sheriff office responded to an emergency call about an injured man lying on
country road
the victims were male and female according to police who did not give motive
for the attack although local media reported the wife and the son of the
suspect were among the dead
police issued call for information about two cars owned by the suspect tan
ford escort and green ford pickup truck
the office of recently elected virginia governor robert mcdonnell described the
shootings as horrific tragedy according to statement carried by the
washington post
the shooting came less than two years after virginia was rocked by the fatal
shooting of people at virginia tech by student gunman seung hui cho
appomattox small town in the south of the state is best known as the venue
for the surrender of confederate general robert lee that ended the us civil
war
us housing starts fall in december
washington jan afp
us housing starts fell percent in december while building permits jumped
percent official data showed wednesday in report reflecting the
struggling sector
the commerce department said that construction starts on privately owned housing
fell to seasonally adjusted annual rate of from the revised november
estimate of
building permits climbed at rate of after revised pace in
the prior month
both readings surprised most analysts who had forecast starts at and
permits at
on an annual basis starts were up percent and permits rose percent
from december when the economy was reeling amid global financial crisis
vs pp
strong quake hits haiti us geologists
port au prince jan afp
strong earthquake that scientists measured at magnitude hit port au prince
wednesday sending residents running into the streets eight days after the city
was razed by quake
the quake struck kilometers miles west of the capital port au prince
according to the us geological survey usgs
it followed the much more powerful quake on january that is thought to have
killed to people
residents reported low vibration followed by brief but more powerful
rumbling shake at am gmt
afp reporters in the city said there was no immediate sign of damage or
casualties but crashing sound could be heard suggesting an already damaged
building may have collapsed
in nearby petionville afp staff said the quake was felt for around seconds
residents ran into the streets in panic
it the almighty it the almighty one person could be seen saying close to
petionville hotel kinam
the usgs initially measured the quake at it struck at depth of
kilometers miles
in paris french seismologist yann klinger at the institute of the physics of
the globe ipg said the wednesday quake was one of series of aftershocks
these shocks were clustered in two areas one closer to port au prince and the
other the location of wednesday event further west he said
it not surprising to have an aftershock of this magnitude week or so after
the original earthquake klinger told afp
under the logarithmic scale used to calculate so called moment magnitude
wednesday shock was around times less powerful than the january event
he said
even so it big earthquake which means that any building that has been
badly damaged may collapse
canadians dead missing in haiti officials
ottawa jan afp
canada on wednesday raised the number of canadians confirmed killed in last
week earthquake in haiti to and lowered the number of its missing
nationals to
the updated numbers released by canada foreign affairs minister lawrence
cannon bumped up the toll from confirmed deaths and canadians unaccounted
for by their families
cannon said canadians survived the quake and of them have been
repatriated aboard military aircraft returning from delivering food and medical
supplies to haiti
the situation remains fragile in haiti with number of challenges
magnitude earthquake struck haiti this morning and several buildings were
damaged canadian foreign minister lawrence cannon told press conference
the embassy suffered damage to the roof and some to the door but nobody
sustained any injuries he said
pan islamic organisation urges aid to haiti
jeddah saudi arabia jan afp
the organisation of the islamic conference oic wednesday urged islamic
countries to extend aid to earthquake devastated haiti
oic secretary general ekmeleddin ihsanoglu expressed shock and sadness over
the january quake which killed at least people injured another
and left more than million homeless according to haitian government
toll
ihsanolglu urged all oic member states and civil society organisations to
extend helping hand to the haitian population in this testing time of extreme
hardship and sorrow according to an oic statement
un data tuesday showed more than billion dollars in aid funding had been
pledged by countries groups companies and individuals so far for haiti
there was no immediately available data showing how much of that was from
islamic groups or countries
the jeddah based oic is the world largest assembly of islamic countries
counting member states
imf chief asia may have to act against new bubbles
hong kong jan afp
the imf chief said wednesday asia may need to erect temporary capital controls
among other measures to guard against the risk of new economic bubbles as
speculative money floods into the region
dominique strauss kahn said the global economy looked on course to beat the
percent growth forecast currently expected by the international monetary fund
for as post crisis recovery accelerates
speaking in hong kong the imf managing director also reiterated his call for
china to boost the value of its currency the yuan which critics say is kept
artificially low to boost chinese exports
there is broad concern about the influx of foreign money pouring into asia
