urge the international community to aid the island nation after it was battered
by hurricanes the previous year
clinton and fellow former president george bush named by the white house as
special coordinators of aid to haiti launched an appeal saturday to raise tens
of millions of dollars for the stricken country
ban returns to the united nations headquarters in new york on monday for
security council meeting to discuss coordination of the massive international
relief effort under way in haiti
saddam ex deputy pm aziz in hospital after stroke lawyer
baghdad jan afp
iraq former deputy premier tareq aziz under saddam hussein has suffered
stroke and been moved from jail to us military hospital his lawyer told afp
on sunday
he suffered stroke on friday and was transferred to hospital in the us base
at balad kilometres miles north of baghdad said lawyer badie aref
his condition is serious and they will decide today whether he stays in
hospital or should be returned to camp cropper us run prison in the iraqi
capital where he has been detained
the us army later said aziz had been taken to us military hospital in baghdad
for examination on thursday
his condition is improving and he is still being closely monitored as with
every detainee we provide them with the best of care and the same level of
care as us military members said lieutenant colonel patricia johnson
due to the privacy act this is all that am able to release she said in
statement to afp
aziz was named deputy premier in under the regime of executed dictator
saddam hussein having previously been foreign minister he turned himself in to
us forces in april after saddam was overthrown
aziz has reportedly suffered two heart attacks while in custody
aref however did not specify if the latest stroke was cardiac or neurological
aziz saddam principal spokesman to the outside world for two decades was
sentenced to years in jail for murder in march and he was given
seven year term last august for his role in expelling kurds from northern iraq
football gabon take huge step towards last eight after tunisia draw
lubango angola jan afp
gabon took big step towards reaching the quarter finals of the africa cup of
nations here when they drew with tunisia in group match here on sunday
the draw consolidated gabon lead in group after they shocked four time
champions cameroon in their opening match
tunisia champions in are now in danger of failing to reach the quarter
finals as they are second with two points from as many matches
cameroon and zambia will play at the same venue later on sunday
the azingo of gabon were the better team but failed to put away the several
chances they created and they must have felt little hard done by when
penalty appeal in their favour was not given by referee coffi codjia after
skipper daniel cousin appeared to have been brought down inside the box minute
from normal time
both teams got off to bright start with cousin in the thick of the action from
the onset
first in the ninth minute the hull city striker almost played in youngster
pierre emerick aubameyang only for tunisia goalkeeper aymen mathlouthi to beat
him to the ball and two minutes later cousin fired free kick from distance
which only just missed
tunisia though did not sit back and also pushed forward knowing they need to
win this match to remain in contention for place in the last eight after they
drew with zambia in their opening group game
in the th minute lens striker issam jomaa shot at the gabonese goal flew wide
even though goalkeeper ebang ovono appeared to have covered his post well
gabon ought to have taken the lead through eric mouloungui in the th minute
but he failed to direct his free header on target
however the best chance of the first minutes fell to the carthage eagles
when in the th minute faulty pass by gabon defender put amine chermiti
through on goal only for the tunisian to be brought down on the edge of the box
for free kick which jomaa blazed wide
in the rd minute the tunisian goalkeeper again denied gabon the opening
goal when he parried to safety powerful mouloungui shot from outside the area
both teams continued to go in search of goal poor ball control let down
emerick aubameyang on minutes after cousin floated cross deep from the left
flank and the youngster was all alone with the tunisian goalkeeper at his mercy
yanukovich tymoshenko qualify for ukraine run off polls
kiev jan afp
pro russia candidate viktor yanukovich is leading ukraine presidential
elections and will face prime minister yulia tymoshenko in run off vote next
month exit polls predicted on sunday
yanukovich is set to obtain percent of the vote and tymoshenko percent
according to the initial results of an exit poll organised by the foundation for
democratic inititatives
another poll by the gfk ukraine organisation showed yanukovich ahead on
percent and tymoshenko on percent
with yanukovich failing to win majority the election would now go to second
round on february
both polls also showed strong performance from businessman sergiy tigipko and
predicted humiliating first round elimination for president viktor yushchenko
with low single digit rating
although she is behind the polls represent good news for tymoshenko as if
confirmed they would mean she has narrowed the gap on her main opponent
compared with the last opinion polls before the new year
muslim christian clashes in nigeria resident officials
kano jan afp
clashes erupted between muslims and christians in nigeria central city of jos
sunday leaving several people dead and prompting the government to impose
dusk to dawn curfew resident and officials said
