vincent
more international relief experts were flying to haiti on wednesday to boost
local aid coordinate the relief effort and carry out crucial assessment of
the damage in haiti that will allow them to gauge aid needs
snooker higgins crashes out of masters
london jan afp
world champion john higgins crashed out of the masters here on wednesday
the scot was beaten by northern ireland mark allen in their second round
tie
football cska sofia sacks penev
sofia jan afp
cska sofia sacked lyuboslav penev as their coach the team announced on its
website on wednesday
lyuboslav penev will no longer coach cska sofia after joint session of cska
supervisory and management boards jointly decided to accept his resignation and
release him and his whole coaching team from their jobs the team announced
penev who took over as cska coach in march has had series of squabbles
with management over his players poor discipline and performance in recent
months
the year old capped over times and an integral member of the atletico
madrid side that did the domestic double in the season offered to
resign in november but subsequently decided to stay
last month court banned him from accompanying the team to london for europa
league match against fulham over defaulted credit
penev who missed out on bulgaria run to the world cup semi finals
because he was suffering from testicular cancer was eventually allowed to put
in last minute appearance after all but the incident soured things for him at
the club
the team did not immediately announce successor but reports in the press
suggested that serbian coach miodrag jesic who coached cska sofia between
to will return
urgent haiti quake death toll may top pm
washington jan afp
the death toll in the haiti quake could top prime minister jean max
bellerive told cnn wednesday
mauritania becomes th nation to recognise kosovo
pristina jan afp
mauritania has become the th state to recognise the independence of kosovo and
will establish diplomatic relations with pristina the foreign ministry said in
statement wednesday
the islamic republic of mauritania recognised kosovo as sovereign and
independent state and took decision to establish diplomatic relations at
ambassador level the ministry said
kosovo declared independence in february becoming the world youngest
country but serbia opposes it and is challenging the move before an un court
belgrade still regards kosovo as breakaway serb province
among the nations that have recognised kosovo independence are the united
states and all but five european union members
cricket jayawardene sangakkara take sri lanka to series win
dhaka jan afp
mahela jayawardene and kumar sangakkara hit impressive half centuries to guide
sri lanka to four wicket win over india in the triangular one day series final
here on wednesday
jayawardene top scored with an unbeaten and skipper sangakkara made brisk
as sri lanka passed india with nine balls to spare in the day night
match
the duo also upstaged india suresh raina who cracked gutsy under
pressure to prop up the innings
always say we have got match winners in the side and when it mattered today
every one of them fired it was great start and all credit to the bowlers
said sangakkara who was named man of the series
india were bowler short when paceman ashish nehra left the field with an
injury soon after having opener upul tharanga caught by virat kohli at second
slip with his third delivery
opener tillakaratne dilshan and sangakkara dominated the indian attack with
aggressive shots adding for the second wicket
india spinners brought their side back into the game removing well set
dilshan sangakkara thilan samaraweera and thilina kandamby to reduce
sri lanka to
off spinner harbhajan singh impressed the most with while left arm
spinners ravindra jadeja and yuvraj singh bagged one wicket apiece
but jayawardene kept his cool to steer to his side home ending the match with
three successive fours off paceman shanthakumaran sreesanth
india were earlier wobbling at following incisive opening spells from
pacemen nuwan kulasekara and chanaka welegedara but raina came to his team
rescue with his third one day hundred
man of the match kulasekara finished with and left arm seamer welegedara
grabbed
am very happy because this is my first man of the match award outside my
country they had good batting line up and we needed wickets early enjoyed
virender sehwag wicket the most said kulasekara
raina steadied the innings with run stand for the sixth wicket with jadeja
he fell soon after completing his century bowled by welegedara after
cracking one six and fours in his ball knock
india were undone by combination of poor shot selection and sri lanka
disciplined pace bowling losing wickets at regular intervals
don think the shot selection was great thanks to raina and jadeja we made
it contest think if we had not lost nehra we would have made better fight
of it said india captain mahendra singh dhoni
sehwag who struck kept playing shots despite the fall of wickets from the
other end his flourish did not last long though as he became kulasekara third
victim
he was caught behind after hitting seven fours in his ball cameo he became
the sixth indian to complete one day runs after sachin tendulkar sourav
ganguly rahul dravid mohammad azharuddin and yuvraj
the indian batting woes began with the match third delivery when gautam
gambhir was bowled by kulasekara
welegedara had in form kohli caught behind for two and then yuvraj was caught at
