the toussaint louverture international airport the hub of ballooning
international relief effort is brimming with air force transports from dozen
nations unloading humanitarian and military supplies on the tarmac
we re going to be branching out around the city to help the united nations and
other forces who need it provide whatever assistance is required barrieau
said as heavy lift helicopters arrived to join the operation
troops were scheduled to continue arriving throughout the day until the
contingent grows to brigade strength of several thousand personnel with units
arriving overnight in and cargo planes from fort bragg north
carolina
we re prepared to stay for whatever amount of time is necessary most likely
days but if more time is needed we will be there to help out barrieau told
afp
as order was gradually restored and foreign nationals trapped by the disaster
began to leave aid workers and journalists continued to flow in the opposite
direction into the impoverished caribbean nation
but some confusion remained
the dutch ambassador to the dominican republic rita dulci rahman who is also
responsible for haiti was in the airport carpark with single aide and had
to borrow an afp reporter phone to find her driver
she said the netherlands will fly in plane carrying rescue equipment as well
as rescue and medical workers in the course of the day
haiti theater of us interventions
washington jan afp
the united states is engaged in massive operation to provide haiti with
humanitarian assistance with troops deploying and washington controlling
the airport
it is just the latest in series of us deployments to haiti over the years
on july president woodrow wilson sent marines to port au prince
establishing military government that lasted until
its legacy was massive improvement in infrastructure particularly in and
around port au prince but also left lingering resentment toward the united
states
us forces brutally repressed opposition to the occupation all told violence
claimed the lives of haitians and and americans according to
historian georges michel
it also left the haitian military elite in control that would set the tone for
strong man rule that would endure for the rest of the th century and into this
one
in september then president bill clinton threatened to deploy us
troops as part of multinational force to restore father jean bertrand aristide
to power
aristide was elected president in on the back of wave of popular support
but was overthrown in september by military coup
the coup caused an exodus of thousands of haitians many of whom attempted to
reach the united states on flimsy rafts
but facing an imminent us led invasion coup leader raoul cedras backed down
and aristide was returned to power completing his term in
on march the united nations deployed peacekeepers and police
officers to stabilize the fragile state the deployment included us
troops who would eventually leave haiti in january
under intense american pressure aristide was returned to power in february
after elections that were boycotted by the opposition amid allegations of fraud
but facing an armed insurrection that controls half the country aristide was
eventually forced to leave the country in
then us president george bush announced the deployment of marines as
precursor to multilateral force which eventually numbered with us
french canadian and chilean contingents
by june the force was beefed up to when the us withdrew its forces
us navy flying recon missions over haiti
guantanamo bay cuba jan afp
us navy forces began flying reconnaissance operations over haiti friday as they
prepared to ferry supplies into the quake crippled nation naval officer told
afp
helicopters took off from the aircraft carrier uss carl vinson to map the
topography of the caribbean nation and determine safe landing areas in the
devastated capital of port au prince said rear admiral ted branch the
commander of the carrier battle group
two hh transport helicopters then took off to start unloading water to the
airport in the capital branch told afp by phone
he acknowledged the operation facing the relief effort for haiti devastated by
tuesday quake was daunting
but he said he expected in conjunction with our relief helicopters to help
provide order in the distribution process of badly needed supplies
the nuclear powered uss vinson arrived in haiti on friday equipped with
helicopters water purification plant and carrying tons of medicines
eu puts rebuilding haiti on priority list
brussels jan afp
the european union has put rebuilding quake ravaged haiti on its priority list
eu foreign affairs chief catherine ashton said friday ahead of emergency talks
between development ministers
am absolutely committed to helping the people in haiti that is what the
people of haiti expect and they can count on us rebuilding haiti is now
priority for the eu she said in statement
ashton will chair in brussels on monday talks among development ministers from
the eu nations to look at the bloc efforts to help and discuss the
reconstruction process that will follow
according to an initial eu damage assessment more than physical
structures were destroyed or damaged in the haitian capital port au prince by
the magnitude earthquake that struck on tuesday
some people might have been killed and officials have said that three
million people third of the population were affected
while we are making sure that haiti receives the immediate and urgent support
it needs we also have to get ready for the very important next step in helping
haiti to rebuild the country ashton said
the eu top diplomat will travel to the united states on wednesday for talks
with us and un officials
as well as several million euros in aid eu nations have sent search and rescue
teams dogs and handlers hospital units tents food and water purification
supplies to haiti