local journalist in the city flashpoint for inter religious violence told
afp he had seen nine bodies in hospital and several wounded some by machetes
but officials could not confirm the toll
several houses and vehicles were also burnt in the fighting between muslims and
christians in the city nassarawa gwom area said journalist and resident musa
habibu
was at the jos university hospital where saw nine dead bodies and six
people injured with machete cuts on admission he told afp
can see billows of dark smoke from burning houses in nassarawa gwom he
said
authorities in plateau state of which jos is the capital confirmed the clashes
but could not say how many people were killed or wounded
can give any casualty details because we are still awaiting comprehensive
report on the violence state information commissioner gregory yenlong told
afp
the government has placed hour curfew from pm to am on the
city following some violence in nassarawa gwom district of the city he said
plateau police spokesman mohammed lerema said the situation had been brought
under control and several people had been detained some of them found with guns
and ammunition
we have arrested suspects including five in military uniforms he said
jos has been hotbed of religious violence in central nigeria
in november hundreds of people were killed in two days of violence
triggered by rumour that majority muslim all nigerian peoples party had lost
local election to the mainly christian peoples democratic party
soldiers and policemen were brought in to restore order
state officials put the death toll at about but other sources gave toll
twice that figure
religious violence has also erupted in nearby northern nigeria
last month at least people were killed in violent clashes between security
forces and members of radical islamist sect in country northern bauchi
state
some of the unrest is blamed on the kala kato sect which lead religious
uprisings that claimed thousands of lives in the northern cities of kano and
yola in and
the sect abhors modernity including western style education and medicine and
bans television and radio in its members homes and rejects any literature
except the koran it is estimated to have several thousand followers
similar sect known as boko haram led an insurrection in july in nearby borno
state at least people were killed when security forces crushed the
uprising
boko haram means western education is sin in the local hausa language
nigeria africa most populous country of some million people is evenly
divided by mainy muslim dominated north and mainly christian south
holocaust hangs over pope visit to rome synagogue
rome jan afp
the role of the roman catholic church during the holocaust hung over landmark
visit sunday by pope benedict xvi to rome main synagogue
unfortunately many remained indifferent as the nazis slaughtered millions of
jews before and during world war ii the german born pope said in speech often
punctuated by applause in the cavernous temple
but silence greeted his assertion that the holy see performed actions of
support often hidden and discreet
the year old pontiff respected theologian punctuated his speech with
hebrew words stressing the two faiths common heritage
we pray to the same god and have the same roots but often remain unknown to
each other he said
the much anticipated visit came barely month after the pope angered many jews
by moving his wartime predecessor pius xii accused of inaction during the
holocaust further on the road to sainthood
the catholic church has long argued that pius xii who was pope from to
saved many jews who were hidden away in religious institutions and that
his silence was born out of wish to avoid aggravating their situation
speaking before the pope the head of rome jewish community demanded access to
vatican archives on pius xii
awaiting shared judgement we wish with the utmost respect that historians
will have access to the vatican archives concerning this period riccardo
pacifici said referring to the painful silence of the wartime pope
maybe he could not have stopped the death trains but he could have sent
signal word of extreme comfort of human solidarity for our brothers taken
off to auschwitz he said
pacifici whose grandparents died at auschwitz however said in voice choked
with emotion that he was grateful to catholic nuns in florence for sheltering
his father and uncle
in another emotion charged moment pacifici paid homage to holocaust survivors
present many of whom had tears in their eyes as the pope rose to applaud them
the vatican said last year that some five or six years of work remained before
the secret archives on pius xii could be opened to researchers
archivist sergio pagano said the documents would show that he had taken risks
including personal risks to save the jews
benedict visit announced in october appeared at risk of being cancelled amid
howls of protest over papal decree bestowing the title venerable on pius
xii
adding fuel to the fire the head of the roman catholic church on friday urged
vatican doctrinal experts to speed rapprochement with catholic fraternity that
includes holocaust denying bishop richard williamson
the tension on sunday was in stark contrast to the warm welcome reserved for
benedict predecessor john paul ii who became the first modern pope to visit
synagogue the same imposing temple on rome river tiber in
high profile stayaway was the president of italy assembly of rabbis
giuseppe laras who said benedict had weakened ties between catholics and
jews
israel ambassador to the holy see attended but remarked that catholic anti
judaism still exists
