and vera dushevina and could meet clijsters in the quarter finals
tennis del potro pounds out opening australian victory
melbourne jan afp
us open champion juan martin del potro playing with wrist injury needed
three hours to subdue american michael russell in four sets to make the second
round of the australian open on monday
the argentine fourth seed who towered over the diminutive russell won
under closed roof on the hisense arena
del potro who beat roger federer in us open final in new york for his
breakthrough grand slam title last september will now play either american
james blake or frenchman arnaud clement in the second round on wednesday
del potro is projected to face second seed rafael nadal in the quarters
he said he still feels some discomfort from the wrist injury which forced him to
withdraw from last week kooyong classic exhibition tournament
don feel hundred percent but am feel better than yesterday and hope
to be better for wednesday in my next match he said
after two hours of the match the pain came and did feel little bit but
can play
of course if am here want to win matches
del potro has twice retired injured at the australian open withdrawing in the
second round against fernando gonzalez in and the following year pulling
out in the second set at the same stage against david ferrer
this is del potro first official tournament of the year and his first since
losing to russian nikolay davydenko in the final of the atp world tour finals in
london last november
the argentina giant who is bidding to become the first man in the open era to
win his first two grand slams back to back ran hot for the first couple of sets
before the th ranked russell claimed the third set
del potro got an early service break in the fourth set and broke russell again
in the final game to clinch victory
he hit winners including with his booming forehand and served up aces
but committed unforced errors
it took his career record against russell to after the american beat him in
adelaide in
del potro became sports hero in argentina when he became the first south
american to win us open since compatriot guillermo vilas in
his accomplishment was all the greater for ending federer five year us open
title run after eclipsing rafael nadal in the semi final
merkel allies under fire over campaign donation
berlin jan afp
pressure was mounting monday on chancellor angela merkel coalition allies
after it emerged they received record donation from hotel proprietor
prompting accusations the party was bribable
the pro business free democrats fdp governing with merkel conservatives
since elections in september have acknowledged taking million euros
million dollars from firm held by the owner of the moevenpick hotel chain
according to newsweekly der spiegel the donation made between and
was the largest in the party history
one of the first acts of the new government was to reduce the value added tax on
hotel stays prompting opposition parties to accuse the fdp of exerting
influence on behalf of its donor
sigmar gabriel head of the centre left social democrats spd the main
opposition party said that part of the government was obviously bribable
senior green party politician renate kuenast drew direct link between the vat
cut and the donation
on the one hand vat for hotels is reduced on the other the fdp receives
million euro donation from the hotel sector she said
the fdp hit back monday with its chief foreign minister guido westerwelle
dismissing what he termed absurd accusations and saying the spd was motivated
by desperation
the party secretary general christian lindner said yes we received this
donation there no scandal that was covered up by anyone and no we are
not bribable
the fdp has seen its popularity at the opinion polls slide amid unseemly
squabbling with the ruling coalition over tax policy germany unpopular
mission in afghanistan and turkey ambitions to join the european union
iraq aziz in stable condition after stroke lawyer
amman jan afp
iraq jailed ex deputy prime minister tareq aziz hospitalised after suffering
stroke is in stable condition his amman based lawyer said on monday as
his family appealed for more information
called the americans at midnight last night and they told me he is in
stable condition and his situation is under control badie aref told afp
but they also told me that his health could deteriorate their answer was still
unclear to me said the lawyer for aziz who was top official in the regime
of ousted dictator saddam hussein
aref said on sunday that aziz has been moved from jail to an american military
hospital in the us base at balad kilometres miles north of baghdad
after stroke on friday
in the beginning the americans said he had brain stroke but they denied it
later aref said
aziz elder son ziad who holds jordanian citizenship and lives in amman said
that he was still awaiting confirmation about what really happened to my
father
have contacted the americans the iraqis and the red cross but they refuse
to give me any information he said heard about the stroke from one of the
inmates who are in jail with my father can confirm anything
he appealed for international human rights organisations to intervene and help
us get clear picture about my father health situation
one of handful of long term senior survivors of saddam regime aziz who has
been convicted for crimes against humanity is reported to have already suffered
two heart attacks in custody
named foreign minister in and then deputy premier minister in aziz
who was from chaldean catholic family turned himself in to us forces in
april just days after saddam was overthrown
about million iraqis have fled their homes since the invasion almost seven
years ago with about now living in neighbouring jordan according to un
and jordanian figures
tennis henin impresses in aussie open win
melbourne jan afp
former world number one justine henin was in impressive form as she downed
