wounded the looters and the rats she has just entered one of the first big
tents erected in the centre of port au prince
words gmt by deborah pasmantier picture
haiti quake elderly focus
port au prince
infirm and in pain even before last week earthquake the residents of the
public azile communal home in port au prince have seen their lives drop to new
levels of discomfort
words moved by sophie nicholson picture
haiti quake france health
port au prince
severely handicapped four year old abandoned at doorstep is just one of the
latest grim findings by nurses and doctors of french field hospital in the
decimated haitian capital
words gmt by jacques guillon picture
we have also moved haiti quake health religion scientology
haiti quake us aid health
middle east
attacks yemen qaeda somalia focus
sanaa
hundreds of thousands of somali refugees are now eyed with suspicion in yemen
over threat by islamists in somalia to bolster al qaeda making bad conditions
even worse for an already destitute community
words gmt by michel moutot file picture
americas
health us politics economy newseries
elyria ohio
president barack obama vows he will never stop fighting for struggling
americans in fiery political counter attack meant to mend democratic morale
and his frayed bond with voters
words gmt by stephen collinson picture
us economy politics bank bernanke newseries
washington
us president barack obama administration scrambles to save the nomination of
federal reserve chairman ben bernanke as more opposition emerges from members of
the president own party
words gmt by rob lever file picture
us attack justice guantanamo wrap
washington
president barack obama self imposed deadline for closing guantanamo passes
unmet as the administration moves closer to trying the alleged plotters
but also to us indefinite detention
words moved
asia
us china it internet google ndlead wrap
washington
us president barack obama is troubled by cyberattacks on internet titan google
and wants answers from china the white house says
words moved by stephen collinson
we have also moved us china it internet google diplomacy
cycling armstrong vows no goofing off after tour
adelaide australia jan afp
lance armstrong on saturday vowed not to repeat last season mistakes when he
goofed off after the tour down under affecting his comeback year
the seven time tour de france winner said he paid the price in last february
tour of california where he had tough time and placed seventh
the american fell and broke his collarbone in march before recovering to finish
third in july tour de france behind spanish rival alberto contador
messed up in the weeks after this last year went back and thought was on
schedule or slightly ahead of schedule and goofed off bit much and suffered
bad in california armstrong told reporters
have to not make those mistakes again and just keep on the gas right through
february
armstrong said it was too early to tell whether he was on track for this year
tour de france where he is bidding to become the race oldest winner at
it still so early not much can be taken from here in terms of what happens
in the summer in fact nothing he said
the main thing is we got good racing in which equals good preparation mixed
with no bad luck illness injuries crashes smooth trip good weather
he added that he was on returning to australia for melbourne road
world championships in october adding that he was not sure whether he still had
the power needed to win
back in my explosive days it would have been good he said it just
question of your condition at kilometres it the guys that have the best
preparation that do well you can hide after six hours
armstrong retired in after winning record seventh tour de france but
returned to the sport at last year tour down under six stage race over
kilometres miles of roads around adelaide
haitians get privacy finally to rest and mourn
port au prince jan afp
finally suze will be able to rest wash and stop living in proximity with the
wounded the looters and the rats she has just entered one of the first big
tents erected in the middle of haiti devastated capital
suze breathed sigh of relief finally she will be able to mourn the death
of her daughter one of the more than people killed in last week
massive earthquake
when she entered the tent the french military reserved for her family tears
filled in her eyes
suze jean francois lay down on the immaculate cloth smoothed fold the
confused commotion of sheets and tarps in the makeshift camp of the champ de
mars where refugees have lived in squalor ever since the january
quaker now seems just bad dream
our pathetic awful life will be easier it seems will finally be able to
sleep tonight she said
since the quake struck her impoverished country suze year old gardener
was sleeping on slab of concrete with her mother her godmother her sisters
aged and her brother year old student girl of two and her
cousins
they did not even have sheet to hide from the punishing caribbean sun during
the day or from the cold nights
they were prey to peeping toms when they bathed to young men who tried to
approach the young women to rats who scuttled across the camp littered with
trash and excrement for days
they hid to eat without fear or shame when they finally got hold of something
anything while so many others are still starving and dehydrated
couldn sleep with all these worries suze explained
her role is little bit like the man of the family her father left them long
ago for another woman her brother cannot stay put
