according to rescue officials this is the largest number of rescues in
single day in decades of earthquake search and rescue efforts it said
the ten were brought out of the rubble alive by three us teams from los angeles
and miami florida the agency said fourth us team from fairfax virginia was
also working in port au prince
aid said the us teams have rescued total of people in the six days since
the quake devastated the haitian capital
the united nations said that as of saturday more than people had been pulled
out alive from the debris of collapsed buildings by international search and
rescue teams around dozen more from the day before
some international teams comprising rescue workers and dogs have
already scoured percent of the worst affected areas hit by the earthquake
afghan capital shut down as taliban lay siege to city centre
kabul jan afp
the acrid stench of cordite hung in the clear blue winter sky after blinding
flash announced the latest eruption of taliban violence in kabul driving
residents and shoppers scurrying for safety
sirens sounded through the deserted streets as ambulances and fire engines sped
towards the main fighting in pashtunistan square where taliban militants laid
siege to major buildings in the heart of the capital
massive explosion shook the city as television pictures showed one of kabul
few shopping malls burning and billowing black smoke
saw police and soldiers running all over the place they seemed like they
were trying to stop car said afp driver aktar mohammad who was just
metres away from roundabout near the foreign ministry when suicide car
bomber apparently detonated his vehicle
at that time saw huge light flash right in front of me then big
explosion and thick smoke billowing up he said adding just shifted into
reverse and drove out of there
police rushed through the crowds of panicked pedestrians fleeing the scene guns
drawn other witnesses said
police officer told an afp photographer that the suicide bomber had used an
ambulance
less than kilometre half mile away outside the qari sami shopping centre
formerly one of the biggest fashion outlets in kabul security forces took cover
behind military vehicles
they trained their automatic weapons on the building where taliban militants
were believed to have taken up positions
international military said they were helping afghan army and police to secure
the area bringing in humvees and other armoured vehicles
in all five people including child were killed said interior minister
mohammad hanif atmar adding seven militants also died either blowing
themselves up or shot by security forces
the taliban said it had sent suicide bombers into the heart of the capital
its targets including the presidential palace and the central bank
man calling himself zabihullah mujahid and claiming to be spokesman for the
militant taliban organisation added that one militant had detonated suicide
vest at the entrance to the presidential palace complex
it is our work the targets are the presidential palace the finance justice
and mines ministries and the central bank the purported taliban spokesman
told afp by telephone from an undisclosed location
hejratullah who runs men clothing shop in the five storey froshgah buzurg
afghan market near the serena hotel said man he believed to be one of the
militants entered his store before the standoff and told people to leave
we were having our tea when he came in and started looking at the suits
hejratullah said
told him to try something on but he got angry left my shop and pulled out
pistol and told people to leave the building then we heard shooting in the
corridors and everyone escaped he said
as calm returned to the city the grisly remains of the attackers and their
victims were pulled from the charred and smoking building said an afp reporter
who saw bag containing the body of young man being carried out
about metres away in the bamyan hotel three attackers were killed after
gunbattle with security forces outside that lasted more than two hours
when the smoke cleared three of the attackers were dead inside the hotel
police on the scene said
chile president elect meets outgoing bachelet
santiago jan afp
sebastian pinera the winner of weekend presidential runoff election in chile
on monday breakfasted with outgoing president michelle bachelet in tradition
meant to show the smoothness of political transition
the minute meeting in pinera mansion in the chilean capital santiago was
designed to show there was no bad blood between them after tightly fought
campaign that pitted pinera conservative against bachelet leftwing
candidate eduardo frei
pinera won the runoff sunday picking up percent of ballots to frei
percent
bachelet herself was constitutionally barred from seeking re election
she is to hand over power to pinera on march
during the run up to sunday poll bachelet had thrown the full weight of her
reputation and popularity behind frei managing to narrow the gap with pinera
though not by enough to guarantee victory
she also raised conflict of interest questions about pinera many investments
which include television station and percent stake in chile flagship
airline lan
pinera who lost his first presidential bid to bachelet four years ago had
complained that her interference was not fair
he has promised to open the window and let in fresh air after breaking the
year hold on power enjoyed by bachelet leftwing concertacion coalition
ever since the end of the military dictatorship of general augusto pinochet
pinera whose fortune is estimated at billion dollars has promised to
divest his lan holding before taking office and has already set up blind trust
to manage most of his wealth at distance
late sunday he told supporters that he would break down the walls
dividing us and build new bridges to bring us together
he was expected however to maintain social welfare program established by
