Debt Payments

The euro region’s third-largest economy has to repay about 53 billion euros in debt in the first quarter from the region’s total maturing debt of 157 billion euros, according to UBS AG. It owes a further 3.2 billion euros in interest payments based on the average five-year yield of the past three months.The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond was 6.69 percent after the auction at 12:46 p.m. in Rome, up one basis point from yesterday. That pushed the difference with German bonds to 4.69 percentage points. Argyle Knit UGG Boots The euro extended its decline against the dollar, trading below $1.30 for the first time since Jan. 12.Monti, in office less than a month, is seeking to show investors he can bring down borrowing costs and tame a debt that is bigger than that of Spain, Greece, Portugal and Ireland combined. Yesterday, he accepted changes proposed by lawmakers to the plan, which the Senate is due to vote on by Dec. 23 following approval in the Chamber of Deputies. “We are confident that markets will react positively to the efforts Italy is making, maybe not tomorrow, but the reduction in borrowing costs that we anticipate in the coming months will help spur the economy,” Monti told the Finance and Budget Committees of the Chamber last night in Rome.

Make a meal of it

Did you know that on York Street between Wynyard and the Queen Victoria Building there are 24 places where you can buy a cup of coffee? To paraphrase that droll New Zealand-born comedian, John Clarke, if you work on York Street and don't sell coffee then clearly you are being a fool to yourself and a menace to society. UGG Classic ShortWith such an excess of coffee and breakfast eateries it is hardly surprising that The York by Swiss-Belhotel does not offer breakfast, although in most of its 120 apartments the cooking facilities are so comprehensive you could feed half the commuters at Wynyard Station. In my apartment there's a dining table with four chairs, a substantial kitchenette with full-sized refrigerator, hotplate, microwave oven, dishwasher and plenty of crockery and cutlery.As luck would have it, as I was checking the cheap rates for The York by Swiss-Belhotel on wotif.com several months ago, I found, with digital flames leaping from the prices, deluxe one-bedroom apartments for the "ridiculous rate" of $170 a night with free parking thrown in. Not bad for accommodation for two in a roomy one-bedroom apartment where you can gaze down on the traffic roaring across the Harbour Bridge and enjoy views north across the bridge. Ugg Boots SaleThe apartment's lounge area is spacious and comfortable; the bathroom, while not large, is elegant and includes a bath and shower as well as a state-of-the-art basin and mirror; the bedroom, separated from the lounge and kitchenette, is big and the queen-sized bed is comfortable. The designers, perhaps under the influence of Ken Done, have painted the feature wall in the lounge room and the main wall in the bedroom a blindingly bright Sydney yellow and there is enough attention to detail to make this feel like a place designed for relaxation.Its location is hard to fault - only a short walk to George Street, and The Rocks and Circular Quay are about 10 minutes' walk away. Access to Sydney transport - the railway at Wynyard Station and the bus termini at Wynyard and Town Hall - is only a few minutes away. UGG Ultra ShortAdd to that the proximity of good Japanese restaurants - the Sagano is downstairs and provides a "room service menu" - and a number of nearby restaurants listed in the Good Food Guide make this is an ideal location for committed foodies.You could stay for a week and dine out in style without ever having to walk for more than 10 minutes. The fact that the meal might cost more than the accommodation should give rise to nothing more than a wry grin.But the real appeal of the location is in its proximity to the harbour. When I stay in Sydney and have a few spare hours I head to Circular Quay with no aim other than to hop on a ferry and mooch around the harbour. UGG Classic Mini 5854 Take the ferry to Cremorne Point and follow the superb harbourside walk around Shell Cove and Mosman Bay and the old Athol ferry to Taronga Zoo. The walks to Sirius Cove and Bradleys Head from the wharf at the zoo are some of the most tranquil retreats on the northern shore of the harbour.Easy access to the harbour and the city's finest restaurants makes The York by Swiss-Belhotel well-priced and rewarding for a weekend break.