rome jewish community has some members
while pius xii was pope the nazis rounded up more than roman jews for
deportation on october only handful returned from the death camps
benedict placed wreath before plaque commemorating this tragedy before going
into the synagogue
he also stopped before another inscription marking attack by palestinian
extremists that killed two year old child and wounded other people
pope benedict has visited two other synagogues as pontiff in cologne in his
native germany and in new york
football africa cup of nations gabon tunisia
lubango angola jan afp
full result of an africa cup of nations group match at tundavala stadium here
on sunday
gabon tunisia
teams
gabon didier ovono rodrique moundounga bruno ecuele moise brou georges
ambourouet bruno mbanangoye paul kessany stephane nguema alain djissikadie
eric mouloungui roguy meye daniel cousin capt pierre emerick
aubameyang
coach alain giresse fra
tunisia aymen mathlouthi yassin mikari ammar jemal karim haggui capt
souhail ben radhia zouhaier dhaouadi mohamed ali nafkha hocine ragued
youssef msakni chaouki ben saada khaled korbi amine chermiti ahmed
akaichi issam jemaa
coach faouzi benzarti
referee koffi codja ben
yellow cards moundounga dhaouadi ben radhia kessany aubameyang
football ghana star essien injures knee at training
luanda jan afp
ghana star michael essien injured his knee training on sunday and could miss
key africa cup of nations clash against burkina faso here
team spokesman said essien was taken to hospital for tests and later rejoined
his black stars team mates as they prepare for must win group fixture on
tuesday
he is now resting at the team hotel and we do not know the extent of the
injury the official said ahead of the match at the seat november
stadium in the angolan capital
ghana are one point behind burkina faso and the four time champions need win
to avoid being eliminated after the first round of the biennial african football
showpiece
essien arrived in angola late for the tournament because snow delayed his flight
from london and has been struggling to recover from hamstring injury sustained
playing for chelsea in the champions league last month
he was kept on the bench until half time against ivory coast last friday in
cabinda by serb coach milovan rajevac to avoid aggravating the injury and his
second half presence on the pitch could not prevent loss
football spanish league table
madrid jan afp
spanish league table after sunday early matches played won drawn lost
goals for goals against points
barcelona
real madrid
valencia
real mallorca
deportivo la coruna
sevilla
athletic bilbao
getafe
sporting gijon
villarreal
atletico madrid
osasuna
racing santander
espanyol
almeria
malaga
valladolid
tenerife
real zaragoza
xerez
football home sweet home for mallorca as they make it nine in row
madrid jan afp
real mallorca moved up to fourth recording ninth successive home win with
win over rivals deportivo la coruna on sunday
julio alvarez gave an early warning hitting the post for mallorca on minutes
and the goal duly arrived minute after the interval through mario suarez and
chori castro added second eight minutes later
it capped fine week for mallorca who reached the quarter finals of the kings
cup in midweek with win over rayo vallecano and now sit in the champions
league places after leapfrogging deportivo now two points behind in fifth as
they maintained their flawless home record
in other matches the bottom of the table six pointer between xerez and real
zaragoza ended in draw that does little for either side
xerez interim manager antonio poyatos taking charge after the sacking of jose
angel ziganda could not inspire the troubled club who are nine points from
safety
zaragoza stay second from bottom three points from safety with coach jose
aurelio gay yet to win any of his four league games in charge
malaga moved out of the relegation zone with win over getafe thanks to an
th minute goal from nabil baha
that result saw tenerife replace malaga in the final relegation place after
draw with fellow strugglers almeria on sunday
islanders tenerife have yet to win on the road and this was only their second
point away from home
elsewhere racing santander saw three match winning streak come to an end with
draw against valladolid
highly rated teenager sergio canales scored his third goal in two games
with cool finish to equalise for racing and keep himself in the spotlight with
spain national coach vicente del bosque admitting that canales was not too young
to be called up ahead of this summer world cup
third placed valencia host villarreal later on sunday in an intriguing derby
game between two sides that suffered cup heartache in midweek
they are special games in which anything can happen said villarreal diego
godin getting knocked out of the cup was real setback for everyone and we
want to get it out of our system with positive result against valencia
atletico madrid experienced the other side of the cup overturning first
leg deficit with win over recreativo huelva and hope to use that momentum
in sunday home match against sporting gijon
we have to be wary because it will be different game that why we hope the
crowd are behind us again because that is essential and we are very grateful for
the cup support on thursday said atletico coach quique sanchez flores
urgent yanukovich tymoshenko qualify for ukraine run off polls
kiev jan afp
pro russia candidate viktor yanukovich is leading ukraine presidential
elections and will face prime minister yulia tymoshenko in run off vote next
month exit polls predicted on sunday
afp graphics advisory
paris jan afp
