we will shortly move the following stories
highlights
auschwitz haunts soviet veteran years after liberation
centuries old holy city cellar at heart of byzantine battle
auschwitz poland holocaust jews advancer
warsaw
auschwitz survivors soviet army veterans who liberated them years ago and
leaders including israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu will wednesday
honour the million victims of the notorious nazi death camp
words by maja czarnecka file picture
we will also move auschwitz poland holocaust jews chrono
auschwitz poland holocaust jews survivors profile
warsaw
from the first prison convoy to auschwitz in to the death march as
the nazis pulled out in the face of soviet advance kazimierz albin and marian
turski span the history of the infamous camp
words by ursula hyzy graphic picture
auschwitz poland holocaust jews russia feature
moscow
until the last ivan martynushkin knew nothing of the horrors his unit would
uncover when the soviet army fought its way to the barbed fences of auschwitz
nazi germany most infamous death camp
words by alissa de carbonnel picture
mideast conflict religion archaeology feature
jerusalem
an arab israeli shopkeeper is locked in byzantine battle with the coptic
church over an ancient jerusalem cellar in saga involving christianity
holiest site and th century muslim general
words by patrick moser picture
for questions email nancy shields afp com or call
nfl saints end favre dream will play colts in super bowl
new orleans louisiana jan afp
brett favre super bowl dream ended in pain and heartbreak as the new orleans
saints beat minnesota in overtime on sunday to reach the first super bowl
in their year history
city still struggling with the devastation of hurricane katrina in has
rallied around the saints who will face indianapolis in super bowl on
february in suburban miami after the colts downed the new york jets
there are so many parallels betewen us and the city we have great fans
glad we could do it for them saints quarterback drew brees said now we have
to go win it in miami
brees who leads the nfl most potent scoring attack threw for yards three
touchdown passes and the saints defense forced five turnovers to ensure the
first super bowl matchup between playoff top seeds since
after all the things we ve been through in the past four years it wonderful
we can bring this to new orleans saints running back reggie bush said
think it the most wonderful thing that ever happened to the city
national football league icon favre the year old all time passing leader who
twice came out of retirement threw an interception in the dying seconds of
regulation to end scoring bid and possibly his career
in situation like this don really want to make decision right now
favre said wonder if can hold up physically and mentally that was pretty
draining it just disappointing that an understatement
favre could only watch from the sidelines in sudden death overtime as the saints
won the coin toss received the kickoff moved upfield and won on garrett
hartley yard field goal into the extra period
love to win the super bowl who wouldn but know going out on top
one way or another favre said if there were doubters out there maybe
served notice to them wanted to get to miami that not going to happen if
it is my last game no doubt on top
neither the saints nor the vikings led by more than touchdown minnesota being
matched in the first half and answering the saints twice in the second half the
last time on adrian peterson two yard touchdown run with remaining in the
fourth quarter setting up the final drama
favre slowed by an injured left ankle completed of passes for yards
and peterson ran for three touchdowns but it was not enough to lift the vikings
into their first super bowl since
instead the saints celebrated and party erupted in the same superdome where
death damage and hopelessness ruled in the days after katrina
this stadium used to have holes in it it used to be wet it not wet
anymore saints coach sean payton said this is for the city of new orleans
the saints will face an indianapolis squad led by peyton manning the son of
former new orleans star quarterback archie manning and try to deny the colts
their second nfl crown in four seasons
manning completed of passes for yards and three touchdowns to rally
host indianapolis from an point deficit against the nfl top defense with
the colts scoring the final points
we talked about being patient against these guys it took some time to figure
out what their plan of attack was manning said we stayed patient didn
panic got bead on them and beat them with the passing game
since moving from baltimore to indianapolis in the colts only nfl title
came in when manning sparked victory over the chicago bears in the
same stadium where they will play for championship in two weeks
colts receiver pierre garcon player of haitian descent taking motivation from
the earthquake there now that family members are safe caught passes for
yards and touchdown he draped the haiti flag over the american conference
championship trophy
when called upon pierre was outstanding manning said he has had an
emotional couple of weeks with everything going on in haiti we re real proud of
how he stepped up and played for us
manning threw yard touchdown pass to austin collie with seconds