which has sent property prices rocketing in hong kong singapore and mainland
china as the region leads the recovery
strauss kahn said the cash flowing into asia was in stark contrast to the global
financial crisis when the fear was of money drying up
understandably however policymakers in recipient countries are concerned now
with how to manage these flows their impact on exchange rates domestic
demand financial stability and the danger of asset bubbles he said
strauss kahn said options to discourage the inflow included cutting interest
rates accumulating reserves or tightening fiscal policy
he added capital controls can also play role particularly where the surge
in capital flows is expected to be temporary or where exchange rate
overshooting is real danger
as long as it temporary it may be the only way to ward off bubble
strauss kahn told the asian financial forum gathering of political and
business leaders
and in veiled comment on china he said in many countries exchange rate
appreciation should be the key response especially in those where the
exchange rate is undervalued
in later statement strauss kahn said he had told hong kong officials that
money pouring into the territory could lead to rapid credit growth that in turn
unduly drives up asset prices and creates macroeconomic volatility
malaysia was ridiculed by financial institutions and foreign governments in
when it became the first crisis hit asian country to roll out capital controls
to protect its financial markets and collapsing currency
but the measures including pegging the ringgit to the dollar and barring
investors from taking money out of malaysia were later hailed by the imf and
other free market proponents as an effective tool against speculation
economies worldwide went into tailspin in late when credit dried up due
largely to the collapse of us property bubble
but strauss kahn said some emerging economies could begin exiting stimulus
programmes sooner than rich countries with world growth likely to outstrip the
imf forecast figure of percent this year
excluding japan asia may expand by more than seven percent the imf boss said
in his speech he again dismissed fears of double dip recession for the
world economy but said the pace of recovery had been uneven with asia bouncing
back faster than the rest of the world
the region must also look at boosting domestic demand to cut its reliance on
foreign consumers especially in the hard hit united states he said
strauss kahn said world leaders should press on with financial reforms to
prevent repeat of the credit crisis including better regulation and oversight
of the banking sector
we need reform and we need political will he said
there is still lot to do my concern is that in six to months everybody
will be back to business as usual and will have forgotten the lessons of the
financial crisis
pope summons irish bishops over child sex abuse scandal
vatican city jan afp
pope benedict xvi has summoned irish bishops to the vatican for meeting next
month over child sex abuse scandal that has shaken ireland spokesman said
wednesday
the meeting comes in the context of the problems in the irish church vatican
spokesman federico lombardi told afp referring to revelations that roman
catholic authorities in ireland concealed abuse of children by priests for three
decades
the meeting would take place from february to
afp middle east news summary
nicosia jan afp
top middle east stories on wednesday
attacks yemen qaeda airstrike
sanaa yemeni jets pounded the home of suspected al qaeda leader an army
source said as the military stepped up pressure on the group believed behind
botched bid to down us airliner
attacks yemen qaeda awlaqi
sanaa fugitive radical us yemeni imam anwar al awlaqi suspected by washington
to be linked to failed attack on us airliner has said he has no intention
of surrendering to yemeni authorities according to yemeni journalist close to
him
mideast conflict gaza un health
gaza city the united nations said it was deeply concerned about the
deterioration of the health care system in the gaza strip due to israeli
closures of the hamas ruled territory
israel economy oecd
jerusalem israel has withstood the global downturn but must curb social
inequalities that mainly affect arabs and ultra orthodox jews the oecd said as
the jewish state readies to join the organisation
iran nuclear politics iaea
vienna iran has responded to un brokered nuclear fuel supply deal rejecting
some of the conditions called for by the west and insisting on simultaneous
exchange of fuel diplomats said
iran opposition trial student
tehran iran has sentenced leading student activist to more than eight years
in jail on security charges and insulting the islamic republic leadership his
lawyer said
iran space
tehran iran will unveil three new satellites in february report said amid
western concerns that tehran is using its nuclear and space industries to
develop atomic and ballistic weapons
iraq justice health aziz jordan us
amman lawyer for iraq jailed ex deputy prime minister tareq aziz
hospitalised after suffering stroke urged us president barack obama to free
the year old on humanitarian grounds
lebanon palestinian weapons
beirut the lebanese government has reiterated its call for palestinian groups
outside refugee camps to disarm saying the issue was not up for negotiation
saudi oil refinery company aramco
riyadh state oil company saudi aramco is to build multi billion dollar
refinery in the remote southwest port of jizan following weak private sector
interest in the project saudi media reported
football muntari at risk of missing milan derby
rome jan afp
ghana midfielder muntari sulley could miss sunday crucial milan derby after