we have moved the following additional graphics
haiti quake towns
graphic map locating towns outside the haitian capital port au prince that have
been badly damaged by the earthquake
text slug haiti quake
mm
available now
ukraine vote
map of ukraine pro russia viktor yanukovich was expected to make strong
showing in the first round of presidential elections on sunday
text slug ukraine vote
mm
available now
paris hong kong
tel
alpine skiing kostelic wins wengen slalom month after surgery
wengen switzerland jan afp
croatia ivica kostelic on sunday won the men world cup slalom race here for
his th career success only month after undergoing knee operation
the croat the world slalom champion clocked min sec for the two
runs sec ahead of sweden andre myhrer with austrian reinfried herbst at
sec
kostelic who had already shown no ill effects from his operation having
finished third in the slalom at adelboden led by sec after the first leg
and extended his lead in the second run
watched by olympic gold medal winning sister janica ivica backed his decision
to return to competition so soon after surgery
the kostelic family are not the fanatics that people think he said
am the only skiier know on the world cup circuit to take three month
vacation last summer was on the beach or went fishing
sunday was welcome return to some sort of form for herbst who having won the
first two slaloms of the campaign had failed in the past two races
was happy with the result the snow was little spongy and little more
difficult as usually prefer it to be slippy said herbst
knew that these conditions were perfect for ivica and that he was going to
win
frenchman julien lizeroux who had won in adelboden finished only fifth failing
to grab sentimental win as tribute to his brother yoann who was killed in
an accident in july on the west face of the jungrau the mountain
overlooking the ski station
the first leg had claimed several high profile contenders including italy
manfred moelgg and mario matt of austria american bode miller who despite
suffering from sore ankle had won the super combined on friday also went out
on the first leg
swiss tyro carlo janka who won saturday downhill retained the lead in the
overall world cup standings
thousands desperate in haiti streets icrc
geneva jan afp
thousands living in the streets of haiti capital face desperate situation
and hospitals are overwhelmed by masses of people injured in the deadly
earthquake the international red cross said sunday
simon schorno spokesman from the international committee of the red cross who
is currently in port au prince described desperate situation faced by
thousands of people who have lost their homes and who are gathered in makeshift
camps at the place du champ de mars
some people have found bit of shade but most sit in the sun the stench of
stale urine is overpowering he said in statement
the icrc said that tens of thousands of survivors are spending their fifth day
since the earthquake on the streets as they are wary of returning to buildings
the streets further towards the sea are packed with people aftershocks
continue and no one wants to be inside the few buildings left standing said
schorno
corpses are also littering the streets many leaking yellow liquid said
schorno
motorcycles and cars drive around them and no one looks he described
although international aid has arrived many survivors are still awaiting help
access to shelter toilets water food and medical care remains extremely
limited said the icrc
in the few medical facilities that are still standing in the city there is not
only shortage of medication but also of staff
they are overwhelmed and bursting at the seams said the icrc
in the only functioning medical facility in montrissant there are just four
doctors while patients were awaiting attention
one of the doctors told me they cannot cope and lost over patients in the
past two days said schorno
even though about foreign doctors are expected to arrive soon the icrc said
that for some survivors the help may be too late
football arsenal keep title bid on track
london jan afp
arsenal maintained their push for the english premier league title with
win away to bolton wanderers on sunday
goals from spanish midfielders cesc fabregas and fran merida helped leave the
third placed gunners just three points behind leaders and london rivals chelsea
after owen coyle first match as bolton manager ended in defeat
arsenal took the lead at the reebok stadium in typically attractive style in the
th minute when fabregas played rapid one two with eduardo on the edge of the
box before shooting into the far corner
matt taylor had chances to equalise for bolton who remain in the relegation
zone and his failure to score was punished when eduardo cross was helped on
by bolton zat knight and merida following clever touch scored with
precise shot from eight yards out
earlier aston villa failed to make the most of slip ups by their champions
league rivals in goalless draw at home to strugglers west ham
the point at villa park saw martin neill men stay sixth in the english
premier league table two places outside the champions league spots after
saturday where fourth placed tottenham were held to goalless draw by hull
manchester city lost to everton and liverpool drew with stoke
league cup semi finalists villa have now not won and not scored in the league
since beating stoke on december
the issue today was we were unable to score goal but it was big effort by
my players considering we played in the carling league cup semi final only on
thursday neill told reporters
it is disappointing the win didn materialise and when you drop points at home
