pictures from around the city showed scenes of utter devastation as dazed
dust covered survivors were helped from the rubble
of those buildings left standing many were scarred by long fissures where the
plaster and bricks had cracked in the force of the quake
the headquarters of the united nations mission in the country was leveled and
scores were still missing un officials said
the five story concrete building known as the christopher hotel and located on
the road to petionville has collapsed and was surrounded by brazilian
minustah troops frantically trying to rescue people trapped inside
the devastation will only add to the poverty and hardship already faced by the
nation of million people where half of the people are unemployed and some
percent live on less than two dollars day
most radio and television stations had stopped functioning and the airwaves
were only punctuated by few rare radio appeals for help
imf others pledge swift aid to quake ravaged haiti
washington jan afp
the international monetary fund and other major multilateral financial
institutions pledged swift aid wednesday to haiti where an earthquake has
devastated the capital and left tens of thousands of casualties
the imf stands ready to do its part with appropriate support in our areas of
expertise have already asked staff to look into all the possibilities imf
chief dominique strauss kahn said wednesday
strauss kahn offered my deepest condolences and best wishes to the victims of
this tragedy am confident that the international community will mobilize
quickly to offer support to help this nation
the imf managing director said he was confident that the international
community would mobilize quickly to offer support to help haiti the poorest
nation in the western hemisphere after it was struck by devastating
magnitude quake tuesday
we will coordinate with other international agencies and mobilize our
assistance as quickly as possible he said
the world bank the imf sibling institution in washington said separately it
was mobilizing its resources to help the caribbean nation respond to the
catastrophe
the world bank is ready to mobilize team to help assess damage and losses and
plan recovery and reconstruction the bank stands ready to help with financial
assistance robert zoellick president of the development lender said in
statement
this is shocking event and our thoughts are with the haitian people at this
terrible time he said
the inter american development bank another washington based institution
announced late tuesday dollars for emergency assistance for haiti which
can be used to provide food potable water medicines and temporary shelter
we are working with other donors to exchange information and coordinate
response activities idb president luis alberto moreno said in statement
the world bank said that its offices in petion ville suburb of the haitian
capital port au prince had been destroyed by the quake but that most staff had
been safely accounted for
the imf which has an office in the central bank building did not announce any
casualties
the epicenter of the devastating temblor was close to the crowded capital and
officials said there were already tens of thousands of victims
the imf and the world bank classify haiti among heavily indebted poor
countries which are eligible for debt relief haiti was granted billion
dollars in debt relief last june
the world bank noted that it had extended more than million dollars in
interest free loans to haiti since and that it currently has main
projects there including disaster risk management
all current world bank assistance to haiti is in grant form it added
one child killed by nw pakistan playground bomb police
peshawar pakistan jan afp
bomb mistaken for toy killed one child and wounded five others wednesday at
playground near northwest pakistan taliban stronghold of south waziristan
police said
the blast took place in the town of tank which sits about kilometres
miles east of the lawless tribal belt that runs along the afghan border and has
become sanctuary for taliban and al qaeda linked militants
some children were playing at playground and blast took place in nearby
garbage heap killing one child and wounding five others tank police chief
ejaz abid told afp
children found toy from the garbage heap and when they were playing with it
it exploded he added
sadaqat paracha told afp by telephone that he was playing cricket with his
friends and went to fetch the ball from the corner of the playground when he
found ball of steel on the pile of rubbish
threw the ball towards the other children and as soon as it hit the ground
an explosion occurred and received wounds on my foot forehead and shoulder
paracha said from hospital
sheeraz ahmed another child said that the bomb looked like steel football
as soon as the ball touched the ground it exploded
local police official mohammad ali khan confirmed the toll and said bomb
disposal experts were at the scene
the child who died in the blast is nine years old and the wounded are between
five and twelve years old ali said
two children who had serious injuries have been shifted to the hospital in the
nearby city of dera ismail khan police official abid said
pakistan has in recent months seen wave of deadly bombings blamed on taliban
insurgents avenging multiple military offensives against them across the
northwest including an ambitious assault into south waziristan
on january suicide bomber killed people when he rammed car packed
with explosives into crowd of men women and children watching volleyball
match at village in lakki marwat district also close to south waziristan
blasts caused by mines and other unexploded ordnance have also been reported in
the past in tank district which unlike the semi autonomous tribal areas is part
of the north west frontier province and under direct government control
suicide and bomb attacks blamed on the taliban and al qaeda linked militants
have killed more than people in pakistan since july
