goalkeeper didier ovono
but the game took dramatic twist on minutes when the indomitable lions
failed to clear cross and cousin darted through to push the ball wide of
goalkeeper iddriss kameni and give gabon shock lead
going in front boosted the confidence of the outsiders and they retained the
advantage until half time with reasonable comfort as eto failed to make his
anticipated impact
geremi njitap did worry ovono with free kick and eto finally came to life
just before the break with dribble past several defenders but the ball was
eventually booted away
cameroon coach paul le guen made change in central midfield for the second
half introducing tchoyi somen for landry nguemo and the new face was soon
making his presence felt
ovono who once battled to make living playing in el salvador was an
inspirational figure and did well to parry close range header off corner and
foiled eto when the inter milan striker seemed poised to equalise
frustration crept into the game as cameroon continued to dominate possession
only to be thwarted by ovono who used his feet to block close range emana
drive at the expense of corner
gabon time wasting cost midfielder stephane nguema and striker roguy meye yellow
cards with the latter booked for taking too long to leave the field when
substituted by pierre emerick aubameyang
ovono came to the rescue again as time ticked away touching dipping free kick
from njitap over the crossbar and long range aubameyang drive rebounded off
the crossbar in stoppage time
us should consider drones air attacks in yemen senator
washington jan afp
the united states should consider targeting al qaeda extremists in yemen with
armed drones air strikes or covert operations senate armed services committee
chairman carl levin said wednesday
most options ought to be on the table short of invasion by us forces the
democratic lawmaker from michigan said on conference call with reporters after
trip to afghanistan and pakistan
it everything from physical actions that could be accomplished in terms of
use of drones or air attacks it could be clandestine actions said levin
top senate ally of us president barack obama
yemen capacity to combat extremism has emerged as hot button political issue
in washington following the thwarted christmas day attack on us airliner
heading for detroit which was allegedly planned in the arab country
the lawmaker said yemen government understands the nature of the threat from
islamist extremists and that increased us military aid to the government in
sanaa was clearly something that should be on the list
asked whether the united states would act with or without yemen approval
levin replied it would be expected that they would either agree privately or
accept without objection privately
but the senator speaking by telephone from dubai airport underlined that if
we really had high value targets then washington would regard it as its right
under international law to unilaterally go after that target
after the thwarted attack on northwest airliner at christmas the united
states and britain announced plans to fund counter extremism police in yemen
the base of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula which is blamed for the plot
but with an eye on the unstable political environment in yemen and neighboring
nations obama is making clear that he does not envisage openly deploying us
troops to the country
levin said he did not know what options the pentagon was considering but
expected to find out more at forthcoming briefing
horror in haiti quake as up to feared dead
port au prince jan afp
more than people were feared dead in haiti wednesday after calamitous
earthquake razed homes hotels and hospitals leaving the capital in ruins and
bodies strewn in the streets
schools collapsed trapping the dead inside and the cries of desperate victims
escaped from flattened buildings in the center of the capital port au prince
which an afp correspondent said was mostly destroyed
with thousands of people missing dazed survivors in torn clothes wandered
through the rubble as more than aftershocks rocked the ramshackle capital
where more than two million people live most in the grip of poverty
some injured survivors wore makeshift slings and blood soaked bandages one
woman was carried on bit of debris used as stretcher past piles of smashed
concrete from which crushed bodies protruded
fanning safety fears in the crime hit capital the united nations said the main
prison had collapsed allowing some inmates to flee into city where basic
services and communications were shut down
casualty figures were impossible to calculate but prime minister jean max
bellerive told cnn the final death toll from the quake could be well over
as an international aid effort geared up in race against time to
pull survivors from the ruins
hope that is not true because hope the people had the time to get out
because we have so much people on the streets right now we don know exactly
where they were living bellerive said
but so many so many buildings so many neighborhoods are totally destroyed
and some neighborhoods we don even see people so don know where those
people are
president rene preval painted scene of complete destruction in his
impoverished caribbean nation after the quake struck on tuesday
parliament has collapsed the tax office has collapsed schools have collapsed
hospitals have collapsed he told the miami herald estimating the number of
dead in the thousands
there are lot of schools that have lot of dead people in them he said as
experts spoke of the worst quake to hit the disaster prone nation in more than
century
the earthquake was the latest tragedy to hammer haiti scarred by years of
unrest crime and political tumult
it is biblical the tragedy that continues to stalk haiti and the haitian
people said us secretary of state hillary clinton as she said she would
shorten an asian tour to deal with the crisis
