Singapore revises GDP contraction

U.S. journalist freed in Iran, attorney says

Singapore's economy shrank less than previously thought in the first quarter of this year, suggesting an improvement in economic activity in March.

The country's GDP shrank by 14.6% compared with the previous three months, rather than the 19.7% estimated by the government in April. 

The year-on-year contraction of 10.1% was also an improvement on the previous estimate of 11.5%. 

The government still expects a drop in GDP of between 6% and 9% for 2009. 

"The data should convince sceptics that the most pessimistic scenario has been kept at bay," said Kit Wei Zheng at Citigroup. 

Singapore has been hit by a fall in exports during the economic downturn.

Joke review boosts T-shirt sales

U.S. journalist freed in Iran, attorney says

A T-shirt has become one of the most popular items sold by online retailer Amazon in the past few weeks.

Sales of the kitsch Three Wolf Moon T-shirt shot up 2,300% after a spate of ironic reviews went viral. 

The first review gave the shirt five stars, saying it "Fits my girthy frame, has wolves on it, attracts women" but "cannot see wolves with arms crossed". 

That prompted hundreds of others to post frivolous reviews, turning the page into an internet phenomenon. 

"When I put this T-shirt on for the first time, my wife left me! Thank you, Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt," wrote one wag, while another said that "the Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt gave me a +10 resistance to energy attacks, +8 Strength... and I have successfully solved 7 crimes in my city". 

Amazon's senior manager of community content, Russell Dicker, said the T-shirt was currently the top selling item in their clothing store. 

"The Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt recently moved up 2,300% in sales rank," he said. "We are grateful that our reviewers are so passionate." 

Publicity shy

However, the firm which actually makes the T-shirt appeared less than pleased at some of the comments. 

"The Mountain is a wholesale company and does not sell shirts on Amazon, so this viral assault went under our radar until the shirt made it into the top 10 in the Amazon apparel section," they said in a posting on the Amazon site. 

"We appreciate humour as much as the next company, but we don't approve of some of the remarks. 

"Not everyone can start out at the top and not everyone from our neck of the woods lives in a trailer or cruises Walmart to hook up." 

However, speaking on Radio Five Live, the firms art director - Michael McGloin - said the firm were actually rather pleased with the publicity. 

"We'll take ironic fashion any day.... and we're printing another 400,000 more t-shirts...it's just a fantastic thing," he said. 

This is not the first time comedy reviews on Amazon have gone viral. In 2006, there were more than a thousand reviews for Tuscan Whole Milk. 

They ranged from soap opera-style script - "That was when I knew. He was tired of this life with me, tired of bringing home the Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 Gallon, 128 fl oz" - to stating the obvious: "Has anyone else tried pouring this stuff over dry cereal? A-W-E-S-O-M-E!"

Australia firm takes jobless bets

U.S. journalist freed in Iran, attorney says

Australian betting firm Centrebet has come under fire for offering odds on how many people will be unemployed when official figures are released in June.

The shortest odds are for the country's jobless rate to rise to 5.6% or 5.7%, up from 5.4% in April. 

But politicians and the Salvation Army have slammed the bets, calling them "unacceptable" and "distasteful". 

Centrebet admitted the bets were "socially sensitive" but said they were becoming increasingly popular. 

'Distasteful'

"Taking bets and making money out of the misfortune of the unemployed is as distasteful as it gets," said Queensland state Treasurer Andrew Fraser. 

"I think the people at Centrebet need to revisit this issue and accept that this is an unacceptable practice," he added. 

Brad Halse at the Salvation Army was equally affronted. 

"At the very least, this is extremely distasteful," he said. 

"If they have to frame a gambling market, it is only appropriate that they try and be sensitive to the very real tragedy of the many instances of people losing their jobs and struggling," he added. 

'More popular'

But Centrebet defended the practice of betting on the number of unemployed, saying that punters were quite taken with the new bets. 