us man arrested after bomb threat aboard airplane
chicago jan afp
california man was arrested friday after he locked himself in the bathroom of
michigan bound airplane and claimed he had bomb officials and local media
report
the flight landed without incident at tvc cherry capital airport all
passengers were deplaned and the plane was swept with negative results the
transportation security administration said in statement
per standard procedures law enforcement and tsa personnel met the flight and
the passenger in question is currently being interviewed
the tsa said it was notified that passenger entered the bathroom of regional
airplane as it was approaching traverse city en route from chicago
the tsa did not disclose the identity of the passenger or details of the
disturbance
local television station wpbn reported that he locked himself in the toilet and
said he had bomb
spokeswoman from united airlines said the crew requested assistance due to
disruptive passenger on the plane but would not provide further details
the airport was shut down from am gmt to am gmt the
tsa said
figure skating canadian championships results
london canada jan afp
selected results here on friday in the canadian figure skating championships
qualifier for the vancouver winter olympics
women
short programme
cynthia phaneuf pts joannie rochette amelie lacoste
myriane samson adriana desanctis diane szmiett
us man arrested after bomb threat aboard airplane
chicago jan afp
california man was arrested friday after he locked himself in the bathroom of
michigan bound airplane and claimed he had bomb officials and local media
report
the flight landed without incident at tvc cherry capital airport all
passengers were deplaned and the plane was swept with negative results the
transportation security administration said in statement
per standard procedures law enforcement and tsa personnel met the flight and
the passenger in question is currently being interviewed
the tsa said it was notified that passenger entered the bathroom of regional
airplane as it was approaching traverse city en route from chicago
the tsa did not disclose the identity of the passenger or details of the
disturbance
local television station wpbn reported that he locked himself in the toilet and
said he had bomb
spokeswoman from united airlines said the crew requested assistance due to
disruptive passenger on the plane but would not provide further details
the airport was shut down from am gmt to am gmt the
tsa said
rallying teammates sainz al attiyah in angry clash prior to dakar day
santa rosa argentina jan afp
dakar rally leader carlos sainz angrily denounced his volkswagen team mate
nasser al attiyah after the two drivers clashed on the th and penultimate
stage of the race on friday
france stephane peterhansel of bmw won the day stage km run between
san rafael and santa rosa with qatar al attiyah finishing second min sec
behind peterhansel after overtaking spaniard sainz
sainz lead over al attiyah in the overall standings was subsequently slashed
to just min sec ahead of saturday final stage which takes the drivers back
into buenos aires
logically nasser was behind said former world rally champion sainz who
finished min sec behind peterhansel on the day
was passing by bikes and so was he we were in the dust at one point he
passed me and hit me and then when he was in front of me he started
zigzagging in front of me this is not fair play at all
if had seen him in my rear view mirror and if had started doing the same
he would not have passed me two days ago stayed in the dust for km what
is absolutely not normal is that team mate would hit you
al attiyah who was disqualified while leading last year race claimed that
sainz had provoked the incident by refusing to get out of the way
sainz didn let me pass he said finally managed to pass him in the last
straight stretch but it ok it doesn matter it was very very fast
stage not technical but pretty happy
earlier norway pal ullevalseter won the motorcycling stage
the victory took ullevalseter on ktm into second place in the overall
standings leapfrogging the chilean francisco lopez who finished min sec
behind the norwegian in fourth place on his aprilia
fantastic stage for me said ullevalseter started third and after km
was in the lead today was route for big bikes we could really attack and in
the last hours was riding at more than kmh
france ktm rider cyril despres sec behind ullevalseter in second place
continues to enjoy healthy lead of hr min at the top of the general
classification ahead of saturday final stage
spain marc coma another ktm rider finished third on the day min sec off
ullevalseter pace
coma was handed controversial time penalty of hr min for illegally changing
wheel during the seventh stage and is now hr min behind despres
portugal helder rodrigues yamaha remains fourth overall with frenchmen
david fretigne yamaha and alain duclos ktm fifth and sixth respectively
yemen qaeda chiefs killed in air strike senior official
sanaa jan afp
an air strike on friday on an al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap convoy in
north yemen killed six suspected leaders of the group including its military
boss senior yemeni official said
qassem al rimi was among people who made daring escape from state
security prison in sanaa in february that left the government red faced
six al qaeda leaders including the network military chief qassem al rimi
were killed on friday the official said on condition of anonymity
two men who fled the scene were named as ammar al waili and saleh al tais who
were earlier reported to be among the dead in friday raid on three vehicle
convoy in al ajashir desert region in eastern saada province
in addition to rimi ayedh al shabwani was also killed when warplane attacked
the vehicles with air to ground missiles the official said without identifying
the other four dead
