suspect and accused the army of crimes against humanity
the international criminal court said friday visit by its deputy prosecutor
fatou bensouda to investigate the stadium incident planned for next week would
be postponed for logistical reasons
wall street slips unimpressed by earnings
new york jan afp
wall street stocks suffered their biggest drop of as investors ignored
handsome fourth quarter profits from top chip maker intel and banking giant
jpmorgan chase
the dow jones industrial average dropped points percent to
in final trades pulling back from month high
the nasdaq composite tumbled points percent to while the
broad market standard amp poor index fell points percent to
provisonal close of
stocks opened lower with the decline accelerating as investors digested the
fourth quarter earnings declared by intel after market closed on thursday as
well as the results of jpmorgan chase early friday
there was lack of enthusiasm over better than expected earnings from both
intel and jpmorgan analysts said
intel the world biggest computer chip maker said net profit soared nearly
nine fold to billion dollars in the last three months of on the back of
percent jump in revenue to billion dollars
jpmorgan also posted big jump in net profit to billion dollars with
revenues rising to billion dollars
the lack of buying interest following the reports underscores how the market
bar of expectations has risen along with stock prices which have climbed by
about percent since march said patrick hare of briefing com
analysts said plan unveiled thursday by president barack obama to tax big
firms in the banking sector to recoup bailout funds also dampened sentiment
the bulls are being stalled by concerns toward the financial sector analysts
at charles schwab amp co said in note to clients
football babel rues liverpool treatment in twitter outburst
liverpool england jan afp
liverpool out of favour winger ryan babel has risked the ire of coach rafael
benitez after publicly lamenting his lack of playing time on the micro blogging
website twitter
the year old dutchman has failed to hold down first team place since
arriving from ajax for million pounds in july and revealed on friday
that he had not been selected for the premier league game at stoke on saturday
the boss left me out no explanation babel wrote
benitez who is under increasing pressure after seeing his misfiring side crash
out of the fa cup to second division reading on wednesday tried to downplay the
incident at his pre match press conference on friday
when you have problems everyone has different reaction benitez said
everyone has twitter it impossible to stop people talking it not like
in the past
babel though remained truculent and turned to twitter once again later in the
day to vent his frustrations
what happened after first good season he said
scoring goals being young talent of the year and then second and this
season don play at all one day you will see what capable of will it be
at lfc or somewhere else have faith
babel was reportedly the subject of an unsuccessful nine million pounds bid from
birmingham city earlier in the month and benitez insisted that the player
remained in his plans
his chances of playing appeared to have been improved by injuries to key
attacking trio fernando torres steven gerrard and yossi benayoun but the
signing of argentine international forward maxi rodriguez this week has
increased the competition for places in babel position
the dutch international is the latest in growing list of players to have
fallen foul of their coaches due to their activities on twitter
his international team mate gregory van der wiel was rebuked by dutch national
boss bert van marwijk for using the site to post photo of himself visiting
concert while supposedly out of action due to concussion
sunderland striker darren bent went public with his unhappiness at the
protracted nature of his move from tottenham last summer while west ham centre
back danny gabbidon had to apologise to his club fans after appearing to
criticise them in message posted on twitter last month
amp expands tylenol recall after fda warning
new york jan afp
johnson amp johnson the us consumer products giant expanded friday tylenol
recall after us federal authorities warned the company was being too slow in
dealing with public health threat
the expanded recall covers the pain reliever and other over the counter drugs
sold in the americas the united arab emirates and fiji
mcneil consumer healthcare unit of amp said it was voluntarily recalling
about lots of the products which include pain relievers tylenol motrin and
st joseph children aspirin
the company already had recalled in december all lots of type of tylenol
product in response to consumer complaints of foul odor that in some cases had
prompted non serious gastrointestinal disorders including vomiting and
diarrhea
mcneil said an investigation had shown the unusual moldy odor is caused by the
presence of trace amounts of chemical called tribromoanisole tba
this can result from the breakdown of chemical that is sometimes applied to
wood that is used to build wood pallets that transport and store product
packaging materials the company said
the health effects of this chemical have not been well studied but no serious
events have been documented in the medical literature
deborah autor director of the fda compliance office on drugs told reporters
friday that the federal agency had warned mcneill that it had mishandled the
problem
we sent warning letter to mcneil for failure to report quality problems she
said
mcneil should have acted faster when something smells bad literally or
