helicopters and onboard operating rooms arrived off haiti on sunday and began to
offload humanitarian aid
pair of landing craft launched from the siroco came ashore at port au prince
main harbor and began to unload trucks and supplies in the earthquake devastated
capital
the freight was to be trucked to the airport where it will be divided among the
various aid agencies working to save victims of the january quake
french ambassador didier le bret and the haitian first lady elizabeth preval
flew by helicopter to visit the warship after it dropped anchor in the bay
wanted to take the opportunity to ask the ambassador to pass on the thanks of
the president and the people of haiti for the spontaneous generosity of france
she told reporters after her visit
the crew of siroco tonne meter long foudre class warship will
spend four days offloading tonnes of aid and equipment for rescue teams
including mechanical diggers to clear the rubble of thousands of ruined homes
the ship itself is too large to be berthed at port au prince damaged harbor
so it will remain around kilometers six miles from shore and supply french
units on the ground by helicopter and landing craft
the siroco skipper commander damien lorge said that from monday the ship
will be able to act as floating hospital for critical surgical cases
we ll take patients on board who need surgery the ship chief medical
officer evelyne lambert told afp
we re counting on performing five to operations day said jean lyprendi
one of the medical team members aboard the siroco
on january haiti was hit by catastrophic earthquake that left more than
people dead and another million struggling to survive in makeshift camps
dotted around the capital and surrounding region
an international military coalition dominated by the united states has swung
into action to assist the united nations coordinated relief effort
football africa cup of nations quarter final algeria ivory coast
cabinda angola jan afp
full result of an africa cup of nations quarter final at chiazi stadium on
sunday
algeria matmour bougherra bouazza ivory coast kalou keita
teams
algeria
faouzi chaouchi madjid bougherra antar yahia slimane raho rafik
halliche nadir belhadj karim ziani djamel abdoun yazid mansouri capt
hassan yebda mourad meghni hamer bouazza karim matmour abdelkader
ghezzal
coach rabah saadane
ivory coast
boubacar barry guy demel kolo toure souleman bamba siaka tiene didier
zokora aruna dindane yaya toure cheik tiote emerse fae kouassi
gervinho yao didier drogba capt salomon kalou abdulkader keita
coach vahid halilhodzic bih
referee eddy maillet sey
yellow cards bougherra yahia matmour toure
ireland leaders in fresh talks to defuse devolution crisis
london jan afp
northern ireland feuding leaders meet on monday in bid to defuse growing
political crisis that is threatening the british province power sharing
administration media reported
martin mcguinness northern irish deputy first minister will hold talks with
first minister peter robinson to end bitter devolution row the press
association news agency said without citing source
renewed discussions to break the impasse on policing and justice powers come
after negotiations between mcguinness sinn fein party and their power sharing
partners broke down last week
sinn fein which is catholic and wants united ireland shares power with
robinson democratic unionist party dup pro british protestant group
efforts are intensifying to halt feared collapse of the troubled province
administration with sinn fein confirming mcguinness had talked to both the
british and irish prime ministers about the issue sunday
it also emerged that british prime minister gordon brown will meet in london
with his irish counterpart brian cowen to discuss the crisis on monday
the irish leader visit comes just days after his last talks with brown in
the british capital
british government spokesman said the talks were part of the ongoing
discussions on northern ireland
sinn fein and the dup disagree over the issue of the transfer of policing and
justice powers from london to belfast crucial piece in the devolution
jigsaw
sinn finn accuses the dup of blocking deal to overcome the impasse
three years ago sinn fein backed the new policing arrangements in northern
ireland on condition that the province eventually took over political
responsibility for law and order from london
cowen on sunday described the situation as serious
ll be working with gordon brown in the coming days to get this matter
resolved he said
even before the long running devolution row worsened northern irish politics
was gripped by scandal after robinson stepped down temporarily amid sex and
money scandal involving his politician wife
he is fighting allegations that he was aware his wife iris had secured
pound dollar euro donation to enable her year old lover to
set up restaurant business
three decades of sectarian violence in northern ireland were largely ended by
the good friday agreement but two british soldiers and policeman were
shot dead last year in attacks claimed by dissident republicans
football algeria stun nations cup favourites ivory coast in thriller
cabinda angola jan afp
algeria clawed back from the brink of elimination to stun title favourites ivory
coast on sunday and reach the africa cup of nations semi finals
the winners fell behind on minutes to brilliant abdulkader keita goal
only for madjid bougherra to level in stoppage time and unmarked substitute
hamer bouazza headed nd minute far post winner
drama continued to the end with television replays suggesting late shot from
ivorian defender kolo toure that found the net was wrongly judged offside by an
assistant referee
ivory coast coach vahid halilhodzic was furious and distraught in equal measure
this is huge disappointment of course said the year old bosnian born
former yugoslavian international