tribal leader told afp by telephone he saw warplane target three
vehicles and that the first missile missed
second missile threw up large plume of dust he said adding that he then
saw one of the three vehicles flee the scene
he said the convoy had been en route from maarib province to saada province
where aqap was reported to have camp at wadi al abu jabara
rimi was the principal architect of most of al qaeda operations in yemen
the official said adding that the man had slipped through dragnet twice
before in and at the end of
friday air raid came as britain said it would host an international meeting on
battling extremism in yemen on january in london rather than on the th as
originally planned
in friday sermon meanwhile powerful cleric sheikh abdulmajeed al zendani
said it would be religious duty dictated by god to defend yemen through
jihad or holy war if it is occupied by foreign power
he was responding in part to comments on wednesday by carl levin chairman of
the us senate armed services committee who urged washington to consider
targeting al qaeda in yemen with drones air strikes or covert operations but
not invade the country
us president barack obama has said he has no intention of sending troops to
yemen aqap claimed responsibility for botched attack on us airliner on
christmas day
from the moment the enemy invites itself onto our territory and occupies us
our religion imposes the obligation of jihad on us said zendani whom the us
administration labels global terrorist
it is religious duty dictated by god he said during his sermon
this order of god cannot be annulled by anyone not king not president
not ulema muslim scholars zendani added
yemen council of clerics which includes zendani made similar call for
jihad on thursday if foreign forces join the fight against aqap
on friday zendani urged arab and muslim states to support yemen before
catastrophe occurs
the islamic nation will not stand by with its arms crossed in the face of these
crusades he added
to defend ourselves and defend our country and our territory we only fear
god and we are confident in victory he said to cries of allahu akbar god
is greater
washington has accused aqap of training the man who allegedly carried out the
failed christmas day attack nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab
sanaa has intensified operations against the militants insisting it can tackle
them without foreign intervention
friday operation was the latest in series of blows since december when the
government launched its latest campaign against al qaeda
on tuesday security forces killed abdullah mehdar said to be the group
kingpin in shabwa province east of the capital
provincial governor ali hassan al ahmadi said dozens of fighters including
saudis and egyptians who had fled afghanistan were hiding in shabwa
among them he said were current aqap chief nasser al wahaishi his saudi
number two saeed ali al shehri and radical us yemeni cleric anwar al awlaqi
week ago officials announced the capture of key leader mohammed al hanq and
two other militants believed behind threats against western interests in sanaa
that caused embassies to close for several days
friday attack also came day after the defence ministry vowed to do clear
yemen of al qaeda jihadists
urgent guinea rivals sign deal polls in six months
ouagadougou jan afp
guinea political rivals friday signed deal providing for elections in six
months and for junta chief captain moussa dadis camara to remain in
convalescence according to an official statement
us pouring troops in haiti
washington jan afp
us military leaders said friday they would pour troops in earthquake
battered haiti in the coming days warning that it was urgent to bring water and
food to prevent deaths and unrest
admiral mike mullen the top military chief said that up to us troops
would be either in haiti or offshore on six navy vessels that will arrive by
monday
it looks like between and with the arrival of the marines and the
three ships that are associated with that mullen the chairman of the joint
chiefs of staff told reporters
mullen said that about troops were already in haiti including members of
the nd airborne brigade who arrived late thursday and were already delivering
water from helicopters
the us military has also sent the nuclear powered uss carl vinson aircraft
carrier which will serve as floating airport to bring in supplies and rush
out victims as port au prince airport struggles to function
defense secretary robert gates said the security situation remained pretty
good but that supplies needed to be delivered urgently
the security situation remains ok gates told the news conference
the key is to get the food and the water in there as quickly as possible so
that people don in their desperation turn to violence gates said
but at this point other than some scavenging and minor looting our
understanding is the security situation is pretty good
gates defended the pace of us relief efforts noting that the united states was
dealing with sovereign foreign government
don know how this government could have responded faster or more
comprehensively than it has he said
there were constraints on how fast aid teams and supplies could be ferried in
said gates citing badly damaged roads and the small size of airport
the collapse of the infrastructure in haiti the small size of the airport the
time it takes ship to get from point to point those are all just facts
of life he said
asked why the military had not used air drops to deliver aid gates said such an
operation could lead to riots without any structure on the ground in terms of
distribution
we are dealing with sovereign country the haitians are still in charge of
air traffic control at this point he said
president barack obama on friday spoke for half an hour with haiti president
rene preval whose palace was devastated by the earthquake but was unhurt
