port au prince to link up with un peacekeepers and assess conditions to start
moving in more troops and equipment
state department spokesman gordon duguid said there were troops in or
around haiti and about marines and sailors are also expected to take part
in the relief operation
the military arrival at the presidential palace was not welcomed by all of the
destitute refugees camping outside it an occupation the palace is
our power our face our pride said feodor desanges
but duguid stressed our troops are here at the invitation of the people in the
name of your president as soon as the haitian people no longer need our
presence we will leave
amid reports of sporadic looting the un security council voted unanimously to
send extra un troops and police to haiti to help maintain order and
protect aid convoys
relatives told afp that haitian police killed year old girl fabienne
cherisma while firing warning shots over looters in the capital
some witnesses in the angry crowd including the girl father said policeman
had aimed deliberately at the girl while others spoke of warning shot that
went astray
in one extraordinary survival story anna zizi aged or was pulled from
rubble at about pm two hours short of full week after the quake struck
it seems rescuers were communicating with her and managing to get water to her
through tube she was singing when she emerged said sarah wilson of british
charity christian aid
but with hopes of finding more survivors fading the deputy commander of the
military operation in haiti said us forces would soon switch the focus of the
operation to recovering bodies
we fully expect that we will transition very soon from the search phase to the
recovery phase and obviously we continue to be in prayer said major general
daniel allyn
allyn said there were now around daily flights at the capital damaged
airport and that two additional airstrips in the coastal city of jacmel and in
san isidro in neighboring dominican republic would be in use by thursday
in huge global effort more than billion dollars has been pledged in aid
funding for haiti united nations data showed tuesday
international efforts are also focusing on rebuilding the country with major
donor conference set for monday in montreal
meanwhile in surreal scene the giant berth cruise ship liberty of the
seas dropped anchor off the port of labadee where royal caribbean international
leases private resort with beautiful beaches
the company which has donated one million dollars to the haiti relief effort
defended its decision to keep taking passengers there by saying it was important
to keep supporting the haitian economy
hong kong shares down percent by break
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares fell percent by the break on wednesday amid renewed
weakness in banking stocks due to continued uncertainties over beijing
monetary policy dealers said
the benchmark hang seng index shed points to turnover was
billion hong kong dollars billion us
tennis ll play when says evergreen date krumm
melbourne jan afp
japan former world number four kimiko date krumm enjoying comeback after
more than decade in retirement said wednesday she would continue playing even
when she turns
date krumm who hits the milestone in september returned to the game in
but her australian open dreams were shattered in the first round by kazakhstan
yaroslava shvedova
despite the defeat date krumm said she planned to be back next year
yes even when hope to be back next year as long as stay injury
free said date krumm who at in the world is japan top ranked player
following the retirement of ai sugiyama last season
date krumm reached the world number four spot in before retiring year
later after failing to cope with the pressure of life on tour she married
german racing driver michael krumm in
after her comeback in she lost to denmark caroline wozniacki then
in the first round at wimbledon last year
but in september date krumm chalked up her first tournament victory in
years which made her the oldest winner of wta event since billie jean king in
she said she still felt she could tackle higher ranked players as shown by
victories this month against two top players virginie razzano and nadia
petrova
still feel can keep going she said played three seeds at the sydney
international and feel okay
my level has gone up over the past year and think have better chances now
against the better players
tennis roddick argues with umpire after win
melbourne jan afp
american andy roddick clashed with the chair umpire after completing straight
sets win over brazilian thomaz bellucci to advance to the third round of the
australian open on wednesday
the seventh seed had just served out win over the bellucci when
he continued to argue with the umpire over hawk eye video review decision
which narrowly went against him on the first of his two match points
the video review ruled that bellucci volley had fractionally clipped the line
saving the first match point but roddick contended that he wasn allowed to
play the shot by an out call from line judge
even when he won the next point to clinch the victory roddick continued raging
at the umpire as he walked to the net to shake hands with the th ranked
bellucci
roddick was always in control of his second round match and broke the
brazilian service four times while only conceding one break on his own serve
his signature serve was on song registering percent and aces and he
always had bellucci under pressure throughout the two hours minute match on
hisense arena
the american broke bellucci left handed serve once in the opening set twice
in the second and once in the third
roddick first break point on his serve only came in the eighth game of the
