worried about it
the celtics will visit dallas in march and wallace said he expects the chance to
even the score against the mavericks
we will see them again he said there will be retribution
football mali striker kanoute ends international career
lubango angola jan afp
mali striker frederic kanoute retired from international football on wednesday
following his team first round elimination at the africa cup of nations
that life sorry couldn succeed in helping my team go further at the
nations cup which now marks my retirement the year old told the angolan
angop news agency
french born kanoute who made his international debut in scored goals
in appearances
hundreds evacuated as california braces for storm
los angeles jan afp
hundreds of homeowners in fire ravaged areas were ordered to evacuate wednesday
as californians braced for powerful storm threatening torrential rain flash
floods and possible mudslides
the storm the third to hit into the region since monday was expected to dump
up to inches of rain in some areas before thursday raising fears of
landslides in hilly regions denuded of vegetation by last year wildfires
national weather service officials said the storm could produce hourly rainfall
rates of up to inches in fire affected areas
rainfall at these rates could cause significant flash flooding with life
threatening mud and debris flows in and below the recent burn areas especially
since the grounds are saturated according to an nws advisory
authorities on wednesday issued evacuation orders to around homes in the los
angeles area deemed to be threatened by landslides
los angeles county fire department chief michael freeman said residents and
public officials were involved in race against mother nature
and if she wins the race there no way we can assure that firefighters as
well equipped and as trained as they are will be able to get into your
neighborhood and make rescues freeman said
los angeles police department chief charlie beck meanwhile urged homeowners
threatened by landslides to act as soon as they were ordered to evacuate
if los angeles police officer comes to your door and tells you to leave
leave beck told news briefing
we re not asking you to leave because we think your lawn going to get dirty
we re not doing it because your carpet going to get wet
we re doing it because your life is at risk
los angeles mayor antonio villaraigosa meanwhile warned the combination of
vegetation denuded hillsides and torrential rain could create repeat of the
la conchita mudslide which left people dead and buried homes
this storm the rain that about to come created situation where we could
be looking at la conchita type mudslide villaraigosa warned
this is not hyperbole here we re asking people to cooperate to take this
seriously
on tuesday weather officials issued rare tornado warning as storm packing
winds of miles per hour battered the region
however meteorologists warned californians that wednesday rain was likely to
eclipse the weather fronts that had already battered the region
with the first two storms we got lucky bill patzert climatologist for the
jet propulsion laboratory told the los angeles times
wednesday could be horrendous monday we got the right jab tuesday we got the
left jab wednesday we could get the haymaker to the chin
football bordeaux marseille save face as lille run ends
paris jan afp
french title rivals bordeaux and marseille both overcame scares against lowly
opposition on wednesday but there was surprise defeat for high flying lille
bordeaux had to come from goal down to win at man bottom club grenoble
while marseille also overcame an early deficit to defeat le mans
lille who went into their game at sochaux on run of eight straight wins in
all competitions succumbed to reverse their first since november
while lyon hit back from down to win at lorient
bordeaux increase their lead at the summit by point with montpellier climbing
to second after winning at lens via late victor montano effort
lille fall to third place above marseille who trail bordeaux by points
with game in hand and lead lyon fifth monaco sixth and auxerre seventh
on goal difference
grenoble produced storming first half showing against bordeaux and took the
lead in first half injury time when home skipper laurent batlles cracked an
unstoppable strike into the top right corner from yards
but bordeaux held at home to marseille in their last outing were gifted
foothold in the game when grenoble midfielder jimmy juan was shown second
yellow card for rash challenge on jussie barely two minutes after the break
in less than minutes the champions were ahead
left back benoit tremoulinas set up yoan gouffran for the equaliser with
marouane chamakh heading home benoit chalme centre in the th minute and
fernando cavenaghi making sure of the points seven minutes from time
third bottom le mans took shock th minute lead at marseille through anthony
le tallec but marseille drew level when mamadou niang diverted brandao flick
on into the net with his shoulder
foul on brandao by le mans goalkeeper rodolphe roche gave niang the
opportunity to put his side ahead in the th minute and the senegalese
international made no mistake with nerveless penalty that proved decisive
lille fell behind in the eighth minute against sochaux when damien perquis
headed home from corner and three minutes later stephane dalmat made it by
finishing off one man counter attack with sumptuous lob
the visitors spurned the chance to pull one back before half time when yohan
cabaye saw his penalty pushed away by sochaux goalkeeper teddy richert and
although robert vittek did reduce the arrears lille were unable to prevent
their exhilarating streak of form coming to an end