air force colonel steve shea who is coordinating logistics for the forces
heading to haiti said the united states considered preval to be in charge of
operations
but he said that haiti had given the green light to us forces to install
navigation systems at the airport and expand its capacity after bottlenecks
caused suspension of flights on thursday
shea said the united states was looking for an agreement on the use of haitian
airspace as more troops come in pointing to the difficulties in coordinating
relief flights coming in from around the world
it challenge because the international community is all on board to help
out shea told reporters on conference call we re looking for memorandum
of understanding so that it respected on all ends
air force colonel sid banks who also works in logistics said that us
authorities learned during hurricane katrina in the risks when groups
arrive seeking to just roll their sleeves up and get to work
lot of times when you don have good command and control you re going
to create chaos banks said
the united states has mixed legacy in haiti us forces invaded in due to
instability in the impoverished nation staying until
european stocks close lower
london jan afp
european stock markets closed lower on friday slipping back steadily in line
with wall street as investors discounted strong results from chip giant intel
and jp morgan dealers said
they said much has been made of upcoming us company results and both intel and
jp morgan posted better than expected headline figures but jittery market
seemed to need more than that to establish any momentum
additionally weak us inflation and consumer sentiment data pointed to the
underlying fragility of the recovery and may have deterred buying interest
before long holiday weekend in the united states they said
in london the ftse index of leading shares closed down percent at
points
in paris the cac lost percent to points dropping back below
the key points level for the first time this year and in frankfurt the
dax tumbled percent to points
dealers in london said they thought initially the market would do well on friday
but momentum was soon lost as wall street fell quite sharply
shares looked poised to continue their recovery but these hopes were dashed
when us markets opened and promptly went into reverse said david jones chief
market strategist at ig index
jp morgan showed more than fourfold increase in quarterly earnings but
tough time for its retail arm seems to have soured sentiment
consumer sentiment data in the us also showed less than expected rise and
all of this seems to have convinced investors that there is no hurry to buy in
ahead of the holiday weekend for us markets james said
he said the market may make some modest gains over coming weeks but would need
really dramatic news lead to do better than that
share prices need to take breather after investors got bit carried away in
december and at the start of the year said xavier de villepion at global
equities in paris
in new york the blue chip dow jones industrial average was down percent at
around gmt with the tech heavy nasdaq composite falling percent
there was lack of enthusiasm over better than expected earnings from both
intel and jpmorgan analysts at briefing com said in note to clients
intel the world biggest computer chip maker said net profit soared nearly
nine fold to billion dollars in the last three months of on the back of
percent jump in revenue to billion dollars
jpmorgan also posted big jump in net profit to billion dollars with
revenues rising to billion dollars
the lack of buying interest following the reports underscores how the market
expectations have risen along with stock prices which are up by about
percent since march said patrick hare of briefing com
elsewhere in europe amsterdam fell percent brussels dropped percent
madrid was off percent milan lost percent and swiss stocks shed
percent
in asian trade earlier friday markets were generally firmer after wall street
held up well overnight
tokyo gained percent at fresh month high with tech stocks bouyed by
intel results
chinese shares ended percent higher but hong kong continued weaker falling
percent while sydney was flat
hunters spark lockdown of texas nuclear weapons plant
chicago jan afp
pair of fowl hunters sparked brief lockdown of texas nuclear weapons plant
friday officials said
they were just doing what people do around here said carson county sheriff
tam terry they just had lot more company than they were planning on
the sheriff office got call around am from an employee of amp
pantex who saw two men getting out vehicle dressed in camouflage and carrying
guns couple miles from the plant
the men were soon found in nearby field setting up goose decoys and blind
they were very cooperative and quickly provided identification showing that they
were pantex employees terry told afp
no charges will be filed in the case and it appears as though the men who
were hunting on day off from work had permission from the owner of the land
to hunt there
alert
guinean rivals sign deal polls in six months statement
some canadians missing in haiti four dead
montreal jan afp
some canadians are missing in haiti and four have been confirmed dead in
devastating earthquake foreign minister lawrence cannon said friday
according to the latest consular information there are four confirmed canadian
fatalities cannon said in addition total of canadians are missing in
the affected area
the figure for missing canadians represents the number that consular services
have been unable to reach after being informed by their families that they are
in haiti the foreign affairs ministry said
our operations centre is trying to call back all of the families to verify
whether they ve not yet heard from their loved ones ministry spokeswoman lisa
monette told afp