figuratively companies must aggressively investigate and take all necessary
actions
egypt to charge activists barred from copt deaths town
cairo jan afp
several activists arrested in the upper egypt town of nagaa hammadi scene of
deadly coptic christmas eve shooting earlier this month are to face legal
charges security official said on friday
the activists arrived in the town earlier in the day in show of solidarity
with the families of six copts shot dead by muslim gunmen late on january
they were detained in qena and will appear before the prosecutor probably
tomorrow saturday morning because some of them staged demonstration before
being arrested the official said putting their number at more than
earlier senior security official said police had barred activists from
nagaa hammadi
the group which included bloggers and political activists planned to meet and
express solidarity with victims families said the official who did not want
to be identified
the activists were put on the next train back to cairo he said adding that
local authorities feared their presence could inflame public opinion and calls
for protests
on january the eve of the coptic orthodox christmas three gunmen raked
worshippers emerging from mass in nagaa hammadi with bullets the deadliest
attack since when copts were killed in sectarian clashes
three people were arrested and charged with premeditated murder after the latest
attack in which one muslim policeman also died
copts who account for nearly percent of egypt mainly muslim population of
million are the middle east largest christian community but complain of
routine harassment and systematic discrimination and marginalisation
visiting us assistant secretary for human rights michael posner said on thursday
that the killings of christians revealed an atmosphere of intolerance in
egypt key middle east ally of washington
afp world news agenda
hong kong jan afp
what coming up around the world
hunt for haiti survivors as troops aid arrive
obama meets his predecessors on aid to haiti
iran court to rule in french academic case
world agriculture ministers discuss climate change
port au prince us troops head up massive aid operation to reach survivors
four days after deadly earthquake left much of haiti in ruins haiti quake
washington us president barack obama meets his predecessors to discuss the
situation in haiti haiti quake us
tehran an iranian court is to hand down its verdict in the case of french
academic clotilde reiss charged with taking part in anti regime protests in the
islamic republic iran france trial protest
berlin around agriculture ministers from countries including brazil china
india and russia meet to debate the role of farming in climate change press
conference gmt climate warming farm
beijing full coverage after china defends its censorship of the internet and
tells foreign firms they must play by chinese rules after web giant google
threatened to pull out of the country us china it internet google
kabul reporting as afghanistan parliament set to vote on president hamid
karzai second list of nominees for cabinet afghanistan politics
new york six powers seeking to resolve nuclear dispute with iran meet amid
calls for new sanctions against the islamic republic iran nuclear talks
amp expands tylenol recall after fda warning
new york jan afp
johnson amp johnson the us consumer products giant expanded friday tylenol
recall after us federal authorities warned the company was being too slow in
deal with public health threat
the expanded recall covers the pain reliever and other over the counter drugs
sold in the americas the united arab emirates and fiji
mcneil consumer healthcare unit of amp said it was voluntarily recalling
about lots of the products which include pain relievers tylenol motrin and
st joseph children aspirin
the company already had recalled in december all lots of type of tylenol
product in response to consumer complaints of foul odor that in some cases had
prompted non serious gastrointestinal disorders including vomiting and
diarrhea
mcneil said an investigation had shown the unusual moldy odor is caused by the
presence of trace amounts of chemical called tribromoanisole tba
this can result from the breakdown of chemical that is sometimes applied to
wood that is used to build wood pallets that transport and store product
packaging materials the company said
the health effects of this chemical have not been well studied but no serious
events have been documented in the medical literature
deborah autor director of the fda compliance office on drugs told reporters
friday that the federal agency had warned mcneill that it had mishandled the
problem
we sent warning letter to mcneil for failure to report quality problems she
said
mcneil should have acted faster when something smells bad literally or
figuratively companies must aggressively investigate and take all necessary
actions
rugbyu european challenge results collated
paris jan afp
collated european challenge results on friday
pool
connacht irl montpellier fra
pool
castres fra rovigo ita
pool
albi fra newcastle eng
thursday
pool
bourgoin fra bucuresti oaks rom
pool
saracens eng toulon fra
pool
london wasps eng rome ita
saturday
pool
rugby parma ita leeds carnegie eng
pool
worcester eng olympus rugby xv madrid esp
pool
bayonne fra racing metro fra
pool
petrarca padova ita montauban fra
us braces for possible influx of haitian immigrants
miami jan afp
us officials expressed fears friday that the quake in haiti could spark wave
of immigrants to launch into the sea in boats in desperate bid to leave the
