although there was clear sound on television as the ball passed the bat
england sought review of umpire tony hill decision but harper said he could
find no reason to overturn the decision
in the first meeting was told the match referee gets different audio feed
from the one that supersport and sky television get said flower
on subsequent investigation we found that wasn correct went back and this
time he said that daryl harper hadn turned up the volume on his mic we have
heard the nick but the third umpire hasn
flower said the decision had come at an important time in the match
if it wasn such serious match for us would have found that quite amusing
it very disappointing for us to hear
smith earlier told journalists that there definitely was noise but said he
didn think he had touched the ball with his bat
thought it was my thumb on the handle at the time didn feel had hit it
and still don feel hit it
smith said there was no point in england crying over spilt milk because it had
been known that the snicko and hot spot aids would not be available
we all knew what technology was available going into the series said smith
flower said although he felt it was very clearly an edge the incident had not
affected his opinion of smith
not at all respect him very much as cricketer leader and person
he said his opinion of the umpiring would be made through official channels
our forum for that is the umpires report you guys can form your own opinion
alert
obama to meet ex presidents clinton bush on haiti
alert
obama warns of difficult days ahead in haiti rescue effort
priority is haiti living not its dead un mission
port au prince jan afp
international agencies and governments have enough search and rescue teams on
the ground in quake hit haiti the un said friday calling for more medical and
food aid for survivors
we really need to focus on the living and what we can do for them nicholas
reader spokesman for the united nations office for the coordination of
humanitarian affairs ocha told afp at port au prince airport
as of early this morning there are countries participating people are
on the ground with dogs he said the word we are getting back is that
they don need any more search and rescue teams
instead aid shipments will now concentrate on the humanitarian needs
principally medical supplies and food and water for the survivors still
living among the ruins left by quake that left thousands dead
reader said it would take long time to estimate how many people may have been
killed but said that tuesday earthquake had been major disaster that would
need significant international response
as he spoke planes from dozen air forces and charter companies shuttled in and
out of the busy airport ferrying aid supplies into haiti and flying out
hundreds of mainly french and us citizens trapped by the disaster
the airport itself has been secured by forward elements of the us army nd
airborne division part of planned strong american task force on its
way to help deal with the crisis
but reader said the un coordinated effort would initially concentrate on the
capital as outlying areas were too insecure to set up aid stations
we re splitting the city into sections and deploying the teams according to
areas on the map he said we re operating mainly currently in port au
prince there are challenges for the security of teams in some areas
un says homeless after unprecedented haiti quake
geneva jan afp
an estimated people have been left homeless in the devastation wrought
by the unprecedented earthquake in haiti with one in homes in the capital
destroyed the un said on friday
helicopter assessment by the un mission in haiti found that some areas around
port au prince suffered percent destruction as aid workers struggled to
rush help into the debris ridden area
first estimates suggest some percent of the housing in port au prince has
been destroyed which roughly translates to about people left homeless
said elisabeth byrs spokeswoman of the un office for the coordination of
humanitarian affairs ocha
another un body estimated that percent of buildings had collapsed or been
affected after the capital and surrounding areas were hit by an earthquake that
had no historical precedent in the region
we re talking definitely about an earthquake which probably has recurrence
period of several hundred years said andrew maskrey specialist at the
international strategy for disaster reduction
an ocha situation report said some million people live in areas hit by
strong shaking from the magnitude earthquake that flattened much of the
haitian capital port au prince this week
besides port au prince jacmel city on haiti south coast and carrefour
nearby suburb closer to the epicentre were also affected and still
largely unexplored according to the un
un teams on the ground were urging countries to stop sending search and rescue
teams into an aid bottleneck but called for doctors and medical personnel to
treat thousands of casualties suffering crush injuries or fractures
seventeen teams are on the ground six more are arriving byrs told
journalists
right now we don need more disaster search and rescue teams that would only
clog the airport she added
an airbridge was being set up between port au prince small airport and hub
at santo domingo in the neighbouring dominican republic to channel relief
supplies and staff arriving from around the world ocha said
no more field hospitals are needed the priority is for medical teams nurses
surgeons for trauma and medicines to cope with mounting casualty numbers as
people reached care byrs added
the world health organisation said eight hospitals or health facilities in the
quake area had collapsed or were seriously damaged while international
committee of the red cross staff found at least five other hospitals were still
working
the un health agency was unable to give an estimate of casualties