her mother and her godmother are overcome with grief unable to come to terms
with the death of her sister stephania whose body lies under the rubble of
school
the military prioritized big families with children and sick people
in corner suze godmother looks at the tents her mind elsewhere thinking
about stephania they had been very close
am completely demoralized have no energy yes of course having tent
feels good will be able to cry in peace said mary fadette
shopkeeper
around them similarly destitute families observe the landscape some with hope
others with resignation
wait hope said junior ares year old mechanic
michael menard typist aged joined in hope this is sign that it will
all get better
on friday first supply of food was distributed in front of the champ de mars
water tankers and toilet blocks were set up electricity was being installed
this is first ray of hope it must continue said commander alban vassal
others are panicking
how do you get tent young man asked soldiers passing by
desperately looking for help man points to notebook where he wrote down the
names of all the refugees in his neighborhood
the government is doing nothing for us we have great needs he said
finally in her tent suze began to think about the future
need to find job this is what haunts me with my sister death she said
in plastic bags where she gathered the few belongings she managed to save from
the rubble suze pulled out photograph of stephania
now will finally be able to gather my thoughts and mourn she said
tennis dangerous davydenko dares to dream
melbourne jan afp
nikolay davydenko is daring to dream after another sparkling performance at the
australian open on saturday
the russian sixth seed crushed argentinian juan monaco and is yet
to drop set in three matches conceding just games in nine sets in reaching
the last for the fifth year in row
the win over the th seeded monaco extended his current winning streak to
matches and the year old said for the first time he felt like grand slam
title was within reach
am feeling very good confident now he said
before didn want to tell you guys yes can win and want to win grand
slam
but this level if keep it up maybe have chance to win
despite being veteran of the tour davydenko said his game had improved
significantly over the last months
maybe it depends how many matches you play and against who you play and against
who you win he said
last year beat so many good guys roger federer rafael nadal and juan
martin del potro
also in shanghai beat novak djokovic
very tough matches but now have very good confidence and maybe my tennis has
changed little bit
maybe starting to play bit faster and do not make so many mistakes
davydenko form has been noted in the locker room and djokovic nominated him as
the man to beat for the title
think the player who little bit under talked is davydenko djokovic
said
he playing the best tennis of his life
he on roll and he definitely one of the players that can win the title
this year lately he just stepped it up and think he feels it as well
he feels that he can beat anyone now
monaco was powerless to stop an early onslaught as the russian reeled off the
first nine games in quick time
the argentinian won just eight points in the first set and took until the fourth
game of the second set to get on the board
such was the dominance of davydenko that monaco raised his arms in triumph and
looked thankfully to the heavens when he finally held serve to open his account
monaco was more competitive in the third set achieving his only break of the
match but davydenko quickly steadied and break of his own in the ninth game
allowed him to serve out the match
davydenko who has never made grand slam final hit winners on his way to
his fourth win in five meetings with monaco while his opponent could only
manage four
the russian will now play ninth seeded spaniard fernando verdasco for place
in the quarter finals
verdasco was handed an easy third round victory when opponent stefan koubek
retired ill after dropping the first set
line up change for korea wonder girls
seoul jan afp
south korea top female pop group the wonder girls will soon have new line
up their agent announced saturday after taking the us pop charts by storm
sunmi will leave the five member group when they wrap up their year long
tour of the united states in february jyp entertainment said
according to the billboard website www billboard biz nobody topped the
year end hot singles sales chart in beating stars such as mariah carey
lady gaga and beyonce
nobody also ranked th in the billboard hot in late october first for
any asian group jyp entertainment said
sunmi who dropped out of school to join the wonder girls will return to her
education in march
it was such valuable and happy experience for me to take part in the
performance tour to cities in the united states for the past year but came
to wonder whether should live like this sunmi said in statement
sunmi will be replaced by hye lim who has been groomed by the group agent
for the past three years with view to appealing to chinese fans she is fluent
in english cantonese and mandarin
debuting in early the group scored three consecutive number one hit
singles with tell me so hot and nobody
the wonder girls also including sohee sunye ye eun and yubin plan to launch
their first english album in february
thaksin red shirts rally at thai golf club
bangkok jan afp
more than supporters of ousted thai prime minister thaksin shinawatra