remaining in the second quarter connected with garcon on four yard touchdown
pass that gave indianapolis the lead for good into the third quarter and
hit dallas clark for another touchdown from yards out
when you struggle against peyton manning he will eat you alive said jets
coach rex ryan
colts kicker matt stover who at will be the oldest player in super bowl
history added yard field goal with to play for the final points
tennis beaten wozniacki plays down injury scare
melbourne jan afp
danish world number four caroline wozniacki has played down thigh injury after
her shock loss to china li na in the fourth round of the australian open
monday
the teenager received treatment on her right thigh early in the second set of
her loss to the th seed but dismissed suggestions the setback
influenced the result
last year us open finalist finished the match with her upper leg bandaged but
said the treatment was mainly precautionary
it okay she said of the injury mean just felt it little bit
felt it was just better to protect it just in case but it okay it didn
affect the score at the end
up in the first set with break wozniacki then dropped six games in row
then down break in the second sat the dane was unable to fight back because
she couldn hold serve being broken in all four of her service games
she was broken to love two games in row as she dropped points in
succession on her serve in match dominated by breaks and long baseline
rallies
wozniacki only hit three winners and said missed opportunities cost her against
li who also beat her in the previous tournament in sydney
had my chances especially in the first set leading all the time she said
had my chance for and didn take it
then she started well with the new balls
the year old vowed to learn from the disappointment
there long way to go she said of there long year ahead of me
now going to go and practice and work even harder and come back stronger
hopefully
hong kong shares down percent at break
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares fell percent by the break on monday amid investor caution
following us president barack obama plan to rein in wall street banks
the benchmark hang seng index shed points to turnover was
billion hong kong dollars billion us
korea firm wins one billion dollar india power plant deal
seoul jan afp
doosan heavy industries and construction south korea biggest power equipment
maker said monday it has secured one billion dollar order to build coal
fired power plant in india
the trillion won deal was signed with india gmr energy doosan heavy said
adding it would build the power plant in the city of raipur by
doosan heavy said it would provide equipment worth billion won to its indian
unit doosan projects india for the project
in doosan heavy won billion dollar order to build power plant at
mundra in the western indian state of gujarat
the latest deal came ahead of summit in new delhi between south korean
president lee myung bak and prime minister manmohan singh lee began four day
state visit to india sunday
iraq drama the hurt locker wins oscars indicator
los angeles jan afp
iraq war drama the hurt locker scooped top prize at the producers guild of
america pga awards on sunday key awards season event that offers clues of
possible oscars contenders
the low budget independent movie about maverick us army bomb disposal expert
won the darryl zanuck producer of the year award after being overlooked at
the golden globes and the screen actors guild awards
six of the past nine winners of the accolade have gone on to win the best
picture prize at the academy awards which will take place in hollywood this
year on march nominations for the oscars are announced on february
victory for the hurt locker thrust the film firmly back into contention in the
race for the oscars best picture prize after science fiction blockbuster
avatar had emerged as an early favorite following last week golden globes
avatar was among the other beaten nominees for the pga awards top honor honor
which also included district an education inglourious basterds
invictus precious star trek up and up in the air
the pga awards best animated film went to pixar up while the best
documentary honor went to the cove
australians asked to rethink national holiday
sydney jan afp
australians were monday urged to consider changing their national holiday
because it commemorates the arrival of british settlers day of pain and
bewilderment for aboriginal people
celebrated author thomas keneally who penned the book schindler ark which
was later made into the blockbuster movie schindler list said marking
australia day on january was double edged sword
on australia day believe most reasonable australians now admit that the
descent of european people upon australia brought bewilderment and pain for the
aboriginal eora people of the sydney basin he said
keneally said it was worth debating moving australia day from january
the date the first fleet of british convicts arrived in sydney cove in and
termed invasion day by many indigenous australians
prominent aboriginal lawyer and activist mick dodson backed keneally calls for
national discussion on australia day but said the date was not as important as
the meaning of the celebration
what to me is important is what does the day mean and if we get the meaning