second set when he dropped serve for the only time in the match
the victory continued roddick record of always reaching the second round in
his nine australian opens and he is bidding to go one stage further than his
four losing semi final appearances in melbourne
roddick is now for the new season after winning the leadup brisbane
international tournament earlier this month
bellucci who was ranked just outside the seedings here was playing in only his
second australian open
malaysian police arrest eight over church firebombing
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysian police said wednesday they have arrested eight people over the
firebombing of church earlier this month the first in spate of attacks that
have escalated ethnic tensions
federal criminal investigation chief bakri zinin said police were investigating
whether the eight people were also linked to the attacks on other churches
which were pelted with molotov cocktails stones and paint
eight people have been arrested and they are believed to be involved in the
arson attack on the metro tabernacle church they have been remanded for seven
days to facilitate investigations he told reporters
we will investigate whether they are also linked to other cases he added
the attacks on churches across predominantly muslim malaysia were triggered by
court ruling on december that overturned ban on non muslims using allah
as translation for god
australia says whaling feud will not hurt japan defence pact
sydney jan afp
australia disagreement with japan over its annual whale hunts will not affect
proposed defence pact between the nations foreign minister stephen smith said
wednesday
smith said australia opposition to japan slaughter of whales would not stand
in the way of plans to allow the two countries militaries to share food fuel
and other supplies and services during foreign operations
australia and japan have disagreement over whaling but neither australia or
japan will let it get in the way of what is comprehensive economic and
strategic partnership smith told state television
australia has threatened to take japan to an international court over tokyo
decision to continue whaling which it does despite moratorium on the
practice under loophole that provides for lethal scientific research
smith said australia and japan had robust exchanges over whaling
but he added we continue to be of the view that we can address that
diplomatically both bilaterally with japan and through the international
whaling commission he said
but neither australia nor japan will allow that disagreement to get into the
way of long term long standing and very important relationship that
australia has in our region with japan
japan major trading partner of australia is considering presenting bill to
parliament to allow the sharing of services during overseas military missions
but some lawmakers of the ruling centre left coalition have urged the government
to reconsider the so called acquisition and cross servicing agreement in light
of the recent harassment of japan whaling fleet by environmental activists
the whalers are each year pursued by the activists during the southern
hemisphere summer hunt and skirmishes escalated earlier this month when sea
shepherd conservation society vessel collided with japanese security boat
both the protesters and the whalers blame each other for the crash which caused
the environmentalists high tech superboat the ady gil to sink
urgent malaysian police arrest eight over church firebombing
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysian police said wednesday they have arrested eight people over the
firebombing of church earlier this month the first of spate of attacks that
have escalated ethnic tensions
alert
malaysian police arrest eight people over church firebombing
baseball red sox reach deal with pitching ace papelbon
boston jan afp
the boston red sox avoided arbitration with jonathan papelbon by signing their
all star pitcher to one year million dollar contract tuesday night
papelbon is the red sox all time leader in saves with in just four seasons
as the club closing pitcher he made million dollars last season
the right hander recorded saves in appearances last season and has
career era with strikeouts
india energy giants in global hunt for deals
mumbai jan afp
cash rich indian energy groups are looking to flex their new found muscles with
global acquisitions as the fast growing country joins china in the hunt for
vital resources analysts say
india oil and gas sector will be force to reckon with this year for cross
border deals said sidharth punshi india head of global investment bank
jefferies
reliance industries controlled by india richest man mukesh ambani has
generated two billion dollars via stock sales since september and is expected to
keep raising cash to boost its reserves and fund eventual acquisitions
the company india largest by market capitalisation already has netherlands
based chemicals group lyondellbasell in its sights
but lyondell which does most of its business in the united states has so far
resisted takeover offer from reliance worth an initial billion dollars
there is no doubt reliance is looking to acquisitions beyond lyondell said
energy analyst deepak pareek at mumbai angel broking
deal between reliance and lyondell the world third largest chemicals maker
would create global energy and chemicals giant with annual revenues estimated
at near billion dollars
reliance had no comment to make on its future takeover strategy when contacted
by afp
but pareek said the speed with which reliance has raised money has raised
eyebrows
several local key projects have been completed so reliance can focus on