the scale of this is little bit unfathomable said who spokesman paul
garwood
charity doctors without borders msf said it had treated people for
injuries suffered in the quake and thousands more were awaiting surgery in its
hospitals
probably it will get worse before it gets better said msf head in haiti
stefano zannini
the world food programme was lining up emergency food rations for two million
people hit by the quake initially to last at least days
people are unable to cook so they need ready to eat meals said wfp
spokeswoman emilia casella
twenty countries organisations and companies have pledged million dollars
million euros in aid for victims of the devastating earthquake ocha
data showed
un humanitarian chief john holmes said in new york that million dollar aid
appeal was being lined up
thousands of international aid workers already stationed in the impoverished and
aid dependent caribbean country including cuban doctors switched to
emergency disaster relief
getting physically tonnes and tonnes of equipments of food and water around
is not as instant as twitter or skype or hour satellite news casella said
underlining the scale of the destruction
urgent six killed in second us drone strike in pakistan officials
miranshah pakistan jan afp
second us drone attack killed at least six people in restive pakistani
tribal area bordering afghanistan friday pakistani officials said
at least six people believed to be militants were killed in us drone
attack senior security official told afp
the attack took place at bichi village in restive north waziristan tribal
district hours after us drones destroyed compound in the nearby region
couple of hours before killing five people
local intelligence official and local government officials confirmed the
second attack and toll
figure skating rochette second in canadian short programme
london canada jan afp
five time defending champion joannie rochette settled for second place behind
cynthia phaneuf after the women short programme on friday at the canadian
figure skating championships
phaneuf skating just ahead of rochette in the final two routines of the last
group received scores of points from judges while rochette scored
to take second with amelie lacoste distant third at
the short programme counts for one third of the total women score with
saturday free skate accounting for the rest
two skaters from each discipline at the meet will qualify for next month
vancouver winter olympics with phaneuf and rochette in strong position to
advance
men and pairs short programmes and the original dance were scheduled later
friday with top two after the pairs dance and women free skates saturday and
the men free skate sunday qualifying to skate in the olympics on home ice
euro slides on greek worries
london jan afp
the euro fell sharply against the dollar friday weighed down by fears for the
health of the greek economy and disappointing us economic data
the single european currency in late day trade was at dollars down from
dollars late thursday in new york the euro at one point dropped to
dollars it lowest since december
the dollar was trading at yen down from on thursday
the euro felt the impact of warning issed thursday by european central bank
governor jean claude trichet that greece could expect no special treatment from
the bank as it struggles to overcome its debt and deficit crisis
the parlous state of greece public finances and its loss of credibility on
financial markets have sparked fears that other debt stricken eurozone members
could face the same fate
authorities throughout the nation bloc are now debating whether they can or
should offer financial help to athens
it will be decisive for euro dollar in the near future whether eu members or
institutions seriously consider bailout of greece said analyst antje
praefcke of commerzbank
such bailout would constitute point of no return as it would go at least
against the spirit of the euro stability pact evoking the danger of fiscal
policy moral hazard
moral hazard refers to the possibility that if debtor knows they will be
bailed out by the authorities in case of failure they may become even more
reckless and take on yet more risk
greece which is mired in recession has public spending deficit that rose to
percent of output last year far above the percent ceiling permitted to
countries sharing the euro
it is also saddled with total debt equal to percent of gross domestic
product gdp
the euro will come under renewed downward pressure in coming months predicted
analysts at capital economics
with concerns about greece mounting economic prospects deteriorating compared
to the united states and ecb interest rates set to remain on hold we see the
currency falling to dollars by year end
but as weaker euro could boost eurozone exports they added this would not
necessarily be bad thing
investors were also prompted to shun the euro following publication of the
latest university of michigan survey of us consumer confidence which rose at
slower pace than had been expected
the message remains one of considerable caution about the strength of the us
recovery said rob carnell of ing bank
doubts about the sustainability of the us rebound on friday led investors to buy
the dollar seen as safer bet than the euro in times of uncertainty
in london on friday the euro was changing hands at dollars against
dollars late on thursday at yen pounds
and swiss francs
the dollar stood at yen and swiss francs
the pound was at dollars
on the london bullion market the price of gold eased to dollars an ounce
at the fixing from dollars on thursday
some canadians missing in haiti four dead
ottawa jan afp
some canadians are missing in haiti and four have been confirmed dead in
devastating earthquake foreign minister lawrence cannon said friday
according to the latest consular information there are four confirmed canadian