right and the date doesn become as relevant then perhaps we can live with
january he told abc radio
the australian flag which features britain union jack in its top left corner
also came under scrutiny ahead of the national day along with the country old
fashioned anthem advance australia fair
but deputy prime minister julia gillard defended the flag saying it was an
important national symbol and said she supported keeping australia day on
january despite injustices committed against aborigines
when we talk about this nation history we ve got to be frank about the good
things and also frank about the things that are to be regretted she said
philippine budget deficit soars in
manila jan afp
the philippines budget deficit soared percent above the official target last
year as spending rose to offset the impacts of the global financial crisis an
official said monday
the deficit hit billion pesos billion dollars in equivalent
to percent of the gross domestic product gdp finance department
official who declined to be named told afp
this exceeded the government initial target of billion peso deficit
equivalent to percent of gdp
explaining the deficit the official cited data showing revenue collection had
gone down this year as expenditures soared due to government stimulus efforts to
cope with the global financial crisis
international financial institutions have been concerned about the country
budget deficit fearing return to the situation last decade when the deficit
went as high as percent of gdp in
finance secretary margarito teves said last week the deficit would go down to
only percent of gdp this year but he did not give exact figures
he also said poor revenues had forced the government to postpone its goal of
attaining balanced budget from to
teves blamed the global financial crisis fall in exports and investments and
the effects of killer typhoons in for the fall in revenues and the rise in
the deficit
however he expressed confidence that the country had begun modest recovery
this year with economic growth expected to hit three to four percent compared
with percent growth estimated for
star gazers sway sri lanka election
colombo jan afp
while the end of sri lanka year civil war has shaped this tuesday
presidential election celestial alignments and astrologers have exerted huge
influence on the contest behind the scenes
the decision to call the snap poll the exact date of voting and the emergence
of opposition candidate sarath fonseka can all be traced to the star gazers who
hold enormous sway in political circles
their forecasts are seen as more reliable than opinion polls in country where
many politicians have personal astrologers and births and weddings are seen as
guided by planetary positions
even the national parliament inaugurates its sessions at astrologically
favourable times and in one case ruling president used air force helicopters
to sprinkle blessed soil over key cities on the basis of seer advice
have not come across single political family which did not consult
astrologers said nanda godage former foreign secretary and political
commentator it is insecurity that makes them believe in astrology
president mahinda rajapakse is standing against his former army chief and close
confidant fonseka with whom he crushed the country tamil tiger rebels last
year ending their year battle for tamil homeland
but the victory led to tensions after buddhist monk and respected
astrologer predicted that fonseka was going through raaja yoga or sign
of great things usually seen in the birth chart of statesman
source close to the ruling party said the government feared that fonseka who
was also regarded as national hero after the war could pull off coup given
his powerful planetary position
it is no secret that the government was rattled after seeing general fonseka
horoscope ruling party official told afp on condition of anonymity
fonseka eventually quit as head of the armed forces in november and entered
politics accusing the government of suspecting him of mutiny and sidelining
him
rajapakse also went against the advice of some of his closest aides in deciding
to call the election only four years into his six year term
instead he relied on several astrological predictions says senior official
who declined to be named choosing january as the most auspicious date for
vote and following guidance on when to hand in his nomination papers
the power of star gazers was underscored in june when police arrested prominent
astrologist chandrasiri bandara for predicting that the president faced bleak
period at time when the administration appeared to be at the peak of its
popularity
bandara forecast came after the tiger leadership was wiped out in may after
nearly four decades of fighting that claimed between and lives
according to un figures
bandara told afp that sri lanka could still see unrest and political and
economic turmoil until august he says the stars favour rajapakse win
which the opposition has already said it will not accept
the planetary position from september to august is very bad for sri
lanka bandara said clearly see period of turmoil during this time
president rajapakse will be the head of state
on sunday the opposition warned that the ruling regime was preparing state
