action remains extremely high it said
more than people lost their lives in the killer wave of december
when magnitude earthquake occurring farther north on the sunda trench
ruptured the boundary where the australian plate of earth crust plunges
beneath the eurasian plate
the authors of the letter are led by john mccloskey professor of the
environmental sciences research institute at the university of ulster northern
ireland
in march mccloskey warned that the december quake had built up
major stress in an adjoining part of the fault to the south he declared
temblor in the region of magnitude with the capacity to generate tsunami
was imminent and urged the authorities to beef up preparations
such predictions are extraordinarily rare in the world of seismology knowledge
of where earthquakes strike is extensive but the ability to say when they will
occur remains elusive
but mccloskey was proven right within two weeks on march quake
measuring erupted at simeulue island generating three metre feet
tsunami
in the letter to nature geoscience his team explained their calculations for
the vulnerable mentawai segment in the aftermath of magnitude quake that
occurred kilometers miles near padang on september last year killing
more than people
despite its size this event did not ease the pressure on the mentawai section
especially under the island of siberut stresses there have been accumulating
since an magnitude quake in that caused fault slippage of metres
feet and unleashed tsunami that inundated padang and neighbouring
areas
under siberut the largest of the mentawai islands the megathrust strain
energy budget remains substantially unchanged after the quake mccloskey
team said
it is imperative that the indonesian authorites with the assistance of the
international community and non governmental organisations ensure that they
complete the relief effort and earthquake resistant reconstruction following
this earthquake and work with the people in padang to help prepare them for the
next one
football spanish league results
madrid jan afp
spanish league results on sunday
malaga baha getafe
racing santander canales valladolid pinillos og
almeria goitom tenerife juanlu
real zaragoza xerez
real mallorca suarez castro deportivo la coruna
playing later
atletico madrid sporting gijon gmt valencia villarreal gmt
played saturday
osasuna juanfran pandiani espanyol
athletic bilbao llorente real madrid
barcelona escude og pedro messi sevilla
football africa cup of nations group standings
lubango angola jan afp
africa cup of nations group standings after early match on sunday played
won drawn lost goals for against points
gabon
tunisia
zambia
cameroon
fixtures
lubango unless noted times gmt
jan
cameroon zambia
jan
cameroon tunisia
at benguela
gabon zambia
note group winners and runners up qualify for quarter finals
football arsenal keep title bid on track
london jan afp
arsenal maintained their push for the english premier league title with
win away to bolton wanderers on sunday
goals from spanish midfielders cesc fabregas and fran merida helped leave the
third placed gunners just two points behind leaders and london rivals chelsea
after owen coyle first match as bolton manager ended in defeat
arsenal took the lead at the reebok stadium in typically attractive style in the
th minute when fabregas played rapid one two with eduardo on the edge of the
box before shooting into the far corner
matt taylor had chances to equalise for bolton who remain in the relegation
zone and his failure to score was punished when eduardo cross was helped on
by bolton zat knight and merida following clever touch scored with
precise shot from eight yards out
earlier aston villa failed to make the most of slip ups by their champions
league rivals in goalless draw at home to strugglers west ham
the point at villa park saw martin neill men stay sixth in the english
premier league table two places outside the champions league spots after
saturday where fourth placed tottenham were held to goalless draw by hull
manchester city lost to everton and liverpool drew with stoke
league cup semi finalists villa have now not won and not scored in the league
since beating stoke on december
the issue today was we were unable to score goal but it was big effort by
my players considering we played in the carling league cup semi final only on
thursday neill told reporters
it is disappointing the win didn materialise and when you drop points at home
it can be considered missed opportunity
but think this result and other ones this weekend involving teams near us in
the table highlight how difficult this league is
the draw was boost for west ham lifting the london club out of the relegation
zone
away from home it good result hammers captain matthew upson told sky
sports we re improving hopefully we can maintain that to the end of the
season
elsewhere blackburn rovers moved up two positions into th place with
win at home to fulham both goals at ewood park scored by defenders from set
pieces
chris samba opened the scoring in the th minute after benni mccarthy corner
to the near post had been cleared off the line by damien duff
