at the central crowne plaza hotel papier mache bust of pinochet in white
red blue presidential sash stuck out in the crowd carried proudly on the
shoulders of pinera follower
the billionaire who owns one of chile four television networks and big
stake in flagship airline lan among many other business interests is seen
likely to continue social policies that left bachelet with skyhigh popularity
ratings of around percent
but in victory speech before supporters he promised reforms to break
down the walls dividing us and build new bridges to bring us together
he told concertacion defeated rival frei that our country needs unity the
problems facing us today are big and challenging and require unity
when he cast his ballot he said the change he represented would be like
opening the window to let fresh air in
pinera easily won the first round of the presidential elections on december
but then saw his lead narrow to statistical dead heat with frei as bachelet
leveraged her popularity in defense of her candidate
in the end he squeaked through according to an official count from percent
of polling stations complete results were expected by the early hours of
monday
bachelet who had assured the electorate she would welcome whoever won
telephoned smiling pinera to congratulate him
frei also wished his rival luck
the majority of chileans gave him their trust to direct the fate of the country
for the next four years he said as he conceded the race
hope that what will prevail will be dialogue the search for consensus and
the retention of social conquests that were hard won and which have been
transformed into symbol of our relationship with the world he said
some million people were eligible to vote in chile one of latin america
most prosperous nations
interior minister edmundo perez yoma confirmed pinera victory by saying the
country today wanted change it has swung to the right and we wish the new
government all the best
some of the first issues pinera will have to address however are potential
conflicts of interest highlighted by bachelet in the run up to sunday
election
pinera who forbes magazine says has fortune of billion dollars has
investments in many activities in chile and the outgoing president suggested
strongly that maintaining them could raise serious questions
he has sought to dodge the tag his critics put upon him that he was the chilean
version of italian prime minister silvio berlusconi notably by setting up
blind trust to handle much of his fortune and promising to divest his percent
stake in lan before taking office march
he said however that he would hold on to his football club
afp gmt news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor gunther kern
tel
top stories
un vows to speed up food supplies to haiti
taliban launch massive attacks on kabul
pro russian wins ukraine first round presidential poll
haiti quake lead wrap
port au prince
rescuers pluck survivors from the rubble six days after quake flattened
haiti capital port au prince as the un vows to speed up supplies of food
water and medicine and thousands more us troops join the relief effort
words gmt by stephane jourdain graphic picture video
afghanistan unrest ndlead wrap
kabul
the taliban launch wave of gun and bomb attacks on kabul with at least two
insurgents killed and people wounded as fierce fighting erupts in the heart
of the afghan capital
words gmt by sardar ahmad graphic picture
ukraine vote ndlead wrap
kiev
ukraine braces for tense presidential election run off between two old rivals
who favour close ties with russia after the first round punishes the pro western
leader of the orange revolution
words gmt by stuart williams picture graphic video
we will also move ukraine vote yushchenko profile
we have also moved ukraine vote politics analysis
ukraine vote tigipko focus
haiti
haiti quake un ban lead
port au prince
un secretary general ban ki moon tours the devastated haitian capital before
flying home with the remains of two top un officials killed in the powerful
earthquake
words gmt by gerard aziakou picture
haiti quake france us aid scene
port au prince
more than five days after an avalanche of rubble plunged her into painful and
solitary black hell and hours after international teams heard her determined
cries marie france is rescued
words gmt by beatriz lecumberri and dave clark
haiti quake un aid refugee food scene
port au prince
food rations provided by the united nations and humanitarian organizations reach
challe camp for displaced haitian people for the first time as relief
supplied begin to trickle in to those in need
words gmt by stephane jourdain picture
haiti quake aid us religion service scene
washington
americans flock to the national cathedral lighting candles in honor of quake
ravaged haiti vowing to stand by the millions devastated by the disaster and
mourning the deaths of so many thousands of victims
words moved by olivia hampton
we have also moved haiti quake survivors lead scene
haiti quake toll missing facts
haiti quake slums scene
haiti quake figures facts
haiti quake religion ndlead scene
haiti quake aid eu
brussels
european development ministers hold emergency talks set to announce at least
million euros in funds to rebuild quake struck haiti on top of emergency aid