bachelet which has wide approval in the population and which is partly credited
with helping the prosperous nation cushion the blow of last year global
downturn
violence and looting on the rise in haiti red cross
geneva jan afp
violence and looting are on the rise in haiti capital as aid only trickles
through to victims six days after the country was shattered by huge
earthquake the international committee of the red cross said monday
prices for food and transport have skyrocketed since last tuesday and incidents
of violence and looting are on the rise as the desperation grows the icrc said
in statement
many residents of port au prince felt they were in catastrophic situation
it added
access to shelter sanitation water food and medical care remains extremely
limited said riccardo conti the icrc head of delegation in haiti
un and red cross agencies said earlier that the relief effort was finally
gaining pace on monday as field hospitals and food distribution started to fall
into place and the stuttering international aid effort expanded
even if the presence of aid agencies is starting to be felt in hospitals and
clinics many medical facilities in port au prince still lack staff and
medicine said conti
given the scale of the needs the task facing humanitarian organizations is
daunting he added
the icrc said that nearly week after the magnitude quake struck the
health and sanitation situation was growing increasingly precarious in makeshift
camps
with vast numbers of people sleeping in the streets the availability of toilets
and fresh water was extremely limited while all over port au prince the stench
of urine is overpowering
we must rapidly address these water and sanitation issues if we want to
minimize the risk of an outbreak of disease said conti this is really
paramount
icrc water trucks were supplying about people in three makeshift camps
while latrines for around people were built in the eastern delmas
neighbourhood
elisabeth byrs spokeswoman for the un organisation for the coordination of
humanitarian affairs admitted the population was on edge but said looting was
within proportions expected in such disaster with half the police force out
of action
the situation is still tense but calm she told afp
we are accelerating the pace we are fanning out on the ground but the needs
are enormous enormous
byrs also appealed to haitians in the southern quake zone to free the roads to
allow aid through
relief workers she added were sleeping in the open or in cars
football santa cruz set for month out injured
manchester england jan afp
manchester city striker roque santa cruz is set to be out of action for month
after his latest comeback lasted just four minutes
the paraguayan return from calf injury during saturday defeat by
everton city first loss under manager roberto mancini was short lived
affair as he suffered recurrence of the same problem that caused him to miss
three matches over the christmas period
santa cruz signed for million pounds in pre season by former city boss mark
hughes from the welshman old club blackburn rovers is not expected to need
surgery
but if city initial assessment is correct santa cruz will miss both legs of
the league cup semi final with manchester united sunday fa cup fourth round
tie at scunthorpe and the blues next three premier league matches
with emmanuel adebayor on indefinite compassionate leave following the gun
attack on the togo team bus at the african nations cup in angola mancini could
recall benjani mwaruwari up front for the first leg against united at eastlands
on tuesday
meanwhile mancini is set to go into the latest manchester derby without new
signing patrick vieira
the france midfielder and former arsenal captain has been unavailable since
joining from inter milan after suffering calf injury in his final match for
the italian giants
it is better for us and for him that he can go and be ready in week or
days mancini said
it is better that we do not take risks in this situation would like it that
when patrick does come back he can play until the end of the season the
italian added
ukraine election of high quality osce
kiev jan afp
ukraine elections were of high quality and met democratic commitments in
major turnaround from the last presidential polls the trans atlantic security
body osce and other observers said on monday
the first round of ukraine presidential election was of high quality and
showed significant progress over previous elections meeting most osce and
council of europe commitments the groups said in joint statement
the glowing praise from the organization for security and cooperation in europe
contrasted with ukraine last presidential polls in which were re run
after the courts found mass vote rigging and tens of thousands took to the
streets in the orange revolution protests
sunday polls were won by veteran politician viktor yanukovich ending the rule
of president viktor yushchenko but he failed to secure majority and will
require run off against prime minister yulia tymoshenko
despite squabbles over regional violations none of the main candidates has
questioned the veracity of the results
the groups praised respect for civil rights and genuine choice between
candidates with different political views adding that ukraine diverse media
scene offered variety of information about the candidates
however they criticised the legal framework under which the election was held
calling it unclear and incomplete this undermines public confidence said
assen agov head of the delegation of the nato parliamentary assembly
also electronic media reporting was often influenced by candidates paying for
news coverage the observers said
nevertheless the warmth of the praise contrasted with the often frosty
complaints by osce observers of democratic shortcomings in elections in former
soviet states