devastated caribbean island nation
hundreds of haitians attempt the perilous mile kilometer journey to
the florida coast each year some in makeshift rafts others smuggled by
traffickers as they try to escape the poverty unrest and natural disasters
that beset their homeland the poorest country in the americas
us officials estimate that thousands have died at sea in failed bids to migrate
to the united states
for this serious situation there is an increased risk of crisis of
immigrants from haiti said us coast guard spokeswoman marilyn fajardo in
miami
she told afp that the possibility of large influx of haitian migrants into the
united states was the subject of ongoing analysis but that the coast guard
has not yet taken any extraordinary measures
so far we have not seen evidence that this will happen we have not recorded
any event in the area added fajardo
tuesday powerful magnitude quake has left tens of thousands of people dead
and international aid agencies estimate that three million people were affected
haitians who lost their homes and their belongings but were lucky enough to be
alive walked aimlessly through the streets at times chanting and singing hymns
despite the desperation of so many of his people haiti consul general in
miami ralph latortue said he did not anticipate an immigration crisis at this
time
attempts at illegal immigration from haiti usually come from the north and
northwest of the island not from the port au prince region which is currently
stricken he said
don anticipate any more illegal immigration than usual
some illegal immigrants from haiti live in the united states and
further legally reside here two thirds of them adults of working age
according to the non profit migration policy institute
most live in florida or new york
in the wake of the disaster people in tight knit haitian communities across
florida gathered around radios and computers eager to hear the latest about the
plight of their loved ones after telephone lines to the impoverished caribbean
nation went dead
us authorities are processing deportation orders for haitians now in the
united states according to immigration and customs enforcement ice
rights advocates have long depicted the current immigration laws as uneven they
have joined lawmakers in urging the white house to grant special shield to
thousands of haitians living in the united states illegally given the massive
destruction in their homeland
temporary protected status would allow undocumented haitians living in the
united states to remain for set period of time usually months that
would allow them to renew or obtain drivers licenses and work legally
the coast guard is participating in the us government humanitarian assistance
and disaster response to haiti off loading relief supplies and sending support
personnel ashore
four coast guard cutters five helicopters and nine aircraft are responding to
the affected area fifth cutter is on its way
the service branch has also evacuated nearly us citizens from the haitian
capital port au prince to santo domingo in the neighboring dominican republic
currently we are focused on giving humanitarian assistance and support to
local and international agencies and we hope to open the ports in haiti as soon
as possible fajardo said
football africa cup of nations ivory coast ghana
cabinda angola jan afp
full result of africa cup of nations group match at chiazi stadium friday
ivory coast gervinho tiene drogba ghana gyan pen
teams
ivory coast
boubacar barry emmanuel eboue kolo toure souleman bamba siaka tiene cheik
tiote yaya toure emerse fae didier zokora kouassi gervinho yao guy
demel didier drogba capt salomon kalou abdulkader keita
coach vahid halilhodzic bih
ghana
richard kingston capt samuel inkoom isaac vorsah eric addo ibrahim ayew
opoku agyemang harrison afful moussa narry michael essien capt
emmanuel badu andre ayew asamoah gyan kwadwo asamoah mathew amoah
coach milovan rajevac srb
referee jerome damon rsa
red card eboue
yellow cards tiote agyemang zokora kalou barry
afp americas news agenda for january
washington jan afp
duty editor alex ogle
tel
what happening in the americas on saturday
the hunt for haiti quake survivors continues as troops aid arrive
obama meets his predecessors on aid to haiti
port au prince us troops head up massive aid operation to reach survivors
four days after deadly earthquake left much of haiti in ruins expect
coverage haiti quake picture video graphic
washington us president barack obama meets his predecessors to discuss the
situation in haiti expedct coverage haiti quake us
new york six powers seeking to resolve nuclear dispute with iran meet amid
calls for new sanctions against the islamic republic expect coverage iran
nuclear talks
global satellites unite over haiti to help in rescue work
paris jan afp
some satellites are trained on haiti taking images to help in rescue efforts
after the devastating earthquake there as part of decade old agreement to
share such data in the wake of disasters
there is really strong international collaboration like there was at the time
of the tsunami in asia or hurricane katrina year later said andre
husson of the french space agency
the unified action is made possible by the so called international charter
which was declared formally operational on november
joint efforts for space data in the wake of man made or natural disasters have
been made times since husson said adding that the duration of the
cooperation was usually between eight and days
currently the space agencies of at least countries including the united
