the cuban human rights commission observes with concern that the national
health system shows growing signs of deterioration the organization said in
statement
an official source said the deaths prompted visits to the hospital by cuban
president raul castro health minister jose ramon balaguer and members of the
military and state security services
hospital employees who asked not to be identified said the patients lacked food
and blankets because they had been stolen
in its statement the government said factors that contributed to the deaths
included natural biological deterioration due to age respiratory infections in
year in which this has been epidemic and complications from chronic ailments
present in many of them principally cardiovascular disease and cancer
ukraine hopefuls in final push for embittered voters
kiev jan afp
ukraine presidential election candidates friday made final effort to appeal
for the support of voters deeply disillusioned with the orange revolution on the
last day of campaigning
leading opinion polls ahead of sunday vote is pro russian politician viktor
yanukovich the defeated candidate in when the orange revolution street
protests forced re run of rigged polls and sparked hope of new era
by contrast the winner and champion of ukraine eu integration president
viktor yushchenko is set for humiliating first round exit with his reputation
scarred by the failure of the revolution to deliver reform
yanukovich dour ex mechanic once jailed for theft hopes to win sunday
election outright but it is almost certain that he will fail to win majority
and that the poll will go to second round on february
he is expected to be joined in run off by prime minister yulia tymoshenko
famed for her traditional golden hair braid whom analysts believe still has
time to make up the difference over the next three weeks
think that the intrigue is not over yet volodymyr fesenko director of the
penta centre for political studies in kiev told afp
think tymoshenko has chances to win if she succeeds in mobilising post orange
voters wanting european integration and wins voters from the defeated
candidates
yanukovich rounded off his campaign with glitzy rally in central kiev where he
was serenaded by ukrainian pop star taisia povaliy and launched new withering
attack on the orange leaders who he accused of ruining the country
the election will be the judgement on the authorities who were not capable of
effectively managing the country he told the thousands of supporters who
braved freezing temperatures for the rally
just before the midnight deadline for campaigning to end yushchenko gave
televised address to the nation in which he warned of threats to ukraine
european integration in the election
january could be the day when the country is pushed backwards he said
tymoshenko meanwhile will want to ensure her second place standing is not
endangered by late surge from third place candidate businessman sergiy
tigipko who appears to have made gains over the last weeks
she stood side by side with yushchenko in the orange revolution but they fell
out dramatically afterwards the president spent much of the campaign seeking to
destroy her character to the delight of yanukovich strategists
although both share strong belief in eu integration the erstwhile allies
became locked in bitter personal power struggle each convinced that the other
was criminally responsible for wrecking the country
all revolutions disappoint but this one has disappointed more than most said
andrew wilson of the european council on foreign relations
yanukovich draws his strongest support in the industrial and largely russian
speaking east of ukraine whereas tymoshenko heartland is the more
agricultural west where the ukrainian language predominates
as final card tymoshenko could raise yanukovich convictions and jail
sentences in and for theft and assault which were both erased by the
courts in december
one of the stranger contenders is vasyl gumeniuk local politician from
western ukraine who registered his candidacy after changing his surname to
protyvsikh or against all in ukrainian
in another case of election cynicism website entitled prodaygolos com ua
sellyourvote com emerged ahead of the polls allowing ukrainians the chance to
auction off their vote
after it caused something of scandal however visitors are now being told the
mysterious site is closed
obama to campaign in late kennedy senate seat
washington jan afp
us president barack obama will campaign sunday for senate hopeful at risk of
stunning upset loss in her bid to win the seat once held by late democratic icon
edward kennedy
obama whose signature health care reform drive may be on the line in the
election will travel to boston to support massachusetts attorney general martha
coakley white house spokesman robert gibbs said
polls show coakley locked in desperate fight with republican scott brown ahead
of tuesday special election for seat democrats have held for over half
century
loss for coakley would deprive democrats of their seat supermajority in the
senate to overrun any republican delaying tactics to pass obama top priority
health care reform bill and other key agenda items
gibbs said however don think scott brown is going to win on tuesday
obama is putting his prestige on the line by campaigning for coakley but could
suffer political damage if she loses
suffolk university poll on thursday even put brown ahead points to
