<p>MADRID - VALLADOLID'S Brazilian defender Nivaldo Santana, who appeared to stamp on Ronaldo's shin during a weeked Spanish league match, accused the Portuguese striker of being a 'provocative' player on Monday.</p><p>'It is a bit complicated, he (Ronaldo) is a good player but he does things that the referees let him get away with. If others did what he did for sure the referee would say something,' the 29-year-old told radio Cadena Ser.</p>

Ronaldo's a 'provocative' player

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<p>MANCHESTER - NANI has promised Manchester United supporters there is much more to come from him after admitting he has done a lot of 'growing up' this season.</p><p>The mercurial Portuguese winger has struggled for consistency since his 17 million-pound (S$36 million) move from Sporting Lisbon in 2007 and looked to have lost the faith of the Old Trafford fans earlier in the campaign.</p>

Nani realises potential

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<p>SAN FRANCISCO - APPLE Inc has awarded its chief operating officer a bonus valued at US$22 million (S$30.7 million)for leading the company while Chief Executive Steve Jobs was on 6-months' medical leave last year.</p> <p>The cash-and-stock award came at Mr Jobs' recommendation, and was made in recognition of Mr Tim Cook's 'outstanding performance in assuming the day-to-day operations' at Apple while Mr Jobs was out, the company said in a filing on Friday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.</p>

Apple COO gets $30m reward

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<p>LONDON - INTER Milan boss Jose Mourinho couldn't resist taking a swipe at his former club Chelsea despite trying his best to insist he won't be motivated by revenge in Tuesday's Champions League showdown.</p><p>Mourinho is back at Stamford Bridge for the first time since being sacked in Sept 2007 after losing a power struggle with owner Roman Abramovich and his host of advisors.</p>

Mourinho takes a swipe at Chelsea

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<p>LONDON - THE company behind Calvin Klein has bought fellow US fashion brand Tommy Hilfiger for 2.2 billion euros (S$4.20 billion), Hilfiger's current owner said on Monday.</p><p>Phillips-Van Heusen, one of the world's largest apparel companies, will open a 'new chapter' in the the story of Hilfiger, said one executive.</p>

CK owner buys Tommy Hilfiger

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<p>WASHINGTON - PRESIDENT Barack Obama faced growing congressional pressure on Monday to get tough with China over its currency practices, one day after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao brushed off accusations that Beijing was undervaluing its currency for an unfair trade advantage.</p><p>'The impact of China's currency manipulation on the US economy cannot be overstated. Maintaining its currency at a devalued exchange rate provides a subsidy to Chinese companies and unfairly disadvantages foreign competitors,' 130 lawmakers said in a letter to US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.</p>

US calls for action on yuan

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<p>MADRID - REALITY TV has helped discover fresh musical talent and now two veteran football stars in Spain plan to use the format in a global search for a new star of the game.</p><p>France legend Zinedine Zidane and Enzo Francescoli of Uruguay on Monday unveiled a new reality show called 'Football Cracks' which will follow the progress of 17 promising young players from around the world who are selected to attend a six-week training camp near Madrid.</p>

Reality TV search for footballer

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<p>MOSCOW - RUSSIA'S newest Olympic medallists received state medals on Monday, while sports officials were given a fresh warning they could be sacked after the country's worst-ever showing at a Winter Games last month.</p><p>In a televised Kremlin ceremony followed by champagne toasts and tea, President Dmitry Medvedev decorated the 22 Russian athletes who brought medals home from Vancouver.</p>

Russia warns sports officials

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TOKYO - JAPANESE share prices opened lower on Tuesday, with the benchmark Nikkei-225 index falling 33.44 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 10,718.54 in the first minute of trading. -- AFP

Nikkei opens lower

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<p>WASHINGTON - PRESIDENT Barack Obama's stuttering bid to rein in the largest US banks got a shot in the arm on Monday, as a key Senate ally unveiled a reform package described as the most sweeping in 80 years.</p><p>Senate banking committee chairman Christopher Dodd outlined plans to regulate the massive US banking sector, warning an overhaul was needed to prevent another large-scale crisis that the US economy might not survive.</p>