backed coup to keep rajapakse in power if he loses in tuesday contest
as for the final winner other astrologers have backed both sides
the mass circulation sunday lankadeepa newspaper carried two forecasts by its
soothsayers one predicting the president re election and the other firmly
foretelling fonseka victory
the current planetary position is similar to what we saw in when there was
change of government said astrologer sarathchandra who insists that
fonseka will win
but his peer jayakody disagreed he said the auspicious time at which
rajapakse presented his nomination papers favoured victory for him and not
fonseka
that time is very inauspicious for fonseka and that is why he will lose
jayakody wrote
weekly which wrongly predicted the winner at the december parliamentary
election failed to foretell its own future enraged readers destroyed the
paper and forced its closure
former president ranasinghe premadasa of soil sprilking fame tried to use
psychics to ward off an impeachment against him in he was then
assassinated without warning in suicide bombing in may
even the sri lankan military is known to have launched offensives against tamil
tigers at auspicious times decided by astrologers rather than military
strategists
tennis women quarter final head to heads at australian open
melbourne jan afp
head to head records for the australian open women quarter finals to be played
tuesday denotes seeding
justine henin bel nadia petrova rus
henin leads
fed cup clay henin
hertogenbosch grass semi finals henin
san diego hard quarter finals henin
toronto hard round of henin
zurich hard semi finals henin
us open hard round of petrova
berlin clay final henin
french open clay semi finals henin
fed cup clay henin
berlin clay final petrova
spain hard quarter finals henin
miami hard quarter finals henin
toronto hard quarter finals henin
brisbane hard round of henin
zheng jie chn maria kirilenko rus
zheng leads
bronx hard final zheng
us open hard round of kirilenko
guangzhou hard quarter finals zheng
french open clay round of zheng
madrid clay round of zheng
tennis australian open women quarter final paths
melbourne jan afp
paths to the australian open women quarter finals being played tuesday
denotes seeding
justine henin bel nadia petrova rus
justine henin
st rd bt kirsten flipkins bel
nd rd bt elena dementieva rus
rd rd bt alisa kleybanova rus
th rd bt yanina wickmayer bel
nadia petrova
st rd bt edina galovits rom
nd rd bt kaia kanepi est
rd rd bt kim clijsters bel
th rd bt svetlana kuznetsova rus
zheng jie chn maria kirilenko rus
zheng jie
st rd bt peng shuai chn
nd rd bt maria jose martinez sanchez esp
rd rd bt marian bartoli fra
th rd bt alona bondarenko ukr
maria kirilenko
st rd bt maria sharapova rus
nd rd bt yvone meusburger aut
rd rd bt roberta vinci ita
th rd bt dinara safina retired
tennis petrova targets henin as zheng looks for more
melbourne jan afp
russia nadia petrova will become the latest woman to find herself in the
spotlight when the justine henin show rolls into the quarter finals of the
australian open on tuesday
and while henin and petrova face off in what could be one of the matches of the
tournament zheng jie has great chance to advance chinese tennis even further
when she plays maria kirilenko in the second quarter final
henin has taken her fans on an emotional rollercoaster over the first four
rounds this year from an easy win in her first match to epic see sawing battles
in the following three
the year old belgian is playing her first grand slam since coming back from
an month retirement and is aiming to emulate countrywoman kim clijsters who
won the us open on her return to the sport
henin the australian open champion beat fellow belgian kirsten flipkens
russian pair elena dementieva and alisa kleybanova and another belgian yanina
wickmayer on her way to the last eight
the last three matches all went longer than two hours with the seven time grand
slam winner using her incredible iron will to overcome an aching body not used
to such high intensity competition
but henin will need more than an iron will to overcome petrova who has been in
red hot form all tournament knocking out two reigning grand slam champions
she disposed of romania edina gallovits in the first round and estonian kaia
kinepi in the second before producing almost flawless tennis to destroy us open
champion and th seed clijsters
she followed that win up by ousting french open champion and third seed svetlana
kuznetsova in the fourth round
henin and petrova have played twice since the belgian return to the fold in
an exhibition last december and in the first round of the brisbane international
this month
henin won both matches and has overall advantage over petrova but the
brisbane match was extremely tight henin winning
know how well she can play henin said of petrova
played her in brisbane it was very good match very good quality
in this tournament she confident she played great match against kim got
more confidence against kuznetsova so know it going to be big fight
supremely confident petrova said she had learned from her two recent losses to
henin
as long as in this happy state of mind and performing like ve done
the last couple of matches honestly don care who face she said
zheng created history by becoming the first chinese woman to reach the quarter