fellow belgian kirsten flipkens in the first round of the australian
open on monday
wto head sees rising protectionism
paris jan afp
the head of the world trade organization warned on monday that protectionist
pressures arising from the financial crisis were likely to increase in the face
of worsening unemployment
protectionist pressures the demand for protectionism is clearly tied to
the situation on the job market and we know that in the months and perhaps in
the year or two to come the situation is going to continue to deteriorate wto
director general pascal lamy told trade seminar here
we must be extremely vigilant we have to continue to resist this
protectionist trend he argued
he added that in the current climate it was therefore imperative that the doha
round of trade liberalisation negotiations be concluded
eighty percent of the work is done and completing the process this year is
technically perfectly possible
the doha round launched in the qatari capital in late has foundered ever
since on disputes between developped and developing countries on measures to
tear down barriers to trade in goods and services
floors collapse in deadly ukraine hospital blast officials
kiev jan afp
several floors collapsed in an explosion monday at hospital in ukraine
eastern city of lugansk that killed at least two people the office of prime
minister yulia tymoshenko said
as result of violation of security rules in the intensive care unit of
hospital number seven of lugansk oxygen canisters exploded it said in
statement
several floors of the hospital collapsed it said adding that tymoshenko was
flying to the scene
two corpses have already been found marina proshycheva an official with the
local branch of the emergency situations ministry told afp
the health ministry said in statement that patients and medical
personnel were in the hospital at the time of the blast it said seven people
had so far been rescued from the rubble
local internet newspaper vostochny variant said the third and fourth floors of
the building had collapsed onto the second
lax adherence to safety rules makes such disasters relatively frequent in
ukraine and the former soviet union
in december people were killed after an oxygen canister explosion
partially destroyed an apartment block in the ukrainian black sea town of
yevpatoria
tennis del potro pounds out opening australian victory
melbourne jan afp
us open champion juan martin potro playing with wrist injury needed three
hours to subdue american michael russell in four sets to advance to the second
round of the australian open on monday
the argentine fourth seed who towered over the diminutive russell won
under closed roof on the hisense arena
del potro who beat roger federer in us open final in new york for his
breakthrough grand slam title last september will now play either american
james blake or frenchman arnaud clement in the second round on wednesday
del potro is projected to face second seed rafael nadal in the quarters
he said he still feels some discomfort from the wrist injury which forced him to
withdraw from last week kooyong classic exhibition tournament
don feel hundred percent but am feel better than yesterday and hope
to be better for wednesday in my next match he said
after two hours of the match the pain came and did feel little bit but
can play
of course if am here want to win matches
del potro has twice retired injured at the australian open withdrawing in the
second round against fernando gonzalez in and the following year pulling
out in the second set at the same stage against david ferrer
this is del potro first official tournament of the year and his first since
losing to russian nikolay davydenko in the final of the atp world tour finals in
london last november
the argentina giant who is bidding to become the first man in the open era to
win his first two grand slams back to back ran hot for the first couple of sets
before the th ranked russell claimed the third set
del potro got an early service break in the fourth set and broke russell again
in the final game to clinch victory
he hit winners including with his booming forehand and served up aces
but committed unforced errors
it took his career record against russell to after the american beat him in
adelaide in
del potro became sports hero in argentina when he became the first south
american to win us open since compatriot guillermo vilas in
his accomplishment was all the greater for ending federer five year us open
title run after eclipsing rafael nadal in the semi final
security restored in afghan capital president karzai
kabul jan afp
security had been restored to kabul after militant siege that lasted more than
three hours and left five people dead afghanistan president hamid karzai said
monday
the enemies of the afghan people conducted series of attacks today causing
fear and terror among the population he said in statement
the president condemns these terrorist attacks and has instructed the security
entities to intensify security in the city and take action to arrest those
responsible for these brutal and unpatriotic attacks
the president once again assures citizens that the government is responsible
for safeguarding their lives and assets and will not hesitate to take action in
this regard
football egypt rest top stars against benin
benguela angola jan afp
champions egypt will rest several key stars including goalkeeper essam el hadary
in wednesday final africa cup of nations group match against benin here
egypt coach hassan shehata disclosed that he plans to rest some of his top
stars while giving some others chance to stake claim for place in the
first team
few players will get their chance against benin we will probably make
three or four changes said shehata
essam el hadary will likely be rested and either abdul wahed al sayed or
mahmoud aboul saoud could get the nod