pulling up during training on wednesday with thigh injury his club inter
milan said
muntari loss would add to an already lengthy list of injury problems for inter
who are also without samuel eto on africa cup of nations duty
thiago motta dejan stankovic and rene krhin are all struggling to be fit for
the match that will see the top two in serie clash at the san siro
coach jose mourinho responded by calling up five youth team players giulio
donati sebastian carlsen lorenzo crisetig felice natalino and alen stevanovic
to train with the first team
ac milan are not without problems themselves as brazilian forward alexandre pato
has been ruled out of the game and centre back alessandro nesta is considered
doubtful
inter are top of the table with six point lead over milan although the
rossoneri do have game in hand
earlier in the season inter handed out drubbing to milan
football loew to discuss ballack germany future
berlin jan afp
germany coach joachim loew said on wednesday he will discuss captain michael
ballack future in the national team only after this summer world cup and
expects the veteran to play for few more years
ballack has said he would like to play two more years at premier league
giants chelsea and has no desire to end his career with germany at the moment
after string of impressive performances for his country ballack is showing no
sign of slowing down despite making his germany debut in april
we will discuss whether he wants to continue after the world cup loew told
german magazine sports bild
michael ballack can surely play at the highest level for few more years but
he must be prepared to maintain the workload
germany performance at the world cup where they have been drawn with
australia ghana and serbia in the group stages will influence ballack future
in the national side added loew
we will need to see how things go at the world cup he said
ballack has represented germany at two world cups and two european championships
and he has played at chelsea since after kaiserslautern bayer
leverkusen and bayern munich
he has won caps for his country scoring goals in the process and he is
set to make his th appearance for germany in the friendly against hungary in
budapest on may
and while the german football federation have only sold of the
available tickets allocated by fifa for german fans at the world cup loew says
he hopes the sluggish response will pick up speed as the tournament draws near
hope the sales will pick up and as many fans as possible will decide at short
notice to fly to africa he said
football le guen insists cameroon can do better
lubango angola jan afp
we can do better that was the unequivocal message delivered by coach paul le
guen here on wednesday on the eve of cameroon decisive group tie with
tunisia
the five world cup qualifiers competing in this africa cup of nations have all
suffered shaky starts ivory coast held to draw with burkina faso
algeria trounced by malawi nigeria swept aside by egypt and ghana brushed
aside by ivory coast
as for cameroon they suffered shock reverse to gabon and were then four
minutes away from first round humiliation before grabbing win over zambia
now they face champions tunisia with qualification to the quarter finals
within their grasp
victory for the four time title holders over the carthage eagles and they are
definitely through to the last eight
draw might suffice depending on what happens between leaders gabon and lowly
zambia at ombaka stadium in benguela loss will condemn one of the pre
tournament title favourites to humiliating early exit
le guen reflecting on his team roller coaster campaign acknowledged we re
not very happy with what we ve done so far in this competition
we haven reached the level we were at last autumn but we re still on target
to qualify
knew this team was still evolving that they still had progress and changes
to make
and the way we ve started has only confirmed that
the former lyon rangers and psg boss who took over cameroon last august added
my first message to the team and one that ve already relayed to them is
that expect more and better from them
we ve shown in the recent past that we are capable of better
turning to thursday game he said above all we can go into this match with
the idea that goalless draw will be enough for us to qualify
watched tunisia play zambia they played well it strong side with
strikers that can prove dangerous
they ve also got strong back line directed by their captain karim haggui
with fellow world cup bound ivory coast ghana and algeria already holding their
tickets to the quarter finals le guen was reluctant to draw comparisons
it hard to compare our different paths our first round path has been more
arduous than theirs
vanquished ukraine president concedes defeat
kiev jan afp
president viktor yushchenko on wednesday said he accepted the results of
ukraine presidential elections where he was eliminated in the first round
but defiantly vowed to stay in politics
yushchenko the figurehead of the orange revolution won just percent
of the vote in the first round elections on sunday amid widespread
disappointment with his presidency
but in characteristically defiant statement yushchenko said that the holding
of free elections warmly praised by international observers was in itself
proof of the victory of the orange revolution
as head of state accept the will of the people in the january elections
the main thing is the elections were free democratic and legal he told
reporters in his first public comment after the vote
but national and state circumstances do not give me the moral right to leave
political life he added
yushchenko had vowed to turn ukraine into prosperous nation anchored in the
