st louis
columbus
northwest division
calgary
colorado
vancouver
minnesota
edmonton
pacific division
san jose
phoenix
los angeles
anaheim
dallas
note overtime losses ot are worth one point in the standings and are not
included in the loss column
thursday january th schedule
buffalo at atlanta pm
ottawa at ny rangers pm
new jersey at phoenix pm
minnesota at st louis pm
philadelphia at toronto pm
columbus at chicago pm
carolina at detroit pm
pittsburgh at edmonton pm
anaheim at los angeles pm
dallas at montreal pm
boston at san jose pm
florida at tampa bay pm
all times are eastern
afp
israeli media slams handling of row with turkey
jerusalem jan afp
the israeli media on thursday slammed the government handling of diplomatic
row with turkey in which it humiliated ankara ambassador and then retreated
with public apologies
on monday israel deputy foreign minister danny ayalon publicly dressed down
turkey ambassador to israel oguz celikkol over turkish television series
depicting mossad agents as baby snatchers
turkey responded by threatening to withdraw its envoy leading ayalon to issue
public apology late wednesday following pressure from israeli president shimon
peres
the policy of no more groveling led by foreign minister avigdor lieberman
was transformed within matter of days into situation in which israel was
forced to dispatch an official and diplomatic apology israel maariv
newspaper said in an article entitled capitulation
amnon abramovitch television commentator on israel channel two criticised
the infantile conduct of the government and commentator on israel military
radio referred to the humiliation after the humiliation
an editorial in the left leaning haaretz meanwhile came to the defence of ayalon
and lieberman both members of the ultra nationalist israel beitenu israel our
home party saying they sought to restore national honour
the competition between ex diplomats politicians broadcasters and pundits to
be the rudest in criticising the pair brings back memories of the times when
anyone who publicly sought to restore the honour of the jewish people was
shouted down by meek and frightened establishment for fear of angering the
gentiles and bringing disaster upon the community it said
lieberman the outsider who represents national agenda is bull in the
china shop of the foreign ministry the dna of which is stamped with restraint
apologetics and lip biting
turkey has been israel main regional ally since the two signed military
cooperation pact in but relations were poisoned by ankara severe
criticism of israel gaza offensive in december and january
cricket australia taking india warning seriously
sydney jan afp
australia foreign minister stephen smith on thursday said he took seriously
right wing hindu party threat to stop its cricketers playing in an indian
state which hosts lucrative ipl matches
smith said australian cricket and foreign ministry officials were discussing the
comments from bal thackeray head of mumbai influential shiv sena which
follow string of attacks on indian nationals in australia
thackeray said the party would not let kangaroo cricketers play in its home
state of maharashtra where two major cities mumbai and nagpur hold indian
premier league ipl games
this has come from political party and they ve made comments about disrupting
cricket in the past and they ve also disrupted some cricket games smith told
sky news
we take any threat against australians overseas seriously in the last couple
of years we ve developed very close relationship with cricket australia so far
as australian cricket teams and individuals playing overseas are concerned
the shiv sena has in the past prevented pakistan national team from playing in
maharashtra for what it says is islamabad backing of militant activities in
india
smith said any decision to play in india would have to be taken by individual
players and teams adding that the government would provide security advice
australian cricketers like captain ricky ponting andrew symonds matthew hayden
and shane watson will be among the star players in the ipl twenty
competition third edition in march and april
in the end it matter for cricket australia and the individual cricketers to
make judgement about whether they travel and play overseas smith said
we make sure that they re in receipt of the most recent advice and as
consequence of this most recent suggestion cricket australia and the department
of foreign affairs and trade officials will be having one of their regular
conversations today
he added that australia would also keep close eye on security for other events
in india including this year hockey world cup and the commonwealth games in
new delhi
the murder of nitin garg in melbourne this month caused anger among indians
in australia and overseas and prompted india foreign minister krishna
to suggest it would hurt ties
we will not allow kangaroo cricketers to play in mumbai and maharashtra till
the attacks on indians are stopped thackeray wrote in the shiv sena
mouthpiece saamna
our boys are being stabbed burnt and shot at in that country and still our
cricketers have no qualms in playing with them do they have any national
pride