Fresh push for bank reforms

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<p>ROME - ITALIAN luxury jeweller Bulgari said on Monday it fell into a net loss of 47 million euros (S$89.8 million) last year and its turnover plunged 13.8 per cent to 926.6 million euros.</p><p>The top-end jewellery and luxury goods maker had made a profit of 82.9 million euros in 2008.</p>

Bulgari slumped into net loss

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<p>NEW YORK - US AUTHORITIES arrested on Monday the former head of a New York bank in the first case of suspected fraud involving massive government bailout funds.</p><p>Charles Antonucci, former chief executive and president of the Park Avenue Bank, was held on allegations of 'self-dealing, bank bribery, embezzlement of bank funds, and fraud, among others,' Preet Bharara, US Attorney of the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.</p>

Ex-bank chief charged for fraud

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<p>HANOI - VIETNAM freed one of its highest-profile political prisoners on Monday, releasing outspoken Catholic priest Nguyen Van Ly five years before his sentence was up, a US-based advocacy group said. </p> <p>A spokesman for the US embassy in Hanoi said he was aware of reports that Ly had been paroled for medical treatment and said: 'If these are true it would be a welcome humanitarian gesture.' A perennial thorn in the side of the ruling Communist Party, Ly has spent some 16 years in prison over the past three decades for advocating greater human rights in the one-party state. </p>

Vietnam frees dissident priest

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<p>ATHENS - GREEK civil servants will strike again for 24 hours in March or April to protest against austerity measures aimed at tackling the country's worst financial crisis in decades, their union said on Monday. </p> <p>Greece's government is under pressure from the markets and the European Union to implement deficit-cutting measures which include public sector salary cuts, tax increases and a pension freeze, but it faces union opposition. </p>

More Greek strikes to come

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<p>TURKU (Finland) - DAVID Beckham's Achilles tendon surgery was completed on Monday and everything went well, his Finnish surgeon told Reuters.</p> <p>'So far everything is fine,' Dr Sakari Orava said. 'The operation went smoothly and nicely.' Dr Orava was asked whether the England midfielder would be able to play in this year's World Cup.</p>

Beckham has successful op

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<p>LONDON - LIVERPOOL returned to form with a resounding 4-1 victory over bottom club Portsmouth on Monday to revive their hopes of finishing fourth in the Premier League.</p><p>Striker Fernando Torres scored twice and Italian Alberto Aquilani, starting for just the fifth time since joining for 20 million pounds (S$42 million) from Roma, claimed his first goal for the club.</p>

Liverpool routs Portsmouth

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<p>AUGUSTA (Georgia) - IN AN unprecedented broadcasting move, the 2010 Masters will be produced and broadcast live in 3-D, Augusta National Golf Club chairman Billy Payne announced on Monday.</p><p>Multiple 3-D cameras will be strategically placed across the famed course, resulting in views never before seen of the former nursery site that has become the home of the first major championship of each year in early April.</p>

Masters to have 3-D broadcast

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<p>GENEVA - MYANMAR on Monday angrily condemned a UN expert's finding that human rights violations there may amount to crimes against humanity and could warrant a UN inquiry.</p><p>But the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Quintana, stood by his finding and added that upcoming polls in Myanmar could not be credible given that the ruling junta showed 'no indications' that it would release political prisoners and allow them to participate.</p>

Myanmar slams call for probe

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<p>LOS ANGELES - THE shares of casino companies operating in Macau fell on Monday on wariness that the Chinese city's new chief executive could unveil a 2010 policy plan that caps its fast-growing gambling industry.</p><p>The address by Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui, who was sworn in to the post in December, is likely to include plans for the future, according to local news reports.</p>

Macau casino shares dip

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<p>BERLIN - GERMANY and France clashed over the German export juggernaut on Monday as Paris accused Berlin of squeezing salaries to boost its trade surplus at the expense of eurozone partners.</p><p>German Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle defended his country's export-driven economic model after his French counterpart, Christine Lagarde, said Germany's approach could hurt other European economies.</p>

Germany defends export model

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