be out of the picture for the wizards who 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 arena
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
eight wizards players and coach flip saunders have spoken with authorities over
the gun matter disrupting practices as they try to revive their season
ukraine frontrunner claims makeover with glitzy rally
kiev jan afp
the dancers jived in skimpy dresses the blond pop stars belted out their
rousing anthems and thumping bass echoed around the ukrainian capital
amid the tumult the announcer bellowed welcome to the people president of
ukraine viktor yanukovich thousands of supporters waving blue and yellow
flags roared their approval
glitzy rallies have not usually been associated with the pro moscow yanukovich
ingloriously defeated in presidential polls that swept the pro western
viktor yushchenko to power
those elections had been re run after people took to the streets in the orange
revolution and court found vote rigging in yanukovich favour leaving him
with tainted image abroad
but half decade on slick pr techniques have become prime part of
yanukovich political weaponry as he seeks revenge in the first round sunday of
presidential elections on his pro western opponents
the rally in the final hours of legal campaigning late friday saw thousands of
yanukovich supporters cram into the historic sofivska square in central kiev to
see their candidate and enjoy glitzy concert
performers included ukrainian pop stars like singing sensation taisia povaliy
who braved the sub zero temperatures in tinsel dress and lavished praise on
the presidential candidate
five years before it was the leaders of the orange revolution who brought
change by holding mass rallies in central kiev serenaded by songs from ukraine
best known musicians
in it was the song myla moya vstavai rise up my dear by okean elzy the
country best known rock band which became the unofficial anthem of the
uprising and inspired protesters deep into the night
yanukovich imagemakers ensured the crowds were well supplied with the flags of
ukraine and his regions party creating graphic spectacle against the golden
domes of the saint sophia cathedral
he will win the election am voting for him because am have faith in him
the orange revolution is history and we are going to say no to yushchenko said
pensioner valentina georgieeva
bearing bouquet of flowers for the singer povaliy yanukovich declaimed his
speech without notes surrounded by dozens of young party activists holding the
banner of the regions party
january will be the judgement on the authorities who were not capable of
effectively managing the country he said from the concert stage
they started optimistically with all the fanfares of and much was promised
but it is all ending very badly
despite being seen as pro russia figure yanukovich has over the last four
been helped in sharpening his image by us political consultant and lobbyist
paul manafort
he has also made more concerted effort to snare votes in the ukrainian
speaking west of the country away from his traditional heartland of the heavily
industrial east where russia is the main language
at the rally yanukovich gave his address in ukrainian
yanukovich mimicking of the techniques of his opponents shows his style has
changed dramatically since although analysts say it remains to be seen how
his ideas moved on
this is the man who organized the fraud five years ago that sparked the orange
revolution in some ways it is depressing to see him still around said andrew
wilson of the european council on foreign relations
although yanukovich remains vehement opponent of ukrainian membership of nato
he favours eu membership for ukraine and describes his foreign policy as neutral
and not pro kremlin
yuriy yakymenko director of research at the razumkov centre think tank in kiev
said yanukovich had become more receptive of what people think about the country
abroad over the past five years
let wait and see he has certainly become more pro european politician
at least on the outside he said
alert
more than killed in haiti quake haitian minister
urgent sudan chad to set up joint force on troubled border
ndjamena jan afp
chad and sudan on friday agreed for the first time to set up joint force on
their troubled border which will be deployed on february according to
statement received by afp
several us officers failed to supervise fort hood gunman
washington jan afp
several us officers who failed to properly supervise the suspected gunman who
shot dead people at the fort hood military base should be held accountable
an inquiry said friday
as result of our review it appeared that there were several officers who did
not apply the army policies to the perpetrator said togo west former army
secretary who led the review with former chief of naval operations vernon
clark
the report released friday recommended the us army secretary carry out an
accountability review for those officers which could include disciplinary
measures
military and intelligence officials have come under criticism for possibly
missing warning signs about us army major nidal hasan psychiatrist charged
with the murders in the november attack at the military base in texas
hasan is being investigated for links to islamic extremism including his
contacts with radical cleric now in yemen who blessed the killing spree
west declined to offer more details about the conduct of the officers overseeing
hasan and that the probe had not identified them by name
but he said us army leaders would not have difficulty concluding which officers