the quake late tuesday struck just below the earth surface on notorious
fault line meaning the shock was intense and damage severe scientists said
with haitian hospitals also having crumbled in the fury of the quake medical
services were struggling to cope with the flow of wounded
there are tens of thousands of victims and considerable damage haiti
ambassador to the organization of american states duly brutus told afp without
specifying the number of dead
the most urgent need is to help the thousands of people who are still alive and
trapped in the ruins he added saying the last quake of such magnitude to
strike haiti was in
preval wife first lady elisabeth preval told the miami herald she had seen
bodies in the streets of port au prince and had heard the cries of victims still
trapped in the rubble of the parliament building
stepping over dead bodies lot of people are buried under buildings the
general hospital has collapsed we need support we need help we need
engineers she said
while much of the rest of the impoverished caribbean nation appeared largely
unaffected the capital bore the brunt of the devastation
there is no doubt that we are facing major humanitarian emergency and that
major relief effort will be required un secretary general ban ki moon told
reporters as he prepared to visit haiti as soon as possible
the temblor toppled the cupola on the gleaming white presidential palace
major hotel where tourists were missing and the headquarters of the un
mission in haiti
the un said up to of its expatriate staff were still missing and it was
very worried about the fate of local workers
five people were confirmed dead in the un headquarters and the head of the
peacekeeping mission tunisian hedi annabi was among the missing
jordan reported that three of its peacekeepers were killed and wounded in the
quake brazil said of its peacekeepers were killed while eight chinese
soldiers were buried in rubble and were missing state media said
an argentine staffed hospital was the only one left operating in the city and
was struggling to cope with huge numbers of injured its director told argentine
television
the situation is really critical because we cannot cope with this many dead and
injured daniel desimone told todo noticias
there are lot of dead people in the streets lot of injured he added
us president barack obama vowed swift and aggressive effort to save lives and
said search and rescue teams would arrive within hours after heart wrenching
earthquake
this tragedy seems especially cruel and incomprehensible he said
the us military mobilized ships aircraft and expert teams due to arrive within
hours to help the relief effort an aircraft carrier the uss carl vinson was
due thursday
officials said the naval base in guantanamo bay cuba home to controversial
camp for terror detainees may also be used to house refugees
planeloads of rescue teams and relief supplies were quickly dispatched from
nations including britain canada russia spain france germany the
netherlands and russia
the resort town of jacmel was also devastated
was driving back to jacmel in the mountains when the entire mountain seemed
to fall down all around me said emmet murphy local head of the us non
governmental organization adci voca
two hundred foreigners were missing at the hotel montana french secretary of
state for cooperation alain joyandet said
iran bans weekly over false information
tehran jan afp
iran judiciary has banned weekly publication critical of the regime saying
it printed false information the official irna news agency reported on
wednesday
the revolutionary court in the capital found hemmat guilty of publishing false
information and disturbing public opinion irna said without providing further
details
in december the authorities banned two reformist weeklies andisheh no new
thought and hayat no new life run by reformist hadi khamenei brother of
the islamic republic supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei
the authorities have cracked down on the press and arrested several journalists
after deadly opposition protest in tehran last month resulted in the deaths of
eight people
iran hardline press watchdog has also warned several reformist newspapers over
their coverage of domestic politics
president mahmoud ahmadinejad disputed june re election has bitterly
divided iran political elite amid persistent allegations the poll was
massively rigged in his favour
his government has cracked down on critical media mostly belonging to the rival
reformist camp but conservative media have also been hit by number of
closures
football french league cup results
paris jan afp
french league cup round of results on wednesday
guingamp sakho og paris saint germain
lyon toulalan lisandro metz
le mans bordeaux postponed due to heavy snow
playing later
lens lorient toulouse nancy lille rennes saint etienne marseille
played tuesday
sedan allart clermont
row over bulgarian eu commissioner threatens barroso team
brussels jan afp
row over bulgaria eu commission pick split the european parliament along
political lines wednesday casting cloud over the endorsement of commission
chief jose manuel barroso entire new team
at the centre of the row stands former bulgarian foreign minister rumiana jeleva
who has had to fend off accusations that her list of financial interests was
incomplete and that her husband has mafia links
she endured stormy session in the eu parliament on tuesday as meps grilled her
on her suitability to become the next humanitarian aid commissioner with
particular focus on her involvement in bulgarian outfit global consult notably
by its absence from her list
the socialists in the european parliament announced that they could not yet
support the controversial candidate while the centre right european people
party epp the biggest bloc in the chamber came out in support of her
the angry conservatives even threatened to block the socialist candidate for