basketball nba results and standings
washington jan afp
results and standings after wednesday national basketball association games
wednesday january th results
atlanta washington
indiana phoenix
new york philadelphia
boston new jersey
new orleans la clippers
san antonio oklahoma city ot
la lakers dallas
houston minnesota ot
denver orlando
portland milwaukee
miami golden state
eastern conference
atlantic div pct gb
boston
toronto
new york
philadelphia
new jersey
central div pct gb
cleveland
chicago
milwaukee
indiana
detroit
southeast div pct gb
orlando
atlanta
miami
charlotte
washington
western conference
northwest div pct gb
denver
portland
oklahoma city
utah
minnesota
pacific div pct gb
la lakers
phoenix
la clippers
sacramento
golden state
southwest div pct gb
dallas
san antonio
houston
new orleans
memphis
thursday january th schedule
chicago at boston pm
cleveland at utah pm
all times are eastern
afp
sex scandals expose reality in puritanical ireland
belfast jan afp
while northern ireland scrambles to defuse political crisis sex scandals
behind the turmoil have lifted the lid on the reality behind the province
perceived puritan religious divide experts say
news that protestant first minister peter robinson wife took teenage lover
and claims of financial misconduct have forced him to stand aside while child
abuse charges have rocked his catholic deputy party head gerry adams
northern ireland remains deeply conservative place and the issue of child
abuse is particularly raw given recent revelations about the catholic church in
the neighbouring republic of ireland
it not entirely without precedent said dr claire mitchell senior
sociology lecturer at queen university belfast of the recent scandals
there subculture of deviance and sin in these parties but it
absolutely unprecedented on this scale
however the two main parties in the power sharing executive have tried to put
the scandals behind them and focus on the transfer of police and justice powers
from london to belfast the final stage in devolution
following days of lurid revelations about his wife affair with toyboy
first minister robinson announcement monday that he was temporarily standing
aside to clear his name over her financial affairs caused shock
all day at stormont one kept meeting people who told one another in tones of
amazement you couldn make it up was this really dour puritanical
ulster wrote commentator in the irish times on wednesday
iris robinson admission of her affair and news of loans she secured for her
year old lover in has caused unease among many supporters of her and her
husband strongly conservative democratic unionist party dup
reverend david mcilveen free presbyterian minister and close aide to former
dup leader and founder reverend ian paisley warned before he stepped aside that
peter robinson position was becoming increasingly untenable
the story of the robinsons came hot on the heels of another scandal this time
on the catholic republican side of belfast power sharing government
adams leader of sinn fein which holds the deputy first minister post revealed
his father and brother had abused members of his family and that he knew
about his brother liam alleged abuse of his daughter since the
it then emerged that liam adams had been youth worker in belfast and in
ireland and reports suggest he was also prominent member of sinn fein in
ireland well after gerry adams was told in about his behaviour
adams insisted he acted to get his brother dumped from his party and said he
informed police and social services about him when he discovered his youth work
but his critics have questioned his account
the affair is particularly damaging at time when the whole of ireland is
reeling from revelations about widespread sex abuse of children by catholic
clergy dating back decades and report showing how priests covered it up
now as bishops come under pressure to resign because they failed to deal
directly with child abusing priests the most revered republican in ireland is
having his own acquaintance with abuse scrutinised said the guardian
adams has kept his post although he has in recent years stepped back from
front line politics here as has robinson now at least temporarily but many
commentators believe he cannot last
but robinson decision to step aside prompted concerns the once troubled
province already strained administration could collapse altogether and brought
fresh impetus to talks on resolving the issue of policing powers
the mood is one of absolute shock and surprise the place is in quite state
of turmoil in terms of will the government fail said john garry senior
politics lecturer at queen university
but he told afp do not think the leaders mean huge amount because the
underlying political questions are between nationalist and unionist parties
about whether they will make devolution work
both the dup who support british rule in northern ireland and the republican
sinn fein said this week they were determined to find solution to the
stalemate
nova era retirement village for former cabinda rebels
cabinda angola jan afp
in nova era prefab village couple of kilometres from the town of cabinda