rallied saturday at golf course they claim was illegally built and linked to
the king top aide police said
the gathering of the so called red shirts is the second this year against
alleged judicial double standards apparently aimed at building support for big
new anti government rallies promised by the movement in coming weeks
police colonel suthee thipsuk said more than protesters rallied peacefully
at the golf course in the southeastern province of chanthaburi with
security forces present
the red shirts accused ex premier general prem tinsulanonda head of the king
privy council of obstructing legal action over the facility that allegedly
encroaches on forest reserve land
intend to show that there are double standards in enforcing the law in this
country where royal advisers have intimidated government officials to stop them
performing their duty said veera musikapong red shirt leader
prem also top adviser to bangkok bank has collaborated and protected
soi dao highland golf club in which many owners of bangkok bank are also major
shareholders charged another red shirt leader jatuporn prompan
the red shirts believe former army chief prem was the mastermind behind the coup
that deposed thaksin in
thaksin who is living abroad to avoid two year jail term for corruption was
expected to give speech via video link to the rally late saturday
earlier this month the red shirts protested outside the weekend home of another
royal aide and ex premier surayud chulanont claiming it was also built
illegally in the khao yai tieng forest northeast of bangkok
surayud has since surrendered the property after the forestry department
stripped him of his right to own the land
the red shirts have held series of protests calling for the resignation of
current prime minister abhisit vejjajiva who took power in december
following the collapse of the previous pro thaksin government
the group leaders say they expect up to one million protesters to join rally
in bangkok next month ahead of court ruling on thaksin fortune worth
billion baht billion dollars which was frozen in the months after the
coup
tennis two chinese in slam fourth round for first time
melbourne jan afp
li na says chinese women tennis is on the rise after joining countrywoman
zheng jie in the fourth round of the australian open on saturday
the th seeded li beat slovakia daniela hantuchova to make it
two chinese into the fourth round of the same grand slam for the first time
ever
zheng upset th seed marion bartoli on friday to make her way into the round of
think it pretty good mean women tennis in china li said after
beating hantuchova
because we work so hard we are working so hard we also never give up in
match
we just play try to hold on to the match take it step by step
li said her friendship with zheng made life on the tour much easier
we talk lot we can go out and eat together and shop together she said
we are not against each other in the fourth round so we are friends she
added with laugh
the two women who are both married to their coaches have equalled their best
performances at the australian open although zheng has made the semi finals and
li the quarter finals at wimbledon
li would not be drawn on whether she was playing as well as she did when she
reached the fourth round here two years ago
right now mean didn think about that too much because am just
enjoying playing li who missed the tournament through injury said
didn have any points to defend at this tournament so had nothing to
lose
li will play either fourth seed caroline wozniacki or israeli shahar peer in the
fourth round
she beat wozniacki in the first round in sydney last week coming from set and
break down to overhaul the dane
hopefully don want to see that want to win easy she said
but you never know we ll see
sri lanka opposition warns of violence ahead of vote
colombo jan afp
sri lanka opposition warned on saturday of possible vote rigging and violence
by the ruling party ahead of next week presidential election as both sides
wound up campaigning
ahead of the final rallies later on saturday opposition candidate sarath
fonseka predicted that the ruling party led by president mahinda rajapakse
would use violence to intimidate his supporters in the tuesday vote
they want to create violence and discourage people from voting lower turnout
will help rigging he told reporters adding that he expected fake voters and
forged ballot papers to also be used
in the run up to the poll police say at least four people have been killed and
hundreds wounded in clashes between supporters the house of an influential
opposition figure was bombed on friday
fonseka said he and his allies would rely on the protection of the security
forces most of whom he said would vote for him except for few senior figures
who are trying to please the government
we can counter violence with violence we have to abide by the law he said
the ruling party has denied allegations that it plans to rig the voting and
independent election commissioner dayananda dissanayake told reporters friday he
would order re poll if any violence was used against voters
fonseka former army chief fielded series of questions about the
possibility of an army coup against him if he wins the vote and the movements of
armoured vehicles into colombo as tension rises in the capital
but he said there would be no popular support for coup and that he had full
confidence in the army
group of fonseka supporters wearing green caps and party shirts walked