another commission portfolio as tit for tat response
bulgaria prime minister boiko borissov while maintaining support for jeleva
admitted on wednesday in sofia to having plan in place should she be
rejected further delaying the work of new commission already behind schedule
because of foot dragging over ratification of the lisbon treaty
members of the socialist group the second largest in the eu parliament said
they had written to barroso to explain their serious doubts over jeleva
competence for the job as well as her financial interests
their head german mep martin schulz has written to barroso to inform him of
the very serious doubts the group has regarding the bulgarian candidate said
his spokesman armin machmer
calls for clarification over her financial interests were also addressed to the
parliament juridical service
the eu parliament is this week questioning all would be members of barroso
new team at the eu executive
while the meps cannot veto any individual commissioner they can refuse to
endorse the team as whole they will announce their decision next week with
vote on the new commission set for january
as battle lines were drawn the conservative epp rushed to jeleva defence
denouncing the unfounded allegations against her
it was witch hunt against her and the parliamentary committee on development
did not find anything to go against her and she was given humiliating
treatment by the left complained vice chairman jozsef szajer
he went on to the attack slovak eu commissioner in waiting maros sefcovic over
questionable views he expressed in against the roma minority in his
country
barroso spokeswoman said has confidence in all the commissioners
designate
all the commissioners designate declarations have been looked at very carefully
for compliance with the code of conduct spokeswoman pia ahrenkilde hansen told
reporters
however she added that the commission had no body to police the declarations of
financial interests
barroso has of course made entirely clear that the code of conduct must be
fully and entirely respected and the declarations must be made in full she
cautioned
eu chief vows action on economy climate
berlin jan afp
the european union new permanent president herman van rompuy vowed wednesday
to make the fight against climate change and the economic crisis his top
priority in the months ahead
speaking ahead of meeting with chancellor angela merkel on his first official
visit to germany europe most populous country and its top economy van rompuy
said that the member bloc must strive for two percent average annual growth
one thing is clear now we need economic growth which is sustainable and which
is at least two percent instead of the projected structural growth of one
percent in order to keep up with the other major economies in the world van
rompuy said
he said that meeting on february would be an opportunity for eu leaders to
hold an initial brainstorming session on the economy before more concrete
proposals were tabled at an eu summit on march
turning to the climate van rompuy said that while the copenhagen accord fell
short of eu expectations the bloc would work to assess the commitments made by
various countries at the end of january before deciding how to proceed
asked whether he was concerned by the underwhelming response to his surprise
appointment the low key former prime minister of belgium said he wanted to be
judged by what he achieved not enthusiasm for him personally
like results in two and half years you can be more enthusiastic he
said
turkey gets apology it wanted and expected from israel pm
ankara turkey jan afp
prime minister recep tayyip erdogan said wednesday turkey had received the
apology it wanted and expected from israel over the dressing down of its
ambassador
was told that we received the response that we wanted and expected in
diplomatic terms the letter includes an expression of apology erdogan told
reporters at the airport after returning from visit to russia
turkish diplomat told afp that ambassador oguz celikkol would not be recalled
as ankara had threatened earlier in the day if israel failed to aplogise
the envoy however would be soon heading to turkey for preparations for visit
by israeli defence minister ehud barak which had been planned for sunday before
the row erupted she said
golf ishikawa again headed to uspga los angeles event
los angeles jan afp
japanese teen golf star ryo ishikawa who won the money title on the japan golf
tour last year will make his us pga tour debut at the northern trust open
in los angeles
the tournament will be held february at riviera country club and was the
site of ishikawa us tour debut last year
ishikawa won four times in japan last year to become the youngest player to
win money list on one of golf major tours
he was selected for the presidents cup winning three of his five matches for
the international team captained by greg norman
when ishikawa played at riviera last year missing the cut his appearance
nearly doubled the size of the media contingent at the tournament
he finished ranked th in the world earning him place in the first
major championship of the year the masters at augusta national in april
ishikawa made his masters debut last year courtesy of special invitation from
augusta national
he will also will play the pebble beach national pro am and the wgc accenture
match play championship
ishikawa was on site last year for the match play for which he was third
alternate but did not make it into the field
us economic recovery is broader beige book
washington jan afp
the us economy is seeing broader improvement in activity even if conditions
are still sluggish the federal reserve said in its beige book report wednesday
the report to be used by policymakers at the federal open market committee
meeting january said data from the federal reserve districts showed
modest improvement in key areas such as consumer spending manufacturing and