brace by kim kallstrom including an opportunist strike from wide on the left
touchline earned lyon win at lorient after lisandro lopez had cancelled
out pierre ducasse th minute opener for the hosts
elsewhere auxerre won at nice with an injury time goal from ireneusz jelen
toulouse drew at home to nancy and an own goal by goalkeeper apoula edel
consigned paris saint germain to defeat at home to monaco
wednesday late kick off sees second bottom boulogne promoted from the second
tier for the first time in their history last season entertain valenciennes
in tuesday game relegation threatened saint etienne were held to draw
at home to rennes
alpine skiing canadian skier simard retires
montreal jan afp
genevieve simard two time canadian olympic alpine skier retired wednesday
from competitive ski racing after battling the past two seasons to recover from
left knee surgery
simard won her only world cup race at super in cortina
mpezzo italy and also reached four podiums in the giant slalom during
career that began in
simard the reigning canadian giant slalom champion has worked through
extensive rehabilitation after surgery to realign her left knee in
can retire now with the conviction that ve tried everything possibly
could she said
simard was career best fifth in the world cup giant slalom standings in
and she was fifth in the giant slalom at the turin winter olympics
and fourth in the super at the world championships
am proud of what accomplished simard said would have liked to end my
career with medal at the vancouver olympics and will miss the chance to
compete in front of canadians fans my friends and family
us lifts bush era ban on two muslim scholars
washington jan afp
the us state department said wednesday it has lifted bush era ban on muslim
scholars adam habib and tariq ramadan saying neither of them is deemed
security threat to the united states
state department spokesman philip crowley said secretary of state hillary
clinton signed documents allowing the south africa based habib and britain based
ramadan to apply for us visas like other prospective visitors
us sending more troops to haiti
washington jan afp
the united states is sending more than additional troops to quake
devastated haiti diverting them from scheduled deployments to europe and the
middle east officials said wednesday
admiral michael mullen the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff made the
decision to divert the troops based on continuing urgent needs in the haiti
relief effort statement from the us second fleet said they received the
orders on tuesday
the move to redeploy thousands of troops from the nassau amphibious ready group
and the th marine expeditionary unit came as haitians scrambled for food
water and medical care eight days after devastating earthquake
the amphibious group left norfolk virginia on monday for its original
deployment but was ordered to proceed to haiti after taking on more marines in
north carolina
the marines are in the final stages of embarking onboard the ships they are
expected to leave this evening or early tomorrow morning second marine
expeditionary force spokesman master sergeant keith milks told afp
if the ships go full speed they would reach haiti within to hours
although they will adopt the most prudent pace possible depending on weather
and mechanical conditions he added
the move takes the total number of us troops due to be helping out in haiti in
coming days above
the arg meu will provide an array of helicopter and amphibious landing craft
assets significantly increasing the ability to quickly provide relief supplies
where they are most needed the second fleet said
in addition the marines assigned to meu will be able to provide an
additional force capable of providing secure environment for the ongoing
relief efforts ashore in haiti
violence is threatening to boil over in the capital port au prince as hundreds
of thousands of survivors grow increasingly desperate for aid
the magnitude quake which struck on january leveled the capital port
au prince and surrounding towns and villages in western haiti killing at least
people and perhaps as many as
three amphibious ships the uss nassau the uss mesa verde and the uss ashland
will support the latest deployment along with helicopter squadron
tiltrotor squadron and medical personnel and facilities
they will bring the total number of us navy and military sealift command vessels
participating in the relief effort to
the nassau has one of the largest ship borne hospitals after the usns mercy and
usns comfort hospital ships
eight days after the quake us military officials leading the relief effort say
they are shifting the focus from tracking down survivors buried in the rubble
towards recovering bodies and starting to rebuild the devastated nation
urgent us lifts bush era ban on two muslim scholars
washington jan afp
the us state department said wednesday it has lifted bush era ban on two
muslim scholars saying neither of them is deemed security threat to the
united states
new quake triggers panic in haiti
port au prince jan afp
powerful new earthquake rumbled across the ruins of haiti wednesday sending
thousands of already traumatized survivors running through the streets
screaming in terror
the magnitude earthquake struck at am gmt wednesday eight days
after the haitian capital was leveled by massive temblor in which at least
people were killed and million left homeless
all haitians are going to die because they are cursed said one mother now
camping amid the squalor of the port au prince rubble where countless bodies
still lie buried
there were no immediate reports of anyone being killed or wounded by the strong
