example had lost all its public services in the earthquake
the earthquake has decapitated the city said byrs pointing out that this
made coordination of aid efforts all the more difficult
byrs had earlier said that un assessment team surveying towns to the west of
port au prince found that up to percent of the buildings in leogane had been
damaged or destroyed by tuesday magnitude quake
no local government infrastructure remains she said
according to the local police between to people have been killed
and most bodies are still in the collapsed buildings she said
the assessment team also surveyed carrefour with inhabitants and found
that percent of buildings in the worst affected areas in the town had been
destroyed
the situation was similar in gressier which counts inhabitants
buildings destroyed there included the police station
search and rescue teams are in these areas said byrs who stressed that there
was an urgent need for medical care
the situation in the three towns indicate the scale of the destruction beyond
the capital byrs said adding that the disaster was the worst in terms of
organisation and coordination of the emergency response
some international search and rescue teams comprising workers and
dogs were active in the disaster area and had already pulled out total of
survivors from the debris said byrs
they included who were rescued on friday three days after the earthquake
struck she added
the favourable climate and building structures have enhanced survivor chances
she noted
so search and rescue is still the priority the rescue phase will go on
longer
rescue efforts are however being hindered by three major constraints
transport communications and fuel
transport resources are very limited and hampered by the fact that the fuel
stocks are running low said byrs another constraint is the lack of
ambulances
cricket south africa england scoreboard at tea
johannesburg jan afp
scores at tea on the third day of the fourth test between south africa and
england at the wanderers stadium on saturday
england first innings
south africa first innings overnight
smith strauss sidebottom
prince swann broad
amla prior broad
kallis anderson sidebottom
de villiers collingwood broad
duminy collingwood swann
boucher not out
mclaren not out
extras lb nb
total wkts overs
fall of wickets prince smith amla kallis
duminy de villiers
to bat steyn morkel parnell
bowling anderson nb sidebottom broad
swann collingwood
match position south africa lead by runs with four wickets remaining in the
first innings
toss england
umpires steve davis aus tony hill nzl
tv umpire daryl harper aus
match referee roshan mahanama sri
alpine skiing switzerland janka wins wengen downhill
wengen switzerland jan afp
carlo janka of switzerland on saturday won the men world cup downhill race
here ahead of canadian manuel osborne paradis and marco buechel of
liechstenstein
the swiss tryo clocked min sec sec ahead of osborner paradis with
buechel at sec
american bode miller who won friday super combined crashed out after failing
to get enough bite around one of the gruelling course lower gates
yemen rebels deny mediating hostage release
dubai jan afp
yemeni shiite rebels denied on saturday taking part in any mediation to secure
the release of german family of five and briton held captive since june by
unknown kidnappers
there is no mediation whatsoever from our side in the kidnapping affair rebel
spokesman mohammed abdul salam told afp in dubai by telephone
we have nothing to do with this issue
german magazine der spiegel had reported on wednesday that rebel was acting as
go between with the abductors whom it said were demanding ransom of two
million dollars
day earlier yemeni foreign minister abu bakr al kurbi said the hostages had
been located in saada in northern yemen stronghold of the zaidi shiite
rebels also known as huthis
he said the government had begun talks on securing their freedom but did not
specify the other party in the negotiations
the five germans including three children and the briton were abducted
together with two german bible students and south korean all women who were
shot dead soon afterwards
huthi rebels engaged in fierce war with the army have repeatedly denied
government accusations of being behind the disappearance of the group
more than foreign citizens have been kidnapped in yemen in the past
years the vast majority have been freed unharmed
pro russia politician set to sweep ukraine polls
kiev jan afp
pro russia politician viktor yanukovich was on course saturday to sweep the
first round of ukraine presidential polls five years after vote rigging by
his supporters sparked the orange revolution
polls showed yanukovich with clear lead going into sunday elections albeit
without the majority required to avoid second round run off against his main
challenger the glamorous prime minister yulia tymoshenko
the orange revolution protests of late swept ukraine old order from power
and created hopes of new era of prosperity and european integration for the
country of million people bridging the eu and russia
but amid grave public disillusionment after five years of botched reform and
political stalemate the revolution hero pro western president viktor
yushchenko is set to be bundled out in the first round
with tymoshenko making much of her warm ties with russia strongman prime
minister vladimir putin the outcome of the february run off is already being
seen as good news for the kremlin which cut off all business with yushchenko
after frenetic campaign that saw the main protagonists exchange stinging
insults saturday was an official day of calm with all campaigning banned and
campaign posters removed from the streets
yanukovich prayed at kiev millennium old caves monastery one of the most