Media chief Neil Evans conceded that the issue was "obviously somewhat socially sensitive", but argued that it gave "punters, well away from the usual betting mediums of sport and racing, a chance to play expert in a field that's becoming more and more popular". 

And the attitude of one job seeker helps to explain why. 

"Maybe if Centrebet staff were being made redundant they might change their minds about making light of something so serious," Rebecca Galton told local media. 

"Still, I might place a bet myself. I could do with some extra money right now." 

The Australian economy is facing a sharp recession as demand for commodities like iron and copper have slumped. 

The Australian central bank has already cut interest rates to a 49-year low, and the Australian government has pledged a Aus$50bn ($30bn, £20bn) rescue plan.

'One million more to lose jobs'

U.S. journalist freed in Iran, attorney says

Leading economist David Blanchflower has predicted that at least one million more people will lose their jobs before unemployment peaks in the UK.

Speaking to Newsnight he said 100,000 people will lose their job each month "at least until the end of the year". 

He warned we face a "lost generation" of young people if the government fails to invest in the future. 

Mr Blanchflower is retiring from the Monetary Policy Committee, whom he often defied by calling for rates cuts.

Mr Blanchflower on threat of a 'lost generation'

In an interview for Thursday's Newsnight programme, Mr Blanchflower described the current labour market as "pretty terrible", saying: 

"We've actually had the worst month's unemployment figures we have ever seen, the largest increase in a single month, the highest percentage increase in a single month." 

And he warned that the situation was only going to get worse: 

"My view is we're going to see an average of one hundred thousand a month, at least for the end of the year, so unemployment is certainly going to rise by a significant amount, perhaps by another million, perhaps by more." 

Graduates

He said that such dire circumstances needed to be tackled to avoid the creation of a "lost generation" of young people: 


Mr Blanchflower on failure to predict the recession

"We're talking about nearly nine hundred thousand under 25 year olds now and when the class of 2009 graduates, there will be more than a million. 

"This is everywhere around the country. This is not just unskilled people. Its people who are leaving the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh and London and Exeter. It's a whole generation of people spread across the spectrum who we can't write off." 

'Misread the data'

Mr Blanchflower also told Newsnight that fellow members of the MPC could have forecast the recession earlier, but misread the data. 

"There are some difficulties in actually getting accurate data in a recession. Its hard to seasonally adjust things and get the right data, and get data that, if you like, forecasts thing very well, in the way that it did in benign times. 

"But if you look back now and say what data did we have at the beginning of 2008, the answer is I think that we could have forecasted, we could have looked at the qualitative data. 

"Its quite clear if you look now at the data that if the UK went into recession in about April or May 2008. And it was pretty clear in the data then, people just weren't reading it right," he said. 

US economic outlook 'improving'

U.S. journalist freed in Iran, attorney says

The US Federal Reserve says it is seeing "tentative evidence" the US recession is easing despite cutting its economic growth forecast.

The Fed says it expects the economy will shrink between 1.3% and 2% this year. It had earlier said the economy could contract between 0.5% and 1.3%. 

It also warned that US unemployment could reach 10%. 

But the pace of economic decline was beginning to ease, the Fed said in the minutes of its meeting on 28-29 April. 

"Participants agreed that the information received since the March meeting provided some tentative evidence that the pace of contraction in real economic activity was starting to diminish," the minutes showed. They're saying the recovery itself may not be as robust as what people are talking about 
Doug Roberts, ChannelCapitalResearch.com.


They also said that financial markets had strengthened and there was anecdotal evidence of a pick-up in household and business confidence. 

Christopher Low, chief economist at FT Financial in New York, said the revision to the economic growth forecast reflected the magnitude of the decline in the first quarter of this year when the economy contracted by an annualised rate of 6.1%. 

"The tone of the minutes is a little more optimistic, and the forecasts are a little more pessimistic," he said. 

At the April meeting, the Fed decided to keep interest rates unchanged at its current low range of between zero and 0.25%. 

The Fed's decision to cut its growth forecast tempered recent investor confidence that the economy was beginning to recover from the financial crisis. 