the northwest has suffered the brunt of the militant campaign with suicide
bombings increasingly targeting civilians at least people were killed in
car bomb in october at packed market in the provincial capital peshawar
as our area borders south waziristan we cannot rule out the involvement of
taliban militants said abid but added that investigations were ongoing
tens of thousands of haiti casualties envoy to oas
washington jan afp
huge earthquake in haiti left tens of thousands of casualties the nation
envoy to the organization of american states told afp wednesday
there are tens of thouands of victims and considerable damage ambassador duly
brutus said without specifying the number of dead
thousands feared dead in haiti president
miami florida jan afp
thousands are feared to have been killed in massive earthquake in haiti
president rene preval told us daily wednesday as he issued plea for
international help
in his first interview since tuesday quake preval told the miami herald
that his caribbean nation was destroyed and he believed thousands were dead but
he was unable to provide an exact number
we have to do an evaluation preval said saying the scene was unimaginable
parliament has collapsed the tax office has collapsed schools have collapsed
hospitals have collapsed he said
there are lot of schools that have lot of dead people in them he said
adding that among those trapped inside the parliament building is the president
of the haiti senate kely bastien
the haitian leader wife first lady elisabeth preval said she had seen
corpses in the streets of port au prince and had heard the cries of victims
still trapped in the rubble of the parliament building
stepping over dead bodies lot of people are buried under buildings the
general hospital has collapsed we need support we need help we need
engineers she told the daily
the president and first lady were not in the palace at the time of the quake
senator joseph lambert standing outside the parliament building said
imagine schools hospitals government buildings all destroyed
asked about the prospect of haiti rebuilding he told the miami herald it
our country we have no other choice it catastrophe but we have no other
choice but to rebuild
posthumous german award for michael jackson
dresden germany jan afp
the late pop legend michael jackson will be awarded posthumous prize for his
global charity work at an opera gala in germany this week organisers said
wednesday
the director of friday semper opera ball hans joachim frey said the king of
pop would be recognised for his humanitarian efforts at the glittering society
event in the restored baroque city of dresden
jackson elder sister la toya guest of honour at the ball would receive the
award
michael jackson supported foundations and charity projects started his own
foundation and donated total of more than million dollars frey said
at the same event where more than guests are expected spanish tenor jose
carreras will accept prize for artistic achievement
jackson died suddenly last june at the age of his humanitarian work focused
heavily on children charities
france committed to saving project defence minister
paris jan afp
france will do everything to save the airbus military transport plane
project the defence minister said wednesday on the eve of meeting of partner
countries to discuss the programme fate
this is major programme for the european defence industry it is the flagship
programme that shows what we can jointly achieve and we will do everything to
save this programme herve morin told lawmakers
the defence minister said he was hoping for cost sharing agreement before the
end of january and ahead of nato defence ministers meeting in istanbul on
february and
airbus chief executive tom enders warned on tuesday that the company might be
forced to scrap the long delayed programme if its european backers fail to put
up more cash to cover cost overruns by the end of the month
developing the high tech transport planes has proved much more costly and
time consuming than anticipated when the project was agreed in by nato
members germany spain france britain turkey belgium and luxembourg
total of aircraft have been ordered for about billion euros billion
dollars but the project partners are being asked to plough in more to cover
unexpected costs and some have voiced unease about the rising price
bulgarian nuclear reactor plugged back into electricity grid
sofia jan afp
one of two reactors at bulgaria nuclear plant at kozloduy has been plugged
back into the electricity grid after being shut down for maintenance last week
the plant operators said wednesday
during the planned repair work on the megawatt reactor faulty valve
regulating steam into the reactor turbine was replaced the plant operators
said in statement
three imilar valves which had been scheduled to be replaced later this year
were changed ahead of schedule
the other megawatt reactor in operation at kozloduy was working at maximum
capacity during the repairs the statement said
four megawatt units at kozloduy were closed in and as condition
for joining the european union in the old soviet built reactors were
deemed unsafe
croatian mine clearer dies in explosion
zagreb jan afp
croatian mine clearer was killed wednesday while clearing zone riddled with
mines during the croatian war the croatian national centre for demining
hcr said
the accident happened om the southern zadar region mladen crnkovic of the hcr
told national radio
the deminer aged was the deputy chief for this the demining programmee in
this zone we do not yet know the cause of the accident he said
according to radio reports the man was killed by an anti personnel mine between
and some people were involved in landmine accidents and of
them did not died the hcr said
around square kilometers square miles some percent of the total
territory of croatia were still listed as mined in late last year the
demining centre cleared total of square kilometers