and call for an international conference to back the effort
words gmt picture
europe
turkey vatican agca prison release thdlead
ankara
mehmet ali agca the turk who tried to kill pope john paul ii in is
released from prison after almost three decades behind bars but is immediately
headed to face military authorities to sort out his status as draft dodger
words gmt by burak akinci picture
we will also move turkey vatican agca prison release profile
entertainment germany us music obama lead
frankfurt
us president barack obama the stage version treats frankfurt audience to
song and dance in musical that opens far from the trenches of washington
politics in land still charmed by his message of hope and change
words gmt picture
middle east
attacks yemen qaeda newseries
sanaa
yemen interior minister says government forces will continue to strike al
qaeda targets so long as the nation security is under threat as the islamist
group denies government claims of having killed six of its leaders
words gmt by michel moutot
iran politics opposition media television focus
tehran
seven months after presidential poll that plunged iran into cycle of street
protests and arrests state television is opening the door ajar and giving the
opposition precious air time before nationwide audience
words gmt by siavosh ghazi
americas
chile vote newseries wrap
santiago
chilean billionaire media magnate sebastian pinera celebrates victory after
winning runoff presidential election that put an end to year hold on
power by the left wing coalition of outgoing head of state michelle bachelet
words gmt by jose luis varela picture video
entertainment us film globes ndlead
beverly hills california
science fiction blockbuster avatar takes top honors at the th golden globes
here sunday winning best picture and best director to cement its status as an
oscars front runner
words gmt by paula bustamante picture
us it internet telecom fashion electronics aliph
san francisco
aliph is adding brains to beauty in new line of jawbone icon wireless
earpieces designed to be internet smart and techno chic
words gmt by glenn chapman
asia
skorea nkorea us relations nuclear wrap
seoul
north korea demands an end to sanctions before it returns to nuclear disarmament
negotiations but gives the go ahead for talks with south korea despite earlier
threats to attack its neighbour
words gmt by lim chang won
japan airline company distress jal lead
tokyo
japan airlines shares plunge to an all time low of just five yen five cents on
the eve of an expected bankruptcy filing by asia largest carrier which is
crippled by massive debts
words gmt by hiroshi hiyama
nzealand australia britain royals william ndlead
wellington
britain prince william proves his star power as thousands of new zealanders
cheer the second in line to the throne in the face of small republican
demonstration
words gmt by david brooks picture
us condemns desperate ruthless kabul attack
new delhi jan afp
the us condemned bloody attack in afghan capital kabul on monday as
desperate and ruthless act by the taliban but warned that more assaults
should be expected in the war torn country
it not surprising that the taliban do this sort of thing us special
representative to afghanistan and pakistan richard holbrooke told reporters in
new delhi they are desperate people they are ruthless
he added the people doing this certainly will not survive the attack nor will
they succeed but we can expect this sort of thing on regular basis
four suicide bombers dead in kabul attack official
kabul afghanistan jan afp
two suicide bombers blew themselves up monday and another two died in clashes in
central kabul between taliban militants and afghan security forces an interior
ministry spokesman said
the two attackers killed by security forces had holed themselves up in
building in central kabul zemarai bashery said
we can confirm that four suicide bombers have been killed he told al jazeera
television
luxury group richemont reports sales gain
geneva jan afp
the swiss group richemont which markets watches and other luxury items
reported on monday modest third quarter sales gain thanks to strong
performance in asia
richemont said sales rose percent from october to december to reach
billion euros billion dollars beating forecast of billion euros
from analysts surveyed by the financial agency awp
sales in december alone were up percent according to richemont whose
product range includes such names as cartier vacheron constantin piaget
montblanc and baume amp mercier
richemont recorded quarterly sales gain of percent in asia notably china
and hong kong
sales were down percent in the americas percent in japan and percent
in europe
despite the third quarter pick up sales in the first nine months of the group
fiscal year were down percent at billion euros
european stocks rise at open london up percent
london jan afp
europe main stock markets climbed at the start of trading on monday with
london benchmark ftse index up percent to points
frankfurt dax gained percent to points and in paris the cac
advanced by percent in value to reach
tackling government debt top priority imf chief
tokyo jan afp
tackling soaring government debt is one of the top priorities for global
policymakers as fragile economic recovery takes hold international monetary