US stocks reversed early gains to close lower. 

"They're saying the recovery itself may not be as robust as what people are talking about," said Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist at ChannelCapitalResearch.com. 

The Fed also left open the possibility of increasing its purchases of mortgage-related and government debt to boost lending and spur recovery. In March, the central bank announced a $1.2 trillion (£843bn) programme to get credit flowing.

UAE pulls out of Gulf union plan

U.S. journalist freed in Iran, attorney says

The United Arab Emirates is withdrawing from plans for Gulf monetary union, dealing a blow to further economic integration in the oil-rich region.

The state said it would be keeping its own currency, the dirham, which would remain pegged to the dollar. 

No explanation was given, but the UAE has expressed reservations about the choice of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, as home for the union's central bank. 

The state is the second of six Gulf states to pull out of the union plan. 

Oman had already said it would not be taking part. 

The other four states - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain - are committed to the plan, said Mustapha al-Shamali, Kuwait's finance minister.

IMF push for more help for Africa

U.S. journalist freed in Iran, attorney says

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that Africa's economic growth will plummet because of the world economic downturn.

It predicts that growth in sub-Saharan Africa will slow to 1.5% in 2009, below the rate of population growth. 

In March, the IMF was predicting growth of 3.25% but the slump in commodity prices and the credit squeeze were the main factors for the revision. 

The IMF said Africa would need more concessional aid to ride out the slump. 
  Let us not forget the stakes, which given the vulnerability of Africa's population, are higher than in other regions of the world 
IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Zambia's wilting flower exports 


'Innocent victim'

It is a sharp turnaround for the African economies, which had been growing at around 6% per year since 2000, raising hopes that poverty rates could be reduced. 

"In many respects, Africa is the innocent victim of this financial tsunami," said IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn. 

But he warned that the "depth and breadth of the crisis" and the "unprecedented collapse in world trade" had meant that demand for African exports was "collapsing fast". 

In addition, "although African banks avoided exposure to toxic assets, private capital is retreating, with both portfolio inflows and foreign direct investment drying up". 

And, he added, "let us not forget the stakes, which given the vulnerability of Africa's population, are higher than in other regions of the world". 

More help 
African oil exports have been hit by the sharp fall in prices


The IMF said that Africa would need at least the doubling of aid promised at the Gleneagles summit in 2005. 

"Without additional support, poverty reduction and economic development in Africa could be set back several years and political stability might be endangered in some countries," it said. 

In addition, the IMF is planning to lend an additional $6bn (£4bn) to African countries at low interest rates over the next two to three years, after the G20 increased its resources at the London summit in April. 

The IMF said it was also making its lending programmes more flexible, streamlining its programmes and making the conditions for lending less tough. 

"Fiscal targets have been loosened in 80% of African countries," it said, "giving them more breathing space to deal with the crisis." 

The IMF is now providing emergency support to a growing number of African countries, but it warned that more help was needed. 

"The IMF cannot stand alone. To help countries weather this storm, all development partners need to follow through," Mr Strauss-Kahn said. 

He also said that individual countries should give priority to preserving social safety nets "to protect the most vulnerable from the ravages of the crisis". 

He will visit the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Ivory Coast later this week to discuss measures to deal with the downturn.

England v West Indies 2nd Test

U.S. journalist freed in Iran, attorney says

Heavy rain washed out the second day's play in the second Test between England and West Indies at the Riverside.

A slow-moving band of rain hit shortly before the scheduled start at 1100 BST. 

And at 1605, with the covers firmly in place and the rain still lashing down, the umpires confirmed there would be no play at all for spectators on Friday. 

England hit 302-2 on day one after opting to bat first, with Essex batsmen Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara each hitting centuries on a slow wicket.

The washout was a blow to organisers, only a day after just 5,000 spectators watched the action on Thursday - again raising the question of why May Test matches are scheduled in summers packed with so much more enticing international action. 