south africa mccarthy was also involved in rovers second goal after half
time when new zealand defender and blackburn captain ryan nelsen headed in his
free kick
football africa cup of nations group standings
lubango angola jan afp
africa cup of nations group standings after early match on sunday played
won drawn lost goals for against points
gabon
tunisia
zambia
cameroon
fixtures
lubango unless noted times gmt
jan
cameroon zambia
jan
cameroon tunisia
at benguela
gabon zambia
note group winners and runners up qualify for quarter finals
football english premier league table
london jan afp
english premier league table after sunday matches played won drawn lost
goals for goals against points
chelsea
man utd
arsenal
tottenham
man city
aston villa
liverpool
birmingham
fulham
everton
stoke
blackburn
sunderland
wigan
burnley
west ham
wolverhampton
hull
bolton
portsmouth
injured guinea junta chief backs new interim leader
ouagadougou jan afp
guinea injured junta chief captain moussa dadis camara on sunday offered his
support to the west african nation new interim leader general sekouba konate
after deal aimed at paving the way for democratic elections
ask you to give him the necessary support for the cause of democracy which
we call for with all our wishes he said in an address to the nation from the
capital of burkina faso where he is in convalescence following december bid
to kill him
declare to you that my health is much improved and that my life is out of
danger to consolidate this need rest he added
on friday guinea political rivals signed deal providing for elections in six
months and for junta chief camara to remain outside the country
camara was shot in the head by an aide de camp in december after what some said
was dispute over bloody crackdown on an opposition rally in september in
which more than people were shot dead
football english premier league results collated
london jan afp
collated english premier league results on sunday
aston villa west ham
blackburn samba nelsen fulham
bolton arsenal fabregas merida
played saturday
chelsea anelka malouda cole lampard ballack
sunderland zenden bent
everton pienaar saha pen man city
man utd berbatov rooney diouf burnley
stoke huth liverpool kyrgiakos
tottenham hull
wolverhampton wigan mccarthy zogbia
postponed waterlogged pitch
portsmouth birmingham
ukrainians brave snow cynicism to vote
kiev jan afp
braving widespread cynicism with the political elite as much as freezing
temperatures ukrainians voted for new president sunday despite often failing
to muster much enthusiasm for any candidate
with snowflakes falling in kiev and the pavements treacherous with black ice
the winter weather reflected the bleak mood of voters five years after the
orange revolution briefly raised hopes of new era in ukraine
the main contenders in the first round of the vote pro russia politician viktor
yanukovich and prime minister yulia tymoshenko are the same faces who have been
at the centre of ukraine politics for much of the decade
despite the disenchantment almost half the electorate had voted by pm and
steady flow of voters were seen heading into polling stations
people lives are going from bad to worse here complained businessman
grigory as he cast his vote at kiev school
voted for yanukovich because it is impossible to vote for tymoshenko she has
nothing except empty slogans and lies
another businessman also called grigory and aged however hailed tymoshenko
as the saviour of ukraine
natalyia zozulia cleaner said she had exercised her option to vote
against all the candidates know it will change nothing disappointed
with the mess here
in the southern peninsula of crimea resort region on the black sea normally
known for its balmy weather the temperature was also unseasonably low and the
mood equally frigid
do not think that positive changes will come they haven appeared in the
last two decades since independence and they are not going to come now said
dmitry as he cast his vote in cinema in the city of sevastopol
leonid estekhin added have no more hope do not see the leaders in
this country who can rescue us from rock bottom
the disenchantment was even more pronounced in the eastern city of donetsk
yanukovich stronghold and hotbed of opposition to the pro western orange
revolution
at one polling station elderly pensioners strained their eyes and demanded help
to locate yanukovich name on the ballot
anyone but tymoshenko whoever but please not her shouted marina
pensioner ve already told all the neighbours to come and vote and told
them to vote yanukovich only he can save us
but even here yanukovich who has served as prime minister as well as regional
governor was suffering from the widespread disillusionment with established
faces
do not believe in the promises of the politicians in power said irina
saleswoman
let have young and beautiful president and things will be better she said
after voting for the athletic businessman sergiy tigipko whose campaign has
experienced late surge in the last weeks
the frustration was even felt at the other end of the country in the western
city of lviv close to the polish border and the heartland of support for the
orange revolution and current pro western president viktor yushchenko