we were not good this evening sunday and we are obliged to congratulate
algeria
great teams do not let lead few minutes before full time slip like
that
it is unacceptable we had had opportunities to kill off the match before that
and we are all really stunned we came here with great hopes and as is always
the case ivory coast has failed to deliver
it is imperative that everyone assumes their responsibility for this me to
start with
we have five or six really good players but we lost every duel it is not
physical problem it is mental one do not have all the answers but am
ashamed with regard to how we played and apologise to the ivorian public who
really believed in us
his algerian counterpart rabah saadane had evidently vastly different emotions
am really happy we came up with what we wanted said saadane
wasn surprised by my team but more by the decline of the ivory coast side
the critics said after we beat mali that we only scored goals from dead
ball situations well here we scored three goals from open play
victory for algeria sets up the prospect of last four showdown with bitter
rivals egypt who they deprived of place at the world cup in south africa
after play off
defending champons egypt face four time winners cameroon on monday in clash of
giants but the teams will struggle to match the drama of this encounter
as the match kicked off amid steamy evening conditions in this oil rich northern
angola enclave the chief concern of ivory coast coach vahid halilhodzic was
rustiness with their last match nine days ago
algeria had point to prove after accusations they and angola had fixed
goalless group draw in luanda to ensure both qualified at the expense of mali
but if the ivorians were rusty it did not show on four minutes as they reacted
quickest in goalmouth scramble and salomon kalou struck the ball past
goalkeeper faouzi chaouchi to give the west africans perfect start
early attacking traffic was heading largely toward the goal of the white kit
algerians and rafik halliche was lucky to escape unpunished when he fouled
didier drogba inside the area and ivory coast should have been awarded
penalty
algeria were gradually showing more confidence and coming at their opponents and
after coming close few times the north africans deservedly equalised as half
time approached
lofted pass toward the ivorian penalty area missed friend and foe and fell
invitingly for karim matmour from borussia moenchengladbach who left boubacar
barry helpless with shot that flew in off post
fascinating see saw struggle continued to offer scoring chances at each end
with drogba narrowly failing to reach kalou crossed and barry foiling matmour
when he broke through and had only the goalkeeper to beat
but the miss of the second half came five minutes from full time when kouassi
gervinho yao burst clear when bougherra failed to intercept pass only to
blaze over with just chaouchi to beat
in sensational climax to regulation time keita scored six minutes after
replacing kalou with candidate for goal of the tournament unleashing an
unstoppable shot from outside the area into the roof of the net
algeria refused to surrender however and unmarked defender bougherra was first
to cross on minutes and headed the ball down and up over barry to take
thriller into extra time
tokyo stocks open lower
tokyo jan afp
japanese share prices opened lower monday with the benchmark nikkei index
falling points or percent to in the first minute of
trading
oxfam urges haiti debt cancellation at canada talks
london jan afp
charity oxfam urged monday countries at an emergency meeting to help quake hit
haiti to cancel the devastated nation million dollars of international
debt
the appeal came as the united states canada france brazil and other donors
with interests in haiti met in montreal to map out plans to rebuild the
caribbean nation and improve aid efforts for millions of people
expecting haiti to repay millions of dollars as the country struggles to
overcome one of the worst natural disasters in recent memory would be both cruel
and unnecessary said jeremy hobbs international executive director of the
london based aid agency
cancellation of the million dollar million pound million euro
burden should be accompanied by action at the canada meeting to deliver on
pledge to turn huge loan into grant said oxfam
the international monetary fund has vowed to change million dollar
emergency loan to haiti into grant but needs permission from countries that
give the body funds to do so according to oxfam
the charity said removing haiti debt burden was one of their five priorities
for the reconstruction of the hard hit nation
others were support for haitian farmers and small business to ensure poor
areas benefit from grants intended for them to support civil society and to
rebuild what the quake destroyed better than before the devastation
steps must also be taken to boost food production for up to three million
haitians affected by the disaster the aid agency added
immediate cancellation of foreign debt must be accompanied by urgent action to
support farmers and prevent man made food crisis exacerbating the hardship
faced by the people of haiti said hobbs
haiti prime minister jean max bellerive is expected at the closed door talks
along with us secretary of state hillary clinton french foreign minister
bernard kouchner and other officials
it will also bring together argentina brazil chile costa rica the dominican
republic japan mexico peru spain and uruguay along with officials from the
united nations and the organisation of american states
the european union the inter american development bank the world bank the imf
and several non governmental organisations will also be represented
the magnitude earthquake which hit haiti on january has killed at least
people and is the worst recorded disaster ever to hit the americas
afp
afp world news service no unauthorized reproduction