housing
the data indicated that while economic activity remains at low level
conditions have improved modestly further and those improvements are broader
geographically than in the last report the beige book said
ten districts reported some increased activity or improvement in conditions
while the remaining two philadelphia pennsylvania and richmond virgina
reported mixed conditions
this was better than the last beige book when eight districts showed increased
activity four were little changed
most districts reported consumer spending in the holiday season was slightly
greater than in but still far below levels
auto sales held steady or increased slightly since the last beige book in most
regions
manufacturing activity has increased or held steady since the last report in
most districts it added
home sales increased in most areas especially for lower priced homes with
price little changed
construction activity for new homes remained at low levels in much of the
country the report indicated
the fed cited soft conditions in commercial real estate that are pressuring
rents and leading to higher vacancy rates
in the financial sector loan demand continued to decline or remained weak in
many areas
as for the critical labor market the fed cited some hiring in few parts of
the nation but said labor market conditions remained generally weak with modest
wage increases appearing in just few districts
labor market conditions remained soft in most federal reserve districts
although new york reported modest pickup in hiring and st louis reported that
several service sector firms in that district recently announced plans to hire
new workers the report said
because of the high level of unemployment the beige book said wage pressures
were subdued and overall inflationary pressures modest
the us economy expanded at percent pace in the third quarter of the
latest for which official data is available
the fed and most economists expect data to show continued growth in the fourth
quarter and into but worry that high unemployment will curb consumer
confidence and spending
the jobless rate held at percent in december while jobs were cut
highlighting the slow pace of recovery from the deepest recession in decades
france barnier pushes new eu finance reform agenda
brussels jan afp
france michel barnier nominated as europe new financial services overlord
pushed new regulatory reform agenda on wednesday all the while seeking to
reassure london financial circles
we have to learn the lesson of the crisis and we are going to learn them
barnier told european parliament lawmakers during confirmation hearing in
brussels
we have to reverse the trend in the interest of the financial services
industry itself added the man french president nicolas sarkozy controversially
declared the big winner of the european union top jobs merry go round
barnier set out proposals to regulate derivatives and impose tougher rules on
bank capital requirements articulating an approach designed to protect ordinary
european citizens as much as the sector big global players
don want us to provoke an exit from europe for such an important industry
he stressed promising to take precautions and put in place intelligent
regulation
but we are going to reform we need this regulation
london is home to percent of europe financial services funds at least
until tax rises that form part of british general election campaign kick in
barnier has been on the defensive right from the moment he was picked amid
complicated political trade off last month seeking to balance lawmakers
demands that brussels act to curb traders excesses while reassuring those
companies he is not too anti free market
even before sarkozy termed the british government the big losers barnier
appointed an englishman jonathan faull previously running the commission
justice and home affairs department day to day as his right hand man
home to half billion people and the world biggest trading bloc europe
single market is due for major modernisation to tackle both protectionism and
the age of digital commerce
barnier has sought to distance himself from accusations he is driven by an
interventionist ideology and can point to joint call to arms by sarkozy and
britain prime minister gordon brown to tax bankers bonuses
barnier echoed that call directly when he said he would propose social
business act but stressed do not be in any doubt will not take orders
neither from paris nor from london my roadmap will be that of the
of derivatives the former french foreign and farming minister said as much as
percent of these highly speculative products escape all control and vowed
that progressively these proportions will have to be turned around
stricter bank capital funds underpinning investment activities and lending would
also be proposed at the end of this year he said
perhaps the biggest change from the approach of his predecessor irishman
charlie mccreevy was call to restore human and social dimension to
policing of the sector notably targeting social dumping or the human cost of
mercurial capital flows
have no intention of tying my name and my actions to anything that could
provoke social regression he said
today we heard clearly different vision from that of mr mccreevy one we
want to ascribe to said the greens pascal canfin
but we will pay close attention to ensure these are not only words and that
they translate into action canfin said
german socialist mep evelyne gebhardt said barnier came across as european
commissioner with european vision which feels good
bosnian serb mass grave digger to get early release
the hague jan afp
the president of the un yugoslav war crimes court approved wednesday the early
release of former bosnian serb army officer jailed for his role in the
killings of thousands of muslims
dragan jokic had served two thirds of his nine year sentence for extermination