first slip by samaraweera in successive overs to send india reeling at in
four overs
nigerian court rules vp can act for ailing president
abuja jan afp
nigerian high court ruled wednesday that vice president goodluck jonathan can
take executive powers in the absence of ailing president umaru yar adua in
hospital in saudi arabia since november
judge dan abutu the chief judge of the federal high court in abuja gave the
ruling in case filed on monday by lawyer christopher onwuekwe seeking the
court interpretation of the constitution
by virtue of section of the constitution the vice president can perform
the executive functions of the president pending the time he returns abutu
said
yar adua absence since november has caused furore in africa second
biggest oil exporter with the opposition alleging that government business has
been stalled and that the nation democracy is facing its most serious threat
in the years since the end of military rule
the court in abuja is to hear three separate legal challenges to yar adua on
thursday amid calls for him to stand down on grounds of frail health
constitutional lawyer femi falana who has lodged one of the court challenges
dismissed wednesday ruling as meaningless
jonathan cannot act for yar adua because no functions have been formally and
directly delegated to him by yar adua to enable him act he said
falana cited another section of the constitution which demands the president
states in writing his absence or incapacitation to both houses of parliament
when he does that and other processes as stipulated in the constitution have
been carried out then jonathan can act as president said falana
the year old president is being treated for heart condition in jeddah
he broke day silence on tuesday telling the bbc in telephone interview
that he was getting better and intended to return to work
alert
haitian pm tells cnn death toll could be well over
austrian athletes face jail under new doping law
vienna jan afp
new austrian law under which athletes who are found guilty of doping can be
jailed for up to years on charges of fraud comes into force in january
the amendment to the country criminal and penal law was passed in mid december
to strengthen anti doping sanctions after string of scandals involving
austrian cyclists and biathletes
under the new law anyone found guilty of doping whether by taking banned
substances or using other methods could now face between one and three years
in prison for fraud and up to years if the damage exceeds euros
dollars
as with serious fraud however prosecutors will have to prove personal gain
deliberate deception and financial damage to others starting as low as
euros dollars
whoever turns to doping commits fraud sports minister norbert darabos said
when he presented the amendment in november
the athlete does not only give himself an unfair advantage in sports
competitions but also by securing bonuses prize money and sponsors
doping should no longer have place in austrian sports he added referring
to the doping scandal involving austria biathlon and cross country squads at
the winter olympics and the case of cyclist bernhard kohl who was banned
after finishing third in the tour de france
doping is not trivial offence justice minister claudia bandion ortner also
said
we have to protect honest athletes against those who use dishonest methods
she added
under separate amendment that also comes into force on friday athletes
suspended for doping will be banned for life from receiving any state aid and
federal money received beforehand will have to be paid back
the amendment also gives customs officers broader powers to seize doping
material at the border and foresees sanctions for doctors or medical staff who
assist an athlete with doping
with these new rules austria now has the most severe doping law in the world
where it once had one of the mildest
last year the government introduced an amendment making the possession and
trafficking of doping substances until then considered minor offence
punishable by five years in prison
politicians insist they do not want to criminalise sports however athletes
found guilty of fraud could initially be given suspended sentences darabos and
bandion ortner added
the fear factor alone will already have some effect noted roland gusenbauer
head of the austrian athletics organisation
in recent years austria has made headlines for its doping scandals
last year several arrests were made including that of kohl former manager
stefan matschiner suspected of being at the centre of major doping network
denmark sends emergency aid to haiti
copenhagen jan afp
denmark will provide million danish kroner million euros million
dollars worth of emergency aid to haiti international cooperation minister
ulla toernaes announced wednesday
it is essential to provide immediate aid in order to save human lives
toernaes said in statement adding the aid money would be channelled through
the un emergency aid office in haiti to quickly help those who need it the
most
denmark is considering raising its aid level to haiti according to need and
in coordination with other donors the minister told tv news
britain voices serious concerns on rights in china
london jan afp
britain on wednesday voiced serious concerns about human rights in china over
the sentencing of leading dissidents two weeks after beijing execution of
mentally ill briton chilled relations
foreign office statement referred to dhondup wangchen tibetan filmmaker