revered sites of orthodox christianity declaring afterwards that he had asked
for god help and salvation
all the main candidates spent the final hours of legal campaigning friday
exchanging bitter insults in separate appearances on television talkshows
tymoshenko attacked yanukovich intellectual capabilities saying he was unable
to distinguish austria from australia he just thinks that kangaroos live in
both of them she sniped
yanukovich spat back with another personal attack on the prime minister saying
that while whims beautify woman it not so in this case
yushchenko meanwhile declared that if either of the two others won we can say
goodbye to our democracy our independence and our sovereignty
yanukovich should win around percent of the vote in the first round and
tymoshenko percent according to the latest polls by the kiev international
institute of sociology
but analysts believe the image conscious prime minister famed for her
trademark hair braid can still make up ground in the run off
third place is expected to go to businessman sergiy tigipko who appears to have
made late surge and is given an outside chance of springing first round
upset
yushchenko won the presidency in re run election in december ordered by
the courts after tens of thousands took to the streets to accuse yanukovich of
vote rigging in the original polls that he won
yushchenko and tymoshenko were comrades in arms in the orange revolution but
later became sworn enemies their relationship poisoned by perennial power
struggle and mutual accusations of criminal wrongdoing
since yanukovich has sought to reinvent himself with the help of western
pr strategists and to show he is not servant of the kremlin but defender of
ukrainian interests
he has also sought more support in the country ukrainian speaking west
traditionally the heartland of tymoshenko and yushchenko supporters while
holding on to his powerbase in the russian speaking east
the gloves off campaign has also seen the pasts of the candidates once again
dredged up
yanukovich was jailed twice in the soviet era for theft and assault though the
convictions were erased in the late tymoshenko herself was briefly
detained in on smuggling charges that were later quashed
significant progress in us russia nuclear talks medvedev
moscow jan afp
the united states and russia have made significant progress towards new
nuclear disarmament treaty president dmitry medvedev was quoted as saying on
saturday
we have taken fairly serious step forward and to significant degree we
have brought our positions closer medvedev said quoted by the itar tass and
ria novosti state news agencies
the negotiations are not proceeding easily but on many positions we have
reached agreement with the americans the president said during meeting with
senior russian lawmakers
us and russian negotiators have been in lengthy talks on replacement for the
strategic arms reduction treaty start key cold war era disarmament
pact which expired in december
us president barack obama and medvedev have pledged to replace start but the
talks have got bogged down in recent months amid disgreements over measures for
missile monitoring
medvedev also warned that once new agreement was reached us and russian
lawmakers should ratify it simultaneously saying it would be unacceptable for
russia duma to ratify the treaty while the us senate rejected it
either we move together in ratifying treaty which is well reasoned and
reflects our plans for the future of strategic nuclear forces or else this
process will not happen medvedev said
the us constitution requires two thirds majority vote in the senate to ratify
any treaty and the senate is traditionally less predictable in its voting than
the duma which usually follows the will of the kremlin
some senators mostly republicans have threatened to block ratification of the
start successor treaty if obama makes too many concessions on nuclear
disarmament to moscow
on thursday top us diplomat us under secretary of state william burns said
the united states and russia were on the verge of completing the new agreement
after months of closed door talks
the obama administration has made efforts to replace start key element of its
initiative to reset us russian relations that were badly strained during the
previous administration of george bush
start signed in the closing days of the cold war imposed strict limits on the
us and russian nuclear arsenals and set up system of mutual inspections and
data exhcanges to ensure compliance
the broad outlines of the new treaty have been clear since summit in july
when obama and medvedev agreed that the replacement treaty should slash the
number of warheads on either side to between and
the presidents also agreed that the number of carriers capable of delivering
the warheads should be limited to between and
the united states has said it currently has some nuclear warheads while
russia is believed to have about
germany to raise growth forecast report
berlin jan afp
the german government will raise its growth rate forecast for from
percent to percent in its annual economic report according to the weekly
der spiegel
unemployment should also stay below the four million threshold the weekly said
quoting the report to be presented by economy minister rainer bruederle on
january
europe biggest economy suffered its worst post war recession last year
contracting by five percent in the global slump official figures showed on
wednesday
amid the gloom however employment held up much better than expected and the
public deficit was much less than feared despite additional government spending
to soften the blow from the sharpest global downturn since the
