Singapore billionaire Lim confirms Liverpool interest

Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim

Photo: Reuters

Singapore billionaire Peter Lim, who failed in an earlier bid to buy Liverpool FC, is prepared to improve his offer for the Premier League club, his spokeswoman said on Tuesday, confirming British media reports.

"Peter has written a letter to the Liverpool board... he is prepared to make an improved offer," she told Reuters.

She added that Lim, who made his fortune from stock broking, was the unnamed Asian party who had earlier made an offer for the English soccer club worth US$476.5 million but lost out to a similar-sized bid from US-based New England Sports Ventures, the owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team.

The beleaguered Merseyside club, whose protracted sale has dominated headlines since they were put on the market in April, will attend the High Court in London on Tuesday when chairman Martin Broughton's power to agree to the sale of the club will be examined.

Much-criticized American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who stand to lose some $223 million if the deal goes through, will argue that Broughton does not have such power, potentially leaving the club without a buyer and reigniting the danger of administration and a nine-point penalty in the league.

According to Forbes magazine, Lim is Singapore's eighth richest man with a fortune estimated at $1.6 billion. He is a large shareholder in Singapore-listed Wilmar, the world's largest palm oil firm, and Singapore fashion retailer FJ Benjamin.

Related Articles

• HCMC youth to promote green lifestyles
• New decree hopes to protect holders of convertible bonds
• Banks say cutting rates still a challenge
• Competition serves sustainable agenda
• Exhibition revels in diversity

Viet Nam aims to finish in top 15 at Asian Games

HA NOI – Viet Nam will send its 260-member squad to compete in 29 of the 42 events at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China from November 12-27.

Deputy head of the National Sports Administration Le Quy Phuong will lead the team at the Asian Games.

Viet Nam hopes to finish in the top 15 out of the 45 participating countries and territories.

Viet Nam's biggest medal hopes rest with sprinter Vu Thi Huong, Asian Grand Prix winner Truong Thanh Hang, SEA Games record holder Vu Van Huyen and two-time SEA Games gold medallist Nguyen Dinh Cuong.

Viet Nam's chief medal hope, Ngo Lan Huong, who was the 2009 world runner-up, is eyeing a gold medal.

In Qatar four years ago, Viet Nam won three gold, 13 silver and seven bronze medals to rank 19th out of the 45 countries at the competition.

Viet Nam began participating in Asia's biggest sport event at the Seoul games in 1986.

In 1994 at the Hiroshima Asian Games in Japan, Taekwondo artist Tran Quang Ha won the country's first gold medal, while Pham Hong Ha and Tran Van Thong brought home two silver medals.

At the Busan Asian Games in South Korea in 2002, the country had their best showing after winning four gold, seven silver and seven bronze medals to help Viet Nam finish 15th at the event. – VNS

Related Articles

• IFC: Vietnam needs to increase PPP to support economy
• Chinese dominate Vietnam Open badminton
• First mega office deepens Coldwell Banker presence in Vietnam
• Weightlifter grabs Vietnam’s first Olympic gold at Youth Games
• Hanoi sets twenty Vietnam records

VN official elected to AFC Standing Committee

Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) Secretary General Tran Quoc Tuan has been elected to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Standing Committee for the 2011-15 term.

According to the VFF website, at a council meeting of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) in Malaysia, the federation introduced Tuan as its representative to the AFC.

The results of the vote were announced on Sunday at a regular meeting.

This is the first time the VFF has had a representative in the AFC standing committee.

Tuan is currently the Commissioner of AFC and member of AFC's Vision Asia committee.

Quoc hopes to recover before Asian

Top table tennis player Doan Kien Quoc has received two weeks of treatment for a shoulder injury at Viet Nam Sports Hospital, his coach Truong Thoi Nhiem said yesterday.

Quoc, 31, who plays for PetroVietnam, is expected to make a speedy recovery from the minor injury.

The two-time Olympian will be competing at the Asian Games in Guangzhou next month.

16 VN fencers to compete in eight events at Asian Games

Viet Nam will send 16 athletes to compete in eight fencing events at the Asian Games next month.

The team will include twin sisters Nguyen Thi Le Dung and Nguyen Hoai Thu as well as in form Nguyen Thi Thuy Chung, Nguyen Thi Tuoi and Ha Thi Sen.

According to coach Pham Anh Tuan, they have invited Chinese coaches to train the team for a month before the Asian Games begin on November 12.

It will be the second time Vietnamese fencers have participated at the Asian Games.

Capital's sharpshooters hit the mark in championships

Ha Noi finished the National Shooting Championships, which closed on Sunday, with 22 gold, 19 silver and nine bronze medals.

The Army team bagged seven gold, 17 silver and five bronze medals to finish second, while Hai Phong came in third with seven gold, two silver and eight bronze medals.

The annual championship drew 180 shooters from 11 teams who competed for 24 medal sets. — VNS

Related Articles

• Party reports come in from provinces
• Preparations for congress reviewed
• Defence chiefs hold bilateral talks
• Food promotions at Grand and First hotels
• Greenback firmer on signs of rising demand

29 Vietnamese youths to join regional ship

A two-week training course for 29 young Vietnamese people who will
attend the 37th Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Programme (SSEAYP) 2010
opened in Hanoi on Oct. 11.

The Vietnamese youth,
together with young people from Thailand  Malaysia, Singapore and
Indonesia , will join the programme, to be held in Japan from Oct.
25-Dec. 16.

As planned, the Vietnamese delegation,
led by Phan Thi Thuy Tram, Deputy Director of the Northern Investment
Promotion Centre, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, will organise
“Vietnam Day” on Dec. 5.