jailed for six years for subversion according to his family and leading chinese
dissident liu xiaobo who was sentenced to years on the same charge
the verdict on wangchen like that of prominent human rights defender liu
xiaobo raises serious concerns about the right to freedom of expression in
china said foreign office minister ivan lewis in the statement
urge the chinese government to meet its international human rights
obligations and respect constitutional guarantees on freedom of expression
international fair trial standards were not met in these cases he said
lewis also voiced concerns over the case of phurbu tsering rinpoche tibetan
buddhist lama jailed last month for more than eight years for illegal possession
of ammunition and embezzlement
in december britain called in china ambassador to london to vent its fury at
the unacceptable execution of akmal shaikh for drugs smuggling
shaikh family said he suffered from bipolar disorder but china voiced its
dissatisfaction about british representations in the case and called on the
british not to create new obstacles for china britain relations
the affair strained relations between the two countries which have close trade
and economic ties
britain also risked chinese ire in september by sending lewis to tibet where he
underlined london support for greater tibetan autonomy
and at last month copenhagen climate summit climate change secretary ed
miliband said china had led group of countries that hijacked the
negotiations
rallying dakar rally results
san juan argentina jan afp
results from dakar rally following wednesday th stage the kilometres
special from santiago to here
motorcycles
stage
frans verhoeven ned bmw hr min sec jonah street usa ktm at sec
alain duclos fra ktm min sec pal ullevalseter nor ktm
francisco lopez chi aprilia david fretigne fra yamaha
cyril despres fra ktm juan pedrero garcia esp ktm marc
coma esp ktm jakub przygonski pol ktm
overall
cyril despres fra ktm hr min sec pal ullevalseter nor ktm at hr
min sec francisco lopez chi aprilia hr helder rodrigues
por yamaha hr alain duclos fra ktm hr david fretigne
fra yamaha hr jonah street usa ktm hr olivier pain
fra yamaha hr jakub przygonski pol ktm hr juan
pedrero garcia esp ktm hr
selected
marc coma esp ktm hr
boxing ex world champion taylor pulls out of super six
berlin jan afp
former super middleweight champion jermain taylor pulled out of the super six
tournament on wednesday as the american fighter admitted he needs to breathe new
life into his flagging career
taylor won his first professional fights but has lost four of his past five
three by knockout including th round ko by german arthur abraham in october
that left taylor hospitalized with concussion in his opening super six bout
taking short break in my boxing career am pulling out of this
tournament it important that make the most of this break said the year
veteran
the super six will now be reduced to five boxers abraham britain carl
froch america andre dirrell and andre ward and denmark mikkel kessler
the most deadly earthquakes worldwide in the past century
paris jan afp
huge earthquake in haiti left tens of thousands of casualties the nation
envoy to the organization of american states told afp wednesday
the following is non exhaustive list of earthquakes causing the largest
numbers of casualties worldwide in the last century with estimates of surface
magnitude the richter scale of magnitude did not come into being until
may
sichuan province china dead or missing magnitude
october
indian and pakistani kashmir at least killed magnitude
december
asia an undersea earthquake unleashes tsunami that kills more than
people in around countries around the indian ocean magnitude
december
bam iran at least people die magnitude
january
gujarat western india dead magnitude
august
northwestern turkey at least dead magnitude
june
northwestern iran killed magnitude
december
spitak soviet armenia dead magnitude
september
mexico city mexico at least killed magnitude
september
tabass iran killed magnitude
july
tangshan city in hebei province china dead magnitude
february
guatemala dead magnitude
may
sichuan china estimates of between and dead magnitude
december
managua nicaragua about killed magnitude
may
mount huascaran peru earthquake and subsequent avalanche killed
magnitude
january
yunnan china officially dead magnitude
august
northeast iran dead magnitude
september
qazvin iran dead magnitude
february
agadir morocco people killed magnitude
january
chillan chile at least killed magnitude
december
erzincan turkey killed magnitude
may
quetta india now pakistan more than killed magnitude
january
bihar india at least killed other reports put the toll far higher
magnitude
december
gansu province china around may have died magnitude
may
nanshan province china up to people may have been killed magnitude
september
yokohama japan more than people died in earthquake and subsequent
fire magnitude
december
northwestern china more than reported killed magnitude
january
avezzano italy nearly reported killed magnitude
world scrambles to help quake hit haiti
washington jan afp
planeloads of rescuers and relief supplies headed to haiti wednesday as
governments and aid agencies launched massive relief operation after
powerful earthquake that may have killed thousands
president barack obama ordered swift and aggressive us rescue effort while
the european union activated its crisis systems and the red cross and united
nations unlocked emergency funds and supplies for the destitute nation