percentage points after coakley held big leads earlier in the campaign
ted kennedy senate legend and brother of assassinated former president john
kennedy died in august after losing battle against brain cancer
sudan chad to set up joint force on troubled border
ndjamena jan afp
chad and sudan on friday agreed for the first time to set up joint force on
their troubled border which will be deployed on february according to
statement received by afp
the manning of the outposts and the securitisation of the border will take
place between february and the statement said
chad has accused sudan of supporting rebels seeking to oust the government
while khartoum has charged ndjamena with backing ethnic minority rebels in the
conflict torn western sudanese region of darfur
on the chadian side the observation post would be in the eastern town of abeche
and the darfur city of el geneina in sudan
improved ties between the two countries could help bring peace to darfur where
about people have died since ethnic rebels revolted in
filming in hollywood slumps as recession bites
los angeles jan afp
on location filming in los angeles plunged by nearly percent last year the
sharpest annual decline since records began the group responsible for issuing
film permits in the area said friday
film la revealed in statement that los angeles county continued to see an
exodus of production which has been attributed to the recession attractive tax
breaks offered by other regions and the fall out from contract dispute with
actors
the group said the number of permitted production days in los angeles and
surrounding areas dropped to in down from in
california newly adopted film tax credit program helped halt the slide as
production increased in the second half of the year film la said
feature film production was particularly hard hit film la said falling to
permitted production days from in the lowest level since
and less than half what it was decade ago according to local media
france eyes angola rebel charges over togo squad attack
paris jan afp
french prosecutors may charge an angolan separatist with praising acts of
terror after he claimed deadly attack on togo football squad the french
foreign ministry said friday
the state prosecutor office opened an investigation into france based rebel
rodrigues mingas who heads the forces for the liberation of the state of
cabinda military position flec pm after he threatened further violence
the january gun attack killed two members of the togo squad and cast pall
over the opening of africa premier football tournament the africa cup of
nations
this is going to continue because the nation is at war mingas said on
sunday weapons will continue to talk this is our home and it time angola
understood that
french foreign ministry statement said that rodrigues mingas words were
unacceptable and couldn go without response the french justice ministry
has opened judicial procedure against him based on praising acts of terror
clearly france cannot tolerate such justification of violence we do not forget
the distress and shock of the victims of this attack said ministry spokesman
bernard valero
angola foreign minister assuncao dos anjos said earlier his government did not
feel that france had put in motion the necessary judicial mechanisms to pursue
the physical and moral authors of this terrorist attack
mingas faction is one of several groups battling for independence in small but
oil rich cabinda cornerstone of angola economic boom despite peace
agreement
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 war torn country nato said friday also
reporting the death of an american soldier
the incident involving the civilians took place in the garmsir district of
helmand province on wednesday nato international security assistance force
isaf said in statement where violent demonstration took place day
earlier
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 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 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
nato also reported friday that us soldier had been killed by the type of crude
bomb used by taliban militants in their war against the kabul government
an isaf service member from the united states was killed today thursday in
southern afghanistan as the result of an ied strike said statement from
isaf referring to an improvised explosive device
the death brings to the number of foreign soldiers to have been killed in
afghanistan so far this year according to an afp count based on tally kept by
independent website icasualties org
elsewhere roadside bomb that exploded beneath car on friday killed four
children aged two to years old and woman in the spin boldak district of
kandahar the commander of the border police general abdul razik told afp
isaf also reported separate incident in neighbouring kandahar province in
which two people were killed by soldiers who had been targeted by remote
control bomb while on patrol
rocket exploded in central kabul friday evening the head of the capital
criminal investigation bureau told afp but he said there were no casualties
more than killed in haiti quake minister
port au prince jan afp
more than people were killed and injured by this week
earthquake in haiti which also left nearly million homeless minister in
the haitian government said friday
public health minister alex larsen told press conference that the headquarters
of the government had been moved to police station not far from the