This year’s programme,
themed “Youth Participation in Social Activities,” will offer the
participants opportunities to analyse their role in the socio-economic
development of each country and discuss activities to improve their
involvement.

SSEAYP is a regional youth exchange programme, drawing the participation of ten ASEAN members and Japan .

Starting in 1974 following the initiative of the governments of Japan,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, the
programme helps to strengthen friendship and mutual understanding
between young Japanese and Southeast Asian people./.

Related Articles

• Government vows to bail out insolvent shipbuilder Vinashin
• PM sets agenda for insolvent shipbuilder
• Defence co-operation boosts regional peace
• HCMC youth join campaign to promote green lifestyles
• VN looks to expand co-operation with UK

Artists challenge values

A group exhibition named Tam Ta (Pouring), with works from five contemporary artists from Hanoi, has opened in HCM City.

The exhibition, with the assistance of pioneering artist and curator
Tran Luong, is hosted by San Art and supported by Bui Gallery in Hanoi.

In this exhibition, imagination is given space to
play with Nguyen Tran Nam's near life-size human figures resting on
balls, Vu Hong Ninh's over-sized baby, made from soap, and Nguyen Huy
An's shadows wreaking havoc with ink and charcoal.

Nguyen Van Phuc's star light stands propped up by a set of crutches,
while Nguyen Manh Hung's ghostly bodyless figures hang from the ceiling.

The curator says this is the mystery of Tam Ta, a kind of mental state that exudes the mood of an unceasing kind of rain.

He says that it does not represent a torrent of water, but a rain of
survival, of suspended psychological states or physical adventures, of a
constant questioning of reality.

These young artists challenge human values, recognising that knowledge is the key to the door of the world.

This is the first exhibition of art from Hanoi since 2006 to be seen
in HCM City by contemporary artists of the 1970s and 1980s generation.
The touring exhibition, which opened at Bui Gallery in Hanoi in July, is
an opportunity for local audiences to see the artistic ideas emerging
from the country's capital as it is also rare for artists in Vietnam to
have the chance to show their work across the country due to lack of
funding.

San Art is one of three venues for the
exhibition, which will be on view until November 13. Its next venue will
be New Space Arts in Hue.

The Tam Ta exhibition is on view at San Art, 3 Me Linh Street, Ward 19, Binh Thanh district, HCM City./.

Related Articles

• PM foresees bright future for co-operation with Africa
• Future doctors look for clues in crazy race
• Poor rural children blaze education trail
• Party reports come in from provinces
• ASEAN's socio-cultural issues promoted at Da Nang meeting

Marseille plan to take legal action against De Jong

Manchester City's Nigel De Jong (R) and Carlos Tevez (L) challenge Newcastle United's Hatem Ben Arfa during their English Premier League match in Manchester, northern England October 3, 2010

Photo: Reuters

Olympique Marseille plan to take legal action against Manchester City midfielder Nigel De Jong for breaking Hatem Ben Arfa's leg in a Premier League clash last weekend, the president of the Ligue 1 club said on Sunday.

Marseille forward Ben Arfa, who was loaned to Newcastle United during the close season, had his fibula and shinbone broken in a tackle by De Jong and is expected to be out of action for several months.

"We will file a claim against De Jong,” OM president Jean-Claude Dassier told French TV channel TF1 on Sunday, without elaborating. “We have to get rid of this type of individual from European pitches.”

De Jong escaped punishment at the time but Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk left him out of the Dutch squad for their Euro 2012 qualifiers against Sweden and Moldova.

The player also attracted criticism in July's World Cup final against Spain for kicking Xabi Alonso in the chest. De Jong received a yellow card for the challenge.

Dassier added Ben Arfa had asked Marseille for help with his recovery.

"We will do everything we can, obviously," he said.

France coach Laurent Blanc also supported Ben Arfa, telling TF1: "Hang in there, Hatem, this is a difficult moment in your career but you will get through it."

Related Articles

• Workshop calls for longer-term plans to audit State entities
• Coal imports to start in 2015
• Coal imports to start in 2015
• Market moves up sharply
• Asia braces for currency wars but options limited

Sai Gon cyclists scoop up jerseys

Victor: Cyclist Mai Nguyen Hung of Sai Gon Plant Protection (centre) celebrates after winning the overall best time in the trans-Viet Nam cycling race. — VNA/VNS Photo Ngoc Truong

HA NOI — Riders from the HCM City-based Sai Gon Plant Protection 1 team won both the yellow and red jerseys at the international trans-Viet Nam cycling tournament that finished in Ha Noi on Saturday.

The team's Mai Nguyen Hung claimed the overall yellow jersey with a time of 35 hours 46 minutes 40 seconds despite finishing 10th in the final 142-km stage between Thanh Hoa and Ha Noi.

In second place was Le Tan Hoai of Domesco Dong Thap while Le Ngoc Thanh and Le Van Duan, also of SGPP 1, finished third and fourth.

SGPP 1 also captured the team title with a cumulative time of 107:18:23.

Duan claimed the red jersey for the best climber with 26 points.

The event was one of a series to commemorate Ha Noi's millennium anniversary and began in HCM City on September 23.

Seventy eight cyclists from 11 local and two foreign teams – Mongolia and Laos – took part in the 1,818km race that took them through 17 provinces and cities despite the cancellation of two stages because of the floods in the central region. — VNS

Related Articles

• Former Saigon PM talks about homeland
• Saigon-Hanoi charity caravan heads north
• Nation puts pride on parade
• French novelist Linda Le holds talk in Saigon
• Ha Noi seeks friendship with the world, says PM