olympics alpine vonn miller pace us olympic ski squad
park city utah jan afp
two time olympic silver medallist bode miller and double world champion lindsey
vonn will lead the us alpine ski team for the winter olympics announced
tuesday by the us ski association
vonn and miller were among athletes named to the us team which will compete
in vancouver at the olympics from february
with lindsey there potential gold in every event said us women alpine
ski coach jim tracy
she has put in the hard work to make it happen and has proven she can but the
cream of the crop will be there and they all have the same goal she has said it
better than anyone if she wins one medal of any color she ll be happy
everything else will be bonus
reigning olympic gold medallists ted ligety and julia mancuso are also headed to
the ski resort of whistler which will host the alpine events
the us team includes nine first time olympians
as team we re proud of this group of guys said us men coach sasha
rearick
it an impressive mix of veterans like ted and bode who ve shown they can
perform when it counts but then we ve got young guys like andrew weibrecht and
tommy ford who have consistently made progress all winter
vonn who was recently named the us olympic committee sportswoman of the year
is expected to be the darling of the vancouver games she has won every downhill
on the world cup circuit this year and leads the overall downhill super and
super combined points standings
joining vonn and mancuso is world cup winner sarah schleper who becomes four
time olympian she took two year hiatus after the turin winter olympics
because of injuries and to have baby
sarah has achieved huge goal that year ago might have been unrealistic
said tracy but she has spirit like no other if you look at the olympics
there always someone who comes out of nowhere
it exactly what julia did in and now jules has something that lot of
people will never have an olympic gold medal
alert
five taliban officials removed from un sanctions list security council
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five taliban officials removed from un sanctions list security council
olympics alpine vonn miller pace us olympic ski squad
park city utah jan afp
two time olympic silver medallist bode miller and double world champion lindsey
vonn will lead the us alpine ski team for the winter olympics announced
tuesday by the us ski association
vonn and miller were among athletes named to the us team which will compete
in vancouver at the olympics from february
with lindsey there potential gold in every event said us women alpine
ski coach jim tracy
she has put in the hard work to make it happen and has proven she can but the
cream of the crop will be there and they all have the same goal she has said it
better than anyone if she wins one medal of any color she ll be happy
everything else will be bonus
reigning olympic gold medallists ted ligety and julia mancuso are also headed to
the ski resort of whistler which will host the alpine events
the us team includes nine first time olympians
as team we re proud of this group of guys said us men coach sasha
rearick
it an impressive mix of veterans like ted and bode who ve shown they can
perform when it counts but then we ve got young guys like andrew weibrecht and
tommy ford who have consistently made progress all winter
vonn who was recently named the us olympic committee sportswoman of the year
is expected to be the darling of the vancouver games she has won every downhill
on the world cup circuit this year and leads the overall downhill super and
super combined points standings
joining vonn and mancuso is world cup winner sarah schleper who becomes four
time olympian she took two year hiatus after the turin winter olympics
because of injuries and to have baby
sarah has achieved huge goal that year ago might have been unrealistic
said tracy but she has spirit like no other if you look at the olympics
there always someone who comes out of nowhere
it exactly what julia did in and now jules has something that lot of
people will never have an olympic gold medal
urgent japan logs billion dollar trade surplus in december
tokyo jan afp
japan logged trade surplus of billion yen billion dollars in
december as exports rose for the first time in months official data showed
wednesday
yahoo posts best quarter of bartz era
san francisco jan afp
yahoo reversed losses of year ago and posted its best quarterly net profit on
tuesday since carol bartz took over as chief executive of the internet company
the sunnyvale california based yahoo reported fourth quarter net profit of
million dollars compared with loss of million dollars in the same
quarter year ago
revenue however continued to slide at the internet giant falling four percent
in the quarter which ended on december to billion dollars
while lower than year ago fourth quarter revenue was better than the
billion dollars expected by wall street analysts
adjusted earnings per share of cents were also better than the cents
forecast by analysts
yahoo said its annual net profit rose percent to million dollars while
annual revenue fell percent to billion dollars
the fourth quarter marked strong finish to which was transformative
year for yahoo said bartz who has focused on aggressive cost cutting since
taking over the reins of the company year ago
our business has positive momentum and we feel good as we head into
bartz said adding that demand for premium display advertising had improved
significantly
yahoo which is distant second to google in the us internet search market
said it expected revenue of between billion dollars and billion
dollars this quarter
bartz in conference call with analysts said had been wonderful if
bumpy ride in one of the worst economic climates ever
like many other business leaders glad it over she said revenue
decline of only percent is pretty darn good