international airport
he also announced that all sports centers in the haitian capital port au prince
had been requisitioned and would be turned into makeshift health centers to care
for the injured
deluge of haiti aid but officials say more needed
united nations jan afp
donors ranging from the world richest countries to individuals sending text
messages have contributed massive aid for quake stricken haiti but officials
said friday much more was needed
the un said it planned an appeal for hundreds of millions of dollars with the
deeply poor country desperate for food and medical supplies and its shattered
infrastructure making distribution of assistance difficult
twenty countries organisations and companies have already pledged million
dollars million euros in aid for victims of the magnitude quake
according to un data
on friday the united nations said it would launch an appeal for million
dollars from donors following the quake that is thought to have killed an
estimated people
there were estimates that some three million people third of the population
had been affected and un officials on the ground pleaded 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 the port au prince airport
major world powers and large emerging countries including the united states
britain brazil and china all contributed substantially to the aid effort
us troops began pouring into the country friday to start handling tons of aid
and the nuclear powered us aircraft carrier uss carl vinson arrived with
helicopters water purification plant and carrying tons of medicines
brazil was in command of the strong un peacekeeping force deployed to
haiti before the quake and is using its troops for disaster relief
efforts it lost of its citizens in the disaster
the latin american country has also offered to build cemetery in haiti for the
thousands killed promising it will respect the voodoo beliefs of part of the
caribbean country population officials said
besides the contributions from major countries innovative text message services
and internet campaigns had brought in millions with former us president bill
clinton calling for donations as small as dollars
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
celebrities urged the world to help as well and text message campaign run by
yele haiti grassroots group founded by former fugees singer wyclef jean who
has haitian roots had raised more than two million dollars
us tv networks also announced they will air two hour global telethon
fundraiser for earthquake victims in haiti next week
even some of the world tiniest nations offered help with countries like
crisis hit iceland sending rescue team and mauritius donating cash
but the scale of chaos and desperation was daunting posing logistical
nightmares with haiti main port closed and roads damaged
un officials urged countries to stop sending search and rescue teams into the
aid logjam but called for doctors and medical personnel to treat thousands of
casualties suffering crush injuries or fractures
there were angry chaotic scenes at the airport deluged by both incoming aid
supplies and people frantic to leave the caribbean nation
as of early this morning there are countries participating people are
on the ground with dogs said reader the word we are getting back is
that they don need any more search and rescue teams
football africa cup of nations group standings
cabinda angola jan afp
africa cup of nations group standings friday played won drawn lost goals
for against points
ivory coast qualify
burkina faso
ghana
note togo withdrew after deadly attack on bus convoy carrying delegation to
angola
fixture
jan
burkina faso ghana gmt
note group winners and runners up qualify for quarter finals
football africa cup of nations ivory coast ghana
cabinda angola jan afp
result of an africa cup of nations group match at chiazi stadium friday
ivory coast gervinho tiene drogba ghana gyan pen
obama allies see health care deal within reach
washington jan afp
president barack obama and his democratic allies in the us congress spurred on
by bill clinton and worries about key election fought friday to reach final
deal to overhaul health care
senior lawmakers returned to the white house to resume high stakes talks that
had broken off after midnight striving to meld rival senate and house of
representatives versions of the legislation into one historic compromise
we re making progress democratic house speaker nancy pelosi told reporters
hopefully when we get together next week we ll have lot more information to
share with you
asked when final deal would be struck democratic house majority leader steny
hoyer told cnbc television we are getting very close would certainly hope
that within the next hours that we have general agreement
democrats worried about public opinion polls showing deep skepticism about the
overhaul and other surveys forecasting they could lose special election to
replace the late senator ted kennedy defeat that would cost them the vote
majority with which they can overrun any republican delaying tactics
obama will travel to boston on an th hour political rescue mission for
massachusetts attorney general martha coakley white house spokesman robert
gibbs said
recent polls showed coakley locked in desperate fight with republican scott
brown ahead of the special election on tuesday for seat democrats have held
for over half century
pelosi insisted that renewed democratic urgency had nothing to do with the