group of around former separatist officers live with their families
isolated by the angolan authorities
one of their number cornelio pedro told afp that he regrets his past life as
rebel fighter and welcomes the ushering in of kind of peace that was
shattered last friday by the deadly attack on the togo football team bus
it was time to stop because war doesn lead to anything said pedro who said
he fought for years before laying down his arms in the disarmament programme
after peace accord
the peace accord did not win over all the rebels and some continue to fight for
the independence of this oil rich enclave sandwiched between the two congos some
kilometres miles from the rest of angola
last friday attack killed two and injured nine members of togo africa cup of
nations delegation resulting in the team recall by their national
government
in nova era the guns are silent after three decades of conflict
we ve all been rebels explains andre kuenga coordinator for the cabinda
forum for dialogue fcd pro governmental body comprising former rebels and
civilan members
then the government set up programme for the dignified rehabilitation of our
former fighters
in these camps people are together and benefit from programme of
reintegration
the reality is slightly different
when we were reintegrated into the army at our same grade they promised us
equal rights for everything education health and urbanisation and that
promise wasn kept states pedro who moved to nova era last year
built in on the ruins of an old cuban military camp nova era has neither
school or shops the village is not connected to the general electricity grid
and the children haven receive promised grants to study abroad the
inhabitants claim
in which country in the world are officers housed in these conditions asks
colonel pierre lopes without rancour
we didn come here to be put into retirement but to negotiate and join the
regular army
he adds we ve made lots of sacrifices which haven been rewarded we regret
our past life but the people had the right to peace
in the functional but charmless dwellings red angola en paz posters with the
smiling face of angola president jose eduardo dos santos adorn the walls
if everything goes according to plan the or so families will at the
earliest in two years be rehoused few hundred metres away where new stone
built village is beginning to take shape
spain signals ambitious eu presidency at the risk of friction
madrid jan afp
spain has quickly shown it intends to play driving role in the eu during its
six month presidency at the risk of being snubbed as happened this week over
bold economic proposal
before it assumed the presidency on january madrid had stressed its
willingness to bow to the authority of the new permanent president of the eu
herman van rompuy and his foreign policy chief catherine ashton amid confusion
over the leadership roles under the new lisbon reform treaty
but declarations since then by prime minister jose luis rodriguez zapatero and
his foreign minister miguel angel moratinos have suggested the reverse
zapatero battered domestically in opinion polls by the conservative opposition
and facing record unemployment is hoping he can recover some lost ground by
capturing the european spotlight
the presidency is an important domestic issue for the spanish government
said hugo brady an analyst for the london based centre for european reform
but it risky strategy
the prime minister launched last week an audacious economic proposal to impose
corrective measures on member states who fail to respect binding targets as
part of new year growth strategy that would replace the failed lisbon
agenda launched in
but german economy minister rainer bruederle publicly dismissed the idea
do not think the idea of imposing sanctions on member states for not
fulfilling fixed targets is sensible he said
up to now the lisbon strategy has been based on partnership approach without
sanctions and we ought to continue that
spain then sought to backtrack with moratinos insisting that sanctions were
never part of the plan
respect spain for their audacity they re saying the current system of the
lisbon strategy is not working and they re right said brady
but the reality of politics is that certain large eu member states will never
accept binding system or sanctions regarding economic policy it not doable
politically
zapatero may have pulled the rug out from under the feet of van rompuy who had
called summit of eu leaders for february in brussels to discuss ways to
revive growth
there is political fight for primacy between van rompuy and the rotating
presidency said brady
on the one hand you have one guy without big staff without executive power
van rompuy and on the other side you have prime minister of country who
will not give power away
madrid is also walking tightrope on the diplomatic front
on monday moratinos was taking positions on various issues at news
conference while the more discreet ashton won tepid support at confirmation
hearing in the european parliament
however france secretary of state for european affairs pierre lellouche
however said spain programme is not overly ambitious
it picks up the main priorities that everyone is expecting way out of the