acquisitions he added
for reliance an overseas acquisition would diversify its assets it is almost
entirely focused on india at present and would launch it as global
competitor to established european us or chinese rivals
there are oil companies in the uk canada and central asian republics with
proven reserves which could be attractive buy out targets for indian firms
said bundeep singh rangar chairman of advisory firm indusview
the idea is to expand overseas and be one step ahead of global oil firms who
are keen to enter india he told afp by telephone from his london office
indian companies would be following the lead of chinese energy giants such as
cnooc and sinopec which have been on buying spree in africa and central asia
india which imports at least percent of its oil needs has like china been
racing to find new energy sources to fuel its rapidly developing economy
reliance rivals state run exploration firm oil and natural gas corp ongc
cairn india and essar oil are also on the lookout for acquisitions
essar oil is in talks to buy out three shell refineries one in britain and
two in germany in exchange for percent stake in the british group
cairn india controlled by british oil explorer cairn energy has meanwhile
begun pumping crude from vast oilfield in the desert state of rajasthan which
will eventually increase india crude output by percent
reliance itself became an indian corporate giant by investing in its local
refining and other operations rather than through acquisitions
it folded subsidiary reliance petroleum into its broader group the largest
deal in india corporate history in march last year
its jamnagar refinery the world largest oil processing complex in western
india now has combined capacity to process million barrels of oil day
dominant player at home reliance has raised two billion dollars by selling
shares in three tranches since september its cash reserves now stand at more
than four billion dollars
no one would liquidate treasury shares unless they are serious about raising
funds for acquisitions said gaurang shah vice president with geojit bnp
paribas financial services
vietnam dissidents on trial
ho chi minh city jan afp
group of democracy activists went on trial in vietnam wednesday facing
possible death sentences on charges of trying to overthrow the communist regime
in case which has sparked global concern
french trained computer expert and blogger nguyen tien trung human rights
lawyer le cong dinh and internet entrepreneur tran huynh duy thuc are
charged with activities aimed at subverting the people administration
according to an indictment quoted by the state linked thanh nien newspaper
the charges carry minimum penalty of years in prison and maximum of
death
court official confirmed that the hearing began at gmt
it is the most high profile case in series of arrests and convictions of
dissidents and bloggers in the communist country over the past year
fourth man on trial le thang long is accused of being an accomplice he
faces five to years in prison if convicted
dozens of uniformed police surrounded the people court complex in central ho
chi minh city the former saigon where the defendants were arrested between may
and july last year
an initial accusation of propaganda against the state charge punishable
only by prison term was later replaced with the more severe charge
analysts said the arrests were part of long running crackdown and reflected
the one party state sensitivity to perceived foreign enemies
the indictment as reported by thanh nien alleges that the three main
defendants prepared dozens of anti state documents and blogs
it says thuc foresaw new government this year and the liquidation of the
ruling communist party by dinh drafted new constitution while trung
together with students in france established democratic youth movement
the newspaper carried allegations that the accused have links to the banned
democratic party of vietnam dpv
the dpv has its roots in the communist party it was dissolved in the but
revived in by hoang minh chinh former communist official turned
dissident who died in
dinh arrest in particular sparked concern in europe and the united states
and among global association of lawyers human rights watchdogs and press
freedom groups around the world
french european parliament member nicole kiil nielsen called for trung release
in letter to vietnam embassy in france describing him as democrat and
pacifist the letter was posted on blog set up by trung supporters
former senior official in the communist party told afp that both trung and
dinh have good reputation among vietnam youth and authorities fear their
ideas could spread
their views on pluralism and democracy are intolerable for the regime said
the official who asked not to be identified
the trial was top story wednesday in the main vietnamese newspapers all of
which are state linked
it concerns particularly serious criminal affair infringing on national
security said the people police daily
in statement on the eve of the trial the global press freedom watchdog
reporters without borders called for the accused to be acquitted
their real crime in the eyes of the authorities was to have requested more
freedoms the group said
another dissident was jailed for five and half years last month for attempted
subversion tran anh kim former military lieutenant colonel was accused
of involvement with the dpv
india wipro third quarter profits up percent
bangalore jan afp
wipro ltd india third largest software exporter said wednesday its
consolidated third quarter net profit rose percent beating forecasts led by
demand for outsourcing and higher fees
net profit rose to billion rupees million dollars in the three