fund chief dominique strauss kahn said monday
we have to fix the consequences of the policies which have been put in place
in response to the global economic crisis he said
addressing the high level of sovereign debt is probably the top priority
facing developed and many emerging economies in the coming years strauss
kahn told news conference during visit to japan
he also warned governments that premature withdrawal of their stimulus
measures may nip an economic recovery in the bud
if you exit too early then you have risk of going back into recession he
said
our advice is that exiting from fiscal stimulus measures should be designed
today but not implemented today because the crisis is not really over he later
said in separate speech to students at tokyo university
while many advanced economies have clawed out of recession governments need to
focus on tackling high unemployment strauss kahn said
all efforts should be focused on fighting unemployment the former french
finance minister said
strauss kahn also said that the imf will reopen talks with ukraine day after
presidential elections sunday where pro russian politician viktor yanukovich won
the first round against prime minister yulia tymoshenko
in no way has our commitment to ukraine decreased but the troubled political
period doesn make it easy for us to discuss with the government he said
so we expect after the election to make it possible to resume our
relationship he added democracy is fantastic thing but it creates also
sometimes tensions with economic problems
yanukovich leads tymoshenko in ukraine polls partial results
kiev jan afp
pro russia viktor yanukovich has lead of percentage points over prime
minister yulia tymoshenko in the first round of ukraine presidential
elections partial results showed monday
votes from percent of the polling stations have been received yanukovich
has obtained percent of the vote tymoshenko said the spokesperson
for the central election commission zoya sharikova
third place went to businessman sergiy tigipko with percent of the vote she
added the results mean incumbent president viktor yushchenko in fifth place
is eliminated and yanukovich and tymoshenko will go into run off
urgent four suicide bombers dead in kabul clashes official
kabul jan afp
four suicide bombers died monday in clashes in central kabul between taliban
militants and afghan security forces an interior ministry spokesman said
adding that two had blown themselves up
britain raises haiti aid to million dollars
london jan afp
britain has trebled its humanitarian aid to earthquake devastated haiti to
million dollars million euros international development secretary douglas
alexander said monday
the increase from an initial million dollars was announced at meeting of
european union development ministers in brussels
it is now clear that the international community is dealing with an almost
unprecedented level of devastation alexander said in statement
our initial assessments show level of humanitarian need which would severely
test the international response in any circumstances
but the impact of this earthquake is magnified because it has hit country
that was already desperately poor and historically volatile
he added to address the needs of the immediate humanitarian response the uk
government will pledge further million us dollars on top of the million
us dollars initially donated
international aid workers are struggling to cope with the scale of the crisis in
the caribbean country where bodies have been buried in mass graves and
officials fear the final death toll could top
urgent us condemns desperate ruthless kabul attack
new delhi jan afp
the us condemned bloody attack in afghan capital kabul on monday as
desperate and ruthless act by the taliban but warned that more assaults
should be expected in the war torn country
hong kong shares percent lower
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares closed lower on monday as dealers followed wall street worst
showing so far this year while there was continued concern over possible further
monetary tightening moves from beijing
the benchmark hang seng index fell percent or points to
turnover was billion hong kong dollars billion us
however chinese shares rose percent on monday with airline stocks leading
the gains after china eastern airlines reported that it expected to turn
profit for dealers said
the shanghai composite index which covers both and shares was up
points at on turnover of billion yuan billion dollars
yemen will strike qaeda as long as it is threat minister
sanaa jan afp
yemen interior minister has said government forces will continue to strike al
qaeda targets as long the nation security is under threat the official saba
news agency reported on monday
these strikes will not be the last as long as terrorist elements target state
security and stability and institutions major general mutahar rashad al masri
quoted by saba told weekend conference on the security situation in yemen and
challenges facing its security services
the minister said al qaeda had suffered heavy losses including the death of
number of its leaders and yemen own security services were able to deal with
all challenges
the government said it killed six senior members of al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula last friday prompting strong denial from al qaeda