Geoffrey Boycott was angry with the state of pitch, which gave the bowlers so little encouragement, and the decision to choose the Durham venue for an international match so early in the season. 

The England batting great told BBC Sport: "This can't be the same sort of pitch on which Durham won the County Championship last year, because the ball moved around a little bit and it was spicy and interesting for bowlers and batsmen. 

"Why are you having Test matches in the very north of England at this time of year? You've got to be wrong in your head. Everyone in the country knows it's warmer down south. They've not come because it's too cold to sit.

"Administrators don't care, they're only interested in television revenue. It's bad for cricket because it doesn't look good. Give the television, the radio, the sponsors some money back and let's all gear up for the Ashes and make it a promotional man's dream - but no, it's money gone mad." 

The forecast for Saturday morning is much better, but showers could arrive in the afternoon - and there is further uncertainty about the weather for Sunday and Monday. It is unfortunate for Durham, where the weather has been good for much of the early season. 

Meanwhile, the county believes the prices of tickets, ranging from £30 to £60, could be reduced but it is prevented from doing so because of the bidding process to stage international events. 

"Clearly, the tickets are not flying out of the door," conceded chief executive David Harker in an interview before the Test started. "You have to look at their price and wonder whether maybe we have reached the limit of that. 606: DEBATE 
The paymasters of this hapless merry-go-round are the broadcasters. Expect them to slash their payments in future if Test cricket in May continues to prove such a turn-off 
BBC Sport's Oliver Brett


"They are set in conjunction with the ECB, and the challenge is that we have to bid for the games. That bid has the function of deciding the size of ticket price. 

"If the game were to move to looking at lower-priced tickets - which I would certainly support - that has to be reflected in the bidding process as well." 

Ticket-holders for Friday's play are entitled to free entry on any of the three remaining days of the match. 

The ECB was forced to defend itself after choosing to start the Lord's Test on a Wednesday. That finished in three days, meaning refunds for thousands who had bought tickets in advance for the weekend. 

Chris Gayle may not have minded missing out on Friday. The West Indies captain revealed in the lead-up to the match that he would not be sorry to see the death of Test cricket. Tomorrow is supposed to be a sell-out and that's a great achievement for the club 
Paul Collingwood


But England all-rounder Paul Collingwood, a Durham player, said the low-key atmosphere had to be put to one side. 

"Our focus as players is to go out and perform for England," he told TMS. "It never enters our minds that this a dull day. This is Test match cricket and our approach and attitude is to go out and perform and try to win games. 

"It would be great to get the ground at least three-quarters full but with the way things are at the moment and the way the weather was you are going to have a few empty seats. 

"Saturday is supposed to be a sell-out and that's a great achievement for the club."

Villa's Laursen forced to retire

U.S. journalist freed in Iran, attorney says

Aston Villa captain Martin Laursen has announced his retirement after conceding defeat in his battle against persistent knee problems.

The 31-year-old former Denmark international suffered his latest injury against West Ham in December and has since made only one appearance. 

"Five months ago I was flying, I was on top of my game," said Laursen, who made an unsuccessful return in March. 

"But I can't recover from my injury - so I've got to retire. " 

Laursen, who made 91 appearances and scored 11 goals for Villa, admitted his decision was taken to help safeguard his long-term health. 606: DEBATE 
It would be nice if the Villa kept him employed in some way, maybe scouting in his homeland. 
villan450years


He said: "I've spent a while making up my mind, thinking about things. Deciding whether I wanted to go ahead with an operation and see if I could come back or whether I should retire. 

"It would have been a big and difficult operation. At this point, I think it's better for my health and future life to say 'that's it'." 

Manager Martin O'Neill praised the leadership qualities that persuaded him to make Laursen skipper at the beginning of this campaign. 

"We've missed his defensive qualities, we've missed his goals at the other end, but mainly we've missed his influence in the team," he told BBC Radio Five Live. 

"Over the last couple of seasons the influence he has exerted has really been terrific." 