crisis immigration external security and foreign policy and common defence
policy he said
but it clear that the institutions are being broken in and that each one
will have to find its place and if we continue to add layers of institutions
we will never make it
fitch warns china over unsustainable credit boom
beijing jan afp
fitch ratings on thursday warned china credit boom was unsustainable adding
that stimulus spending in response to the global financial crisis risked
creating serious financial distress
however the ratings agency affirmed its sovereign credit ratings for china
citing the country exceptional financial position its recent economic
performance and low government debt levels
the firm called china estimated percent growth in impressive amid
global recession but warned conditions in the country had increased imbalances
in the economy and risks in the banking system
the agency believes the surges in both investment spending and credit growth
are unsustainable if unaddressed this could lead to serious financial distress
in the medium term with sovereign rating implications fitch said
the agency said beijing recent economic policy including stimulus spending
focused on infrastructure and returning to an exchange rate effectively pegged
to the dollar had set back the rebalancing of china economy
however fitch set china long term foreign currency and local currency issuer
default ratings at and aa respectively meaning that the risk of it not
meeting its commitments was low
it added that the outlook on the ratings was stable
it forecast china economy would grow percent in but cautioned
similar growth rates could be difficult in the medium term without exports
rising sharply or increased domestic consumption
standard and poor affirmed china short term rating and an long
term rating on tuesday
in november moody upgraded its ratings outlook for china to positive from
stable giving policymakers in beijing the thumbs up for how they have
navigated the worst financial crisis in decades
russia to ratify european court reform parliament head
moscow jan afp
russia will ratify key protocol clearing the way for long delayed reform of
the european court of human rights the head of the lower house of parliament
said on thursday
duma speaker boris gryzlov senior leader of the ruling united russia party
said the party would vote unanimously to approve protocol to the european
convention on human rights
we will vote tomorrow in favour of the ratification of this protocol gryzlov
said quoted by state news agencies
the protocol is aimed at streamlining the work of the strasbourg based tribunal
and reducing its backlog of cases
russia is the only country of the member council of europe which has not
ratified the protocol after the russian parliament rejected it in
tennis del potro quits kooyong with wrist injury soderling hurt
melbourne jan afp
us open champion juan martin del potro thursday pulled out of his final tune up
match prior to the australian open citing wrist injury
his withdrawal from the koyoong classic was mirrored by french open finalist
robin soderling who quit semi final trailing against ivan ljubicic to
avoid doing himself more elbow damage ahead of the season opening grand slam
the del potro decision puts frenchman jo wilfried tsonga into saturday final
against spain fernando verdasco
verdasco booked bereth over australian open champion novak djokovic whom
he beat
the results didn even matter said world number three djokovic the main
point is to get good practise and get points and gains before the australian
open which is my main priority
didn feel good on the court he played well but made way too many
unforced errors
verdasco admitted he was surprised by his easy victory adding that the
traditional swirling wind at the kooyong club was problem for both players
we all know that here every day is pretty windy it is not easy for everybody
but was feeling pretty good he said
was trying to control the conditions and just give my percent and be the
best as possible for the australian open that the goal
the dual dramas cast pall over the event considered the prime tune up for the
first major of the season
it still hurting me little bit it was better yesterday said soderling
today felt it little bit more so figure didn want to take any
risks
ve had this few times before the last time was at paris bercy in early
november
soderling will hope his wrist heals on its own but will also be spending time
with physio in an effort to come good for monday
with some rest some treatment really hope ll feel good next week he
said
sometimes when play lot it comes back little bit he added of the
tendinitis which has troubled him for the last six months off and on
but then if rest it again it normally gets better
that what hoping for
in relegation match chile fernando gonzalez handed german tommy haas his
second defeat in as many days
stampede kills seven at indian festival
kolkata jan afp
seven hindu pilgrims were killed thursday in stampede at religious festival
on the river ganges in the eastern indian state of west bengal senior police
official said