fatalities cannon said in addition total of canadians are missing in
the affected area
the figure for missing canadians represents the number that consular services
have been unable to reach after being informed by their families that they are
in haiti the foreign affairs ministry said
our operations center is trying to call back all of the families to verify
whether they ve not yet heard from their loved ones ministry spokeswoman lisa
monette told afp
according to cannon canadians were also injured and over canadians have
been located in the caribbean nation
about canadians continue to take refuge at our embassy in haiti and another
are being assisted elsewhere in haiti he told press conference
on thursday the canadian military evacuated citizens aboard transport
planes delivering aid to quake victims among them was prize winning author dany
laferriere
the canadian government estimates that canadians were in haiti during the
magnitude quake however only had registered with the embassy
so far canadian soldiers have arrived in the disaster zone to lend hand
in relief efforts and they are to be joined by several more in the afternoon
defense minister peter mackay said
pleased to announce that the canadian forces have made good progress in
establishing footprint for staging search and rescue operations relief effort
and aid delivery said mackay
two jumbo transport planes and two hercules military aircraft
carrying forklifts search and rescue helicopters royal canadian mounted police
officers medical evacuation teams military police and search and rescue
technicians have landed in port au prince he said
these have been flying into haiti with aid and medical supplies since thursday
and returning with canadians over the coming days they are expected to make up
to two flights per day to haiti
as well six mercedes wagons armored vehicles more military personnel and
two canadian warships were en route the navy frigates with roughly seamen
onboard are expected to arrive in haiti in three to four days said mackay
canada to send up to election observers to ukraine
ottawa jan afp
canada will send up to observers to ukraine to monitor sunday presidential
elections said international cooperation minister bev oda
six long term and short term election observers will be sent for the first
ballot they will be joined by four canadian embassy staff in kiev
should second round take place canada will send up to additional
observers
canada has long and proud history of providing election observers to
countries to ensure free and fair elections oda said in statement friday
this is very important vote in ukraine and in recognition of our special
relationship we are pleased to support this democratic process
some million canadians trace their roots to ukraine
pro russian politician viktor yanukovich who lost his run to president
viktor yushchenko when the orange revolution street protests forced re run of
rigged polls is leading opinion polls ahead of the vote
yushchenko champion of ukraine eu integration is set for humiliating first
round exit with his reputation scarred by the failure of the revolution to
deliver reform
yanukovich is expected to be joined in run off on february by prime minister
yulia tymoshenko famed for her traditional golden hair braid
canada to free migrant tamils suspected of tiger links
vancouver canada jan afp
several of the sri lankan asylum seekers picked up off the canadian coast in
october and thought to be tamil tiger rebels are to be freed from detention
ottawa said friday
lawyers for the men were informed late thursday that they would be released
under strict conditions and planned secret hearings to determine if they posed
threat to canada would not be held
the cbsa canada border services agency has decided not to pursue detention
for these individuals cbsa spokeswoman faith st john told afp
instead the cbsa is proceeding with each case in accordance with the specific
facts and the appropriate process under the immigration and refugee protection
act she added
paula faber of the immigration and refugee board said it has so far ordered
of the to be released with terms and conditions and of these have been
freed
now all of them could be released within weeks officials said
the canada border services agency had singled out of the group as possible
tamil tigers separatist group that waged decades long civil war with the
government of sri lanka
the liberation tigers of tamil eelam ltte are banned in canada as terrorist
group
last month the canadian government told the immigration panel that the ocean
lady freighter used to transport the migrants was linked to the ltte and had
possibly been used for arms shipments
tests showed two of the men detained had explosive residue on their clothes
officials said
the ltte popularly called the tamil tigers fought brutal separatist war
against the sri lanka government from until it was defeated last may
thousands of tamils remain in refugee camps in the country while ships carrying
tamil migrants fleeing sri lanka have also been reported off the coasts of
australia malaysia and indonesia
tiny countries offer help for haiti
paris jan afp
haiti devastating earthquake has spurred generosity even from some of the
world tiniest nations with countries like crisis hit iceland sending rescue
team and mauritius donating cash
countries that have struggled through their own natural disasters have also
stepped up to help adding to millions in small donations collected from
individuals through innovative text messaging services
indonesia which has seen repeated earthquakes and endured deadly
tsunami pledged humanitarian team the un aid coordination office said
bangladesh one of the world poorest countries that was also hit by
destructive cyclone last year contributed medical personnel
scenes of chaos and desperation from the impoverished caribbean nation prompted