states britain china france japan and india are involved in the effort he
said
any demand by the international charter overtakes commercial demands and the
zone zone hit by the catastrophe takes priority he said
the charter is really global its an area of international cooperation that is
really efficient because no money changes hands he said
the objective is to combine images from various satellites to create detailed
pictures of large areas which can then be used by teams on the ground he said
more than people were killed and injured by this week
earthquake in haiti which also left nearly million homeless minister in
the haitian government said friday
relief teams appear on haitian streets
port au prince jan afp
relief teams began showing up on the quake ravaged streets of the haitian
capital friday in noticeably larger numbers after three days of chaos in which
haitians fended for themselves
afp reporters on the scene saw teams from the united states cuba venezuela
belgium russia switzerland mexico france and the dominican republic among
others at work
many of them with the help of sniffer dogs were wielding picks and shovels in
laborious hours long efforts to unearth quake victims buried under the ruins of
the city
swiss and cuban medical teams were seen helping the skeleton staffs at two
hospitals in port au prince devastated by tuesday magnitude quake
brazilian and dominican personnel were also spotted operating heavy lifting
equipment among the first to appear helping to clearg rubble and bodies and
opening streets that had been completely blocked by the ruins
as many as countries are taking part in relief operations and have personnel
in the country the us state department said in washington but they face
immense difficulties
weak security and the lack of coordination with local authorities were the
biggest obstacles cited by relief teams to afp reporters
an estimated million people have been left homeless haitian officials said
the un has said one in buildings in the city were destroyed by the quake
oil prices tumble on concerns about demand nigeria unrest
new york jan afp
oil prices tumbled friday as investors worried about demand amid fragile
global economic recovery and showed little reaction to renewed unrest in
nigeria oil producing region
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
slid dollars to close at dollars barrel
in london brent north sea crude for march delivery dropped dollars to
settle at dollars
the new york benchmark contract has fallen for five consecutive sessions since
closing at dollars week ago
traders continued to weigh weak energy demand in the united states that raised
concern about the strength of fragile recovery in the world largest economy
after official data showed unexpected increases in us petroleum reserves
the second consecutive weekly build to crude stocks has been disconcerting for
investors who were expecting drop as consequence of rising heating demand
said mike fitzpatrick of mf global
bearish report friday from the international energy agency also dented
sentiment
the iea said oil demand in would be sluggish in the developed world with
emerging markets accounting for any increases
the agency left unchanged prior forecast of percent rise in global
demand this year to million barrels per day mbd
iea has left its demand forecast unchanged and reflects still constricted
global economy which will be increasingly supplied by rising output room non
opec producers showing the cartel dwindling ability to influence prices
fitzpatrick said
meanwhile geopolitical tensions in nigeria were drawing attention
nigerian gunmen demanded ransom of million naira million dollars
million euros for the release of three britons and colombian abducted
this week police said friday
the four contract workers for the anglo dutch oil giant shell were
abducted tuesday
it was the first major kidnapping in southern nigeria since last july in the
wake of government amnesty which saw thousands of militants lay down their
arms
armed groups claiming to seek fairer share of oil revenue for locals since
have staged attacks on oil installations in the niger delta wreaking havoc
with crude output and international oil prices
an attack on chevron pipeline last friday forced shutdown of barrels
day
nigeria main rebel armed group the movement for the emancipation of the niger
delta said it had approved the attack
football ivory coast reach quarter finals with men
cabinda angola jan afp
ivory coast became the first team to reach the africa cup of nations
quarter finals with triumph over severely depleted ghana in group on
friday
it was polished performance by the elephants who were reduced to men on
minutes when arsenal defender emmanuel eboue was red carded for vicious tackle
from behind on opoku agyemang with his team one goal ahead
victory lifted the title favourites to four points from two matches and they
will be joined in the knockout phase by burkina faso or ghana who clash tuesday
in the final mini league fixture
togo the other country drawn in the group withdrew before the tournament
kicked off last sunday after the bus convoy carrying them into angola was
attacked in this restive northern angolan enclave
lille forward kouassi gervinho yao put ivory coast ahead midway through the
first half at the new seat chiazi stadium siaka tiene scored direct
from free kick after minutes and chelsea striker didier drogba completed
the victory in the final minute
ghana got stoppage time consolation goal via an asamoah gyan penalty after he
had been fouled by souleman bamba
coach vahid halilhodzic made one change to the ivorian team that failed to