months ended december up from billion rupees year earlier the
bangalore based company said in statement to the mumbai stock exchange
revenues rose by more than five percent to billion rupees
tennis australian open results day three nd update
melbourne jan afp
results from day three of the australian open at melbourne park here wednesday
denotes seeding
men singles
nd round
fernando gonzalez chi bt marsel ilhan tur
andy roddick usa bt thomaz bellucci bra
women singles
st round
li na chn bt marina erakovic nzl
vera zvonareva rus bt kristina kucova svk
victoria azarenka blr bt stephanie cohen aloro fra
agnes szavay hun bt stephanie dubois can
iveta benesova cze bt chang kai chen tpe
yaroslava shvedova kaz bt kimiko date krumm jpn
caroline wozniacki den bt aleksandra wozniak can
tsvetana pironkova bul bt galina voskoboeva kaz
julia goerges ger bt tamira paszek aut
tathiana garbin ita bt elena vesnina rus
shahar peer isr bt lucie hradecka cze
sofia arvidsson swe bt jarmila groth aus
daniela hantuchova svk bt viktoriya kutuzova ukr
maria kirilenko rus bt yvonne meusburger aut
stefanie voegele sui bt melinda czink hun
nd round
svetlana kuznetsova rus bt anastasia pavlyuchenkova rus
elena baltacha gbr bt kateryna bondarenko ukr
kim clijsters bel bt tamarine tanasugarn tha
marion bartoli fra bt sandra zahlavova cze
zheng jie chn bt maria jose martinez sanchez esp
nadia petrova rus bt kaia kanepi est
yanina wickmayer bel bt flavia pennetta ita
tennis consistent kuznetsova stays low key
melbourne jan afp
low key russian world number three svetlana kuznetsova advanced to the third
round of the australian open with minimum of fuss on wednesday and that the
way she likes it
the reigning french open champion was far too good for teenage countrywoman
anastasia pavlyuchenkova winning in just over an hour
the understated year old became the first player in the tournament through to
the third round and in doing so continued remarkably consistent run in grand
slam matches
kuznetsova who also won the us open has now reached the third round in
successive majors
she put her consistency down to combination of experience and motivation
have played for plenty of years already in grand slams and even though
it feels like ve been here for while she said
just get extra motivation when play slams this is for what work for
what play for you just enjoy it so much
although two appearances in the quarter finals are her best effort at the
australian open confident kuznetsova said her game was in better shape than
ever as she had been working on becoming player with more variety
have worked on coming little bit more into the court because had the
defensive game but then want to come and play inside she said
want to come to the net because think can play different games and come
outside play outside inside come to the net
want to be an all zones player and think have potential to do that
kuznetsova showcased her improved net game by winning points that way as
well as reeling off winners to just seven from her opponent
she admitted to expecting little more opposition from the th ranked
pavlyuchenkova the pair having met in beijing last year with the promising
year old reaching the third round of last year french open
nevertheless she was pleased with her own game although little disappointed
to have her serve broken twice
was aggressive and think played well she said
the only thing lost two serves in the first set and had very low
percentage around per cent don think that is good enough
she will play either th seed aravane razai or qualifier angelique kerber in
the third round
nba james shaq power cavaliers past raptors
cleveland ohio jan afp
lebron james just missed the triple double and shaquille neal reached another
milestone as the cleveland cavaliers defeated toronto on tuesday
james finished with points assists and nine rebounds for cleveland who
are beginning long spell of home games at quicken loans arena
mo williams added points and assists as the cavaliers boosted their record
to at home this season
cleveland shaquille neal finished with points and became the fifth player
in national basketball association history to surpass points in his
career
there no layups when shaq is covering the glass james said that what
he about he doesn care about putting guys on the floor
neal reached the milestone with his opening basket in the first minute of the
game he joined kareem abdul jabbar karl malone michael
jordan and wilt chamberlain as the only players to reach the
milestone
neal assisted on two crucial baskets down the stretch and set the tone for
cleveland defence in the second half with hard fouls on raptor demar derozan
and jarrett jack
happy being no there are some great names in front of me and some great
names behind me neal said ve always been player that only gets happy
about the big picture it great milestone but it something don get too
giddy about
chris bosh scored points and grabbed rebounds for toronto but was held to
just five points in the second half
the raptors were held scoreless in the final of the third quarter to fall
behind heading into the final quarter
james hit two crucial free throws with left in the fourth and bosh
committed turnover with seconds left which iced the game for cleveland
in haiti the jacmel cathedral clock stopped at pm
jacmel haiti jan afp
with their cathedral clock frozen at the shocked residents of this
earthquake stricken town in southern haiti remain cut off from the world and
have resorted to chartering boats to ferry out the injured
the clock kept on working during the first temblor at pm but it stopped
when the second one struck parish priest rony fabien said
jacmel mayor zenny edwin said in this port city of that the quake killed