european union and nato but his ambitions were undermined by political
infighting and dire economic crisis
analysts also critisised the president passionate defender of ukraine
cultural heritage for focusing on grandiose historical projects at the
expense of concrete reform
yushchenko result left him in lowly fifth place behind frontrunners viktor
yanukovich and yulia tymoshenko who will now contest the run off vote on
february
but after observers led by the osce praised the elections as of high quality
yushchnko said the vote had set an example for the entire former soviet union
the apparent success of the elections contrasted with the last polls in
where mass rigging blamed on yanukovich supporters prompted the peaceful
protests of the orange revolution that swept the old order from power
the fact that the elections were free means that the orange revolution actually
won and did not only win in word but also in deed yushchenko said
the pro western president however expressed serious doubt about the capabilities
of the two remaining candidates who he said were both far from national
european and democratic values
expressing my opinion as citizen of ukraine do not see fundamental
differences between the two candidates he added
urgent obama pick for aviation security withdraws name
washington jan afp
us president barack obama embattled choice to head the transportation security
administration tsa charged with aviation security said wednesday he was
withdrawing from consideration for the post
haiti quake response exposes eu frailties
brussels jan afp
europe response to the tragedy of quake ravaged haiti has exposed glaring
weaknesses just as eu institutions try to flex new found muscle according to
analysts
french lawmaker described the eu response as quite pathetic while spanish
prime minister jose luis zapatero warned wednesday that europe has to be up to
the mark and match efforts elsewhere
as eu nations react to the disaster which has left at least dead and
million homeless european parliamentarians have been criticising new foreign
affairs chief catherine ashton for failing to rush to the scene
the european commission now technically in control of eu external relations
has since dispatched its aid commissioner to haiti
ashton headed wednesday to the united states for talks with us and un officials
seeking to project an image of responsible diplomat heeding un calls to stay
away and not interfere with aid flights
the mud slinging comes as the parliament examines nominees for new policy
commissioners to see if they are up to the job amid struggle to exploit powers
granted by the new lisbon treaty
haiti is terrible tragedy nobody cares about inter institutional infighting
in the outside world they just want to see what europe going to do said
hugo brady analyst at the centre for european reform think tank
the reform treaty upset the eu balance of power creating new president to
represent member countries giving the parliament more clout on decisions and
consolidating the strength of the unelected commission
the rotating presidency system has lost some prestige fact which incumbent
spain is grappling with
at the best of times the institutions leaders and representatives would
require at least year to adapt but the very public tragedy of haiti has
forced them to hit the ground running
the quake has come at very delicate moment for europe said antonio
missiroli at the european policy centre think tank
some countries have gone it alone particularly france or spain because it
holds the eu rotating presidency he said the quake has provoked the first
tensions between the new institution and lessons must be drawn
brady said there is really going to be big institutional mess while people
rumble around for two years it bit of land grab at the beginning
in the immediate aftermath of the quake the commission released three million
euros as some of the nations pledged funds rescue teams and essential
supplies
in an effort to coordinate ashton requested meeting of development ministers
culminating in promise of over million euros million dollars in
emergency funds and longer term reconstruction aid
yet in the parliament lawmakers hit out at the foreign affairs chief meant
to be the voice of stronger europe for failing to project the eu new
found power abroad
do you think it was good that us secretary of state hillary clinton was
there and the world body un but europe was not present in haiti said
leading conservative member of parliament joseph daul in strasbourg
brady said the parliament was asking too much
expecting her to step in from december st to be basically superhero on haiti
is ridiculous he said
ultimately haiti lies some kilometres miles from the us coast and
europe cannot hope to match or project the kind of immediate support including
up to american troops from washington
the caribbean is bit like the balkans for the united states it
geographical proximity plays role and the americans have huge logistical
capacity said missiroli
but long term generally it the un and eu which takes over
despite the very public mess brady said something might be salvaged from the
infighting
perhaps some good can come out of this by highlighting that if they don work
together they re nothing he said
britain vows fight for cadbury jobs amid fury at deal
london jan afp
british prime minister gordon brown pledged to do everything we can to secure
jobs at chocolate maker cadbury wednesday the day after it accepted takeover
bid from us giant kraft foods
brown said his government had sought assurances from kraft about the future of
the more than workers at cadbury adding it very important company