according to cannon canadians were also injured and over canadians have
been located in the ruins of the caribbean nation
about canadians continue to take refuge at our embassy in haiti and another
are being assisted elsewhere in haiti he told press conference
on thursday the canadian military evacuated citizens aboard transport
planes delivering aid to quake victims among them was prize winning author dany
laferriere
the canadian government estimates that canadians were in haiti during the
magnitude quake however only had registered with the embassy
alpine skiing american miller dominates wengen super combined
wengen switzerland jan afp
american bode miller fired out warning ahead of next month winter olympics
by dominating the world cup super combined event here on friday
the year old miller who missed the testing bormio downhill at the end of
december and also passed on this month zagreb slalom because of an ankle
injury clocked combined total over downhill and slalom race of min
sec to finish sec ahead of swiss star carlo janka
janka compatriot silvan zurbriggen was in third further sec adrift with
austrian veteran benjamin raich in fourth american ted ligety in fifth and
croatian ivica kostelic in sixth
the victory was miller nd on the world cup circuit and his first since
winning the downhill in kvitjfell norway in march
the two time overall world cup winner in and set up his victory with
no holds barred downhill posting ahead of janka winner of this
event here last season
he then posted the field th fastest slalom time in sec to secure
comprehensive victory and first world cup podium place of the season just four
weeks away from the winter olympics
really happy for the win it great time of the year for me moving
forward and getting my first win said miller normally at this time of the
year moving backwards he joked
the american also battled injuries at the end of last season and took eight
months off to ponder retirement before finally deciding to not only return to
the world cup but also rejoin the us ski team
miller divorced himself from the us team two seasons ago after having falling
out with officials he competed as an independent with mixed results but now
back in the fold he looks set to avenge his poor results at the turin games in
he had disappointing olympics in italy attracting more attention for his late
night partying than for his skiing and finishing disappointing fifth in the
downhill and sixth in the giant slalom
things are coming together physically and can ski hard from the top to the
bottom he said
have some fall off not at my very peak but still getting stronger
which is very encouraging and we re making progress on the equipment
miller argued that the teeth had been taken away from the wengen course
it was not physically demanding because the snow is so nice he said in
general it was pretty easy this year physically which was to my advantage
because not at my physical peak right now
he added made some big mistakes in the downhill misexecuting two corners
and being bounced around on flat part after the tunnel
they re mistakes that can cost you the race would have felt pretty down if
lost by sec rather than won by
so the skiing execution was not great but the winning is great the super
combined has pretty strong field
janka decried his starting number bode had six and me sometimes it counts
and today it was an advantage to go down first in the downhill
zurbriggen added it makes me happy for bode because he had tough season
he great skier who has always been nice to us
the world cup continues here with racers competing in downhill on saturday and
slalom on sunday
un to launch million dollar appeal for devastated haiti
united nations jan afp
un humanitarian chief john holmes said he would launch an appeal friday for
millions dollars from the world community to assist haiti quake victims
holmes said he would formally launch the appeal at pm gmt and that the
funds would be used for urgently needed food medical supplies water and tents
following tuesday quake that devastated the poor caribbean island nation of
nine million people
ga jm
former ss member testifies in nazi trial
berlin jan afp
former nazi ss member testified via video link from the netherlands on friday
in the german trial of comrade from his unit accused of three murders in
court spokesman said
jacobus petrus besteman gave evidence in the trial of heinrich boere who
has been on trial since october for gunning down three dutch civilians in
spokesman georg winkel told afp without giving further details
prosecutors say the three killings were among murders carried out by their
silbertanne silver fir hit squad against dutch civilians thought to be
anti german in reprisals for attacks by resistance fighters
boere has admitted on previous occasions the murders in the dutch towns of
breda voorschoten and wassenaar saying he was following orders
yes got rid of them he told focus magazine in it was not difficult
you just had to bend finger
born in eschweiler germany his family moved to the netherlands when he was
two boere volunteered for the ss in and fought for the germans on the
eastern front according to statement by boere filed with the court
transferred back to the netherlands he was taken prisoner in before
escaping in he says he spent two or three years in hiding before moving
back to eschweiler in and working as coal miner until
he was sentenced to death in absentia by special post war tribunal in
amsterdam in the sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment
boere remained free man as germany refused to extradite him saying it was
unable to determine if he was german or stateless germany as rule does not
extradite its citizens to stand trial in other countries
the wheelchair bound boere who lives in nursing home faces the rest of his
life behind bars if convicted of murder