massive aid responses from large countries especially the united states
located nearby and home to many haitian immigrants
the united nations said friday that the international community had so far
pledged some million dollars million euros in aid number that
was sure to increase
un humanitarian chief john holmes said his office would launch an appeal for
millions dollars from the world community
officials said any contribution would help and former us president bill clinton
urged individuals to make donations of as little as dollars using text
messages
mobile phone campaign set up by the us red cross had raised more than eight
million dollars early friday with the money pouring in at the rate of
dollars an hour officials said
smaller countries responded to the call as well
the small indian ocean island of mauritius with population of about
million announced it was sending half million dollars as part of the relief
effort for quake stricken fellow creole speaking haitians
it also said it was planning to organise telethon to collect more funds for
haiti where five mauritians were stationed at the time of the earthquake one
of them was still unaccounted for
turkmenistan whose population is around five million has also contributed half
million dollars the turkmen foreign ministry said
iceland still recovering from the spectacular collapse of its banking system
quickly mobilised assistance for haiti
man strong icelandic international search and rescue team has landed in
port au prince one of the first rescue teams to reach haiti following the
devastating earthquake statement from the icelandic foreign ministry said
the team had landed at gmt on wednesday and was composed of highly
trained group of search and rescue specialists
countries in the region despite their small populations or relative lack of
resources offered aid
el salvador hit by deadly floods and mudslides last year pledged member
search and rescue team according to the un bolivia offered blood and food for
victims
haiti neighbour cuba which has regularly sent doctors to countries with
shortages of medical personnel offered additional doctors to its medical
staff already in haiti
alert
six killed in second us drone strike in nw pakistan officials
golf englishman lynn leads joburg open by one shot
johannesburg jan afp
david lynn of england hit second round on friday to take one stroke lead
in the joburg open at rain and storm hit royal johannesburg and kensington golf
club
the year old from the midlands city of stoke lies on after an opening
round in the last of four south african tournaments on the european tour
circuit
lynn is one ahead of pre tournament favourite charl schwartzel of south africa
who won one of the previous three european events and finished runner up in
another
like other competitors schwartzel found the east course more demanding
examination than the shorter west course on thursday and had to settle for
in the second round
south africans henrik buhrmann and jbe kruger former ryder cup star darren
clarke of northern ireland and englishman danny willett share third place two
strokes behind lynn
there is strong south african presence on the leaderboard with three more on
keith horne james kamte and hennie otto while first round leader neil
schietekat is among those further stroke off the pace
lynn seeking only his second european tour title in plus tournament
appearances after the klm open picked up five birdies and dropped just one
shot with bogey at the fourth
got off to good start with birdie at the first and that put me in the
right frame of mind after being bit tentative with my putter on thursday it
was much easier today said the englishman
schwartzel birdied three holes and parred the rest and seems likely to be
strong contender for first prize in the million euro tournament won by dane
anders hansen last year
afghan us forces shoot wound five civilians nato
kabul jan afp
five afghan civilians were shot and wounded by us and afghan troops outside
military base in restive area of the country that was the scene of violent
demonstration day earlier nato said friday
the incident took place in the garmser area of helmand province on wednesday
nato international security assistance force isaf said in statement
an isaf spokesman said warning shots were fired as crowd of up to people
gathered outside the gate of military base combat outpost sher
on tuesday seven people were killed in garmser during demonstration sparked by
rumours that foreign soldiers had desecrated koran in an operation the
previous day officials said earlier this week
referring to the wednesday incident lieutenant todd breasseale told afp the
five afghan civilians were wounded by bullets
combined isaf and ana afghan national army force was outside the outpost
in the crowd five or six individuals were threatening isaf and ana soldiers
he said
there were warning shots and the five or six individuals that were an imminent
threat were targeted he added
in its statement isaf said crowd of between and people were told to
keep their distance from the gate of the base
however number of civilians in the crowd disregarded instructions resulting
in forces firing warning shots
deliberative escalation of force procedures were followed but one individual
continued to ignore instructions striking members of the combined force with
stick
isaf forces medically evacuated five wounded civilians to the nearby forward
operating base dwyer treatment facility it said
government investigation team looking into the rumours that foreign soldiers
had desecrated koran found they had been spread by taliban operatives and were
unfounded
but during the demonstration tuesday shooting broke out and seven people six
civilians and an afghan intelligence official were killed
there was nothing in the isaf statement friday to indicate what had sparked the
demonstration that led to the shootings outside the base gate on wednesday