football jose angola have mental strength
luanda jan afp
angola coach manuel jose is confident his players have the required fortitude to
deal with any mental scars left by sunday opening game capitulation against
mali
the africa cup of nations hosts return to the fray on thursday in their second
group tie facing malawi the surprise table toppers after their defeat of
world cup qualifiers algeria on monday
angola too looked to be set for three points when with quarter of an hour
remaining they led mali by four goals to nothing in sunday curtain raiser
but then followed collapse that was painful to watch at least if you held an
angolan passport as mali clawed their way back into the game and eventually
snatched draw with two injury time goals
another few seconds and mali would probably have grabbed the most improbable of
improbable wins
jose reflecting on sunday drama told press conference at the team hotel in
luanda on wednesday we will have to be mentally very strong to survive that
think we ll be alright have fantastic group of players
said after the match that in over one thousand games ve never seen anything
like that last minutes still feel that now
he put his team collapse down to the fact that half his players are based with
clubs in the angolan league and half elsewhere but not as first team regulars
the angola league stopped two months ago our players weren in the same
physical condition compared to mali with percent of their players based in
europe
on top of that there was enormous pressure as hosts playing in front of our own
fans great responsibility
we will do their best not to disappoint the home fans who were brilliant on
sunday it was great to see the stadium full like that
we want to do our best for these people
jose who will be missing midfielder dede whilst there is doubt hanging over
gilberto then turned to the different threat posed by highflyers malawi
they play different style to mali therefore we will have to adapt our style
of play to take this into account
for kali the memory of sunday roller coaster ride has already been filed in
the team collective pigeon hole
we are motivated and we ve already forgotten our first game when we made
number of mistakes said the black antelope captain
argentine hospital is only one open in haiti quake hit capital
buenos aires jan afp
an argentine staffed hospital is the only one operating in haiti earthquake
devastated capital and is struggling to cope with huge numbers of injured its
director told argentine television
the argentine hospital is the only one open in the capital of more then two
million director daniel desimone told todo noticias haiti hospitals have
collapsed he said after tuesday major strength quake
we are having to make do with just the argentine hospital to meet the needs
of the peacekeeping mission and the entire population of haiti which tops
nine million people
the situation is really critical because we cannot cope with this many dead and
injured desimone stressed
there are lot of dead people in the streets lot of injured he added
more than people have been cared for mostly women and children lot of
children were left by their parents at the hospital when the parents were going
back out to search for family members desimone said
murdered iran atomic scientist mired in mystery
tehran jan afp
hezbollahi or staunch supporter of iran regime active backer of the
opposition even apolitical scientist the political affiliation of murdered
atomic scientist massoud ali mohammadi was unclear on wednesday
official media and regime hardliners reacted to tuesday deadly bombing by
calling the victim revolutionary teacher who was martyred state television
reported while tehran funded arabic channel al alam called him hezbollahi
professor
both outlets accused iran arch foes the united states and israel of having
ordered the attack on top scientist involved in iran nuclear programme which
world powers fear could be covert military programme
tehran vehemently denies that charge
in support of this thesis people close to ali mohammadi stressed his close
links with the elite revolutionary guards corps irgc where he seems to have
worked for more than years until
according to statement from the basij iran islamic militia he also taught
at the irgc imam hossein university in tehran the basij which comes under
irgc command labelled him basiji teacher
the iranian opposition in exile describes imam hossein university as one of the
facilities working on military nuclear programme that tehran has always said
does not exist
basij students at tehran university have said that ali mohammadi name is on
list of persons subject to international sanctions for their alleged role in
iran nuclear programme
but anti government opposition groups say that although there is ample evidence
that ali mohammadi used to be hardline revolutionary he switched allegiance
some time ago
several opposition sites said that ali mohammadi was among the academics whose
name appeared in june letter supporting mir hossein mousavi the defeated
presidential election candidate and current opposition leader
he also signed letter from tehran university academics condemning the immoral
and illegal repression of student protests after the disputed re election of
president mahmoud ahmadinejad opposition website rahesabz said posting copy
of the letter
massoud ali mohammadi was among the forces loyal to the islamic revolution
and imam khomeini said colleague ahmad shirzad former reformist mp and
nuclear physics professor in letter published by rahesabz and the reformist
daily aftab
these past two years he approached the reform movement in the last election
he supported the reformist candidate mousavi and sent out mobile text
messages shirzad said
after june opposition rally he told me that his students had asked if
they should participate and that he had replied do not know what our duty
is but personally will be there and then his students gave him standing