needed to come under scrutiny based on the report which included sections that
were not released publicly
the report also said some medical officers failed to apply appropriate judgment
and standards in assessing hasan
in personnel evaluations medical officers failed to take into account hasan
overall conduct and instead focused only on his academic work the report said
the probe did not look at the role of intelligence agencies in tracking hasan
contacts with the radical cleric anwar al aulaqi which is the subject of
another review
but the report did say joint terrorism task forces needed to be improved and
that more military officers should be assigned to them
contacts between hasan and the cleric were picked up by government agencies
before the shooting but the us army was not informed about the link
defense secretary robert gates praised the report and said he had ordered
immediate steps to be taken based on the findings
the review portrayed the pentagon as badly prepared for internal threats and
that it failed to share information with commanders about personnel
the report shows shortcomings in the way the department is prepared to defend
against threats posed by external influences operating on members of our
military community gates told reporters
he said he did not believe possible radicals within the military ranks posed
major threat
but he said clearly one is too many
the pentagon policies and methods were outdated and the department needed to
adapt to new threats that appeared after the september attacks gates
said
it is clear that as department we have not done enough to adapt to the
evolving domestic internal security threat to american troops and military
facilities that has emerged over the past decade he said
in this area as in so many others this department is burdened by th century
processes and attitudes mostly rooted in the cold war
the government counter intelligence procedures were mostly designed to combat
an external threat such as foreign intelligence service he said
but the report praised the rapid response to the shooting at fort hood saying
that within four minutes and seconds of the first emergency call the attack
was stopped and the suspected gunman disarmed
us starts first massive food water deliveries to haiti
washington jan afp
the united states said friday it is now able to deliver its first mass
quantities of food and water to quake hit haitians now that the us aircraft
carrier carl vinson is off haiti shores
agency for international development director rajiv shah aid said the us
military is now gearing up to deliver packages of basic food rations and
ten liter containers of water to haiti
on food we already have mobilized and have en route humanitarian daily
rations shah told reporters adding they will be delivered from the nuclear
powered carl vinson
the united states has also mobilized million dollars worth of food aid or
enough to provide several months of food for the affected population of two
million individuals shah added
on water we are in the process of mobilizing ten liter containers
collapsible containers so that people can access potable water he said
we believe of those will arrive today as part of the initial lift of
commodities that is on its way shah said
us and international relief efforts have been limited by haiti poor logistics
but the us military will help overcome some of the problems us officials said
we ve always had delivery of commodities from the very beginning of this
effort this is different scale of that he said
we had limited capacity to send things into haiti and we made our immediate
priority saving lives and so urban search and rescue and the operation to save
lives was part of that immediate effort he said
now we have military transport and logistic capabilities we have support and
cooperation and partnership at the airport in port au prince shah said
he also pointed out that the military had water purification systems
with power from two nuclear reactors and water purifying machinery the carrier
can make gallons of drinking water day
our first and foremost goal is to meet basic needs food water shelter
blankets tarps shah said those are the types of things that we are focused
on meeting in sustainable and effective way
shah said the united states was now focusing how to deliver other emergency
commodities
figure skating reigning champs second in short programmes
london canada jan afp
five time defending champion joannie rochette settled for second place behind
cynthia phaneuf after the women short programme on friday at the canadian
figure skating championships
phaneuf skating just ahead of rochette in the final two routines of the last
group received scores of points from judges while rochette scored
to take second with amelie lacoste distant third at
another defending champion settling for runner up spot in the short programme
was the pairs duo of jessica dube and bryce davison
anabelle langlois and cody hay led after the pairs short programme with
points with dube and davison second on just ahead of meagan duhamel
and craig buntin
the short programme counts for one third of the total scores with saturday
free skate accounting for the rest
two skaters from each discipline at the meet will qualify for next month
vancouver winter olympics
the men short programme and the original dance were scheduled later friday
with top two after the pairs dance and women free skates saturday and the
men free skate sunday qualifying to skate in the olympics on home ice
shield urged for thousands of haitian immigrants in us
miami florida jan afp