election and praised clinton efforts in speech behind closed doors to
motivate wary house democrats to vote for the overhaul
it was really master class as he connected health care to jobs and then to
the green jobs which are the jobs of the future she said
democrats hoped to send legislation to enact the health overhaul obama top
domestic goal to the non partisan congressional budget office for formal
assessment scoring of its likely impact and cost
the president allies drew optimism from breakthrough deal between the white
house and labor unions announced thursday to clear major obstacle blocking
the plan
but more disputes remained including over abortion restrictions and whether
health care exchanges marketplaces where consumers could comparison shop
for coverage would be national or state by state
obama used rare visit to congress thursday to try to steel the resolve of
house democrats worried about paying price in november mid term elections for
backing the legislation
if republicans want to campaign against what we ve done by standing up for the
status quo and for insurance companies over american families and businesses
that is fight want to have said the president
democrats working on the final compromise had next to no margin for error the
senate passed its bill on christmas eve by exactly the votes needed and the
house got just two more than the needed seven weeks earlier
but they took critical step forward when labor unions announced deal in
which they accepted watered down version of the senate bill new taxes on
generous health plans like those their members have to fund the overhaul
urgent football ivory coast reach africa cup of nations quarter finals
cabinda angola jan afp
ivory coast qualified for the africa cup of nations quarter finals with
win over ghana in group friday
alert
football ivory coast qualify for africa cup of nations quarter finals
fear grips haiti as the state dissolves
port au prince jan afp
machete wielding thieves have begun roaming the streets of the haiti at night
residents said friday fearful that it was sign of brewing violence in
nation already scarred by bloodshed
men suddenly appeared with machetes to steal money said evelyne buino young
beautician describing long sleepless night in neighborhood not far from
the ruined city center this is just the beginning
the haitian capital insecure at the best of times is now devoid of
functioning police force bringing fears of dystopian war of all against all
in the wake of tuesday huge earthquake
buino immediate fear comes from nearby prison which contained the worst
gangsters in the city
when tuesday earthquake unleashed its fury on port au prince two million
residents it also let loose upon them the convicts who escaped from the
city collapsed jail
the prison large blue iron gate remains closed but its cell block was among
the scores of buildings razed by the quake allowing surviving prisoners to run
free
all the bandits of the city are now on the streets local police man said
standing near the jail rifle at the ready they are robbing people it is
big problem
with president rene preval at the airport struggling to piece together the
remains of the state desperate citizens tried to fill the void
organize neighborhood committees to avoid chaos radio metropole implored
residents to prevent people looting shops and houses
the station also called for volunteers to protect company distributing badly
needed drinking water
people are hungry thirsty they are left on their own said leon meleste an
adventist sporting white new york baseball cap
it is increasingly dangerous the police doesn exist people are doing what
they want
patricia etique swiss citizen who divides her time between europe and haiti
explained the dire predicament now facing many haitians
people had reserves for few days but now they are dwindling they are afraid
to go downtown in search of food because it has become too dangerous
there is lot of tension in the center she said near the national palace
where thousands gathered to flee their devastated homes
kassana jean chilove young mechanic who lost her daughter in the earthquake
expressed furry at the government
the government is bluffing us she said there are millions of dollars
pouring into haiti but we see nothing
at the head of the country group of friends is divvying up the money we are
going to be in the shit for long time
before the earthquake we had bottled water or boiled it for ourselves said
nurse marie jose carneli whose son bryan michael began screaming from under the
rubble few hours ago but now we have no gas or coal and you can not
sterilize it
can not buy anything because my money is stuck in the rubble of my house
she said throwing plastic bottle angrily at an area were pigs were scavenging
for food
further down the street an old lady sold plates of pasta one portion costs
gourds around dollars ten times more than before the earthquake
for many facing the desolation there is only one option said carneli people
who have relatives in the provinces are fleeing the city
but for thousands of others there are no options left
alert
nearly million haitians homeless after quake minister
sudan chad to set up joint force on troubled border
ndjamena jan afp
chad and sudan on friday agreed for the first time to set up joint force on
their troubled border which will be deployed on february according to
statement received by afp
the manning of the outposts and the securisation of the border will take place