ovation
however according to ali moghara who heads the physics faculty at tehran
university ali mohammadi was just world famous physicist who engaged in no
political activity
massoud taught theoretical physics wrote articles and did not have much time
to rest confirmed one of the murdered scientist childhood friends the film
maker shahabeddin farrokhyar on the moderate ayandenews website
but the disregard and disrespect of the authorities towards the university and
students broke him emotionally said farrokhyar adding that his friend had
photo of former reformist president mohammad khatami on his desk
brazilian peacekeepers killed in haiti quake military
brasilia jan afp
at least brazilian peacekeepers were killed in the devastating quake in
haiti brazil military said wednesday revising upward an initial toll of four
dead
brazil defense minister nelson jobim and the head of the army were on their
way to haiti to assess the blow to the un peacekeeping mission there whose
military component is under brazilian command
brazil contribution of soldiers to the strong un stabilization
mission in haiti is the largest of the countries involved
spain jails five islamists for recruiting iraq combatants
madrid jan afp
spain top anti terrorist court wednesday sentenced five members of radical
islamist cell to prison terms of five to nine years for recruiting combatants to
fight in iraq
four others were acquitted according to copy of the ruling by the national
court in madrid
the court said one of the accused omar nakcha who received nine year
sentence had supplied fake passport and euros to one of the suspects in
the march madrid train bombings moroccan mohammed belhadj to help him
flee the country
spanish authorities have stepped up operations against islamist radicals since
the al qaeda inspired bombings which killed people and wounded others
in the country worst such attack
responsibility was claimed by islamic militants who said they acted on behalf of
al qaeda to avenge the presence of spanish troops in iraq
the anti terrorism court in october convicted people involvement in the
bombings the following year spain supreme court acquitted four of them on
appeal
urgent tens of thousands of haiti casualties envoy to oas
washington jan afp
huge earthquake in haiti left tens of thousands of casualties the nation
envoy to the organization of american states told afp wednesday
iran speaker accuses obama of state terrorism
tehran jan afp
parliament speaker ali larijani iran former chief nuclear negotiator on
wednesday accused us president barack obama of state terrorism over the killing
in tehran of leading atomic scientist
in an angry address to iran conservative dominated parliament larijani
reiterated iranian charges that the us central intelligence agency and israel
mossad were behind the scientist death in bombing on tuesday
such filthy actions are easy to carry out but such adventurism will do you no
good the isna news agency quoted larijani as saying in reference to obama
you have practically promoted acts of terrorism he said
massoud ali mohammadi particle physics professor at prestigious tehran
university was killed by bomb strapped to motorcycle in the capital well
to do northern suburbs on tuesday
neither the police nor the intelligence services have yet reported any leads in
their investigation and foreign minister manouchehr mottaki stopped short of
explicitly accusing washington of being behind the bombing
the action taken yesterday by the enemies of logic justice humanity and the
iranian people is being investigated by relevant authorities mottaki told
reporters when asked about accusations of us and israeli involvement
larijani however was explicit in pointing the finger of blame at the cia and
israel mossad
similar allegations by other iranian officials of us involvement in the attack
have been dismissed out of hand by washington
former iranian presidents akbar hashemi rafsanjani and mohammad khatami on
wednesday condemned the killing
but the two politicians who backed defeated opposition leader mir hossein
mousavi in the disputed june presidential election which saw hardline president
mahmoud ahmadinejad re elected did not blame the cia and israel
islamist students and the volunteer basij militia also condemned the killing of
ali mohammadi whom they described as basiji professor
in an open letter members of the victim his family called ali mohammadi man
who followed the path of the supreme leader
we as children and wife of the martyr ali mohammadi give condolences to the
caring officials of the regime the noble people of iran and especially the
nation academia over the martyrdom of dedicated husband kind father and
valai supporter of the supreme leader the letter said
but ali mohammadi name was also reported as appearing on list of pro mousavi
academics
tuesday rare assassination came as the government of the islamic republic
faced the most sustained period of protest since the revolution of with
hundreds of thousands taking to the streets of tehran after the election
the opposition charges that the vote was massively rigged in ahmadinejad
favour
for the past seven months the opposition has mounted anti government protests
at every opportunity many of which have been broken up by police who have
arrested hundreds of demonstrators
the killing in broad daylight also came amid an increasingly bitter standoff
between iran and world powers over tehran controversial nuclear programme
which the west suspects is cover for an atomic weapons drive
tehran officials have repeatedly accused the united states and israel neither
of which has never ruled out military strike to thwart iran nuclear
programme of seeking to foment unrest inside the country
larijani insisted on wednesday that the scientist murder would have no impact
on iran programme
now they seek to eliminate nuclear scientists you will see that these
terrorist actions will achieve nothing and the iranian nation will safeguard its