egypt midfielder mohamed nagy could also get his first start at angola
after he came off the bench against both nigeria and mozambique to score two
well taken goals
egypt are top of group with six points from two matches and at least
draw with benin on wednesday will see them finish as group winners going into
the knockout stage of the nations cup
in the meantime shehata has decried decline in the standard of the
nations cup in angola saying the level of the competition was better at the
last two editions
think that competition in this tournament is much weaker compared to the
previous two editions he remarked
the level of performance of big teams is relatively poor so far for
example in group gabon have chance to qualify and eliminate either cameroon
or tunisia
fighting rages as taliban launch attacks on kabul
kabul jan afp
taliban gunmen and suicide bombers attacked buildings across the heart of kabul
on monday killing at least five people including child and triggering fierce
gun battles with security forces
fires were blazing after two shopping centres cinema and the only five star
hotel in the afghan capital were targeted by heavily armed militants setting
off wave of explosions witnesses and officials said
five people were killed and others wounded the public health ministry said
in the most spectatular strike on kabul since taliban militants laid siege to
government buildings in february killing at least people
defence ministry spokesman mohammad zahir azimi said child was among the dead
also telling afghan television that four terrorists had been killed two who
blew themselves up and two shot dead by security forces
afghanistan president hamid karzai declared that security had now been restored
in the highly fortified capital after hours of fighting
the taliban waging an increasingly deadly insurgency against the western backed
government and foreign forces in afghanistan claimed responsibility for the
attacks saying they had sent in suicide bombers
police and military snipers patrolled rooftops as panicked residents fled and
shopkeepers hurriedly locked up with the fiercest fighting reported in the
pashtunistan square near government buildings and the presidential palace
some militants were still inside the ariana cinema shooting at security forces
who had surrounded the building while at least two shopping centres were on
fire interior ministry spokesman zemarai bashary said
there are some threats in the ariana cinema building and troops have moved in
to clear the threat he said
serena hotel kabul only five star hotel was also ablaze television footage
showed
local grocer who gave his name as ismail said he was in his shop on the ground
floor of one of the shopping malls when the militants stormed the building
saw four people wrapped up in patus blankets coming and the guard went
forward and asked them what are you doing ismail said
one of them opened his patu and showed the guard suicide vest packed with
explosives and said to him get out of my way or you ll die
then they went upstairs and we just ran for our lives he said
nato international security assistance force isaf said afghan security
forces had secured roads in central kabul
purported taliban spokesman told afp said the militia was behind the attacks
and had targeted the presidential palace the finance justice and mines
ministries and the central bank
twenty of our suicide bombers have entered the area and fighting is ongoing
the spokesman zabihullah mujahid told afp by telephone from an undisclosed
location
he said one militant had detonated suicide vest at the entrance to the
presidential palace complex
it was not immediately clear where the suicide blasts hit but local television
said two shopping centres were on fire while an afp driver said he had seen
what appeared to be car bombing near the foreign ministry
the united states condemned the attacks as desperate and ruthless act by
the taliban whose rebellion to topple the government and oust foreign troops
from afghanistan has been gaining strength since their regime was toppled in
us led invasion in
it not surprising that the taliban do this sort of thing us special
representative to afghanistan and pakistan richard holbrooke told reporters in
new delhi
the people doing this certainly will not survive the attack nor will they
succeed but we can expect this sort of thing on regular basis
the attacks came day after the government said karzai was to announce new
plan aimed at forging peace with the islamist taliban
karzai has long called for peace talks with the taliban even offering
government posts to its leaders but the militia has refused dialogue until
the withdrawal of international troops on which kabul relies for security
the last major attack on the capital was on december when suicide car
bomber blew up his vehicle outside the homes of former senior government
officials killing eight people and injuring more than
on october guesthouse occupied by united nations employees was overrun by
taliban militants who murdered six un workers while in february about
people were killed in coordinated attacks on government buildings
france makes push for eu security force for haiti
paris jan afp
france will ask its european partners to send strong security force to
help deliveries of humanitarian aid in quake stricken haiti minister said
monday
european development ministers are meeting in brussels to agree on police
mission that could help ensure order as desperate survivors search for food and
water
we have gendarme force for europe made up of several countries and france
would very much want this force to reinforce the units that are already there
said french development aid minister alain joyandet
that is what will propose today on behalf of france joyandet told france
inter radio before departing for brussels
eu ministers are also considering million euro million dollar aid