much of the capital port au prince was reduced to rubble by the strong quake
but the airport was operational opening the way for international relief aid to
be ferried in by air as well as by sea
us search and rescue teams would arrive within hours said obama in televised
address
have directed my administration to respond with swift coordinated and
aggressive effort to save lives he said search and rescue teams from
florida virginia and california will arrive throughout today and tomorrow
state department spokesman said several ships also were heading toward haiti
and coast guard helicopter was due to evacuate the injured
the priority is to find survivors elisabeth byrs spokeswoman for the un
office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs said in geneva
we are working against the clock she told journalists as the united nations
mobilized some search and rescue teams from global network
pope benedict xvi meanwhile urged generous response to the tragic situation
appeal to the generosity of all to ensure our concrete solidarity and the
effective support of the international community for these brothers and sisters
who are living time of need and suffering he said
the international federation of red cross and red crescent societies said it was
gearing up to help maximum of three million people based on the numbers who
live in the affected area
it was drawing on emergency stocks in haiti which is often hit by severe floods
and hurricanes allowing help for families for three to four days
but we ll have to swiftly bring relief supplies from our regional disaster
response centre based in panama red cross spokesman jean luc martinage said
the un world food programme said it could respond swiftly with some
tonnes of food supplies in haiti we have already launched an emergency
operation said wfp official charles vincent
the world health organisation deployed specialists to help handle mass
casualties and corpses warning the control of communicable diseases such as
diarrhoea was major concern in the coming days
brazil said it was flying out tonnes of food including sugar powdered milk and
sardines and had also despatched its defense minister nelson jobim after at
least brazilian peacekeepers were killed
canada announced it would deploy its first rescue teams within hours including
plane carrying medical equipment and helicopters for search and rescue
britain sent off four person emergency assessment team while strong team
of rescuers with sniffer dogs and equipment assembled at london gatwick
airport said international development minister douglas alexander
the european commission released three million euros in emergency assistance as
the european union announced said its had activated all crisis and aid
management mechanisms
french authorities said rescuers doctors and nurses plus trained rescue
dogs were due to reach haiti within day with tonnes of aid and rescue
material
spain said it had tonnes of humanitarian aid ready while italy prepared
military transport plane to carry in field hospital
the netherlands immediately released two million euros million dollars
said sent search and rescue team of specially trained individuals with
sniffer dogs
the gravity of the situation seems to be like that in southeast asia after the
tsunami in cooperation and development minister bert koenders said
germany released million euros in aid while belgium sweden and luxembourg
offered water purification equipment tents medical help and search and rescue
experts
russian president dmitri medvedev ordered plane to take out field hospital
with doctors the official news agency itar tass reported
taiwan whose ambassador to haiti was hurt in the quake pledged dollars
in humanitarian aid while the international monetary fund said it was looking
into how it could help
two us soldiers french trooper killed in afghan violence
kabul jan afp
two us soldiers french trooper and five afghans were killed in bomb blasts in
afghanistan wednesday as the un reported the deadliest year yet for civilians
in spiralling taliban led insurgency
also wednesday suicide truck bomb rocked southern afghan town injuring
several people day after seven people died in violence at protest against
an alleged desecration of the koran by foreign forces officials said
the two us soldiers assigned to nato international security assistance force
isaf were killed in home made bomb explosion in eastern afghanistan the
force said without giving the exact location
two isaf service members from the united states were killed today as result
of an ied improvised explosive device strike in eastern afghanistan the
force said in statement
meanwhile french soldier was killed in an explosives attack on an armoured
vehicle in the mahmud raqi region of eastern afghanistan the french presidency
said in statement two other french soldiers were wounded
the deaths took to nearly the number of foreign forces killed in afghanistan
since the start of the year according to an afp tally based on that kept by the
independent icasualties org website
elsewhere four afghan military engineers and civilian were killed when bomb
device they were trying to defuse went off in the eastern province of khost
said zahir wardak senior military official
in southern kandahar province hub of taliban activity militant detonated
truck bomb near government installations in daman district injuring three
police and as many civilians the interior ministry said