between february and the statement said
chad has accused sudan of supporting rebels seeking to oust the government
while khartoum has charged ndjamena with backing ethnic minority rebels in the
conflict torn western sudanese region of darfur
urgent more than killed in haiti quake haitian minister
port au prince jan afp
more than people were killed and injured by the earthquake in
haiti minister in the haitian government said friday
football organisers blame algeria for mali training shambles
luanda jan afp
africa cup of nations organisers have blamed the algeria team for farcical
scenes at training ground in luanda on friday when competition rivals mali
were refused access to training facilities
algeria turned up at the escoqueirus stadium in luanda and gained immediate
entry on friday afternoon but waiting reporters were astonished when quarter
of an hour later the mali team bus rounded corner and parked outside the
stadium
mali players including real madrid midfielder and national team captain
mahamadou diarra and african footballer of the year frederic kanoute were
made to wait in the coach for over half an hour before being told they could
enter the ground
but the situation took bizarre turn when the stadium security officers
refused to let them in as algeria continued preparing for their final first
round match against angola on monday in blissful ignorance inside
utter confusion then reigned as diarra and some of his fellow team mates
attempted to gain access by clambering through an open window
over by the securely locked main gate kanoute and mali nigerian coach stephen
keshi attempted to talk their way in but to no avail
after over an hour and as dusk fell furious keshi led his charges back to
the team bus to return to their hotel having missed vital chance to prepare
for their last group match against malawi in cabinda on monday
keshi who won the africa cup of nations as player in the told afp
fed up how could this happen to get the boys in bus and travel to
ground and be told you can train don know whose fault it is
barcelona midfielder seydou keita was also furious at the shambles saying
defiantly they can do what they like but we re still going to qualify for
the quarter finals
diarra was so annoyed he refused to make any comment as he joined his team mates
for the hour long journey back to the hotel to get ready for the flight to
cabinda on saturday
later the local africa cup of nations organising committee loc told afp that
algeria had been at fault and not them
loc media officer virgilio santos explained this mix up had nothing to do with
us what happened was this mali were supposed to travel to cabinda today but
delayed their trip until saturday
algeria were supposed to train at the stadium until but when they saw the
mali team turn up they decided to make life difficult for mali and they didn
leave the pitch until which made mali angry
mali on one point in group after draw with the hosts and loss to
algeria face game against malawi that they must win if they are to have any
hope of making it into the last eight
they are making their sixth appearance in the competition with their highest
placing coming in when they finished runners up
this is not the first time competing team at the nations cup has fallen
foul of training ground blunder
malawi coach kinnah phiri was left fuming when his side were unable to train for
two days before thursday game against hosts angola which they lost
three times we went onto pitch but we found that there were others there he
said they were asked to leave but they refused we have not trained for two
days
he said he had written letter of protest to the competition organisers
nba arenas pleads guilty to gun charge
washington jan afp
washington wizards star guard gilbert arenas pleaded guilty in superior court on
friday to felony charge of carrying an unlicensed pistol and could face five
years in prison
arenas has admitted bringing four guns to the wizards locker room on december
but faced only one charge in plea deal with prosecutors
three time nba all star arenas and teammate javaris crittenton argued over
gambling losses during card game on plane flight december when
crittenton said he should shoot arenas in his often repaired knee
two days later arenas put four guns on chair near crittenton locker with
note saying pick one in what he later called joke
some accounts have crittenton also having gun in the locker room police
searched crittenton apartment on thursday but seized no evidence and
crittenton has not been charged
arenas found guilty of possessing an unregistered gun in said he brought
the guns to the locker room to keep them out of reach of his children and was
unaware doing so violated not only nba rules but strict gun laws in the us
capital
arenas was suspended indefinitely last week by nba commissioner david stern
after using his fingers as pretend pistols and firing at teammates before
game stern calling arenas not currently fit to take the court
goof ball and that what am so even doing something like this
going to make fun of it and that how am arenas said in twitter message
about the incident
the courtroom results open the door for longer suspension as well as giving
the wizards an opening to void their six year deal worth million dollars
with arenas under morals clause included in league contracts
while the nba players union will likely counter such move arenas figures to