germany releases fourth quarter and final gross domestic product figures on
february
this year the finance ministry expects the deficit to exceed percent as the
government spurs the economy with more stimulus measures in an effort to get it
back on track
the country export oriented economy was slammed by the global slowdown but
should benefit from fresh emerging market demand for capital goods such as
machine tools and motor vehicles needed for their own output
bruederle was upbeat wednesday saying the worst was over
unemployment has been limited by germany short time schemes under which the
state subsidises shorter hours for workers to avoid widespread layoffs
the number of jobless is still likely to reach more than million this year
after averaging million or percent of the workforce in experts
say
golf murakami graduates with honours in qualifying school
hua hin thailand jan afp
filipino artemio murakami defeated guido van der valk of holland in play off
at the asian tour qualifying school final stage on saturday
murakami and van der valk who lost their asian tour cards last season returned
to the th hole after firing final round and respectively to tie on
under par in regulation play at the springfield royal country club
the duo birdied the first play off hole which led to dramatic second play off
hole as both their approach shots found water van der valk failed to recover
and hit his fourth shot into the water for the second time
murakami second attempt landed safely on the green and he sank his putt for
par and the victory the iskandar johor open winner led total of
players who earned their tour cards
from our angle the sun was facing directly at us and we could not see where
the green was it was really tough shot which both of us failed to make said
murakami
mark foster of england one time european tour winner finished in tied
third on alongside overnight leader and two time japan tour winner katsumune
imai of japan
alpine skiing switzerland janka wins wengen downhill
wengen switzerland jan afp
carlo janka of switzerland on saturday won the men world cup downhill race
here ahead of canadian manuel osborne paradis and marco buechel of
liechstenstein
iceland fm warns of consequences of no vote in icesave referendum
stockholm jan afp
iceland finance minister warned saturday of the consequences of no vote in
the icesave referendum saying the issue was too complex to be put to popular
vote and that he hoped new agreement could be reached through talks with
britain and the netherlands
it is unique that such complex question which stirs up conflict with other
countries and has to do with complicated financial issues be put to
referendum iceland finance minister steingrimur sigfusson said in an
interview with swedish daily svenska dagbladet
even in countries with strong tradition of referendums people don vote on
things like taxes he said warning that no could translate into risky
situation with great political and economic consequences for iceland
iceland president olafur ragnar grimsson has refused to sign legislation
approved by parliament that planned for billion euro billion dollars
payout to london and the hague for compensating british and dutch savers who
lost money in the october collapse of the icesave bank
he instead referred the issue to referendum citing public opposition the
vote is expected to be organised before march
the controversial icesave issue won just disappear if the people vote no
sigfusson warned adding it could mean additional delays in iceland entire
economic recovery we have enough problems as it is he said
sigfusson said the icelandic government would have to abide by the electorate
decision because it says in our constitution that we have to hold
referendum but if we could get broad alliance to agree on an alternative we
could maybe avoid putting the issue to popular vote he said
capacent gallup poll published earlier this week by public broadcaster ruv
suggested percent of icelanders would vote no in the referendum on the bill
to compensate britain and the netherlands over the failure of icesave bank
aid trickles onto haiti streets as us troops pour in
port au prince jan afp
haitians cowered in fear saturday as armed looters scavenged through their
ruined capital filled with the stench of rotting corpses after the earthquake
said by the un to be the worst disaster it had ever faced
as us troops tried to unblock an aid logjam and secretary of state hillary
clinton headed to the disaster zone the haiti government admitted it was no
longer able to function properly
and while international rescuers continued to work around the clock in tropical
temperatures their efforts were hampered by lack of fuel and transport as the
sense of despair set in among exhausted survivors
the streets smell of death said talulum saint fils who sold her jewelry to
pay for one way bus tickets for her family out of portau prince
there is no assistance of any kind and our children simply cannot live like
animals
the haitian capital insecure at the best of times is now devoid of
functioning police force bringing fears of dystopian war of all against all
in the wake of tuesday huge magnitude earthquake
men suddenly appeared with machetes to steal money said evelyne buino
young beautician after long night in neighborhood not far from the ruined
city center this is just the beginning
thousands of criminals were on the loose having escaped from the city
collapsed jail and there were widespread reports of robberies
in the bustling marche en fer or iron market one of the poorest neighborhoods
teenage looters scuttled over the concrete debris and ignored piles of dead
bodies on the street in their desperate bid to dig out supplies
people are hungry thirsty they are left on their own said leon meleste an