to people and left some injured well below the fatalities
local radio station gave on sunday
seventy percent of the homes were damaged by the quake and an unknown number
collapsed altogether he added
even with few crumbled houses here and there the view of jacmel was far cry
from the scene of devastation in haiti capital port au prince which was
largely destroyed in the magnitude temblor leaving at least people
dead
in jacmel crowded city market it was hard going weaving through the fruit and
vegetable stalls
in the city elegant old quarters colonial style homes with pillar supported
balconies withstood the quake onslaught as did the covered market built in
by belgian craftsmen
but the rickety brick homes in the port city poorer neighborhoods either
completely collapsed or were damaged beyond repair including the alexandra
manor hotel
the tourists that normally throng the city at this time of year are all but
gone lone american tourist was found dead inside hotel
an orphanage run by dutchwoman lia van de donk home to children including
under four years of age was still standing but considered too dangerous and had
to be evacuated
the orphans five of them with aids and two handicapped are now living in
tents
looked for big tent but couldn find one and there no help from
authorities van de donk said
in his defense the mayor said the city has received some help from
international organizations but only food and no digging equipment
we ve evacuated the injured to santo domingo in private sailing ships fishing
boats or by plane from our small airport edwin said
we ve even had to clear the mountain road leading to port au prince by
ourselves because nobody has come to help us he added
the road clearing was done in haste and the trip to the capital now takes almost
twice as long as the normal two hours
at the slightest rainfall however the road will likely be reclaimed by
mudslides
but the mayor has reason to be hopeful
the us army has just announced it will set up camp in jacmel and things will
soon improve in the city he said
tennis roddick moves into third round at open
melbourne jan afp
american seventh seed andy roddick cruised past brazilian thomaz bellucci
to reach the third round at the australian open on wednesday
nba neal becomes fifth player to reach points
cleveland ohio jan afp
cleveland cavaliers giant centre shaquille neal has become the fifth player in
national basketball association history to score points
neal reached the milestone with his opening basket in the first minute of the
cavaliers win over toronto on tuesday he finished with points
neal joined kareem abdul jabbar karl malone michael jordan
and wilt chamberlain as the only players to reach the
milestone
neal joked that he would have thousands more points if only he could make free
throws more consistently
ve missed like free throws neal said if had at least hit half
of those then would be at right now
the crowd gave neal standing ovation during timeout in the opening
quarter neal is in his first year with the cavaliers
korea orders lights out to boost birthrate
seoul jan afp
south korea health ministry which is charged with boosting the nation low
birthrate is turning off the lights in its offices once month to encourage
staff to go home early and make more babies
the ministry said in statement wednesday the switches will be flicked at
pm every third wednesday in the month to help staff get dedicated to childbirth
and upbringing
those with urgent duties will be exempt from the switch off
going home early may have no direct link to having more kids but you cannot
just completely rule out possible link between them choi jin sun who is in
charge if the project at the ministry told afp
low birthrate is pressing issue in this fast ageing society
south korea birthrate the average number of babies born during woman
lifetime remained near the world lowest at in and there are fears
the population will begin shrinking within decade
it won be too long before our children are burdened with supporting the
elderly health minister jeon jae hee told the korea times newspaper
korea may lose out in the global economic competition due to lack of
manpower it is actually the most urgent and important issue the country is
facing
married staff at the ministry are not doing their bit with an average of
children compared to the average of among all civil servants the ministry
aims to increase the figure to in two years
the ministry has various other incentives including cash gifts for staff who
produce more than two babies some local governments also run schemes or even
matchmaking services to boost the birthrate
republicans deal obama massive blow with senate victory
boston massachusetts jan afp
republicans won stunning upset in massachusetts senate election tuesday
dealing potentially fatal blow to us president barack obama health care
reforms
republican scott brown pulled off the surprise victory capturing the late
democratic icon edward kennedy seat in stern rebuke of obama exactly year
after he swept into office
with nearly all votes counted brown had percent to percent for his
democratic rival martha coakley
coakley originally expected cakewalk in the historically left leaning state
but brown populist challenge to democratic rule in washington turned the race
into an unstoppable insurgency
tonight the independent voice of massachusetts has spoken brown said in
rousing victory speech
the voters of this commonwealth defied the odds and the experts
coakley for her part said she was heartbroken at the result
but know we will get up tomorrow and continue the fight coakley told
supporters in boston
have offered him my congratulations she said