the osce even cancelled its observer missions to russia presidential
election because of restrictions imposed by moscow
as well as the osce office for democratic institutions and human rights the
assessment was made by observers from the european parliament the council of
europe parliamentary assembly the nato parliamentary assembly and the osce
parliamentary assembly
despite the progress ukrainian analysts have expressed concern the results of
the second round of voting on february could still end up being challenged in
the courts by the losing candidate
three dead missing in ukraine hospital blast officials
lugansk ukraine jan afp
at least three people were killed and others were missing on monday after
oxygen canisters exploded in ukrainian hospital and caused several floors to
collapse officials said
the accident left gaping hole in the wall of the hospital in the eastern city
of lugansk kilometres miles east of kiev near the country border
with russia
as result of violation of security rules in the intensive care unit of
hospital number seven of lugansk oxygen canisters exploded the office of
prime minister yulia tymoshenko said in statement
several floors of the hospital collapsed the statement said adding that
tymoshenko who is in the midst of heated presidential election battle was
heading to the scene
three people were saved and three bodies were pulled from the rubble the
emergency situations ministry said in statement
earlier the ministry had said that five bodies were recovered it gave no
explanation for the discrepancy
the ministry said that patients and medical personnel were in the
hospital at the time of the explosion and that people from undamaged parts of
the building had been evacuated
the fate of people remains unknown olexander efremov member of the
ukrainian parliament told reporters at the scene of the accident after
attending an emergency meeting on the rescue efforts
one can hear voices under the rubble so the search is continuing yefremov
said adding that the survivors could be trapped in room on the hospital
first floor
six search dogs had been brought to the hospital but were waiting for the site
to be partly cleared before they could start working an afp journalist
witnessed
local internet newspaper vostochny variant said the third and fourth floors of
the building had collapsed onto the second
lax adherence to safety rules makes such disasters relatively frequent in
ukraine and the former soviet union
in december people were killed after an oxygen canister explosion
partially destroyed an apartment block in the ukrainian black sea town of
yevpatoria
tiger airways raises million dollars in ipo
singapore jan afp
budget airline tiger airways said monday it had raised million singapore
dollars million us in its initial public offering to help fund its
ambitious plans in the growing asian market
the ipo the first by an asian carrier in five years was priced at dollars
per share and means the singapore based carrier will have market
capitalisation of million dollars tiger airways said in statement
the funds raised will go towards mainly aiding tiger airways plans to expand
into the region where air travel demand is tipped by industry analysts to
continue growing at rapid pace
going forward we aim to continue growing our airlines in singapore and
australia as well as establishing new airlines in additional markets in asia
chief executive tony davis said in the statement
tiger airways is well positioned to leverage the opportunities for growth in
air travel in asia and australasia the fastest growing aviation market in the
world he said
shares of tiger airways are to begin trading friday on the singapore exchange
tiger airways which is percent owned by singapore airlines is competing
with jetstar asia and malaysia airasia among others
it said in statement last week it would set aside million dollars of the
proceeds from the ipo to pay for the planned purchase of new jets
the carrier wants to expand its current fleet of airbus to by
december as it plans to fly to more destinations within the region and in
australia
it is also looking to establish new operating bases and airlines when the
opportunities arise as well as repay short term loans
tiger said the region was poised to be the biggest travel market by and was
aiming to expand its route network to take advantage of growing demand for air
travel
tiger which began its first commercial flights in september flies from
singapore to destinations across asia including popular holiday spots such as
penang in malaysia and bangkok and phuket in thailand
it has also expanded into australia where it offers domestic flights between key
cities and towns across the continent
in its prospectus tiger said it made net loss of million dollars and
revenues of million dollars in the financial year ended march compared
to profit of million dollars on income of million dollars in the
previous year
in the six months to september losses totalled million dollars which
was smaller than the million dollars recorded in the same period the year
before
violence and looting on the rise in haiti red cross
geneva jan afp
violence and looting are on the rise in haiti capital as aid only trickles
through to victims six days after the country was shattered by huge
earthquake the international committee of the red cross said monday
prices for food and transport have skyrocketed since last tuesday and incidents
of violence and looting are on the rise as the desperation grows the icrc said
in statement
many residents of port au prince felt they were in catastrophic situation
it added
access to shelter sanitation water food and medical care remains extremely
limited said riccardo conti the icrc head of delegation in haiti
blair due at iraq war inquiry next week official
london jan afp
former prime minister tony blair will give long awaited testimony to britain