adventist sporting white new york baseball cap
it is increasingly dangerous the police doesn exist people are doing what
they want
this is historic disaster we have never been confronted with such disaster
in the un memory it is like no other elisabeth byrs spokeswoman of the un
office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs told afp in geneva
in the town of leogane west of the capital percent of buildings were
damaged or destroyed and no local government infrastructure remains she
said
vanguard of the us troops being deployed to haiti has taken control of
the airport clogged with tons of relief supplies and has begun the first
distribution of aid to quell the threat of violence
aid is also being distributed from the uss carl vinson nuclear powered
aircraft carrier where helicopters have been carrying out limited aid drops
we have lift we have communications we have some command and control but we
don have much relief supplies to offer said rear admiral ted branch aboard
the carrier
clinton said she will travel to haiti to see the earthquake relief efforts first
hand deliver more supplies and meet haitian president rene preval
we will also be conveying very directly and personally to the haitian people
our long term unwavering support solidarity and sympathies to reinforce
president obama message that they are not facing this crisis alone said
clinton
the haitian government is operating out of police station at the airport
where preval looking exhausted with dark pockets under his eyes said the
government has lost its capacity to function properly but it has not
collapsed
in an interview with afp preval praised the massive international relief effort
but warned that the aid operation remains uncoordinated
he said planes from countries including the united states france and
venezuela had arrived at port au prince overwhelmed airport in single day
at the city harbor late friday swarm of small boats surrounded the first
supply ship to arrive as it approached crumbled pier with supplies from
jeremie haitian town about kilometers miles from port au prince
bananas will provide local residents with necessary food while coal will help
boil water to avoid spread of disease
haitian officials said at least people had been killed and million
left homeless in the caribbean nation one of the poorest countries in the
world which has long witnessed violence and bloodshed
in leogane which before the quake had population of according to
the local police between to people have been killed and most
bodies are still in the collapsed buildings byrs said
rescue efforts are however being hindered by three major constraints
transport communications and fuel
transport resources are very limited and hampered by the fact that the fuel
stocks are running low said byrs another constraint is the lack of
ambulances
with food in such short supply vendors were selling plates of pasta for
gourds dollars times more than before the quake
the haitian president called on his countrymen to show patience and defended the
government against accusations of inaction
no one is alone in his situation understand that people suffer because they
have relatives under the rubble but they must understand that there are
thousands of people in that very same situation said preval
un chief ban ki moon is set to visit haiti on sunday after the world body
appealed for million dollars from donors the un mission in haiti minustah
was hit hard by the quake with of its employees confirmed dead and
some still unaccounted for
iraq captures qaeda suspect in deadly un bombing
baghdad jan afp
the iraqi army said on saturday that it had detained suspected al qaeda leader
implicated in the bombing of the un baghdad headquarters which killed
people
ali hussein alwan al azawi nicknamed abu imad suspected of being top
commander in al qaeda front organisation the islamic state in iraq was captured
in an operation in the capital baghdad military command spokesman qassem atta
told news conference
he is responsible for the explosion at the un headquarters in baghdad atta
charged
before the us led invasion of the suspect was pilot for state owned
flagcarrier iraqi airways he added
the august bombing which killed un special representative sergio vieira
de mello and of his colleagues marked the start of an escalating wave of
attacks blamed on al qaeda and other insurgent groups
the army spokesman said troops had also detained saudi national mohammed
abdallah nasser who was suspected of being an important al qaeda commander in
diyala province north of the capital
west of baghdad troops detained suspected members of another islamic
militant group ansar al sunna in the euphrates valley town of hit security
source said
they are suspected of being behind series of four bombings targeting the homes
of policemen in the town which killed total of seven people
up to pct of haitian town of leogane damaged by quake un
geneva jan afp
up to percent of the buildings in leogane west of the haitian capital port
au prince have been damaged or destroyed by this week devastating earthquake
the united nations said saturday
un assessment team surveying three towns to the west of port au prince found
that leogane with population of was the worst affected area with
percent of buildings damaged said elisabeth byrs spokeswoman for the un
office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs
according to the local police between to people have been killed
and most bodies are still in the collapsed buildings she told afp
no local government infrastructure remains she said
the assessment team also surveyed carrefour which has inhabitants and
found that percent of buildings in the town worst affected areas had