aftershock but some severely damaged buildings did come tumbling down
including the last surviving wall of the main cathedral
despite the series of big aftershocks rescuers have kept up their grim search
through the rubble elated by successes in finding survivors who have defied the
odds international rescue teams have so far rescued people
cnn television reported that five year old boy had been brought into field
hospital by his uncle having been pulled from the rubble of his home eight days
after the quake
the boy was being cared for and other than being severely dehydrated they
don know anything else that is wrong with him and they believe he will make
it cnn reporter said
other survivors were dug out of the rubble on tuesday including woman
found in the ruins of supermarket year old woman who sang as she left
behind the wreckage of the port au prince cathedral and day old baby girl
but the rescue operation is likely to start being pulled back as experts said
any survivors who had held out for eight days in air pockets now risked being
crushed by masonry dislodged by wednesday quake
for some it will be the final blow said french professor of disaster
medicine philippe dabadie
amid massive aid operation to help hundreds of thousands left destitute the
united states said it was pouring more troops who had been due to deploy
to the middle east and europe into the country
the move takes the total number of us troops due to reach haiti in coming days
above
brazil was also looking to add troops to its peacekeeping contingent in
haiti boosting its force to at least while france and canada both said
they would send in more police
international efforts are also focusing on rebuilding the country with major
donor conference set for monday in montreal
imf chief dominique strauss kahn on wednesday called for multilateral aid plan
for haiti on the scale of the us marshall plan that rebuilt europe after world
war ii
strauss kahn said he believed haiti needs something that is big as the
caribbean nation one of the poorest countries in the world looks to the
future
not only piecemeal approach but something which is much bigger to deal with
the reconstruction of the country some kind of marshall plan that we need
now to implement for haiti he said in statement
but haiti ambassador to spain yolette azor charles said the reconstruction
could take years and warned the death toll could top as help has yet
to reach many villages
us defense secretary robert gates said he had ordered port clearance ships to
deploy to haiti with the aim of getting the main damaged port in port au prince
up and running in one to two weeks
bed capacity us naval hospital ship meanwhile arrived off haiti
wednesday with about medical personnel and was ready to start taking on
board the worst of the injured
the usns comfort tonne mercy class hospital ship will treat to
patients at time chosen by haitian officials from the thousands thronging
hospitals and make shift clinics
after marines and troops poured into haiti tuesday the us troops were out early
wednesday patrolling streets in the business district of haiti quake ravaged
capital but ignoring the looters picking through the ruins
tens of thousands of survivors remain camped out under makeshift tents among the
rubble and for many scavenging from the collapsed buildings was the only way to
survive
look when you are hungry and poor nobody helps you have to steal one
defiant young man named vincent said as people plunged into the ruins of
flattened supermarket
us secretary of state hillary clinton said meanwhile washington was working to
slash through the red tape needed to adopt children from haiti amid fears that
thousands may have been orphaned by the tragedy
the us government will do all we can to expedite the travel of children who
were in the line for adoption who have legal permanent home guardianship
waiting for them clinton told reporters
israel to remain on eastern border of palestinian state pm
jerusalem jan afp
israel will maintain security presence along the eastern border of future
palestinian state in order to prevent weapons smuggling prime minister benjamin
netanyahu said on wednesday
the ability to proliferate into contiguous areas thousands of rockets and
missiles is something that creates monumental security problem he said at
news conference with foreign reporters in jerusalem
we must ensure that in that entry there is way to stop the infiltration of
weapons
in the case of the future settlement with the palestinians this will require
an israeli presence on the eastern side of the prospective palestinian state
he said refusing to elaborate on the nature of such presence
this was netanyahu first public comment since coming to power last year on the
issue of borders of future palestinian state and comes amid intensive us
efforts to restart the peace negotiations which were suspended year ago
netanyahu comment is bound to anger the palestinians who have repeatedly
demanded an independent state along the borders of before israel occupied
the west bank
israel has in recent years struggled to deal with the issue of thousands of
rockets fired from the hamas ruled gaza strip and from southern lebanon
and despite two massive military offensives both hamas and the lebanese
hezbollah militia continue to hold thousands of projectiles most of which have
been smuggled into the territories in recent years
based on recent experience we can afford to have that replicate third
time we have to have something to interdict the flow of weapons netanyahu
said
and as us middle east envoy george mitchell again visited the region netanyahu
urged the palestinians to return to the negotiating table accusing them of
setting preconditions