rights advocates and lawmakers called on the white house friday to grant
special shield to thousands of haitians living in the united states illegally
after huge quake hit their homeland
temporary protected status or tps 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
supporters of such move argue that tps would also help haiti to rebuild as
immigrants send remittances to loved ones in the poorest country in the
americas devastated by magnitude earthquake on tuesday
today we are asking president barack obama not to think anymore give them
tps this cannot wait said marleine bastien founder of the haitian american
grassroots coalition in miami
she said undocumented haitians in the united states were suffering double
plight eligible for deportation some must watch the tragedy unfold from
detention centers or with electronic monitoring devices around their ankles
according to immigration and customs enforcement authorities are processing
deportation orders for haitians now in the united states
can you imagine the anguish of these people right now she said
the non profit migration policy institute however said illegal immigrants
from haiti live in the united states with further legally residing
here two thirds of them being adults of working age
rights advocates have long depicted the current immigration laws as uneven
while even proponents of strict curbs on immigration said tps was appropriate
for haiti now
some central americans enjoy the immigration shield while haitians do not
this is why tps exists said dustin carnevale spokesman for the washington
based federation for american immigration reform referring to the quake
aftermath the protection is meant as relief for immigrants from countries
reeling from natural disaster or political strife
if this isn case for tps then what is
carnevale said though that tps had been abused in the past with continued
extensions immigrants from honduras and nicaragua have enjoyed the shield since
hurricane mitch which occurred in
democratic congressman kendrick meek who represents miami district where many
haitians live reiterated his support for tps but said it was not the most
urgent issue
just to be clear the us government halted the deportation of non criminal
haitians living in the us nearly year ago and is not currently deporting
illegal haitian immigrants in the aftermath of this week earthquake
have always pushed for tps for haitians in the us but right now my concern
is for those whose lives hang in the balance
the temporary status is in the range of considerations said department of
homeland security spokesman matt chandler
haitian consul general in miami ralph latortue said thursday he was aware of us
federal government movement on the issue but was not aware of any decision
having been made
the migration policy institute also estimated that one in every haitians
lived in the united states more than percent of them in new york or florida
alert
sudan chad agree to create joint force on troubled border statement
figure skating canadian championships results
london canada jan afp
selected results here on friday in the canadian figure skating championships
qualifier for the vancouver winter olympics
women
short programme
cynthia phaneuf pts joannie rochette amelie lacoste
myriane samson adriana desanctis diane szmiett
pairs
short programme
anabelle langlois cody hay jessica dube bryce davison
meagan duhamel craig buntin mylene brodeur john mattatall
paige lawrence rudi swiegers kirsten moore towers dylan moscovitch
eu must change energy priorities spain
seville spain jan afp
the european union must change its budget priorities to finance common
objectives in the energy sector and diversify its sources of production and
supply the spanish eu presidency said friday
changes in the financial perspective will be needed if we are to achieve the
targets set for spanish industry minister miguel sebastian said after
chairing meeting of his eu counterparts in the southern spanish city of
seville
under its ambitious climate plan for the eu is committed to reducing
emissions of greenhouse gas emissions by percent compared to levels to
bringing to percent its share of renewable energy among consumers and to
achieving energy savings of percent
funding will also be necessary for interconnections in the energy sector to
improve the safety of supply and reduce cost said sebastian whose country took
over the six month rotating presidency of the eu on janaury
the market is not enough there needs little help from public authorities and
from the eu to carry out these projects he said after the meeting of the eu
informal energy council
the eu leaders must decide on plan of action in the energy sector for the
period and this could be done at summit in brussels in march he
said
low carbon technologies require significant funding for research and development
and the idea of changing the priorities within the eu budget is gaining weight
sebastian said
he said percent of expenditure currently goes on the common agricultural
policy
outoing eu energy commissioner andris piebalgs disagreed
it is premature to say it will cut into agricultural or other policies cutting
here and there is not the right approach it wrong
piebalgs is be replaced in his post by germany guenther oettinger and will
instead take over development an eu portfolio that is also seeking funds in the
common budget of the bloc
nfl broncos to face ers at wembley next october
new york jan afp
the denver broncos will meet san francisco in national football league game at
wembley stadium on october and the league might play another game in the