iraq war inquiry at the end of next week on january officials said monday
blair who controversially backed the us led invasion of iraq alongside
president george bush will face full day of questioning at the chilcot
inquiry according to an updated schedule on the probe website
the former premier has long been expected to be the star witness at the inquiry
which was launched in november after the withdrawal of virtually all of
britain forces six years after the invasion
last month blair admitted in television interview that he would have backed
the war even if he knew iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction wmd
triggering fresh criticism
blair who quit as premier in and is now the middle east quartet envoy
told the bbc it would still have been right to remove iraqi leader saddam
hussein because of the threat he posed to the region
interest in blair appearance at the inquiry is intense public ballot was
held monday for public seats at the hearings and the lucky few will be allowed
into either the morning or afternoon sessions but not both
blair stood shoulder to shoulder with bush over the invasion but faced
major backlash in britain over the decision
he resigned as prime minister two and half years ago despite having led his
labour party to three successive election wins handing the role to his finance
minister gordon brown
an internet campaign has been launched for blair to face tough questions about
why he took britain into the unpopular war amid criticisms the inquiry panel
has been too easy on some witnesses
but inquiry chairman john chilcot has insisted that the probe was not here to
provide public sport or entertainment but to get to the facts
also due to appear at the inquiry next week is peter goldsmith the former
british attorney general who advised blair on the legality of the war
two key ministers from the time of the iraq war are due to appear this week
then defence minister geoff hoon on tuesday and then foreign secretary jack
straw on thursday
blair chief of staff at the time jonathan powell was due to give evidence
later monday
his former chief spin doctor alastair campbell appeared before the inquiry last
week and fiercely denied sexing up dossier which claimed iraq could launch
chemical or biological weapons within minutes
in defiant appearance campbell said that while the controversial document
could have been clearer he still defended every single word of it and
the invasion itself
current prime minister gordon brown who campbell said was one of the key
ministers blair consulted in the run up to war will appear after this year
general election expected in may
brown who was blair finance minister at the time insisted last week that he
has nothing to hide over the iraq war
olympics japan pm calls for record medal haul
tokyo jan afp
prime minister yukio hatoyama monday called on japan winter olympians to go
for record medal haul at the vancouver games putting behind them the
disastrous performance at turin four years ago
japan winter olympic medal haul peaked at including five golds at the
games at home in nagano but slipped to two silver and bronze in salt
lake city in
at the turin games shizuka arakawa took home the sole medal the women
figure skating gold
everyone in japan is hoping for great results which will exceed what we
achieved at the nagano olympics hatoyama said at ceremony in tokyo to send
off the japanese delegation for next month games
wish you will not be overwhelmed by those expectations but will put out great
performances to make the vancouver olympics something that will be celebrated by
everyone in japan hatoyama said
japan are pinning their medal hopes on former world women figure skating
champions mao asada and miki ando as well as former world men
figure skating silver medallist daisuke takahashi
world women double freestyle moguls champion aiko uemura is also expected to
make the podium japan won the world nordic combined team title last year for
the first time in years
hatoyama who became prime minister last september was invited to the ceremony
by lawmaker seiko hashmoto who will head the japanese delegation
hashimoto former olympian who grabbed the metre speed skating bronze
medal at the albertville games said she wanted number of medals
our athletes are all aiming for their peak performances and it is matter of
course that they are wishing to do better than in nagano she said it may be
difficult to get medals under present circumstances but we want to boost our
morale by setting our target close to that figure
belgian ratzinger named to head country catholics
brussels jan afp
the vatican on monday named bishop seen as conservative as the new primate of
belgium roman catholic church signalling change from his more liberal
predecessor
the pope has named andre mutien leonard until now bishop of namur archbishop
of malines brussels the vatican said in statement
he replaces cardinal godfried danneels who has been criticised for doing too
little to promote the church views on issues such as abortion the year old
was forced to resign because of age limits
leonard has been called the belgian ratzinger in reference to joseph
ratzinger now pope benedict xvi due to his traditionalist approach
his views on homosexuality and other issues have come under fire in the past
danneels however dismissed suggestions that the appointment amounted to more
conservative shift for the belgian church
we have the same love for the church our dna is different he told reporters
just because the menu is being served by another person does not mean that the
menu has changed
leonard said on monday that his positions were more nuanced than the
conservative or homophobe labels attributed to him
the cliches will tumble he said
google pledges cooperation with german competition probe
frankfurt jan afp
the us internet search giant google said on monday that it would cooperate with