It had been hoped that as Laursen's most recent injury was to his right knee, which has been problem-free through his career, he would recover to play again this season. 
Laursen retired from international football in January


But after aggravating the joint during Villa's win over West Brom in January, he underwent surgery and then suffered a further reaction during a training trip to Dubai in April. 

Despite signing from the Italian club in 2004, the majority of his appearances came in the last two seasons as he seemed to overcome the complaints that blighted the start of his Villa Park career. 

He was an ever-present in the Villa line-up last term, winning the fans' player-of-the-season award, and in his absence they have slumped from third to a distant fifth in the top flight this season.

O'Neill's own playing days were ended by a similar injury and he has sympathy for the difficult decision Laursen faced. 

"It's soul-searching, it's heart-wrenching. Even when you reach the ripe old age of 30, 31 you still always think you are going to play. In your mind you are still 19, but then suddenly it is all taken away from you," he said. 

"It is hard to come to terms with, certainly immediately. It took me about eight years."

Phelps ready for return to pool

U.S. journalist freed in Iran, attorney says

Olympic star Michael Phelps will on Friday race competitively for the first time following a three-month ban.

The ban was imposed after pictures of the American appearing to smoke cannabis were published. 

Phelps will swim five events at the Charlotte Ultraswim, only two of which were part of his Olympic schedule. 

"It's kind of like Tiger Woods working on his putting game or his pitching game," said Phelps. "It's sort of completing the whole package." 

In Beijing, Phelps broke fellow swimmer Mark Spitz's 36-year-old record of winning seven gold medals at one Games, taking his personal tally to 14 - five more than anyone else has achieved. 

Among the events he will try out in Charlotte are the 100m freestyle and 100m backstroke. 
 606: DEBATE 
How will Phelps fare in his new events? 
BBC Sport's Peter Scrivener


"I've never really been able to focus more on the 100 free or 100 back, events like that. I've always had other events that conflicted with the schedule," he said. 

"It's more fun doing different things. It's not as repetitive as some of the things I've been doing for the last 12 years." 

And Phelps is so focused on the 2012 London Olympics he has already set the times he expects to achieve. 

His coach, Bob Bowman, said: "There is a whole list of aims for 2012 and just like always they are private. 

"The times are already set out for the Olympics. We have plenty of time to get where he wants to be." 

However, he can only now return to action after being penalised for the photographs, which appeared in February. 

He will aim to be back in form by the US Championships in July, which act as trials for the World Championships in Rome later that month. 

Phelps said: "I made a stupid mistake and it's something I will learn from. Your guard always has to be up. 

"Wherever I go I am aware of everything around. I am always looking to see who is around me, no matter who they are. If I'm not comfortable, I leave."

King to be punished by Tottenham

U.S. journalist freed in Iran, attorney says

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp says Ledley King will be disciplined by the club for being drunk during the early hours of last Sunday.

The 28-year-old defender was also arrested and questioned on suspicion of assaulting a man in Soho, London. 

King has been bailed by police until mid-July while inquiries continue into the incident. 

The England player has since apologised and said the evening was "a night out with friends which went too far". 

Redknapp did not reveal what the punishment would be but he did state that King would be in the team for the home match against Manchester City on Saturday.

"Ledley will play tomorrow - he has apologised," said the Spurs manager, who is set to ban his players from drinking alcohol. 

"He knows he was wrong. He made a mistake and he has to learn from that and make sure it doesn't happen again. I've had a good chat with him. 

"There is no problem with people having the occasional drink, but if you have to get drunk you shouldn't be drinking. 

"I don't want players going to nightclubs and misbehaving. The problems nearly always come when players get drunk." 

Redknapp believes that it is up to footballers to be role models for the youth of Britain. You've only got to go abroad in the summer to certain parts of the world, you see drunken kids laying around, acting like maniacs, causing problems and it's a problem we've had in this country for years now 
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp


"You've only got to go abroad in the summer to certain parts of the world, you see drunken kids laying around, acting like maniacs, causing problems and it's a problem we've had in this country for years now," added Redknapp. 