package for haiti
joyandet said the force made of men would be formidable addition to
the troops and rescue units on the ground in haiti
more than five days after the massive earthquake hit haiti survivors are
struggling to find food water and shelter even though many countries have sent
rescuers medical staff and humanitarian aid to the country
us president barack obama on sunday mobilised military reservists to help haiti
about us troops are on the ground and further are to arrive on
monday
international aid workers are struggling to cope with the scale of the crisis in
haiti where bodies have been buried in mass graves and officials fear
the final death toll could top
fight for life as haiti survivors beg for aid
port au prince jan afp
rescuers pulled traumatized survivors out of the ruins of their shattered homes
as haitians begged monday for food water and medicine six days after quake
flattened much of their nation
thousands more us troops were poised to join the beleaguered relief effort which
has struggled to get to hundreds of thousands of the homeless injured and
despairing
scuffles and looting have broken out as survivors fight for whatever they can
find while all around the stench of burning bodies clings to the air as tens of
thousands of rotting corpses are hurriedly disposed of
officials fear the eventual death toll from tuesday magnitude quake could
reach and by sunday had already been buried in mass graves
international aid is beginning to trickle in but life saving supplies are
desperately thin on the ground as relief workers grasp the sheer scale of the
crisis which has made several hundred thousand people homeless
us president barack obama has mobilized military reserves and un chief ban ki
moon promised after visiting the disaster zone sunday to speed up the aid
effort
am here to say we are with you you are not alone ban said after flying
over the ruined capital port au prince in helicopter
time is still of the essence we re getting better but there is still lot of
misery in haiti said us rear admiral ted branch who commands the us aircraft
carrier carl vinson strike group
but amidst the death and desperation were life affirming tales of survival
against all the odds
text message to the united nations set in motion relief operation that led
to the rescue two days later of maria ariel and lamy after being buried for
more than hours under collapsed supermarket
seven ariel shouted to rescuers seeking signs of life adding that she
was stuck next to dead man but covered with supermarket food
it was electric when we saw the fruit of our labor when that little girl came
out said joseph fernandez of florida search and rescue team
another text message led to the ruins of the upmarket montana hotel whose german
co owner was pulled out four days after the quake
two australian news crews dug by hand to rescue an month old baby lying
alongside her dead parents
she did not cry reporter robert penfold told the australian newspaper she
looked astonished almost as if she was seeing the world for the first time
at the un six story headquarters which become tomb for so many dane jen
kristensen also emerged from the debris it is simply miracle one of his
rescuers said
some un staffers are still missing in the rubble of four un facilities
around port au prince in what has become the global body biggest disaster in
its history
elsewhere however residents abandoned the search for survivors and began
torching the squalid ruins to stop the spread of disease
survivors were besieging hospitals and makeshift clinics some carrying the
injured on their backs or on carts
staff and medicines were in critically short supply they are overwhelmed and
bursting at the seams the red cross said
hundreds of rioters ransacked hyppolite market in the heart of the capital
police reinforcements arrived armed with shotguns and assault rifles and one
rioter was fatally shot in the head an afp photographer said
the united nations has estimated that the quake affected three million people
one third of haiti population and left homeless some tent
cities have sprung up in port au prince according to the red cross
ban who met with haitian president rene preval also toured makeshift tent
city of people next to the collapsed presidential palace
we need food we need shelter we need work angry haitians shouted ban urged
them to be patient saying help was coming
even where aid is getting through it is still not enough
emergency food rations reached challe camp for displaced people for
the first time but quake survivors were angry that only small packets of dry
biscuits were handed out
un soldier providing security at the camp said the world food programme had
lot of food and water in warehouse close to the airport but there were not
enough trucks to distribute it
some emergency centers coordinated by the wfp were to be set up monday to
distribute aid and provide shelter haitian government source said
lieutenant general ken keen running the vast us military relief operation said
might be possible start point for the final death toll but that it
was too early to know
clearly this is disaster of epic proportions and we ve got lot of work
ahead of us he said
another us military were expected by monday to join us forces
already on the ground or in ships off haiti
canada said donor nations would meet on january in montreal to discuss
haiti reconstruction needs
israeli pm in berlin for historic joint cabinet meeting
berlin jan afp
israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu arrived in berlin with top ministers
monday to hold historic joint cabinet meeting on german soil an afp reporter
said
the gathering of the two governments the second ever after similar meeting in
israel two years ago will address urgent security issues such as iran and
underline the strong bond forged in the wake of the holocaust