united kingdom the nfl announced friday
the broncos ers clash will mark the fourth year in row that regular season
american football game will be staged in london the first three having drawn
sell out crowds of more than spectators
we have seen the extraordinary passion that exists for nfl football in the uk
nfl commissioner roger goodell said
we want to continue to build on that passion by strengthening our ties to
existing uk fans and creating new ones
both denver and san francisco finished this season and failed to qualify for
the championship playoffs that continue this weekend
the ers five time nfl champions will be the home team for the halloween
clash
london is wonderful venue for two of the most storied franchises in nfl
history to square off we support the league initiative to bring nfl games
to the international stage ers president jed york said
the broncos two time super bowl champions played in london in in pre
season exhibition
to play regular season game overseas is truly special broncos president pat
bowlen said it wonderful historic opportunity for our franchise and
will be an unforgettable experience
an nfl statement said the league is continuing to explore the possibility of
playing second game in the uk in with manchester and glasgow as well as
wembley having been mentioned as possible sites for second game
haitians counted up to dead french minister
port au prince jan afp
haitian officials have counted to dead in the massive quake which
hit their caribbean nation french minister said friday
some to dead have been counted according to an official toll by
the haitian authorities french cooperation minister alain joyandet said
but no doubt it going to be difficult to have reliable toll he added
red cross officials have estimated that up to people may have died in
tuesday magnitude quake
rugbyu european challenge results
paris jan afp
collated european challenge results on friday
pool
castres fra rovigo ita
playing later
pool
connacht irl montpellier fra
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
ice hockey police investigate fleury sex abuse complaint
winnipeg canada jan afp
police are investigating sexual assault criminal complaint by former national
hockey league star theo fleury against his former junior hockey coach graham
james
fleury whose nhl comeback bid with calgary at age failed last year wrote in
his autobiography last year that he was repeatedly abused while playing youth
hockey in the
on his website the former calgary flames star said thursday that he would file
complaint against james
police say their probe will include working with authorities in the united
states and across canada
fleury whose career was dogged by drugs and alcohol played in the nhl from
through in he briefly played for tampere of finland when the nhl
missed nearly half season in labor dispute
he also played for the belfast giants of britain elite league in the
season
portugal pledges to cut its deficit
lisbon jan afp
the portuguese government facing threats to its credit rating on friday
pledged to reduce its public deficit starting this year
the government has shown clear signs of its intention to begin reducing the
budget deficit in the head of the country debt management agency
alberto soares wrote in an mail addressed to credit rating agencies and other
financial bodies
the rating agencies have expressed concern about the capacity of this
government which has minority position in parliament to take the necessary
steps to renew budget consolidation that was interrupted by the financial
crisis soares wrote
but he added that between and this same government which was re
elected in september managed to reduce the deficit from percent of gross
domestic product to percent
portugal public deficit is estimated to have exceeded percent of gross
domestic product in well above the percent limit european union limit
national debt now comes to percent of output according to the european
commission which sets the figure for eurozone members at percent
soares noted that the government wants to freeze public sector salaries and has
begun negotiations with the opposition to reach agreement on the budget
which is to be presented to parliament on january
the credit rating agency moody on wednesday warned that both the portuguese
and greek economies risked slow death because of their fiscal crises
the risk of sudden death balance of payments crisis is negligible but
the likelihood of slow death is high unless economic potential
competitiveness and tax raising capacity are improved the agency said
bing posts modest us search market gain in december
washington jan afp
microsoft new internet search engine bing posted modest gain in its share of
the us search market in december while partner yahoo saw its share dip
slightly online tracking firm comscore said
google remained the overwhelming leader of the lucrative us search and
advertising market last month increasing its share to percent from
percent in november according to comscore figures released friday
yahoo saw its share of the search market fall to percent in december from
percent the previous month comscore said while bing share rose to
percent from percent
ask com share fell to percent from percent while aol dropped to
percent from percent
december was the seventh month in row of modest gains in search share for
bing which microsoft unveiled in june accompanied by million dollar
advertising campaign in bid to challenge search juggernaut google
microsoft and google have been consistently upgrading online search service