noisily behind procession of rickshaws on the streets outside the venue of his
press conference
fonseka and rajapakse were to finish campaigning at rallies planned in and
around colombo later saturday
the country heads for its first peace time presidential election tuesday after
bitter intensely personal campaign between the architects of the country
victory over rebel forces
rajapakse handpicked sarath fonseka to be his army chief in and the two men
were victorious allies on the battlefield last year against the tamil tiger
rebels but are now sworn enemies at the ballot box
the poll marks the first time in years that sri lankans have gone to polls
without the influence of the tigers who fought brutal war for tamil
homeland before being crushed by government forces in may last year
populist obama vows never to quit the fight
elyria ohio jan afp
president barack obama has vowed to never stop fighting for struggling
americans in fiery counter attack aimed at mending democratic morale and his
frayed bond with voters
obama sought to recapture the passion of his campaign on friday after
wake up call from voters in liberal massachusetts who sent republican to the
senate and with his health care plan and wider agenda under assault in
congress
ll never stop fighting to give every american fair shake obama said at
town hall style meeting in the rust belt state of ohio vital bellwether in
mid term elections in november shaping up as another hit for democrats
striking populist notes obama said he would fight wall street to restore home
values for his embattled health plan to stop credit card companies cheating
customers and to cut exploding deficits
five days before his showpiece state of the union address obama also gave no
sign of backing down on reforming health care even as the historic bill looks
to be becalmed in congress
got to admit we hit bit of buzz saw obama said of the year long effort
to pass the reform which now looks doubtful after democrats lost their seat
senate supermajority needed to thwart republican blocking tactics
had no illusions when took on health care it was always going to be hard
obama said
and going to keep up the fight for real meaningful health insurance
reforms
posing as the champion of regular people obama added can promise you there
will be more fights in the days ahead
obama critics some of them democrats have faulted him for not being
sufficiently passionate in fighting economic blight for siding too much with
wall street and appearing aloof while everyday americans struggle
but with his soaring approval ratings of just year ago wilting the president
told crowd in ohio you know what win when you win
so long as have the privilege of serving as your president ll never stop
fighting for you ll take my lumps too
his day of rubbing shoulders with ohioans in colleges factories and small
town bar were designed to enhance the president regular guy credentials and
to convince people he knows how tough things are
the truth is being president is also little confining obama said
explaining how he came to neglect his connection with americans as he faced
multiple crises in his first year in office
can just walk around and visit people like used to can just go to
the barber shop or sit at diner
obama noted the political tumult following the loss by democrats of seat in
massachusetts which deprived his party of the votes needed to skirt republican
challenges to pass major legislation
the democratic party got resounding wake up call from the voters of
massachusetts david plouffe obama former campaign manager acknowledged in
an op ed to be published in the washington post on sunday
but it long been clear that would be challenging election year for our
party he added in the article accessible saturday on the post website
while lashing out against the financial industry obama also justified his
highly unpopular decision to stick with the previous administration bank
bailout plans
had he not acted he said the country would have fallen into second great
depression which would have taken terrible future toll on ordinary americans
or main street
in the depressed town of elyria obama made surprise stop at bar and
restaurant known as smitty where friends meet in an apparent bid to
burnish his image as man of the people
republicans boosted by this week victory of insurgent candidate scott brown in
massachusetts are cranking up their own populist rhetoric
for the past year ohioans have watched anxiously as washington democrats with
the approval of president obama have pushed job killing agenda that includes
stimulus that isn working said john boehner the top republican in the
house of representatives who represents an ohio district
unemployment in ohio is percent above the brutal national average of
percent
but the white house says obama billion dollar economic stimulus plan has
created jobs in the state
cycling greipel sights victory as armstrong hopes fade
adelaide australia jan afp
andre greipel put in desperate chase to move within sight of second tour
down under win on saturday as lance armstrong faint hopes ended on the race
most notorious climb
in thrilling finale greipel made up vital seconds in the last kilometres
after world champion cadel evans led fierce breakaway over stage five feared
willunga hill
greipel battled back to finish within nine seconds of stage winner spain luis
leon sanchez another former tour down under winner giving him an overall lead
of seconds going into sunday final stage around central adelaide
