UPDATE 1-Brazil urgently needs fighter jets- Amorim
PARIS Oct 18 (Reuters) - Brazil urgently needs to buy new
fighter jets and has not ruled out replacing its fleet of Mirage
2000 jet fighters next year, but will monitor the global
financial situation before making a decision, Defence Minister
Celso Amorim said on Tuesday.”There is an urgent need (to renew the fleet),” Amorim told
reporters after meeting his French counterpart Gerard Longuet.”The main consideration when it comes to making the decision
will be financial and economic,” he said.France’s Dassault Aviation-built Rafale,
U.S.-based Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Swedish
Saab Gripen NG have long been vying for the estimated
$4-7 billion contract to renew Brazil’s dilapidated fleet of air
force jets.The French government had come close to sealing a deal with
Brazil early this year, with Dassault promising to transfer
technology for the new jet in a bid to get an edge over the
competition.But the Brazilian government announced recently it would
delay its decision until at least 2012 due to the escalating
economic crisis.Amorim said on Tuesday he did not rule out a final decision
in 2012, but stressed that for the time being Brazil needed to
be careful and see how the economic environment panned out.”We don’t know for certain what the consequences of the
global financial crisis will be for Brazil so we have to be
prudent, without forgetting our defence needs,” he told
reporters.Dassault has still not found a foreign buyer for its
multi-role Rafale, billed to be one of the most effective
fighter jets in the world, but also one of the most expensive.The aircraft has received a great deal more interest since
it was deployed in the NATO mission in Libya this year, its
first ever combat operation.French President Nicolas Sarkozy discussed the Rafale with
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff at a United Nations general
assembly last month and French officials said Brazil had
indicated it favoured the Dassault jet.Amorim is scheduled to meet Sarkozy on Wednesday, along with
Foreign Minister Alain Juppe who has been put in charge of
selling the Rafale to the United Arab Emirates.Defence Minister Longuet said on Monday the estimated $10
billion deal with the UAE for the sale of 60 Rafale jets was in
the late stages of discussion and close to being completed.
Slovene bank NLB capital hike delayed - report
NLB and government agency AUKN, which manages state-owned
companies, gave no immediate comment.The state owns the majority of the unlisted NLB, which just
passed the European Union stress test in July. Belgian banking
and insurance group KBC owns 25 percent of NLB.
($1 = 0.730 Euros)
The U.S. Open gets physical
The U.S. Open final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal was one of the most physical battles ever seen on a tennis court.
The sheer speed of their groundstrokes and length of the rallies were incredible. Djokovic dominated Nadal in the first two sets, to win them 6-2 6-4. He was on top of the baseline forcing Nadal to play well behind the baseline and not allowing him to play inside the court and dictate. Nadal though is tenacious and was down a break three times in the third set and broke Djokovic while serving for the match to end up winning the third set in a tiebreaker. Unfortunately, Nadal had nothing left in the fourth set.
With Djokovic taking an injury time out for his back at the end of the third set, Nadal’s momentum was gone and Djokovic cruised 6-1 in the fourth set to win his first U.S. Open title.
He became the sixth man in Open history to win three majors in a year. From my vantage point in the Sky Sports studio I could see the look on Nadal’s face at the end of the match – he still has no idea how to play or beat Djokovic. There is no clear weakness in Djokovic’s game and he does everything better than Nadal at the moment. Djokovic has raised men’s tennis to another level.
In the Junior event Oliver Golding from Britain won the Boys singles title and we had three British boys in the semi-finals of a junior event for the first time. The last British junior to win the US Open juniors was a certain Andy Murray. British tennis is looking up at the moment and the future looks bright.
It’s been a great tournament!
The U.S. Open gets physical
The U.S. Open final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal was one of the most physical battles ever seen on a tennis court.
The sheer speed of their groundstrokes and length of the rallies were incredible. Djokovic dominated Nadal in the first two sets, to win them 6-2 6-4. He was on top of the baseline forcing Nadal to play well behind the baseline and not allowing him to play inside the court and dictate. Nadal though is tenacious and was down a break three times in the third set and broke Djokovic while serving for the match to end up winning the third set in a tiebreaker. Unfortunately, Nadal had nothing left in the fourth set.
With Djokovic taking an injury time out for his back at the end of the third set, Nadal’s momentum was gone and Djokovic cruised 6-1 in the fourth set to win his first U.S. Open title.
He became the sixth man in Open history to win three majors in a year. From my vantage point in the Sky Sports studio I could see the look on Nadal’s face at the end of the match – he still has no idea how to play or beat Djokovic. There is no clear weakness in Djokovic’s game and he does everything better than Nadal at the moment. Djokovic has raised men’s tennis to another level.
In the Junior event Oliver Golding from Britain won the Boys singles title and we had three British boys in the semi-finals of a junior event for the first time. The last British junior to win the US Open juniors was a certain Andy Murray. British tennis is looking up at the moment and the future looks bright.
It’s been a great tournament!