nuclear success he said
last month iran accused the united states of seizing an iranian scientist while
he was on pilgrimage in saudi arabia claim washington refused to comment on
and that riyadh denied
iran has ignored repeated un security council ultimatums to suspend uranium
enrichment the sensitive process which makes nuclear fuel but in highly
extended form can also produce the fissile core of an atomic bomb
it is already under three sets of un sanctions and major powers are to meet in
new york on saturday to discuss proposals for fourth
berlusconi likens political legal attacks to milan assault
rome jan afp
combative italian prime minister silvio berlusconi said wednesday that attacks
by his political and legal adversaries were even worse than physical assault
he suffered in milan month ago
people attack me in the political arena and in the legal arena the attacks
are comparable to that in milan or even worse he said at his first news
conference since the assault which left him with broken nose and two broken
teeth
berlusconi slammed what he called slanderous articles in wednesday press
stating that the cabinet would approve decree that would suspend legal
proceedings against him for at least two months
the billionaire media tycoon confirmed however that parliament where his
centre right coalition enjoys solid majority would vote on judicial
reform bill
some media reports say the draft legislation could change existing statute of
limitations provisions so that cases against the prime minister could be thrown
out
two trials are pending against berlusconi
hearing is scheduled friday in case in which the prime minister is accused
of paying his tax lawyer david mills of britain dollar
euro bribe to provide false evidence during two trials in the mid
mills has already been convicted separately in the case
the other trial involving tax fraud charges against berlusconi mediaset
television empire is set to resume monday
berlusconi has faced multiple legal battles since he burst on to the political
scene in the mid he has faced charges including corruption tax fraud
false accounting and illegally financing political parties
however no definitive conviction has ever been made against him
berlusconi said his pollsters had recently confirmed that he enjoyed the support
of two thirds of italians and around percent for the government
now all they have left is to attack me physically as they have begun to do but
they won prevail the media tycoon said of his adversaries
obama vows swift aggressive effort to save lives in haiti
washington jan afp
us president barack obama on wednesday vowed swift and aggressive effort to
save lives in haiti and said search and rescue teams would arrive within hours
after heartwrenching earthquake
have directed my administration to respond with swift coordinated and
aggressive effort to save lives obama said in televised statement at the
white house
search and rescue teams from florida virginia and california will arrive
throughout today and tomorrow
obama said that images of devastation and human misery following tuesday
earthquake were truly heartwrenching even for nation as scarred by poverty
as haiti
this tragedy seems especially cruel and incomprehensible he said
the people of haiti will have the full support of the united states in the
urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble and to deliver the
humanitarian relief food water and medicine that haitians will need
three percent of sudden deaths linked to cocaine study
paris jan afp
more than three percent of sudden deaths in region of spain and probably
across much of europe are related to cocaine use according to study
released wednesday
even modest amounts of the illegal drug cannot be considered safe for so called
recreational use the authors warned noting that cocaine consumption has
risen sharply in recent years in europe
twenty one out of sudden deaths reported in the southwestern part of spain
during to were linked directly to cocaine said the study published
in the european heart journal
most of these fatalities were due to heart or cardiovascular system problems
the findings can be extrapolated to the rest of spain and other countries that
have similar levels of drug use the researchers said
as the estimated number of european young adult cocaine consumers is similar in
spain britain and italy there is no reason to consider that the cocaine
related sudden death would be different to what we have found in southwest
spain said joaquin lucena researcher at the institute of legal medicine in
seville
the notion that recreational cocaine use is safe should be dispelled since
even small amounts may have catastrophic consequences including sudden death
lucena the study leader said in press release
there are some million adult europeans who use cocaine with more than five
percent of the population in the same three countries reporting usage at least
once percent in britain in spain and in italy
the researchers called for systematic blood and urine tests in sudden death
cases to more accurately assess the role drug abuse plays in premature deaths
until this happens the prevalence of cocaine and other illicit drug use will
be underestimated and cocaine related complications will not be recognised
they conclude
in separate commentary in the same journal david hill and richard lange
professors at the university of texas agree that usage figures are probably
significantly higher than indicated by the study
fatal shark attack closes cape town beaches
cape town jan afp
fatal shark attack in south africa holiday hotspot cape town prompted the
closure of several beaches wednesday at the height of the summer tourist
season
emergency workers were still searching for the body of zimbabwean tourist last
seen tuesday as the shark homed in on him at the popular fish hoek beach
eyewitness accounts certainly indicate that the gentleman was killed almost