civilians are increasingly being caught in the crossfire of the afghan war the
united nations said in report on wednesday with killed in the
highest toll since the us led invasion in late
this is up percent from the civilians who died in and the vast
majority of the dead were killed in taliban attacks the un mission for
afghanistan unama said in its report
unama head of human rights norah niland said percent of last year
civilian deaths or were in insurgent attacks while pro government
forces including nato and us troops were responsible for percent or
civilian deaths
the deadliest months were august with deaths and september with she
told reporters
the good news is that in part the number of casualties is not keeping pace
with warfare incidents niland said referring to an escalation in fighting
as the insurgency has spread its shadow across the country
nato had reduced the number of air strikes in residential areas and the figures
of casualties as result of air strikes has come down significantly she said
but an influx of foreign troops over the course of as new counter
insurgency strategy takes hold meant much more warfare and that bad news for
afghan civilians niland said
civilian casualties are source of tension between the afghan government of
president hamid karzai and the international forces fighting the insurgency
karzai uses the issue to press home his authority draw support for his
unpopular government while criticising the tactics of the foreign forces
the report release comes day after seven people were killed during protests
sparked by rumours foreign troops had desecrated koran the toll was given by
an official blaming taliban for inciting the unrest
investigators sent to the southern province of helmand found that no desecration
of the muslim holy book had taken place in the military operation monday said
daud ahmadi spokesman for the provincial governor
it followed earlier reports that nine people were killed during the
demonstration in gamsir district
the us and nato have troops leading the fight against the taliban with
another being deployed over the course of this year
fresh snowfalls heap more woe on shivering europe
london jan afp
fresh heavy snowfalls brought new winter woe to parts of europe on wednesday
closing schools disrupting transport links and delaying humanitarian flight
to earthquake stricken haiti
as overnight snow ended recent thaw british business leaders said the worst
winter in decades was costing the country hundreds of millions of pounds
dollars day
london gatwick airport was closed for snow clearance for most of the day
holding up flight carrying rescue specialists bound for haiti with
tonnes of equipment
priority is being given to flight departures with some limited arrivals there
are significant delays and cancellations the airport added while london city
birmingham cardiff and southampton airports also reopened
london heathrow airport reported the cancellation of nearly flights
our airfield team is working round the clock to keep both runways clear but the
threat of further snow and ice at the airport remains the world busiest
international passenger air hub said
there was similar disruption for air travellers in france
in paris the main charles de gaulle airport cancelled percent of its
afternoon flights having scrapped percent in the morning while at orly
traffic was reduced by percent due to snow and sleet
french aviation authorities said the disruption was compounded by an air traffic
controllers strike
the national weather service meanwhile said icy conditions had gradually
improved in the north of france while traffic was back to normal by noon in
most parts of the country according to the national road information centre
trucks were banned from entering paris until noon in bid to ease the traffic
problems caused by the snow
eurostar rail services between britain and continental europe were running
near normal service
two trains from london to brussels one from london to paris and the same
numbers in the opposite directions were not running though customers with
tickets had seats reserved for them on the next train
in britain the federation of small businesses estimated that the bad weather
was costing the economy at least million pounds million dollars
million euros day
small businesses have been particularly hard hit during the recent bad weather
with staff unable to make it to work because of school closures and snowbound
roads said fsb chairman john wright
the met office national weather service said that mixture of rain sleet and
snow across england and wales was causing very icy conditions
these conditions may persist despite gradual thaw of lying snow over the
next couple of days it warned
in germany one of the countries worst hit by the big freeze temperatures were
reaching minus six degrees celsius with fresh snow in the south while some
secondary roads in the north were still blocked
switzerland main publicly owned salt works said that it had turned down new
orders from the snowbound netherlands and germany in order to cater for booming
domestic needs
in iberia temperatures were on the rise again in spain but nearly all of
portugal was put on orange alert for high winds and heavy rain expected
wednesday
month of heavy rainfall has seen nearly all the country dam reservoirs fill
up with the alqueva dam reaching its maximum capacity for the first time since
it opened in forming europe biggest artificial lake
us faces grim future without action to curb debt study