the crush happened as hundreds of devotees rushed for places on ferry to take
them to the pilgrimage site on gangasagar island where the holy waters of the
ganges flow into the bay of bengal
the rush became stampede and seven people were killed surojit kar
purokayastha inspector general of the west bengal police told afp
seventeen people were injured four of them seriously
purokayastha said the accident was partly caused by transport bottleneck the
ferry service to the island had been temporarily suspended during low tide
resulting in large crowd building up on the mainland side
when the service resumed the first vessel to dock was then swamped by pilgrims
impatient to get to the island
ritual bathing festivals were held along the length of the ganges on thursday as
part of harvest festival celebrations across the country
this year the ceremonies coincided with the kumbh mela festival taking place in
the northern city of haridwar where millions have gathered to cleanse
themselves in the ganges
several million people are set to take part in the kumbh mela the world
biggest religious gathering which takes place every three years and runs for
three months
in haiti darkest hour songs and prayers rise from ruins
port au prince jan afp
mournful songs and prayers rose above the ruins in haiti overnight as darkness
drew veil over the rows of corpses in this caribbean nation quake hit
capital
small groups gathered around the city just after midnight thursday singing and
praying in their hour of despair
earlier at twilight exhausted rescuers had been digging without respite
clawing with bare hands in desperate race against time to free those trapped
under tons of twisted concrete after tuesday magnitude quake
there are fears the death toll could top
baby cried its wails echoing across the rubble as group of men worked
silently to reach it suddenly the earth shook again with one of dozens of
aftershocks and the rescuers scattered in panic
all except jeanwell antoine who held the baby arm and calmly sought to comfort
it
it is not me who is pushing back this earth it is the hand of god who loves
life and is guiding me so can save this baby he said
such scenes were repeated across the devastated city of over two million people
as more than hours after the massive quake struck foreign aid and heavy
lifting equipment had only just begun to arrive
in the ruins of homes many lay dead frozen in their last moments before the
earth convulsed couple struck down as they slept lifeless young girls
covered in dust women with clothing ripped to shreds and charred bodies in
cars
some corpses released from the ruins were laid out on the roads many covered in
sheets in tragic display which reduced passersby to tears
help me my husband is still trapped in here please help me know he
alive sobbed one woman
in the dark of night hundreds ran in panic out of port au prince park toward
higher ground after rumor that tsunami was racing toward the city
preacher warned in creole that the world was coming to an end
in saint honore street man was trapped by the wreckage of car standing up
but unable to free his foot for the past hours as his helpless friends and
family looked on he seemed to show signs of internal bleeding
he will die before we can get him out sociology student named wilson said
softly
disoriented dazed survivors wandered the streets not knowing which way to
turn while others tried to help those still trapped
there were no diggers no ambulances not fire engine to be seen
like the collapsed presidential palace its once proud white cupola now
shattered the poorest nation in the americas lay in ruins
we urgently need international assistance said prime minister jean max
bellerive who told cnn he believed the death toll could reach
hospitals many of them collapsed or damaged struggled to cope with flow of
wounded as power water and medical supplies dwindled
as the morgues began to overflow there were fears that disease could break out
in the sticky tropical climate if corpses were left to fester
we need help the hospital is full we are lacking in everything said one
woman on radio station stressing wounded were lying next to the dead
president rene preval said all the morgues are full the hospitals are
overflowing there is not enough medicine
rody baptista slumped in chair at the ruins of his home refusing to seek
shelter until he could release the bodies of two of his children from the
rubble
what has this country done to deserve such misfortune the year old
lamented
yards away women were singing and clapping the tuneful sounds piercing the
evening hush
overnight in the upscale suburb of petionville hundreds shuffled through
makeshift refugee camp singing forward christian soldiers deliverance is
near
the praying and singing is getting louder more and more people are
gathering so much suffering so much destruction haiti based us musician
richard morse posted on twitter
people have remained very calm and helpful once more as the sun sets the
singing begins the night brings uncertainty he wrote
hear help is coming tomorrow
global pirate attacks at six year high watchdog
kuala lumpur jan afp
piracy on the high seas rose to its highest level in six years in with