the german sprint specialist backed by his htc columbia team will be strong
favourite to clinch victory over the mainly flat kilometre miles course
after winning three stages already
it was just awesome from the guys greipel said there was no time to panic
we just needed to chase we were seconds behind
tomorrow just want to go with the guys in front hopefully there will be not
so many attacks but think with strong team like have we can hold on to
the jersey
milram luke roberts finished second tour of spain alejandro valverde was
third and evans fourth but armstrong was left trailing on the second pass over
willunga hill and remains seconds adrift overall
the american is using the race as preparation for his attempt on an eighth
tour de france title in july which would make him the race oldest winner
it was good the first time bad the second time no excuses that my own
fault fell asleep little bit he said don know if would have had
the legs to go with those leading guys they re riding well
meanwhile greipel htc columbia team mate michael rogers said it was group
effort to drag the sprinter over willunga hill and close the gap on the leaders
we were little bit nervous leading into the final eight or nine kilometres
but we used our experience and our brains rogers said
it came off perfectly in the end we didn win the stage but first and
foremost we held on to the leader jersey
greipel crashed out of last year tour down under when he hit parked police
motorbike ending his title defence and sidelining him for four months following
shoulder surgery
he will be hard to beat on sunday rogers said we ll be very motivated for
the bunch sprint and he clearly moving much faster than anyone else in the
last metres of the race
armstrong is the biggest name in strong field including tour de france
winner oscar pereiro and evans who has twice finished second in cycling
biggest race
tour of spain champion valverde another major star is fighting two year
doping ban in italy as well as attempts to extend it worldwide
tennis australian open results day six rd update
melbourne jan afp
results from day six of the australian open at melbourne park here saturday
denotes seeding
men singles
rd round
roger federer sui bt albert montanes esp
nikolay davydenko rus bt juan monaco arg
fernando verdasco esp bt stefan koubek aut retired virus
lukasz kubot pol bt mikhail youzhny rus walkover wrist injury
novak djokovic srb bt denis istomin uzb
women singles
rd round
samantha stosur aus bt alberta brianti ita
victoria azarenka blr bt tathiana garbin ita
vera zvonareva rus bt gisela dulko arg
serena williams usa bt carla suarez navarro esp
francesco schiavone ita bt agnieszka radwanska pol
li na chn bt daniela hantuchova svk
venus williams usa bt casey dellacqua aus
tennis australian open schedule
melbourne jan afp
sunday schedule of play on show courts for the australian open tennis at
melbourne park denotes seeding all sessions start at am gmt
unless stated
rod laver arena
andy murray gbr john isner usa
ivo karlovic cro rafael nadal esp
not before pm gmt
justine henin bel yanina wickmayer bel
andy roddick usa fernando gonzalez chi
hisense arena
alona bondarenko ukr zheng jie chn
nadia petrova rus svetlana kuznetsova rus
marin cilic cro juan martin del potro arg
maria kirilenko rus dinara safina rus
un climate panel head says glacier alarm regrettable error
new delhi jan afp
the head of the un climate science panel said saturday that doomsday
prediction about the fate of himalayan glaciers was regrettable error
rajendra pachauri chairman of the nobel winning intergovernmental panel on
climate change ipcc said in an emailed statement to media outlets that the
mistake arose out of established procedures not being diligently followed
pachauri was referring to forecast which featured in benchmark report on
global warming that the probability of glaciers in the himalayas disappearing
by the year and perhaps sooner is very high
the ipcc fourth assessment report was page opus released in whose
warning that climate change was on the march spurred politicians around the
world to vow action
earlier in week the panel apologised for the poor application of well
established ipcc procedures
in the latest statement on what the media have dubbed climategate pachauri
said the possibility of further errors in the report was minimal if not non
existent
he added the report general conclusions that himalayan glaciers were retreating
due to global warming were robust appropriate and entirely consistent with
the underlying science
he said the forecast that the glaciers could disappear by may have
genuinely alarmed some people but he said there had been benefit in that it
created heightened awareness about the real threat to himalayan glaciers
the ipcc co won the nobel peace prize for bringing climate change to the
world attention
the glacier error came to light after four prominent glaciologists and
hydrologists wrote letter to the prestigious us journal science
they said the paragraph mistakes stemmed from report by the conservation
group wwf
wwf had picked up news report based on an unpublished study compounded by the
accidental inversion of date instead of in russian paper
published in
the ipcc came under ferocious attack from climate sceptics ahead of the un
conference in copenhagen in december
but pachauri has defended the panel overall work position shared by other
scientists who say the core conclusions about climate change are