the taliban who have heavy presence in helmand province often whip up
resentment against foreign forces deployed to fight them
there are international troops fighting the insurgents with another
being deployed this year
civilian casualties are sensitive issue among afghans and are often seized on
by president hamid karzai to bolster support for his government
un report released this week said civilian casualties rose percent last
year over but the overwhelming majority percent were in taliban
attacks
the taliban rarely take responsibility for attacks causing high civilian
casualties though their weapons of choice remote controlled bombs and suicide
attacks often kill indiscriminately
isaf also reported separate incident in neighbouring kandahar province also
an insurgent hotspot in which two people were killed by soldiers who had been
targeted by remote control bomb while on patrol
immediately following the bomb strike three motorcycles approached the
patrol at high rate of speed it said
as escalation of force procedures were followed the patrol perceived an
imminent threat and shot and killed two individuals and detained four others
guinea rivals sign deal polls in six months
ouagadougou jan afp
guinea political rivals friday signed deal providing for elections in six
months and for junta chief captain moussa dadis camara to remain in
convalescence according to an official statement
the accord was signed by camara who is recovering after an assassination
attempt interim junta chief general sekouba konate and burkina faso president
blaise compaore who is mediating between the ruling junta and the opposition
the deal provides for national council of transition and unity government
before polls are held in six months
several us officers failed in supervising hasan probe
washington jan afp
report into the fort hood shooting spree calls for holding accountable
several us military officers who supervised the suspected gunman leader of
the probe said friday
as result of our review it appeared that there were several officers who did
not apply the army policies to the perpetrator said togo west former army
secretary who led the review with former chief of naval operations vernon
clark
he said the report recommended that the us army secretary examine the report
findings and carry out an accountability review which could include
disciplinary measures
west declined to offer more details about the conduct of the officers
defense secretary robert gates praised the report and said he had forwarded the
recommendations for accountability to the army secretary
us army psychiatrist major nidal hasan has been charged with the murder of
people in the november attack at the military base in texas in which
people were also wounded
hasan is being investigated for links to islamic extremism including his
contacts with radical cleric who blessed the killing spree
military and intelligence officials have come under criticism for possibly
missing warning signs about the alleged gunman
the review also revealed the pentagon is ill prepared for internal threats and
fails to share information widely about personnel gates said earlier
the report into the circumstances of the shooting spree shows shortcomings in
the way the department is prepared to defend against threats posed by external
influences operating on members of our military community gates told
reporters
the probe showed that the pentagon policies and methods were shaped by the
cold war and gates said the department needed to adapt to new threats that
appeared after the september attacks
it is clear that as department we have not done enough to adapt to the
evolving domestic internal security threat to american troops and military
facilities that has emerged over the past decade he said
in this area as in so many others this department is burdened by th century
processes and attitudes mostly rooted in the cold war
counterintelligence procedures were mostly designed to combat an external
threat such as foreign intelligence service he said
us troops spark anger at haiti airport
port au prince jan afp
troopers from the us army nd airborne division fanned out across haiti
main airport friday sparking angry scenes as they struggled to control crowds
desperate to leave the country
back up back up not trying to be rude but you ve got to back up
soldier shouted as french official tried to lead group of french nationals
into the airport terminal
passeport americain seulement passeport americain seulement frustrated
state department official shouted as haitian refugees began to crowd around an
ad hoc holding area for us citizens clutching their precious blue passports
the us troops were the first of an estimated due to pour into the country
over the course of the day
the united states is deploying as many as troops to haiti over the next
few days although many will remain on an armada of naval vessels gathering
offshore led by the aircraft carrier uss vinson the pentagon said
the us detachment is the largest so far committed to the aid effort three days
after massive earthquake devastated port au prince killing thousands and
destroying all semblance of governance in this poverty stricken country
the nd airborne troops set up base at the airport securing the entrance to
the terminal where they began filtering us passport holders out of the crowd of
hundreds of frustrated would be refugees demanding flights
measure of order was restored but there were confused and sometimes angry
scenes as non american diplomats tried to extract their own nationals from the
crowd to usher them to rescue planes waiting on the tarmac
french diplomats trying to get of their fellow nationals to the first of
three planes due to extract them were initially turned back by us troops and
state department officials
we re just setting up control points said sergeant kelab barrieau
