year. Clinton herself praised the Pakistan government for what it has done. And so I urge you to not to react to a misrepresentation of what she said,” Holbrooke had said.(ANI)

Villages near Jodhpur face water scarcity

Jodhpur (Rajasthan), May 13 (ANI): Locals of Chandelao village in Rajasthan”s Jodhpur District have to queue up for hours at a time to fill water from the wells because of the acute water crisis in the region.

The water sources in the village are rain-dependent and have mostly dried up, as it has not rained yet in the area.

“There is a huge water crisis in the village. There are only two sources of water in the village, which have dried up. For filling water from those sources, we have to wait for four-five hours in the line and then also there is just 10-15 liters of water available for the entire village,” said Raju, a local.

Water pipelines have been laid in the village but so far, they have not carried any water. (ANI)

Sarah Jessica Parker warns ‘Sex And The City 2’ co-stars against revealing storyline

London, May 10 (ANI): Actress Sarah Jessica Parker has warned her ‘Sex And The City 2’ co-stars against discussing the plot of the film with anyone, it has emerged.

The star, who is also the executive producer on the film, is apparently worried that the storyline may leak on the web.

She has reportedly told co-stars including Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon that anyone who publicly discussed the plot would face a fine.

“Also, every page of every script was watermarked with the name of the actor or crew member to whom it belonged, so if pages were leaked, the mole could be identified,” the Daily Star quoted a source as telling the Mail on Sunday

The film is set to hit screens later this month. (ANI)

When reel life agent Kiefer Sutherland met a real CIA agent

London, May 5 (ANI): ‘24’ star Kiefer Sutherland went red in the face after he met a real life terrorism expert during a skiing trip.

The English-born actor had to share a ski lift during a recent break with an operative who had just returned from Afghanistan.

“This guy leans over and said, ”I really like your show”… He went on to tell me that he was a C.I.A. operative… and I said, ”I hope the show doesn”t offend you”.

“When we got to the top of the mountain, he wanted me to call his mom and explain to her why he can”t get things done in 24 hours,” The Daily Express quoted Sutherland as saying. (ANI)

Benitez set for crunch talks at Liverpool

London, May 3 (ANI): Coach Rafa Benitez is set to face crunch talks with club owners, including new chairman Martin Broughton.

According to The Sun, he said: “I have four years left on my contract and I still have to talk with the new chairman, so nothing is clear cut, nothing is straightforward. I will have a meeting with the chairman in the next few days and we will talk.”

“We have to wait, it is not just for me to ask one or two questions. If we have a conversation we will try and keep it private. It is just to talk about the future. You are asking about my future, but the future of the club is more important,” he added.

Benitez revealed this weekend he was on the verge of quitting because of “broken promises”.

The Spaniard has told friends he is tempted by an apparent 80-million-pound budget at Juventus.

Yet he added: “I”ve heard all the speculation over the last two or three weeks and read a lot of news about a lot of things – but, at the moment, we have another game to play.” (ANI)

Another Indian student attacked in Australia

Sydney, Apr 30(ANI): In yet another attack on Indian students in Australia, a 24-year-old youth was beaten up by three unidentified assailants in Westmead, New South Wales, police said.

Merrylands Police said the man was walking along Amos Street at 7.30p.m. on Wednesday when three men came from behind him and repeatedly hit him in the face.

“The blows forced the man to the ground where he was set upon by three attackers who began kicking him,” The Daily Telegraph quoted a police statement, as saying.

“When a passenger from a passing taxi stopped to assist the victim, one of the assailants stole the assaulted man’s wallet, containing a small amount of money, and the attackers fled on foot towards the Parramatta Golf Club,” it added.

Police attended the scene along with paramedics. The student suffered a bleeding nose and cut to his mouth and was treated at the scene.

The attack follows a string of similar attacks against Indians in the country in the last 12 months. (ANI)