german competition probe after rivals and press associations filed complaints
the competition authority has informed us of complaints from google rivals
and we are naturally ready to explain our commercial policies and products and
are sure they respect german and european legislation google spokesman told
afp
the german competition watchdog confirmed it had asked google for information
but that the request did not imply any kind of infraction
the us group faces three reclamations from the microsoft subsidiary ciao the
map making group euro cities and the media publishing federations vdz and bdzv
spokesman for the watchdog said
the media federations complain that google news google images and google video
have used their content without authorisation earning advertising revenues as
result
google has already been attacked in connection with its ambitious project to
place vast amount of the world knowledge online while google street view
has been accused of violating privacy laws
seven militants among dead in kabul attacks minister
kabul jan afp
seven militants were among the dead monday after violent attack on the centre
of kabul claimed by the taliban the interior minister said
five other people also died including child mohammad hanif atmar told
reporters
he said total of people were injured including civilians but added
that the vast majority are only slightly wounded and have been released from
hospital
total of seven terrorists were killed in today attack he said
they were killed either by detonating themselves or they were shot by security
forces
pope failed assassin released after three decades behind bars
ankara jan afp
the turk who attempted to kill pope john paul ii in mehmet ali agca was
freed from prison monday after almost three decades behind bars keeping his
motive shrouded in mystery
the greying year old raised his fist as he drove away in car from high
security prison near ankara afp correspondents said
closely pursued by swarm of reporters agca draft dodger was
immediately taken to military hospital for psychiatric check up which
declared him unfit for army service his lawyer yilmaz abosoglu told afp
the procedure was required under turkish law which obliges all men over to
military service
agca then went to five star hotel in central ankara where he was expected to
briefly stay
dressed in dark blue suit and wearing tie his arrival sparked media
stampede and struggling with cameramen his lawyers led him into an elevator
agca was year old militant of the notorious far right grey wolves on the
run from turkish justice facing murder charges when he resurfaced in saint
peter square on may and fired on the pope driving by in an open
vehicle
john paul ii was seriously wounded in the abdomen and agca spent the next
years in italian prisons
the motive behind the attack remains mystery
true to style agca who claims to be second messiah and is widely believed
to be mentally unstable released through his lawyers statement to
proclaim the apocalypse
all the world will be destroyed in this century every human being will die in
this century he wrote
the gospel is full of mistakes will write the perfect gospel he added
signing the paper as the christ eternal mehmet ali agca
memorable picture of the gunman shaking hands with john paul ii was attached
to the statement
the late polish pontiff had visited agca in his italian jail in and forgave
him for the assassination attempt
in his book memory and identity john paul ii said he was convinced that the
plot was planned and commissioned and that agca was mere puppet
agca has claimed the attack was part of divine plan frequently changing his
story and forcing investigators to open dozens of inquiries
charges that the soviet union and then communist bulgaria were behind the
assassination attempt were never proved
in agca was already declared unfit for military service due to advanced
anti social personality disorder when he underwent check up during short
lived release
but his lawyers said he was asked to undergo another examination because the
initial report had not been approved by the military authorities
agca was released in january but re arrested after eight days when court
ruled that reductions to his jail term under amnesty laws and penal code
amendments had been miscalculated
extradited to turkey in after italy pardoned him agca was convicted of the
murder of prominent journalist abdi ipekci two armed robberies and escaping
from prison crimes all dating back to the
in rambling letters from prison he has fed suggestions he is mentally
disturbed asking also to team up with best selling da vinci code author dan
brown for novel called the vatican code and volunteering to go to
afghanistan to kill al qaeda leader osama bin laden
others however believe he is sly operator playing the fool
more than foreign publishers and movie makers have offered to buy agca
story in the hope he may finally shed light on his attempt on the pope lawyers
said
agca also wants to go to the vatican to visit the tomb of john paul ii who died
in and meet his successor pope benedict xvi they said
football injuries take shine off arsenal title bid
london jan afp
arsenal bid to win the english premier league title threatens to be derailed
by lengthening injury list with manager arsene wenger currently without nine
first team players
striker robin van persie ankle and johan djourou knee seem set to miss the
rest of the season but there are growing number of players at the emirates who
have shorter term injury problems
the latest feature midfielders aaron ramsey thigh and samir nasri hamstring
who were both injured in training before sunday victory away to bolton
win that moved the gunners to within three points of leaders and london rivals
chelsea
both ramsey and nasri are set to be out for three weeks each and will be among