for the future of this country
the premier faced questions about the deal worth billion pounds
billion dollars and agreed tuesday at his weekly question and answer session
with lawmakers in the house of commons
we hope that the kraft owners will make sure that cadbury workers can retain
their jobs and make sure that new investment goes in brown said
we will do everything we can to make sure jobs and investment are maintained in
britain
the sell off of cadbury one of britain best known food brands prompted
fury in some british newspapers wednesday
bitter taste of the cadbury sell off was the headline in the daily mail
while the sun called it the bournville ultimatum in reference to model
village for workers built by the company founders in the th century and the
blockbuster film
meanwhile nick clegg of britain second opposition party the liberal democrats
questioned why the state controlled royal bank of scotland had lent kraft money
to fund the takeover
when british taxpayers bailed out the banks they would never have believed
that their money would now be used to put british people out of work clegg
said isn that just plain wrong
alert
obama pick for aviation security withdraws name
berlin shuns speculation on ecb presidential pick
frankfurt jan afp
the german government on wednesday cut short speculation on whether it will
propose central bank governer axel weber to head the european central bank next
year
the federal government has not taken any decision on this as you know the
term of the current president jean claude trichet runs out in october
chancellor angela merkel spokesman told weekly press conference
we are now in this debate is premature and am not going to participate
in it ulrich wilhelm added in reference to one of the european union most
powerful positions
speculation is growing that berlin will back weber when trichet term ends
since german authorities have not pushed for major eu posts in recent months
german state secretary werner hoyer told the french newspaper les echos this
week that if germany were to back candidate it would be sensible that that
person be someone as experienced and successful as weber but later downplayed
the remark
weber is already an influential member of the ecb governing council
the other leading candidate is said to be italian central bank governor mario
draghi who is also an ecb council member
both central bankers are considered well qualified for the job and observers
are focusing on their respective policy orientations with weber seen to hold
hawkish positions such as the need for strict fiscal discipline
urgent pope summons irish bishops over child sex abuse scandal vatican
vatican city jan afp
pope benedict xvi has summoned irish bishops to the vatican for meeting next
month following child sex abuse scandal that has shaken ireland spokesman
said wednesday
brazil raises number of peacekeepers killed in haiti to
brasilia jan afp
brazil on wednesday raised the number of its peacekeepers killed in last week
earthquake in haiti to after recovering the body of one soldier who had been
listed as missing
with two civilians also killed the deputy head of the un mission to haiti
luiz carlos da costa and high profile children rights campaigner zilda
arns brazil national toll in the disaster stood at
the brazilian army said in statement that the bodies of the peacekeepers
recovered earlier had been repatriated and memorial ceremony for them would
be held thursday
brazil is in military command of the strong un peacekeeping force in
haiti to which it has contributed troops
football speculation set to heighten over guardiola future
madrid jan afp
barcelona coach pep guardiola has come to gentleman agreement with the club
that he will renew his contract with the european champions which expires at
the end of the season for one year outgoing club president joan laporta said
on wednesday
however speculation will remain rife that the former spanish playmaker could go
elsewhere if the incoming president is not to his satisfaction as he is only
going to sign the contract after june presidential election
laporta said that both sides had come to gentleman agreement on new
contract but that it would only be negotiated and signed after the election when
laporta term comes to an end in june
everything is based on the word of the two parties said laporta
laporta revealed that the verbal agreement was the result of conversation held
on tuesday evening and that the club had offered guardiola guarantee without
specifying the nature of it
hope that my word will be sufficient said guardiola who turned on
monday
everyone knows that three or four months is an eternity
laporta said on monday the club were resigned to rivals trying to lure away
guardiola who led barca to an unprecedented six trophies in
guardiola took over from dutchman frank rijkaard in june after being
promoted from his job as coach of barcelona side
under his guidance during the season the catalan side won the champions
league spanish league the kings cup the spanish supercup and the european
supercup
last month barcelona also won the club world cup final with win over
argentine side estudiantes
brown says will work with both parties in washington
washington jan afp
fresh from his stunning election win in massachusetts senator elect scott brown
said wednesday that while his victory is major coup for republicans he will
be his own man in advancing the interests of voters of his state
the new senator elect suggested that he would not necessarily be beholden to the
republican party line and would be open to working with democrats when he
arrives in washington
different kind of republican ve always just wanted to go down and