the palestinians have climbed up tree people bring ladders we bring them
ladders and the higher the ladder the higher they climb he said
the palestinians have refused to renew negotiations short of full israeli halt
of settlement activity in the west bank and east jerusalem and despite an
israeli decision to implement partial construction freeze in the west bank
the palestinians are piling demand upon demand they should be told fair and
square get into the tent and start negotiating for peace netanyahu said
haiti city of god slum wonders about its hellish fate
port au prince jan afp
faced with almost apocalyptic devastation following last week earthquake
haiti poorest slum dwellers said the sense of abandonment and loss at times is
simply too much to bear
we were already poor before the earthquake so now what are we asks frantz
saint hilaire student who lives in port au prince city of god where
desperate residents still have yet to see an international aid truck
the major earthquake has also split in two many of the district twisting
streets as residents cope with collapsed homes and tend to their dead easily
numbering in the dozens
the people of the city of god have awakened since the quake not knowing if they
will have anything to eat or drink all day
no one has come to even ask us if we need anything our situation is so
desperate our children have absolutely nothing to put in their mouths said
one local jean max romeus
not knowing where to turn many residents have taken to looting collapsed homes
they are among hundreds convinced that in the strange world they now must
navigate they have nothing to lose in using looting as survival strategy
whether to get bite to eat or find valuables to sell on the street
tragedy has turned us into thieves one old man says echoing thought many
locals repeat
in the tiny stream that snakes through the slum there are still bodies that
have not been collected week after the temblor struck and the stench is
overpowering
there are bodies in homes bodies in churches bodies in two primary schools
we don know what aid has reached what part of the city but we have not seen
any here said placide jemais the father of four little girls between the ages
of three and
we cannot hide reality from our kids and these images are just too terrible
for them
jemais home collapsed completely in the quake and since then he has been
living outdoors like many neighbors
we are all getting together in the central part of city of god after pm to
sleep darkness in this city makes us frightened so it is lot better for us
to protect each other he said
the strength aftershock that rocked port au prince on wednesday for many
added insult to injury
we haven even been able to bury our dead yet and we are already back fearing
for our lives said saint hilaire pointing to many homes on the brink of
collapse
please write that we need urgently and most of all water food and medicines
the rest can wait
as of today we don know if there are even any plans for aid to be sent in
here jemais added
alert
us lifts ban on two prominent muslim scholars officials
lc jm
us intel chiefs admit failure in christmas attack
washington jan afp
top us intelligence chiefs took full blame wednesday for failing to stop
botched christmas day plane bombing admitting that they missed slew of
warning signs
national intelligence director dennis blair and michael leiter head of the
national counter terrorism center made the joint admission during grilling
from the senate committee on homeland security and governmental affairs
conceding that the system collectively failed the two officials said the
year old nigerian charged in the attack umar farouk abdulmutallab should not
have stepped on that plane
the admission detailed how the united states vast intelligence apparatus missed
glaring warnings before abdulmutallab allegedly tried and failed to set off
explosives on northwest airlines jet from amsterdam to detroit
in their statement blair and leiter said the security services had received
strategic intelligence that the militant group al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula was planning an attack
however no one ruled that the watchlisting criteria be adjusted
in addition the intelligence community analysts did not understand the
fragments of intelligence on what turned out later to be mr abdulmutallab so
they did not push him onto the terrorist watchlist they said
other red flags that were missed included testimony from abdulmutallab own
father who was worried his son was becoming an islamist militant
intelligence even included partial name an indication of nigerian the
security chiefs said in their joint statement
but there was nothing that brought it all together nor did we do so in our
analysis
blair and leiter who were joined at the hearing by homeland security chief
janet napolitano promised fresh and penetrating look at strengthening both
human and technical performance
concrete change made in the wake of the near bombing came tuesday when
washington officially designated al qaeda in the arabian peninsula terrorist
organization
the designation opens the way for the united states to try and cut financial
support for the group and its leaders nasir al wahishi and said al shihri
speaking in their defense blair and leiter pointed out that the national
counter terrorism center receives literally thousands of pieces of intelligence
information from around the world reviews literally thousands of names and
places more than people day on the watchlist
although we must and will do better we must also recognize that not all of the
pieces rise above the noise level
senate security committee chairman joseph lieberman said clearly there are