am satisfied with what has happened over the last five years no am not
said andriy kernilo teacher
voted for tymoshenko against yanukovich and yushchenko expect changes for
the better under her he added
miron avdeenko an engineer said he would be voting for yanukovich figure
who has traditionally enjoyed low support in western ukraine
do not believe in the others anymore maybe he has changed of course he
does not suit me but think he will bring order
football africa cup of nations gabon tunisia
lubango angola jan afp
result of an africa cup of nations group match here on sunday
gabon tunisia
urgent football gabon tunisia draw in africa cup of nations
lubango angola jan afp
gabon and tunisia drew in an africa cup of nations group match here on
sunday
alert
football gabon tunisia draw in africa cup of nations
rugbyu toulouse progress saints go marching on
paris jan afp
three time european cup winners toulouse joined fellow french side biarritz in
the last eight of this season tournament when they beat english side
harlequins on sunday in their pool five match
maxime medard got their all important fourth try which gave them bonus point
and means they will top the pool whatever the results next weekend against
opponents that briefly threatened an upset in the first half before wilting
against remorseless toulouse side
toulouse manager guy noves was delighted with his team performance
we really raised our level of play today sunday said the year old who
has been in charge at toulouse since guiding them to seven national titles
as well as their european crowns
we owe nothing to anybody and we deserve to have qualified
we are third in the championship in the european cup quarter finals and
despite outside criticism think that lot of other sides would like to be in
our position
elsewhere champions northampton also secured what could be crucial bonus
point in their crushing victory over ailing french champions perpignan
whose desperate campaign has included defeat to italian minnows treviso
however the saints left it late scoring the fourth try in the st minute
through wonderful metre move which saw jon clarke go over and setting up
mouthwatering clash at two time champions munster the team they beat in the
final next friday
saints captain dylan hartley said that his team would be able to look after
themselves against munster
yes definitely we can take them on said hartley whose side are on
match winning run we can put up good challenge against munster it our
quarter final
saints director of rugby jim mallinder conceded that his team had not been at
their best but had improved in the second half and was eager to emulate
leicester as the only english side to have beaten munster in limerick
we are on good run and playing well you mustn be intimidated by munster
what we have to do is go there and stand head to head and toe to toe with them
he said
earlier two tries in four minutes from flanker rob mccusker allowed welsh side
scarlets to stage stunning comeback and beat pool six rivals london irish
the result did little however for either side hopes of reaching the last
eight as reigning champions leinster who travel to twickenham to play london
irish next week lead the table by five points with one match remaining
london irish coach toby booth said that his side had not really played well all
through the match
thought when we led that it was bit flattering said booth whose
side experienced only their second defeat in their last european pool matches
both defeats coming at the hands of the scarlets
we made the same mistakes early on as we did later in the match
it is simple game but we didn treat it like that and we neither found
penetration nor were we able to get it out wide we are bitterly disappointed
with this performance
irish had looked to be cruising when they led in the second half but
mccusker showed electric pace in the rd minute to touch down in the corner
after visiting fly half ryan lamb had made poor clearance
few minutes later mccusker was on hand again taking the ball and despite
desperate tackle by former england scrum half peter richards he turned and
twisted his way over the line for try which was confirmed by the video
referee
scarlets rubbed it in when impressive young centre jonathan davies went over for
his second try to give the welsh side deserved if surprising bonus point and
left irish requiring the minor miracle of bonus point victory over leinster if
they are to progress as pool winners
however booth believes that such challenges always bring the best out of his
side
the good thing about this team is that it likes challenges and being
threatened he said
arcelormittal strikers stand firm in algeria
algiers jan afp
the workers striking over the planned closure of steel giant
arcelormittal plant in algeria continued sunday whilst the management made
moves to end the action union source told afp
the management lodged complaint at the el hadjar near annaba in the east of
the country tribunal sunday morning in order to put an end to our strike
smain kouadria the secretary general of the plant union told afp
management has also decided not to pay january wages to their employees