fourth body found in malaysian dragon boat tragedy
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysian authorities said monday they had recovered the bodies of teacher and
three students drowned in boating tragedy while the search for two others
continued
eighteen people were aboard the long narrow dragon boat when strong
undercurrents tipped it over as it made turn in waters off the resort island
of penang in malaysia north early sunday
the including young paddlers were practising for dragon boat
competition to be held later in the year along with teacher and two trainers
the rescue team found one body around am this morning and another one at
noon both of them are students and aged local police spokesman told afp
we will continue with the search for another two missing students he said
the bodies of male teacher and another year old student were recovered from
the sea on sunday
police have said that initial investigations revealed that several of the
rowers all from local school were not wearing life jackets but most of the
group managed to swim to shore
alert
four suicide bombers killed in kabul fighting interior ministry
hong kong gold closes flat
hong kong jan afp
hong kong gold closed flat monday at us dollars unchanged
from friday
it opened at dollars
somali pirates free greek supertanker watchdog
nairobi jan afp
somali pirates have released the greek supertanker vlcc maran centaurus after
receiving millions in ransom kenya based maritime watchdog and pirate sources
said monday
she free she preparing to sail out from the pirate lair of harardhere
andrew mwangura of the east african seafarers assistance programme told afp
pirate sources in harardhere said the pirates had released the greek flagged
supertanker and its crew of filipinos nine greeks two ukrainians and
romanian
the huge ship was still anchored off harardhere monday apparently receiving
last minute technical assistance from nearby foreign warship
alert
kabul attack shows desperate ruthless taliban us envoy
urgent somali pirates free greek supertanker watchdog
nairobi jan afp
somali pirates have released the greek supertanker vlcc maran centaurus after
receiving millions in ransom kenya based maritime watchdog and pirate sources
said monday
tennis doping drama toughened me up says wickmayer
melbourne jan afp
promising belgian youngster yanina wickmayer said monday her controversial ban
for breaching anti doping regulations had toughened her up after battling into
the australian open second round
the big hitting wickmayer the world number was forced to qualify for the
opening grand slam of the season after missing the closing date for main draw
entry because of the ban
wickmayer was suspended last november by the flemish doping tribunal for failing
to give her whereabouts for compulsory drug tests on three occasions and
belgian court banned her
under the whereabouts rule top players must let tennis authorities know
where they are for three months in advance for dope testing but wickmayer said
this was never properly explained to her when she made the top
the punishment was suspended by an injunction on december
she said it had been trying time but it had made her better person and
player
ve been through tough time it was tough for me not knowing when was
going to play again not knowing what the future would bring she said after
beating romania alexandra dulgheru
but kept on practising working hard and trying to set goal for myself
was really happy to be back on court
it made me little tougher today was tough fight again it good mentally
to get stronger and get tougher as person and an athlete
wickmayer underscored her potential by winning the auckland classic final this
month before heading to melbourne for the open
she said she did not blame australian open organisers for forcing her to
qualify rather than handing her wildcard despite being world number and
thanked her fellow players for the support they have shown her
everybody is pretty supportive of me everyone knows how hard work how hard
work on court how hard practice she said
think everyone is happy back and playing again
she faces real test of her character next up with second round clash with
italy th seed flavia pennetta
fighting rages as taliban launch attacks on kabul
kabul jan afp
the taliban launched wave of gun and bomb attacks on kabul on monday with at
least two insurgents killed and people injured as fierce fighting erupted in
the heart of the afghan capital
series of explosions rocked kabul with smoke billowing out of at least two
shopping centres and intense gun battles raged between militants and afghan
security forces as police and military snipers patrolled rooftops
it is our work the targets are the presidential palace the finance justice
and mines ministries and the central bank purported taliban spokesman told
afp by telephone from an undisclosed location
twenty of our suicide bombers have entered the area and fighting is ongoing
the spokesman zabihullah mujahid said adding that one militant had detonated
suicide vest at the entrance to the presidential palace complex
insurgents stormed five storey shopping mall and were exchanging gunfire with
security forces surrounding the building witnesses said while local television