some things about our homeland defenses that are not working as we need them
to
however he said that domestic defenses had improved hugely since the september
attacks that killed nearly people
he pointed out that reforms in brought about integration of the country
intelligence agencies as well as creating the national counter terrorism
center
one thing we all agree about war is mistakes are constantly made and when
they re made and the enemy breaks through your defenses you re immediately
tough about it lieberman said
as you said you close the gaps you do hold people accountable as is
appropriate and you go on with the aim of securing the country
football french league table
paris jan afp
french league table after wednesday early matches played won drawn lost
goals for goals against points
bordeaux
montpellier
lille
marseille
lyon
monaco
auxerre
lorient
rennes
paris saint germain
toulouse
sochaux
valenciennes
nancy
lens
nice
saint etienne
le mans
boulogne
grenoble
vietnam dissidents jailed for up to years
ho chi minh city jan afp
vietnamese court sentenced group of dissidents to up to years in prison
on wednesday for trying to overthrow the communist regime drawing criticism
from the united states and britain
after day long trial human rights lawyer le cong dinh blogger nguyen
tien trung internet entrepreneur tran huynh duy thuc and le thang
long were convicted of activities aimed at subverting the people
administration
thuc received year sentence trung seven years while dinh and long got
five years each the court announced
all except long could have been sentenced to death
their prison terms will be followed by house arrest of three years for all
except thuc who faces five years
it was the highest profile case in series of arrests and convictions of
dissidents and bloggers in vietnam over the past year
the acts of the accused are very dangerous for society and infringed upon
national security judge nguyen duc sau said
he found them guilty of well organised non violent campaign aimed at
overturning the government helped by the internet and in collusion with
overseas exile reactionary organisations
neither relatives of the accused nor foreign journalists and diplomats were
allowed into the courtroom instead they watched the trial via closed circuit
television
dozens of police surrounded the court in ho chi minh city where the defendants
were arrested between may and july last year
afterwards us consul general kenneth fairfax said we would like to reiterate
our deep concern over the arrest and conviction of persons for the peaceful
expression of their beliefs political and otherwise
in london british foreign office minister ivan lewis said he was deeply
concerned by the jailings
nobody should be imprisoned for peacefully expressing their opinions freedom
of expression and the free flow of ideas are essential for flourishing economy
and society verdicts like these only serve to harm vietnam international
standing
although the defendants did not enter formal pleas dinh and trung told the
court in ho chi minh city formerly saigon that they had violated the law an
admission the judge said he had taken into account
dinh testified he had been influenced by western human rights ideals and
believed none of the accused had any real intention of overthrowing the
government
thuc who the prosecutor described as defiant before the court received the
harshest sentence
my behaviour did not violate the law he said adding that he was mistreated
during the investigation
the prosecution said thuc set up socio economic research organisation that
concluded vietnam would be struck by economic crisis this year presenting
good opportunity for political change
all except long were accused of links to the banned democratic party of vietnam
dpv which dinh testified wants to establish multi party system
they were accused of preparing dozens of anti state documents and blogs
dinh allegedly drafted new constitution while trung established democratic
youth movement with students in france
was immature trung testified
long charged with the slightly lesser offence of being an accomplice said he
and thuc were part of group that discussed socio economic issues and ways to
develop the country
the prosecutor cited long for his defiance in court after he admitted writing
articles and sending them to foreign radio station but said he had been
wrongly accused
think my discussion is natural and it within my citizen rights he said
cycling no armstrong no problem for contador
madrid jan afp
tour de france champion alberto contador buoyed by his undisputed number one
status following his rocky relationship with lance armstrong hailed his new
look astana team on wednesday
the spaniard insisted that the astana model had nothing to do with the
line up which catered for the high profile comeback of seven time tour de
france winner armstrong
this year the team is based more around me and that thanks to yvon sanquer
team manager and giuseppe martinelli sporting director said contador
last year there were lot of riders to dispute the big races and this year
that is not so much the case
in the new season contador will ride alongside kazakhstan alexandre
vinokourov and his spanish compatriot oscar pereiro
armstrong left astana to spearhead the new radioshack team with former astana
riders levi leipheimer jani brajkovic andreas kloden and yaroslav popovych
on his uneasy relationship with armstrong contador said have great respect
for him as rider and competitor
contador will start his season on february at the tour of the algarve
clinton defends haiti relief operation
washington jan afp
secretary of state hillary clinton on wednesday defended us relief efforts in