kouadria said
have told the strikers about this decision they replied they were prepared
to sacrifice even their february wages if this could contribute to the
renovation of the coking plant kouadria said
workers began the strike on january to protest against the planned closure of
the factory coking plant which employs people and would cost million
dollars million euros to renovate
arcelormittal management were not available for comment sunday
kouadria said that amar belkacemi chairman of the public sider group which
holds percent of the capital of the el hadjar complex has given his accord
for an overall development plan
the state is prepared to contribute up to percent to the renovation of the
coking plant arcelormittal management will thus be faced with fait
accompli said kouadria
arcelormittal has already announced an investment plan for worth
million dollars which has been challenged by the union because it does not
include the coking plant
on thursday the union said the management had asked the algerian government to
negotiate four year investment plan for the complex aimed at modernising all
units of the factory including the coking plant
the el hadjar factory subsidiary of the worldwide steel giant is former
state enterprise in which the indian ispat firm in the arcelormittal group
bought percent of shares in october
the factory produced tonnes of steel in according to the
management
british un worker killed in haiti quake government
london jan afp
united nations worker was confirmed on sunday as the first british death in
the haiti earthquake the government said
frederick wooldridge had been working with the un stabilisation mission
when the huge magnitude quake struck the caribbean nation on tuesday
the prime minister thoughts are with his family and friends at this most
difficult of times said the british government in statement
another british un worker named by diplomatic source as ann barnes is still
unaccounted for
the haitian government has estimated about dead so far across the
country
haiti tensions mount amid scramble for last survivors
port au prince jan afp
rescuers pulled three survivors from the rubble sunday five days after the haiti
earthquake but tensions were growing among desperate population as police
opened fire on looters killing one man
after hours of painstaking digging through the ruins team from florida
unearthed seven year old girl man aged and year old woman in the
ruins of store as dawn broke in the capital port au prince
later hundreds of rioters ransacked hyppolite market in the heart of the
devastated city as survivors besieged hospitals and make shift field clinics
some carrying the injured on their backs or on carts
police reinforcements descended on the market armed with shotguns and assault
rifles and one rioter man in his was fatally shot in the head an afp
photographer said
the church bells lay eerily silent sunday over the ruined haitian capital but
the faithful still came in droves praying for solace in the darkest hour of this
deeply religious nation
want to send message of hope because god is still with us even in the
depths of this tragedy and life is not over said father henry marie landasse
as he prepared for mass at the main cathedral
only the facade of the once proud building stood over the ruins around it
felled by the powerful magnitude quake which struck on tuesday
arriving in haiti to survey the destruction for himself un secretary general
ban ki moon said the quake was the worst humanitarian crisis to face the world
body in decades
battling emotional and physical fatigue rescue teams continued their grim task
in the knowledge that the likelihood of finding more survivors was fading with
every passing hour
the us general running the military relief effort vowed to redouble efforts
after bottles of water and food rations were distributed on
saturday
asked about toll estimates as high as lieutenant general ken keen said
no one could know for sure but such figures were starting point and the
international community feared the worst
between and people died just in the town of leogane west of the
capital according to un officials the haitian government has estimated about
dead so far across the country
clearly this is disaster of epic proportions and we ve got lot of work
ahead of us keen said
water purification units that can process liters gallons of
clean water per day were being rushed to the scene as the us worked to open
badly damaged ports needed to deliver vital fuel and supplies
the us military has been relying mainly on helicopters deployed from the uss
carl vinson aircraft carrier
the medecins sans frontiers doctors without borders aid group said that when
it opened an emergency hospital at carrefour poor district near leogane on
saturday crowds arrived almost immediately
patients arrived on handcarts or on men backs said msf emergency
coordinator hans van dillen
there are other hospitals in the area but they are already unable to cope with
the number of injured and have limited resources of personnel and medicines and
equipment
msf said their doctors and surgeons had been working around the clock