showed second shopping centre spewing smoke
nato international security assistance force isaf said afghan security
forces had secured roads in central kabul as taliban militants took over
buildings in the political and commercial heart of the city
initial reports are they have killed at least two armed insurgents at the
shopping centre after clearing the building the isaf statement said
army and police snipers took positions on buildings around pashtunistan square
in the centre of the capital after the attacks which appeared to be well
coordinated and involve large number of gunmen
heard the blast then we started running but we happened to be running
towards the explosions said witness bahram sarwary
saw smoke coming from building near the central bank and the presidential
palace and saw at least one person injured he said
afghanistan health ministry said people had been wounded
most of them are civilians but they also include security personnel ministry
spokesman ahmad farid rahid said
the central business district of the afghan capital is the nexus of political
business and diplomatic life
television stations showed the qari sami shopping mall in the centre of city
believed to have been taken over by the militants burning and billowing
smoke
second shopping mall the gulbahar centre about one kilometre half mile
away was also shown spewing smoke security personnel were heard saying that
another explosion had taken place there
gunfire continued to ring out over the city where the streets were deserted
but for the heavy presence of police and army television picture showed and
witnesses said
sporadic explosions possibly of rocket propelled grenades could be heard as
armoured vehicles moved into position outside major government ministries and
the presidential palace while huge explosion was heard mid morning
the attacks came day after the government said president hamid karzai was to
announce new plan aimed at forging peace with the islamist taliban and other
militants fighting to topple his administration
karzai has long called for peace talks with the taliban even offering
government posts to its leaders but the militia has refused dialogue until
the withdrawal of international troops on which kabul relies for security
rockets were also fired into the heavily fortified diplomatic area of wazir
akbar khan on saturday night coinciding with visits by the us special
representative to afghanistan and pakistan richard holbrooke and british foreign
secretary david miliband
the last major attack on the capital was on december when suicide car
bomber blew up his vehicle outside the homes of former senior government
officials killing eight people and injuring more than
on october guesthouse occupied by united nations employees was overrun by
taliban militants who murdered six un workers the incident prompted the
organisation to evacuate most of its kabul based staff
alert
somali pirates free greek supertanker watchdog
china online earnings reach billion dollars in
beijing jan afp
chinese firms earned nearly billion dollars from their internet operations
last year research group said monday as the nation with the world biggest
online population becomes more web savvy
online revenue generated by advertising games shopping and other activities
rose more than percent on year to billion yuan cao junbo senior
researcher at internet consulting group iresearch told afp
the research group expects online revenue to reach billion yuan this year
and billion yuan in cao said
china has at least million internet users more than any other country in
the world according to new tally released last week by the china internet
network information centre cnnic government linked industry body
by the end of june the number of online shoppers in china had reached
million meaning roughly one in four internet users shopped online
according to report by the centre
urgent yanukovich leads tymoshenko in ukraine polls partial results
kiev jan afp
pro russia viktor yanukovich has lead of percentage points over prime
minister yulia tymoshenko in the first round of ukraine presidential
elections results based on percent of the vote showed monday
tennis australian open results day one th update
melbourne jan afp
results from day one of the australian open at melbourne park here monday
denotes seeding
men singles
st round
ivan ljubicic cro bt jason kubler aus
fernando gonzalez chi bt olivier rochus bel
florian mayer ger bt philipp petzschner ger
andy roddick usa bt thiemo de bakker ned
andy murray gbr bt kevin anderson rsa
wayne odesnik usa bt blaz kavcic slo
ivo karlovic cro bt radek stepanek cze
women singles
st round
dinara safina rus bt magdalena rybarikova svk
maria kirilenko rus bt maria sharapova rus
zheng jie chn bt peng shuai chn
anastasia pavlyuchenkova rus bt anastasija sevastova lat
kateryna bondarenko ukr bt ioana raluca rou
yvonne meusberger aut bt timea bacsinszky sui
elena baltacha gbr bt pauline parmentier fra
kim clijsters bel bt valerie tetreault can
yanina wickmayer bel bt alexandra dulgheru rom
svetlana kuznetsova rus bt anastasia rodionova aus
flavia pennetta ita bt anna chakvedatze rus
maria jose martinez sanchez esp bt evgeniya rodina rus
palestinian group refuses to disarm outside lebanon camps