it can be considered missed opportunity
but think this result and other ones this weekend involving teams near us in
the table highlight how difficult this league is
the draw was boost for west ham lifting the london club out of the relegation
zone
away from home it good result hammers captain matthew upson told sky
sports we re improving hopefully we can maintain that to the end of the
season
elsewhere blackburn rovers moved up two positions into th place with
win at home to fulham both goals at ewood park scored by defenders from set
pieces
chris samba opened the scoring in the th minute after benni mccarthy corner
to the near post had been cleared off the line by damien duff
south africa mccarthy was also involved in rovers second goal after half
time when new zealand defender and blackburn captain ryan nelsen headed in his
free kick
alert
yanukovich tymoshenko to qualify for ukraine second round vote exit polls
nadia call ksene haitian radio key link for survivors
port au prince jan afp
hello nadia chaduc if you re alive call ksene camartiniere at
squawked the haitian radio sunday one of many desperate calls into the station
as survivors search for loved ones
ever since the massive earthquake devastated the already impoverished nation
local radio stations have been providing key link for people desperate for
news of their families and friends
ladies and gentlemen good morning and welcome to radio caraibes it am
in port au prince and we will spend another day together the fm station
told haitians huddled around radio posts
the radio team has set up shop on sidewalk in front of the cracked office
building they had to abandon armed with headphones and microphones three
anchors sat around black table under the gaze of couple dozen passersby
including two wearing barack obama shirts
we will start with official orders said israel jacky cantave state of
emergency has been declared until the end of the month
and another order signed by haitian president rene preval from sunday to
february haiti will observe national mourning in honor of the tens of
thousands of victims the quake has claimed
but with many people still trapped beneath the crumbled buildings and massive
influx of aid slow to reach those in need the station primary aim now is to
broadcast personal messages giving glimmer of hope to devastated people
those who survived tuesday massive temblor have mostly been left homeless in
country where the already wobbly infrastructure was destroyed and they lack
access to any communications
tens of thousands have died and there is little hope of identifying the dead
for surviving grieving relatives many bodies still lie beneath the twisted
concrete slabs and metal others are rotting in the streets and thousands more
have been buried in unmarked mass graves
my name is jocelyne junie am indeed alive was treated at renaissance
hospital would like my parents to bring me food another announcement read
one father dictated his message to one of the radio station employees
my little girl got lost during the event from what was told she came by the
radio station but haven seed her am going to send message maybe
someone kept her with them said jean andre baptiste
an electrical generator and the radio big red antenna that still stands atop
the roof of the building are providing power for the french and creole
broadcasts
we are journalists first and foremost so we have to work people are waiting
for news about their loved ones our priority was to tell our listeners this was
an earthquake and not the end of the world as many believe cantave said
it not easy because we have to bring all the journalists together and they
are sleeping in the street
television post sitting atop the table was tuned to the french channel
television which broadcast reports from the scene of the wreckage
across the street from the makeshift radio station onlookers took advantage of
the generator and its power strips to charge up nearly hundred mobile phones
further away man walked down the street with his little black radio glued to
his ear now familiar scene in the leveled capital nearby woman cooked
spaghetti
two streets down radio melodie broadcast its programs on fm from its
studios among the few buildings left standing
we have humanitarian calling because the people feel abandoned it so bad
that it our audience who is bringing us gallons of fuel for the generator
am very proud of all this said station chief elsie etheat
tsunami generating quake possible off indonesia scientists
paris jan afp
huge wave generating quake capable of killing as many people as in the
indian ocean tsunami could strike off the indonesian island of sumatra and the
city of padang is in the firing line team of seismologists said on sunday
the group led by prominent scientist who predicted sumatran quake
with uncanny accuracy issued the warning in letter to the journal nature
geoscience
the peril comes from relentless buildup of pressure over the last two
centuries on section of the sunda trench one of the world most notorious
earthquake zones which runs parallel to the western sumatra coast they said
this section named after the mentawai islands is near failure the letter
warned bluntly
the threat of great tsunamigenic earthquake with magnitude of more than
on the mentawai patch is unabated there is potential for loss of life on
the scale of the indian ocean tsunami
the letter gave no timeframe for this event but warned starkly of the danger for
padang city of people that lies broadside to the risky segment
the threat from such an event is clear and the need for urgent mitigating