amputating limbs and performing caesarian sections on pregnant women
another french aid group medecins du monde said it would have to amputate
hundreds of people whose limbs had been crushed in the earthquake even though
its doctors had no electricity to work by
most bodies were being dumped into mass graves outside the capital to prevent
the spread of disease
some international teams comprising rescue workers and dogs have
already scoured percent of the worst affected areas hit by the quake about
american troops are being sent to assist and secure the stricken areas
and should all be in place by monday
un office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs spokeswoman elisabeth
byrs told afp that more people were pulled out alive from debris on saturday
taking the total to more than since the teams started working
we don give up hope to find more survivors stressed byrs the morale of
the rescue team is very high despite the hardship
byrs said the way buildings had collapsed left sufficient void spaces that
allow for trapped victims to remain alive
there is still hope the conditions are very favorable it exceptional and
thank god for that she said
but rami peltz rescuer with an israeli team said today is the last day
that think we will be able to find survivors mainly because of dehydration
snooker sullivan establishes early masters final lead
london jan afp
defending champion ronnie sullivan was in front against mark selby at the
end of the first session of the masters snooker final at the wembley arena here
on sunday
sullivan who beat selby in last year final established lead in the
best of frame contest courtesy of back to back century breaks before his
fellow englishman pulled back to
however break left sullivan with two frame advantage ahead of sunday
second and concluding session due to start at gmt
selby won scrappy opening frame which suggested there might be something in
sullivan oft repeated assertion during the tournament that despite wins
over australia neil robertson peter ebdon and mark williams he has been out
of form
but the rocket started to fire in the third frame going in front with
break of
sullivan followed that up with the first hundred of the final as selby was
whitewashed in the fourth frame
it was similar story in the fifth former world champion sullivan taking it
however selby responded with breaks of and to get back into the match
before sullivan took the eighth and final frame of the session
urgent injured guinea junta chief backs new interim leader
ouagadougou jan afp
guinea injured junta chief captain moussa dadis camara on sunday offered his
support to the west african nation new interim leader general sekouba konate
after deal aimed at paving the way for democratic elections
football villa miss out after hammers draw
london jan afp
aston villa failed to make the most of slip ups by their champions league rivals
after goalless draw at home to strugglers west ham on sunday
the point at villa park saw martin neill men stay sixth in the english
premier league table two places outside the champions league spots after
saturday where fourth placed tottenham were held to goalless draw by hull
manchester city lost to everton and liverpool drew with stoke
league cup semi finalists villa have now not won and not scored in the league
since beating stoke on december
the issue today was we were unable to score goal but it was big effort by
my players considering we played in the carling league cup semi final only on
thursday neill told reporters
it is disappointing the win didn materialise and when you drop points at home
it can be considered missed opportunity
but think this result and other ones this weekend involving teams near us in
the table highlight how difficult this league is
the draw was boost for west ham lifting the london club out of the relegation
zone
away from home it good result hammers captain matthew upson told sky
sports we re improving hopefully we can maintain that to the end of the
season
elsewhere blackburn rovers moved up two positions into th place with
win at home to fulham both goals at ewood park scored by defenders from set
pieces
chris samba opened the scoring in the th minute after benni mccarthy corner
to the near post had been cleared off the line by damien duff
south africa mccarthy was also involved in rovers second goal after half
time when new zealand defender and blackburn captain ryan nelsen headed in his
free kick
in sunday late premier league match third placed arsenal are away to bolton
where win for the gunners would leave them just three points behind leaders
chelsea
prayers among the rubble for haiti faithful
port au prince haiti jan afp
church bells were eerily silent sunday over the ruined haitian capital but the
faithful still came in droves praying for solace in the darkest hour of this
deeply religious nation
want to send message of hope because god is still with us even in the
depths of this tragedy and life is not over said father henry marie landasse
as he prepared to give mass outside the ruins of the main cathedral
only the facade of the once proud building now stands over the ruins felled by