features in what has thus far been lopsided duel favoring the mountain view
california based internet king over the software giant
the competitors have been focused on improving mobile search offerings and
incorporating real time content from popular online communities such as twitter
and facebook into search results
microsoft chief executive steve ballmer announced last week at the consumer
electronics show in las vegas that bing would be the default search engine on
hewlett packard computers in countries
yahoo and microsoft unveiled year web search and advertising partnership
in july that set the stage for joint offensive against google
under the agreement yahoo will use microsoft search engine on its own sites
while providing the exclusive global sales force for premium advertisers
yemen qaeda chiefs killed in air strike senior official
sanaa jan afp
an air strike against an al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap convoy in
north yemen on friday killed six suspected leaders of the group including its
military chief senior yemeni official said
qassem al rimi was among people who had made daring escape from state
security prison in sanaa in february that left the government red faced
and he was on list of suspects wanted by the authorities
six al qaeda leaders including the network military chief qassem al rimi
were killed on friday the official said on condition of anonymity
he added that the raid had targeted eight suspects
in addition to rimi ayedh al shabwani was also killed when warplane attacked
convoy of vehicles with air to ground missiles the official said without
identifying the other four dead
however security official later told afp that an al qaeda ideologist
identified as egyptian abu ayman al masri had been among those killed along
with abdullah hedi al tais
two suspects ammar al waili and saleh al tais fled the scene earlier they
were said to have been killed in the strike on three vehicle convoy in al
ajashir desert region in eastern saada province
tribal leader told afp by telephone he saw warplane target three
vehicles and that the first missile missed
second missile threw up large plume of dust he said adding that he then
saw one of the three vehicles flee the scene
the tribal leader said the convoy had been en route from maarib province to
saada province where aqap was reported to have camp at wadi al abu jabara
rimi was the principal architect of most of al qaeda operations in yemen
the senior official said adding that the man had slipped through dragnet
twice before in and at the end of
he and waili were on list of suspects wanted by the authorities and both
of them were accused of providing safe haven to al qaeda militants in saada and
maarib the official said
we will continue to track down al qaeda terrorists he said the government
will use every means at its disposal to eradicate terrorism
friday air raid came as britain said it would host an international meeting on
battling extremism in yemen on january in london rather than on the th as
originally planned
in friday sermon meanwhile powerful cleric sheikh abdulmajeed al zendani
said it would be religious duty dictated by god to defend yemen through
jihad or holy war if it is occupied by foreign power
on wednesday the chairman of the us senate armed services committee carl levin
urged washington to consider targeting al qaeda in yemen with drones air
strikes or covert operations but not invade the country
us president barack obama has said he has no intention of sending troops to
yemen aqap claimed responsibility for botched attack on us airliner on
christmas day
from the moment the enemy invites itself onto our territory and occupies us
our religion imposes the obligation of jihad on us said zendani whom the us
administration labels global terrorist
it is religious duty dictated by god he said echoing similar call made
thursday by yemen council of clerics of which he is member
this order of god cannot be annulled by anyone not king not president
not ulema muslim scholars zendani added
washington has accused aqap of training the man who allegedly carried out the
failed christmas day attack nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab
friday operation was the latest in series of blows since december when the
government launched its latest campaign against al qaeda
on tuesday security forces killed abdullah mehdar said to be the group
kingpin in shabwa province east of the capital
provincial governor ali hassan al ahmadi said dozens of fighters including
saudis and egyptians who had fled afghanistan were hiding in shabwa
among them he said were current aqap chief nasser al wahaishi his saudi
number two saeed ali al shehri and radical us yemeni cleric anwar al awlaqi
week ago officials announced the capture of key leader mohammed al hanq and
two other militants believed behind threats against western interests in sanaa
that caused embassies to close for several days
urgent haitians counted up to dead french minister
port au prince jan afp
haiti officials have counted to dead in the massive quake which hit
their caribbean nation french minister said friday
guinea rivals sign deal to end crisis
ouagadougou jan afp
guinea political rivals on friday agreed to set up an interim government and
hold elections in six months in deal to end political crisis exacerbated by
the ruling junta brutal crackdown on opponents
the pact said ailing junta chief captain moussa dadis camara should effectively
remain in exile following december assassination attempt that led to him
being hospitalised in morocco camara is now in burkina faso