been destroyed
meanwhile in gressier which has inhabitants around percent of the
buildings including the police station had been destroyed
search and rescue teams are in these areas said byrs who stressed that there
was an urgent need for medical care
some international search and rescue teams comprising of rescue workers
and dogs have already pulled out total of survivors from the debris
said byrs
the survivors included who were rescued on friday three days after the
magnitude earthquake struck she added
the favourable climate and building structures have enhanced survivor chances
she noted
so search and rescue is still the priority the rescue phase will go on
longer she added
rescue efforts are however being hindered by three major constraints
transport communications and fuel
transport resources are very limited and hampered by the fact that fuel stocks
are running low said byrs
another constraint is the lack of ambulances she said
foreign soldier killed in bomb attack in afghanistan nato
kabul jan afp
foreign soldier fighting the taliban in southern afghanistan was killed
saturday by remote controlled bomb the insurgents weapon of choice nato
said in statement
the brief statement from nato international security assistance force isaf
did not give the nationality of the soldier or the exact location of the
incident
an isaf service member was killed today in an ied strike in southern
afghanistan it said referring to improvised explosive devices which are the
scourge of troops fighting the insurgents
military intelligence officials have said ieds crude bombs usually detonated
by remote control account for up to percent of foreign troop deaths in
war that is now in its ninth year
the death brings to the number of foreign troops of which there are
in afghanistan fighting alongside afghan forces to have died so far
this year
britain ministry of defence reported on saturday that an explosion killed two
british soldiers in southern afghanistan on friday
two british soldiers from rd battalion the rifles were killed by an explosion
near sangin in helmand province yesterday friday military spokesman
lieutenant colonel david wakefield said in statement
they were on foot patrol protecting the local population from insurgents when
the attack happened
their deaths bring to four the number of british soldiers killed in afghanistan
this year
total of british service personnel died in afghanistan last year the
bloodiest for the british military since the falklands war total of
have been killed since operations began in
the total number of foreign soldiers killed in the country in was
compared to the year before
tennis baghdatis beats gasquet in sydney final
sydney jan afp
former australian open finalist marcos baghdatis capitalised on poor
tiebreaker from frenchman richard gasquet to claim the sydney international atp
title here on saturday
the nd ranked cypriot won rain interrupted final in one hour
minutes to capture his fourth career title just days out from the australian
open in melbourne
baghdatis who lost the australian open final to roger federer broke
gasquet opening service game and went on to take the first set in minutes
before rain suspended play during the first game of the second set
after minute delay gasquet broke baghdatis serve for the only time in the
fourth game when the cypriot double faulted on break point and led
but he had shaky service game in the ninth when he went down three break
points and baghdatis broke back and levelled and took the set to tiebreaker
gasquet got the first mini break in the tiebreaker to lead but baghdatis
reeled off the next seven points to take the set and the championship
gasquet served two double faults and made two forehand errors to virtually hand
the set and the match to baghdatis
it was the first meeting at senior level between the two players although they
played each other as juniors
baghdatis is fighting his way back up the rankings after climbing from at
the end of to no last season highlighted by his third career atp world
tour title in stockholm last october
gasquet currently ranked was bidding to become the first frenchman since
guy forget in to win the sydney title
although he thrilled the crowd with his signature one handed backhand he
succumbed to ill opportune errors at crucial times during the second set to lose
the initiative
former world top ten player gasquet returned positive test for cocaine last
march following kiss in miami nightclub and served two and half month
ban
the court of arbitration for sport last month cleared gasquet who reached
career high ranking of seven in of doping and dismissed appeals by sports
authorities for tougher penalty
gasquet has won six of his last eight matches
afghan lawmakers reject most of karzai cabinet picks
kabul jan afp
afghan lawmakers saturday rejected more than half of president hamid karzai
second list of cabinet nominees following an earlier rejection of most of his
first choices the speaker said
in vote aired live on state television parliamentarians voted in secret
ballot to reject of the picks and approved only seven for the second ever
elected government of afghanistan mohammad younus qanooni said
the ministers who were confirmed included karzai former national security
adviser zalmai rasoul who will be foreign minister and amina afzali as
minister of women affairs
on january lawmakers voted against of karzai original choices
delivering blow to his authority already undermined after he was declared
winner of an august election marred by massive fraud mostly in his favour
karzai presented other new appointees men and three women as his
second choice and is yet to put forward name for the ministry of water and