"There's too much of it and I think footballers should set an example. 

"I don't understand why they get drunk. You can't even get a slice of white bread in the canteen here. Everything here is geared up to healthy eating. 

"What's the point if then they are going to drink 10 pints of lager. I don't see why they have to get on the booze, especially footballers." 

Apart from the ban on alcohol, Redknapp is also considering barring them from entering nightclubs. 

"Of course, why not? I don't want them going out to nightclubs, " he said. 

"I can ban them, we can do what we want. We're paying them massive money. They have a fantastic job coming here every day to train to be super-fit, to be top of their profession for a few years. 

"They have the opportunity to earn money so they don't have to work again for the rest of their lives. So why can't they dedicate themselves to it?"

U.S. journalist freed in Iran, attorney says

U.S. journalist freed in Iran, attorney says

Iran has released imprisoned Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, her lawyer said Monday.

Roxana Saberi records video in Tehran, Iran, in a photo taken in September 2003. 
1 of 2

Attorney Abdolsamad Khorramshahi said a prison official told him shortly before 6 p.m. Monday (9:30 a.m. ET) that Saberi had been freed.

She did not go out the main gate, where reporters and others waited to see her.

Earlier, her father, Reza Saberi, said her release was imminent, and that he had signed paperwork.

"We are very happy with the news," he told CNN. "We were hoping for it."

Iran's state-run news agency IRNA, citing a judiciary spokesman, reported that the verdict against Roxana Saberi was "reversed in the appeal court and she is to be freed."

Saberi, 32, was convicted last month on espionage charges in a one-day trial that was closed to the public. She was sentenced to eight years in prison. She denies the charges.

Her sentence has been changed to a two-year jail term suspended for five years, IRNA reported.
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State-run Press TV, citing "officials close to the case," reported that the suspended sentence "will be automatically abolished if Saberi shows no unlawful conduct in the next five years." 

"So, practically, she is free as of today," Reza Saberi said.

The family will return to the United States "as soon as we can make arrangements for the trip," he said.

The change came a day after Iran's court of appeals held a five-hour session on the case.

The court agreed with Saberi's lawyers that Iran is not at war with the United States -- and that therefore Saberi cannot be punished for cooperating with agents of a nation at war with Iran, according to Saberi's spokesman Abdolsamad Khorramshahi.

Saberi was detained in January after initially being accused of buying a bottle of wine and working as a journalist without proper accreditation, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, an advocacy group.

Saberi has lived in Iran since 2003 and reported for international news organizations, including National Public Radio, the BBC and ABC News until her press credentials were revoked in 2006, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. She continued to file short news items, according to NPR.

"Without press credentials and under the name of being a reporter, she was carrying out espionage activities," Hassan Haddad, a deputy public prosecutor, told the Iranian Student's News Agency.

Authorities said Saberi confessed. Her father has said he thinks she was coerced into making damaging statements.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter last month to Tehran's prosecutor calling for justice in the cases of Saberi and another detained journalist, Hossein Derakhshan, state-run news agency IRNA reported. Derakhshan is an Iranian-Canadian blogger who has been imprisoned in the country since November.

Reporters Without Borders, a group that fights for journalists' rights worldwide, says Derakhshan was sentenced to four years in prison for disseminating the views of one ayatollah and for "publicity against the government."

Saberi went on a two-week hunger strike to protest her detention, but ended it last Monday after her parents visited her in prison and pleaded with her to stop, Reza Saberi told CNN.

At one point during the hunger strike, she was hospitalized and fed intravenously, her father said. "She was very desperate to get out. ... She was quite relieved to know that the whole world is supporting her." 

Saberi's case has prompted denunciations from President Obama, as well as other U.S. and international officials.

The whole experience has been "very depressing" for her, and she has gone through a great deal of frustration, Saberi's father said Monday. "It will take some time before she can overcome it."
He added, "it's not the (Iranian) people -- they are very friendly. We don't understand why it happened."