bartz said yahoo has many more new products planned for this year and would
also be looking to make acquisitions
for us is about acquisitions to make yahoo even stronger she said
although she cautioned that the company does not plan any big purchases
bartz also said yahoo would focus its growth internationally on where the big
internet populations are coming online indonesia brazil india
bartz former ceo of software firm autodesk took over as yahoo chief
executive in january replacing founder jerry yang who stepped down amid
criticism over his rejection of billion dollar takeover bid by microsoft
yahoo and microsoft after months of negotiations unveiled year web
search and advertising partnership in late july that set the stage for joint
offensive against google
under the agreement yahoo will use microsoft bing search engine on its own
sites while yahoo will provide the exclusive global sales force for premium
advertisers
yahoo shares were trading percent higher at dollars in after hours
electronic trading
alert
japan logs billion dollar trade surplus in december
portugal deficit record percent gdp
lisbon jan afp
portugal public sector deficit hit record percent of gross domestic
product gdp in the government said tuesday exceeding eu and imf
estimates of around eight percent
the goverment forecast the public sector deficit to come in at percent in
according to its draft budget submitted to parliament tuesday
us pedophile put behind bars report
new york jan afp
centenarian pedophile in new york state has been detained after failing to
undergo mandatory mental health treatment the buffalo news daily reported
theodore sypnier aged was locked up late last week after being declared in
violation of parole conditions for his conviction involving young sisters in the
late the report said
he failed to participate in sex offender counseling and now faces court
hearing within the next days
the judge will determine what action to take on the violation which could
include return to prison heather groll spokeswoman for the state parole
office said
sypnier has more than year history of sexually molesting children the
report said
al qaeda seeks wmd us unprepared for threat reports
washington jan afp
the united states has not done enough to protect the country against the threat
of weapons of mass destruction even as al qaeda appears intent on staging
large scale attack reports released tuesday said
bipartisan panel warned the government had failed to adopt measures to counter
the danger posed by extremists using wmd saying the administration lacked plans
for rapid response to possible biological attack
nearly decade after september one year after our original report
and one month after the christmas day bombing attempt the united states is
failing to address several urgent threats especially bioterrorism said former
senator bob graham chair of the commission on the prevention of weapons of mass
destruction proliferation and terrorism
he said that washington no longer had the luxury of slow learning curve when
we know al qaeda is interested in bioweapons
in its report card the commission also gave the federal government low marks
for failing to recruit new generation of national security experts and for
failing to improve congressional oversight of intelligence and homeland security
agencies
the findings came as former cia officer wrote in report that al qaeda
leaders have been working methodically since to secure weapons that could
inflict massive bloodshed
although other extremists had looked into obtaining such weapons al qaeda is
the only group known to be pursuing long term persistent and systematic
approach to developing weapons to be used in mass casualty attacks wrote rolf
mowatt larssen who led the cia wmd department
he acknowledged that the failure to find wmd in iraq had damaged the us
government credibility and had spread skepticism about the threat posed by al
qaeda getting its hands on nuclear biological or chemical weapons
that said wmd terrorism is not iraqi wmd he wrote in the report released by
the harvard kennedy school of government belfer center for science and
international affairs
he argued that intelligence on al qaeda activities was much more extensive and
reliable than the information about saddam hussein weapons programs
the report said al qaeda efforts to develop biological and nuclear weapons
were not empty rhetoric and that the group leaders appeared to have ruled
out smaller scale attacks with simpler devices
if osama bin laden and his lieutenants had been interested in employing crude
chemical biological and radiological materials in small scale attacks there is
little doubt they could have done so by now he wrote
urgent portugal deficit percent gdp forecast percent
lisbon jan afp
portugal public sector deficit reached percent of gross domestic product
gdp in and is forecast at percent in according to the
government draft budget submitted to parliament tuesday
urgent toyota suspends sales of eight models over accelerator woes
washington jan afp
toyota in the united states announced tuesday it was suspending sales of eight
new models linked to the recall of vehicles to fix problem with sticking
accelerator pedals
alert
portugal deficit percent of gdp forecast percent gov
alert
toyota usa suspends sales of eight models over accelerator problems
volcker to defend new obama bank rules
washington jan afp
key us senate panel weighing president barack obama call for sweeping new
bank rules said tuesday it will will hear next week from the plan architect
former federal reserve chief paul volcker
the us senate banking committee said volcker would be the only witness at
february hearing on the proposal
the plan would limit the size and scope of financial institutions and prohibit
banks that engage in commercial activities such as holding customer savings and