finals in melbourne then boldly predicted that she and li na could both make
the semis
she has good chance to fulfil her side of the prediction when she plays the
glamorous kirilenko player she has beaten four times in five matches
the tenacious zheng has battled through the draw beating countrywoman peng
shuai th seed maria jose martinez sanchez th seed marion bartoli and st
seed alona bondarenki
kirilenko has had much easier time of it
after outlasting fellow pin up maria sharapova in the first round austrian
yvonne meusburger in the second and roberta vinci in the third kirilenko was
handed passage into the quarters when dinara safina withdrew injured
am expecting to have very tough match kirilenko said of her clash with
zheng
saw her match she is like well not missing any balls
taiwan to let chip makers invest in china firms report
taipei jan afp
taiwan will allow its chip makers to invest in their counterparts in china in
response to growing calls from the island business community for closer high
tech ties local media said monday
the taipei based commercial times carried the report one day before taiwan
delegates were scheduled to meet with officials in beijing for first round of
talks on planned trade agreement
the paper did not provide details on the size of stakes local chip makers will
be allowed to acquire in chinese companies or when the new measure will take
effect
the economics ministry was not available for comment when contacted by afp
monday
calls for easing controls on investment in the mainland have been mounting among
taiwan high tech businesses who point out their competitors from south korea
and japan have been stepping up activity there
while easing part of the controls the economics ministry wants to keep ban on
state of the art inch millimetre wafer plant investments in the
mainland saying there is no urgency in the near future
wafers slices of semiconductor material get more sophisticated with size
currently taiwan companies are allowed only to build eight inch wafer plants in
china
taiwan semiconductor manufacturing co has established plant in shanghai while
promos technologies inc is running another in the southwest chinese city of
chongqing
tennis men quarter final head to heads at australian open
melbourne jan afp
head to head records for the australian open men quarter finals to be played
tuesday denotes seeding
andy roddick us marin cilic cro
one win each
london grass quarter finals roddick
canada hard round of cilic
andy murray gbr rafael nadal esp
nadal leads
australian open hard round of nadal
madrid hard round of nadal
hamburg clay round of nadal
wimbledon grass quarter finals nadal
canada hard semi finals nadal
us open hard semi finals murray
rotterdam hard final murray
indian wells hard final nadal
monte carlo clay semi finals nadal
taiwan to let chip makers invest in china firms report
taipei jan afp
taiwan will allow its chip makers to invest in their counterparts in china in
response to growing calls from the island business community for closer high
tech ties local media said monday
the taipei based commercial times carried the report one day before taiwan
delegates were scheduled to meet with officials in beijing for first round of
talks on planned trade agreement
the paper did not provide details on the size of stakes local chip makers will
be allowed to acquire in chinese companies or when the new measure will take
effect
the economics ministry was not available for comment when contacted by afp
monday
calls for easing controls on investment in the mainland have been mounting among
taiwan high tech businesses who point out their competitors from south korea
and japan have been stepping up activity there
while easing part of the controls the economics ministry wants to keep ban on
state of the art inch millimetre wafer plant investments in the
mainland saying there is no urgency in the near future
wafers slices of semiconductor material get more sophisticated with size
currently taiwan companies are allowed only to build eight inch wafer plants in
china
taiwan semiconductor manufacturing co has established plant in shanghai while
promos technologies inc is running another in the southwest chinese city of
chongqing
tennis australian open men quarter final paths
melbourne jan afp
paths to the australian open men quarter finals being played tuesday
denotes seeding
andy roddick usa marin cilic cro
andy roddick
st rd bt thiemmo de bakker ned
nd rd bt thomaz bellucci bra
rd rd bt feliciano lopez esp
th rd bt fernando gonzalez chi
marin cilic
st rd bt fabrice santoro fra
nd rd bt bernard tomic aus
rd rd bt stanislas wawrinka sui
th rd bt juan martin del potro arg
andy murray gbr bt rafael nadal esp
andy murray
st rd bt kevin anderson rsa
nd rd bt marc gicquel fra
rd rd bt florant serra fra
th rd bt john isner usa
rafael nadal
st rd bt peter luczak aus
nd rd bt lukas lacko svk
rd rd bt philipp kohlschreiber ger
th rd bt ivo karlovic cro
ethiopian airliner crashes on takeoff in lebanon official
beirut lebanon jan afp
an ethiopian airliner transporting passengers and crew crashed in stormy
weather following takeoff in lebanon early monday plunging into the
mediterranean sea an airport official told afp
ethiopian airlines flight crashed about five minutes after takeoff at