murder and persecution and thus qualified for release the president of the
international criminal tribunal for the former yugoslavia patrick robinson
said in written decision
am of the view that the early release of jokic is appropriate
notwithstanding the gravity of the offences for which he was convicted the
judge said
jokic was sentenced to nine years in jail in including for overseeing
the digging of mass graves with excavators for victims of executions
as chief of engineering of the bosnian serb army he so aided and abetted
extermination and murder the court found
jokic voluntarily surrendered to the tribunal in august and pleaded not
guilty
after his sentence was upheld on appeal in he was transferred to an
austrian prison in december to serve out the remainder of his sentence
under austrian law he became eligible for conditional release after serving
two thirds of his sentence
robinson directed the registry to inform the austrian authorities of the court
decision which he said shall take effect four weeks from the date of its
issuance
daughter of peace activist among israelis missing in haiti
jerusalem jan afp
four israelis including the daughter of late peace activist abie nathan were
missing in haiti on wednesday in the aftermath of tuesday deadly earthquake
there an official said
family and israeli officials have so far been unable to contact the four
foreign ministry spokesman yigal palmor said
among them was sharona elsaieh the daughter of outspoken peace activist nathan
who died last year aged palmor said
rescue efforts stepped up as haiti prime minister warned the death toll may
top from the magnitude quake that flattened much of the capital
port au prince
french councillor admits smuggling vietnamese into britain
london jan afp
french local politician pleaded guilty wednesday to helping to smuggle illegal
immigrants from vietnam into britain on board ferry
christiane chocat town councillor in lumigny nesles ormeaux near paris
admitted concealing vietnamese immigrants in vehicle which arrived on
ferry in the port city of portsmouth in southern england in october
her son benjamin chocat pleaded guilty to the same offence last week
the men and three women were hidden behind boxes of shrimp noodles in van
that the mother and son had hired in the french port of cherbourg
portsmouth crown court heard that the son was the main player in the smuggling
operation
prosecuting lawyer martyn booth said christiane chocat became involved out of
some sort of misguided desire to be supportive to her son
it is clear she played some part in the hiring of the vehicle and the purchase
of the vehicle
the immigrants were detained and border police returned them to france the same
evening
the case against both defendants was adjourned until february and both were
remanded in custody until then
haitians in us hope pray for loved ones in quake zone
miami jan afp
miami haitians awaiting word of loved ones in their earthquake ravaged homeland
sought solace wednesday at the notre dame de haiti church central gathering
place for the exile community
the pews of the catholic church in miami little haiti neighborhood were filled
with parishioners crying and praying that relatives and friends somehow have
survived tuesday devastating quake
just hope my mom is safe said one young woman roudeline jason
she is in the worst zone of this disaster in carrefour she said speaking of
the section of downtown port au prince where she said everything is
destroyed
the little haiti community is the heart of the haitian diaspora in the united
states
miami and south florida is home to people of haitian descent although
the number is difficult to pin down because of the large number of undocumented
immigrants
people in the tight knit haitian community gathered around radios and computers
eager to hear the latest about the plight of their loved ones after telephone
lines to the impoverished caribbean nation went dead
with phone service down in haiti it was impossible to get direct word of who
had survived still jason said she was preparing herself for the worst
don have anybody in united states apart of my husband and two kids we came
two years ago to miami and left everybody behind she said
her friend nathalie dorzelma who had learned that her own mother and siblings
had survived the disaster urged her to keep the faith reminding her that
although the quake leveled her relatives home everyone survived
my parents house is down dorzelma said
everything is destroyed but at least they are okay they are all inside
church waiting for help she told afp
parishioners at the church exchanged the little information they were able to
glean from news reports as they tried to encourage each other
meanwhile the priest at notre dame father jean marie reginald said he tries
to provide spiritual support
people know this is catastrophe he told afp
everybody is crying asked them to keep their faith and pray for their
families reginald said
clinton to shorten asia trip over haiti quake
honolulu jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton said wednesday she will shorten trip to
asia because of the devastating earthquake in haiti
clinton who earlier spoke by telephone with president barack obama told
reporters she still planned to visit papua new guinea new zealand and australia
but would spend less time in each place
it is biblical the tragedy that continues to stalk haiti and the haitian
people tired looking clinton said following conversations with obama
defense secretary robert gates usaid director rajiv shah and others
clinton who honeymooned with bill clinton in haiti said there was so much
hope for the caribbean nation after plan was devised to rebuild after
series of devastating hurricanes and along comes mother nature again
clinton told reporters that obama agreed that should go on with the trip but
we should try to figure out how we can appropriately shorten it