deposits from proprietary trading making investments on their own behalf
noriega to appeal supreme court ruling lawyer
washington jan afp
panama former strongman manuel noriega plans to appeal us supreme court
decision allowing him to be extradited to france his lawyer told afp tuesday
frank rubino the former general long time attorney and confidant said he
spoke to his year old client after the supreme court refused monday to take
up an appeal against his extradition to france on money laundering charges
he was of course disappointed rubino said from his offices in miami but he
is hopeful we have days to file motion for reconsideration we are going to
petition the court
noriega will ask the nine supreme court justices to reconsider their decision
not to hear his case in his latest bid to return to his native panama after
years in us custody
noriega was overthrown and captured during the us invasion of the central
american nation in dubbed operation just cause
the former cia asset was later sentenced to years for drug trafficking
offenses term that was reduced for good behavior
he was due to be released on parole from florida jail in september
noriega faces year sentence in panama for his role in the beheading of
political foe hugo spadafora and for the killing of nine underlings who staged
an unsuccessful coup against him in but would likely serve that sentence
under house arrest because of his age
he still has some allies within the panama ruling elite sparking fears that
his return could destabilize the now prospering nation that was once haven for
drug traffickers and money laundering
but us law experts said noriega and rubino last gasp appeal to go home is
highly unlikely to succeed
reconsiderations are rarely if ever granted said tina drake zimmerman of
georgetown university supreme court institute there has been only one grant
from reconsideration petition in the last years
rubino said he was confident the necessary number of four supreme court justices
would see the wisdom of hearing case that had wide ranging implications for
us military personnel overseas
noriega lawyers had argued that his extradition would violate the terms of the
geneva conventions which protects the rights of prisoners of war
ilya shapiro head of the cato supreme court review also said noriega appeal
was unlikely to succeed but there were some glimmers of hope for the former
dictator
one of the rare occasions the supreme court chose to revisit one of its own
decisions boumediene versus former president george bush also
featured the hot button issue of the detention of foreign nationals
the court then ruled that lakhdar boumediene an algerian who was held at
guantanamo bay on suspicion of plotting to blow up the us and british embassies
in sarajevo could challenge his detention in court
another hope for noriega is the decision by supreme court justices clarence
thomas and antonin scalia to oppose their colleagues decision not to hear the
case
in page dissent the pair argued that noriega case offered rare
opportunity to hear case featuring foreign detentions that did not affect
national security
they argued it was fairly clean case said shapiro they did not go to the
merits of the noriega case but said it was opportunity to address an issue
that is confusing lower courts
noriega is the only prisoner of war held by the united states shapiro said
his fate is now likely in the hands of the us secretary of state hillary
clinton who barring any supreme court reversal now has the power to
approve his extradition
the state department on tuesday said clinton had not yet made decision on
his extradition according to spokesman philip crowley
haiti queues for aid amid fresh aftershocks
port au prince jan afp
vast crowds of haitians massed around aid stations tuesday threatening to
overwhelm emergency food handouts against backdrop of new political and
seismic aftershocks
stung secretary of state hillary clinton defended america role in the relief
operation from charges of heavy handed incompetence as us officials backed
plans to cancel haiti debt and consider easing immigration rules
port au prince was rattled by two new earth tremors two weeks after the deadly
earthquake that killed at least people scaring weary and destitute
people from their improvised beds in makeshift camps
we just can get used to these quakes each aftershock is terrifying and
everyone is afraid trader edison constant said exhausted by stream of
aftershocks since the devastating magnitude quake on january
the us geological survey which has warned the beleaguered caribbean nation to
expect tremors for the next month measured the second tremor at
hid under my bed said iron merchant julien louis others were more
resigned shuffling out under heavy humid skies to rejoin queues outside money
transfer agencies banks immigration offices and aid distribution centers
amid the confusion and the aftershocks the us military pulled haitian man
alive from the rubble but it was not immediately clear whether he had been
trapped since the original quake or more recently
the middle aged man was covered with dust had facial injuries and appeared to
have lost weight soldiers at the scene said he may have been looter who
became stuck in recent days when damaged building collapsed
in the cite soleil slum several thousand desperate people converged on walled
police compound to receive sacks of relief supplies surging against the steel
gates as officials struggled to let them in one by one
all across the city ad hoc street committees have hung imploring banners in
english and french sos we need help here and we need food and water
in desperate attempts to attract the attention of aid agencies
with its helicopters in constant rotation overhead and foot patrols
increasingly in evidence in the city the us military has assumed dominant
role in the aid operation and has been largely welcomed by haitians