netanyahu and german chancellor angela merkel were also to hold bilateral talks
focused on efforts to revive middle east peace talks and face threats to
regional security the prime minister spokesman mark regev said
the trip is designed to strengthen and expand the cooperation between israel
and germany there is very special relationship between berlin and jerusalem
regev told afp
we are focused on how to strengthen the relationship in order for there to be
tangible cooperation today and in the future
the leaders along with five israeli ministers and their german counterparts
will also visit the holocaust memorial near the brandenburg gate during the
israeli delegation day long stay in berlin
defence minister ehud barak and foreign minister avigdor lieberman were among
members of israel centre right cabinet joining the premier
the ministerial talks will cover broad range of issues including defence
cooperation
media have widely reported that israel has ordered sixth dolphin class diesel
submarine from germany israel currently has three dolphins and has confirmed it
ordered two more
the submarines are believed to have range of kilometers miles
and the capacity to launch nuclear capable cruise missiles
we attach great importance to our ties with germany because of their economic
and political impact and mainly because of israel security netanyahu told
reporters ahead of his trip
germany is playing leading role in efforts to broker prisoner exchange
between israel and the islamist hamas movement for an israeli soldier held by
palestinian militants in the gaza strip since
the joint cabinet meeting was initially planned for november but was postponed
because netanyahu came down with viral infection
merkel and several of her ministers had made similar visit to jerusalem in
march
germany is israel third biggest trade partner after the united states and
china
security forces patrol nigerian city after deadly unrest
kano nigeria jan afp
nigerian security forces on monday cordoned off district of the city of jos
where clashes between christians and muslims left dead
police and military were deployed and hour dusk to dawn curfew imposed in
the nassarawa gwom district after sunday clashes over the building of mosque
in which at least six people were seriously hurt by gun and machete attacks
security forces searched cars and people on the street for weapons residents
said
security personnel have succeeded in quelling the unrest and restoring calm in
the affected area of the city plateau state police spokesman mohammed lerema
told afp
we have cordoned the nassarawa gwom district as strategy to prevent the
violence from spilling over to other parts of the city he said
jos has fast become the focus of sectarian tensions in central nigeria but
state information commissioner gregory yenlong also said the disturbances had
ended
am happy to announce that peace has returned to the city following the
restoration of law and in nassarawa gwom by security agents he said
he said the curfew would remain in force to ensure that no security breach
happens the government calls on the people to go about their normal business
without fear
the fighting erupted when christian youths protested the building of mosque in
the christian dominated nassarawa gwom district houses and vehicles were set
alight
the curfew was imposed and university of jos authorities told students to go
home
nigeria africa most populous country with some million people is evenly
divided between the mainly muslim north and mainly christian south
jos and other central and northern areas have been plagued by religious
violence
in november hundreds of people were killed in jos in two days of fighting
triggered by rumour that the mainly muslim all nigerian peoples party had lost
local election to the christian dominated peoples democratic party
state officials put the death toll at about but other sources gave toll
twice that figure
last month at least people were killed in clashes between security forces and
members of radical islamist sect in the northern bauchi state
another sect boko haram which means western education is sin staged an
insurrection in july in nearby borno state when at least people were killed
as security forces crushed the unrest
malaysia minister says borneo christians can use allah
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysia law minister said monday that christians in certain parts of the
country can use the word allah as the government grappled with row over how
non muslims should refer to god
eleven churches across the predominantly muslim nation have been attacked in
spate of violence triggered by court ruling last month that lifted
government ban on non muslims using allah as translation for god
about nine percent of malaysia million people are christian including many
from indigenous groups in the borneo states of sabah and sarawak who speak the
national language malay
mohamed nazri abdul aziz cabinet minister in charge of legal affairs said
there are state laws banning others from using allah everywhere except federal
territories including kuala lumpur and the island state of penang
he said that christians in borneo could continue using the disputed word as it
has been the culture there although it was off limits when they came to
peninsular malaysia
there is law against using allah the christians from borneo cannot use the
word allah when they come to the peninsula he told reporters
there is law against the use of the word allah except in penang and in the
federal territory he added
the federal territory is collective of three regions the capital kuala
lumpur the administrative capital putrajaya and the offshore financial centre
of labuan
nazri said christians elsewhere should use the malay word tuhan which is the
generic translation for deity and reiterated the view that the use of allah
could confuse muslims and lead them to illegal conversions