Texans beat Bengals 20-19, win 1st AFC South title

CINCINNATI—A rookie got the Houston Texans to a place they've never known, one that seemed ready to disappear when their top two quarterbacks got hurt last month. Instead, T.J. Yates made a little Lone Star history. The fifth-round draft pick led the most important drive in Texans history on Sunday, taking Houston 80 yards in little more than 2 minutes with no timeouts against the Cincinnati Bengals. His 6-yard touchdown pass with 2 seconds left gave Houston a 20-19 win and a division championship. Everyone knew who the star was in the Texans' biggest moment. "We realized what was on the line there," tight end Owen Daniels said. "It is unbelievable what T.J. was able to do, finding people down the field, avoiding the rush and making plays. It was so smooth. I've never seen anything like it." The Texans (10-3) have never done anything like it during their 10-year history as an expansion team. Argyle Knit UGG Boots They've won seven in a row despite losing quarterbacks Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart in consecutive games to season-ending injuries. In stepped Yates, who took them the final step in his second NFL start. "It's pretty crazy," Yates said. "A lot of people in this organization have waited a long time for this. This is a special day for this team and this organization." In a few wild minutes on Sunday, it all came together. They needed to win and have Tennessee lose at home to New Orleans to clinch their first AFC South title. They celebrated on the field when Yates brought the first half of the playoff equation. Then, still in uniform, they huddled around a television in the locker room and watched the Titans lose 22-17. They screamed collectively then passed out championship caps and T-shirts. Receiver Andre Johnson, one of the most long-suffering Texans, got a game ball. "I'm just happy for the city of Houston," said Johnson, who was sidelined by a pulled hamstring. "They deserve it. We've got great fans who have stuck it out with us. Words really can't describe it. It's something I've been waiting for for a long time." It seems the Bengals (7-6) are going to have another year of waiting. They've lost four of their last five, and now need help in order to get the AFC's final wild-card berth. "It's a defeated feeling today," safety Chris Crocker said. "I can't even put into words how bad this hurt." Cincinnati knew it had to beat a team with a rookie quarterback in order to stay in the playoff chase. With their season on the line, the Bengals couldn't do it. "A rookie quarterback beat us today," Crocker said. "He did it with both his arm and his feet. I don't even know what to say. Wow."

Sheung Wan

Hong Kong's creative heart is heading west. Sheung Wan is only a 10-minute walk from Central along Hollywood Road, Hong Kong's unofficial antiques district, along a gravelly grid of steep lanes, past Chinese herbalists, coffin shops and impromptu bric-a-brac markets. The neighbourhood found new life a little more than two years ago when a crop of restaurants, galleries and nightlife spots started moving in."Sheung Wan used to be the sleepy vintage area," says Alan Po, the co-owner of the Press Room Group, which opened the Press Room restaurant here in 2006; the group has since become known for its knack in district reinvention. "People thought we were crazy opening a restaurant on the far side of Hollywood Road. UGG Classic Short But we liked Sheung Wan because it still had a sense of neighbourhood and was without prohibitive rental fees. It's like the 'anti' of shopping malls."It's a Thursday afternoon and Po and I are having lunch at the Press Room, a tiled brasserie with French cottage chairs and a wall stacked with organic and biodynamic wines from artisanal and little-known producers in France. Every table is packed with diners grazing on French-inspired dishes: lobster benedict, steamed mussels Provencal, peppered-beef salad with watercress and parmesan, matched with a long list of wines by the glass.Next door, the Press Group's Classified cafe is also full, with many lunchers spilling outside onto the footpath. It has a French cafe theme, with marble tabletops and hand-painted tile floors, and is best known for serving artisanal cheeses and hams that have been matured at the in-house affinage facility.Sheung Wan's foodie buzz is coming from Yardbird, a no-reservations neck-to-feet chicken restaurant run by former Zuma chef Matt Abergel. The queues are long - be prepared to wait at least an hour - but the charcoal-cooked bird is flawless and goes down a treat with the diner's signature cocktails."When I first moved [to Sheung Wan] there was just traditional business," says Grace Ching, the owner of Loveramics, a boutique selling exquisite handcrafted crockery by Hong Kong designers."Ours was the first boutique. Now there are loads of boutiques, galleries and cafes."Loveramics shares the steep one-way lane of Tung Street with a range of specialised boutiques. UGG Classic Cardy 5819 Opposite, Ellerman is a smart space selling freshly cut sunflowers, cushion covers, notebooks and country-style ceramics by the Amsterdam-based Pip Studio. A few doors away, Identity Art Gallery showcases "visionary art identities", such as those in the current exhibition by Hong Kong-born photographer Kurt Tong. Queen, the Chairman and I includes a series of photographs tracing Tong's family's journey through colonialism, communism and into modern China.Two lanes further west, on both sides of the street Sin Sin Fine Art has galleries featuring artists from China's burgeoning contemporary art scene.On Hollywood Road, the Space is a former meat-packing warehouse transformed into a slick, state-of-the-art multi-function space used for exhibitions, parties and pop-up shops. During my visit, the Space is exhibiting the meticulous but eerie sketches of Australian landscape artist Joshua Yeldham, who expresses his attachment to the NSW Hawkesbury River and the owls that live in that area.

Seafood could carry toxic levels of mercury

That succulent lobster you order at a fancy restaurant might be carrying toxic levels of mercury.University of Alberta researchers found that harmless inorganic mercury, discharged by industry and coal burning, becomes deadly monomethylmercury in the oceans, which progresses through the food chain from small sea creatures to humans.Unborn babies and young infants are particularly sensitive to monomethylmercury`s effects. It causes brain and spinal cord damage. Symptoms are abnormal movements (twisting, jerking, or writhing) of the hands, feet, arms or legs while awake. UGG Bailey Button Boots The research team, led by Alberta doctoral graduate in biological sciences Igor Lehnherr, incubated seawater samples collected from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, reports the journal Nature Geoscience.Lehnherr says conversion of inorganic mercury to monomethylmercury accounts for approximately 50 percent of this neurotoxin present in polar marine waters. It could account for a significant amount of the mercury found in Arctic marine organisms, according to an Alberta statement.