sparkle when held to goalless draw by burkina faso last monday with chelsea
forward salomon kalou replacing bakary kone
ghana kicked off without eight first choice players in defenders john pantsil
and john mensah midfielders anthony annan stephen appiah michael essien
laryea kingson and sulley muntari and striker asamoah gyan
the absence of so many regulars meant wigan goalkeeper and fourth choice captain
richard kingson brother of laryea wore the armband until essien came on for
the second half with gyan
midfielder didier zokora stung the fingers of kingson with fierce drive that
was parried for corner and captain drogba blazed free kick over during the
early exchanges
ivory coast took the lead with master class in counter attacking as sliding
tackle just outside their penalty area deprived ghana of possession and set in
motion one of the slickest goals so far seen in the tournament
the ball was stroked into the path of barcelona man yaya toure and his superb
pass sprang the offside trap for kalou who crossed for gervinho to tap the ball
into an unguarded net
ghana made little impact in attack until six minutes before half time when
ivorian goalkeeper boubacar barry often considered the weak link in the team
dived to his left and superbly parried kwadwo asamoah drive
the presence of essien playing for the first time since early december when
injured in champions league clash offered hope to the four time champions and
the dismissal of eboue threatened to tilt the balance
mathew amoah was unlucky not to equalise soon after on pitch that was cutting
up alarmingly as his volley struck the base of post and flew wide with barry
helpless
but midway through the half the ivorians doubled their lead against the run of
play as tiene curled left footed free kick from wide on the right over kingson
and into the roof of the net
playing man short appeared to be having no effect on the ivorians as they
continued to attack and drogba headed in left wing cross on minutes to
complete handsome success
nba arenas pleads guilty to gun charge
washington jan afp
washington wizards guard gilbert arenas three time nba all star pleaded
guilty in superior court on friday to felony charge of carrying an unlicensed
pistol
the charge carries maximum sentence of five years behind bars but prosecutors
are recommending arenas serve no more than six months as part of plea bargain
to obtain an admission of guilt that could wreck his nba career
arenas has admitted bringing four guns to the wizards locker room on december
but faced only one charge in plea deal with prosecutors that is expected to
bring leniency in sentencing hearing scheduled for march
he accepted full responsibility for his actions arenas attorney kenneth
wainstein said in statement that also said the player was apologetic for his
actions and that he realizes they were wrong and violation of law
arenas on indefinite suspension by the nba was released until sentencing after
surrendering his passport and being instructed not to possess handguns of any
sort
the guilty plea leaves his nba career in limbo opening the door for the wizards
to void his million dollar contract and dump the four years on it
arenas and teammate javaris crittenton argued over gambling losses during card
game on flight december when crittenton said he should shoot arenas in his
often repaired knee
two days later arenas put four guns on chair near crittenton locker with
note saying pick one in what he later called joke
some accounts have crittenton also having gun in the locker room police
searched crittenton apartment on thursday but seized no evidence and
crittenton has not been charged
arenas found guilty of possessing an unregistered gun in said he brought
the guns to the locker room to keep them out of reach of his children and was
unaware doing so violated not only nba rules but strict gun laws in the us
capital
arenas was suspended indefinitely last week by nba commissioner david stern
after using his fingers as pretend pistols and firing at teammates before
game stern calling arenas not currently fit to take the court
goof ball and that what am so even doing something like this
going to make fun of it and that how am arenas said in twitter message
about the incident
the wizards took down banner outside their arena featuring arenas and dropped
agent zero from pre game video
even jerseys bearing his number zero are no longer on display in the souvenir
shop vanishing act for the once most marketable wizard
arenas played just games since signing his wizards contract largely because
of knee injuries he was averaging points and assists game this
season for washington which at is last in the southeast division
patients die in cuba mental hospital official
havana jan afp
twenty six patients at havana psychiatric hospital have died as result of
cold weather in the past week prompting an investigation into possible
negligence the government said friday
we have seen an increase in deaths among patients in the last week
government statement said they are related to the long spell of cold weather
that has occurred
health ministry commission that investigated the deaths identified various
deficiencies related to the lack of timely adoption of measures the government
said
those responsible would be submitted for trial by the corresponding courts it
said
the deaths were first made public by elizardo sanchez head of the outlawed
cuban human rights commission who denounced it as case of criminal
negligence
it is the highest number of avoidable deaths in cuban hospital in the history
of the republic he said
