the joburg open this week could bring him back to back european tour triumphs
the year old native of vereeniging south of johannesburg won the africa open
last weekend on bone hard east london golf club course as drought grips the
eastern cape
but the south african financial capital has experienced heavy downpours for
several weeks leaving the west and east courses at the royal johannesburg and
kensington golf club saturated ahead of the first round thursday
this is the last of four european tour tournaments in this country and one of
just three on the road to dubai circuit that is staged on two or more
courses with the singapore open and alfred dunhill links the others
and while the east course is particularly testing with the th and th holes
among the longest successive par fours in the world the challenge holds no
fears for schwartzel
do not think playing longer course will do me any harm because am bit
longer off the tee than most of my rivals said the four time european tour
winner
ranked in the world schwartzel said the unusally heavy rainfall meant there
was likely to be little run on the ball and this would favour those who can hit
it far and accurately
his africa open success was the first by south african in the new season after
spaniard pablo martin won the alfred dunhill championship at leopard creek and
scot richie ramsay the south african open at pearl valley
schwartzel was runner up to martin and ended hine strokes behind ramsay and
after festive season break in the south african bush he wants to win more than
one european tour title in season for the first time
the other triumphs came in the alfred dunhill championship and showing
fondness for spanish courses the national champioship in that country and
the madrid masters the following year
among other south africans capable of challenging for first prize in the
million euro tournament are two time european tour winner richard sterne and
thomas aiken runner up to schwartzel in east london
italian edoardo molinari runway winner of the second tier challenge tour last
season and former ryder cup hero darren clarke from northern ireland are among
the overseas contingent
dane anders hansen is back to defend title won last year by one stroke from
south african andrew mclardy after preparatiions hampered by heavy snow in his
scandinavian homeland
it has been difficult preparing because have come here from denmark where we
had three feet of snow like being here my coach is south african and the
welcome receive makes me feel at home
last year was great for me so just have to keep it up there are couple of
things need to improve and will be trying to do that while keeping the
momentum going said the title holder
snow and ice storm hits france travel restrictions imposed
paris jan afp
snow and sleet storm forced french authorities to ban travel of lorries in the
paris region on wednesday and threatened to cause massive flight cancellations
adding to travel misery across northern europe
french road authorities issued ban against heavy commercial road traffic from
midnight until noon on wednesday in eight departments around paris due to the
winter storm brewing
while warming temperatures led authorities to reduce the number of departments
with severe weather warnings the restrictions on lorries were kept in place as
the storm was dumping three to five centimetres one to two inches of snow
across the north of the country and threatened to turn to sleet
more than trucks were forced to park west of the capital region due to the
restrictions france highway authority said while others were parked on the
main autoroute east of the capital
at paris main airport aviation authorities warned that the storm may force
airlines to cancel up to half of their flights with disruption compounded by
strike
the state civil aviation safety authority dgac has asked airlines to cancel
from tomorrow morning at least percent of their flights from roissy charles
de gaulle airport which could rise to percent if necessary it said in
statement on tuesday
at orly airport the other main paris international air hub traffic will be
reduced by percent it said final decisions on cancellations will depend on
conditions on wednesday morning
the dgac said that two day airport strike in several cities against reforms of
the air transport sector was likely to disrupt air traffic even further
another strike in france could literally affect the weather
some workers of meteo france went off the job tuesday to protest proposed
reorganisation plans forcing the closing of several departmental centres in the
west of the country union sources said
in germany falling temperatures created dangerous icy roadways on tuesday
causing numerous accidents some fatal and motorway closures and delays around
the country
the german automobile association adac warned motorists to expect long delays
and to be extremely careful
roads can turn into ice rinks in seconds or in minutes it said
in england which has been suffering its most severe winter for three decades
motorists were trapped in their cars late tuesday amid fierce blizzards in the
southwest of the country
heavy snowfalls also caused whiteout conditions in parts of wales leading to
the cancellation of bus services and disrupting rail travel
countries trying to make ice and snow covered roads passable cannot count on
switzerland for the much needed salt to clear the way
switzerland main publicly owned salt works said tuesday that it had turned
down new orders from the snowbound netherlands and germany in order to cater for
booming domestic needs in the cold snap
the situation is so fragile that were can take the risk of delivering
abroad said armin roos sales manager at schweizer rheinsalinen monopoly
owned by swiss regional governments we re running round the clock
further south in spain temperatures rose several degrees tuesday improving
road rail and air traffic conditions disrupted by heavy snowfall
however much of the country remained on alert with strong winds of up to
kilometres per hour and heavy rains forecast in many areas notably in northern
regions and around madrid
the national electricity grid reported its highest power surge of the winter due
to the freezing temperatures late on monday
heavy rains in portugal have raised the water of the alqueva dam which forms
the largest artificial lake in europe to its maximum capacity for the first
time since it was inaugurated in
flooding from heavy rains in the balkan states tuesday drove not only man but
also beast from home
in montenegro hippo was found wandering in village of plavnica on lake skadar
after flooding at private zoo led him to escape from his pen
he sometimes escapes his habitat when the water levels rise and this is not
unusual nikola pejovic one of the owners of the complex told afp
pejovic said that the hippo named nikica weighing about two tonnes usually
walks along already known path about one kilometer miles long towards
neighbouring houses
but not to worry nikica is their regular guest and locals are completely used
to him pejovic added
football giantkillers malawi have angola in their sights
luanda jan afp
malawi who claimed the scalp of world cup qualifiers algeria on monday are
intent on dishing out the same treatment to angola when they meet the africa cup
of nations hosts here on thursday
in only their second ever appearance in the competition malawi go into the game
as the surprise leaders of group ahead of angola and mali with algeria
footing the table
positive results in their warm up matches proved no flash in the pan judged by
the way they whipped the algerians and coach kinnah phiri is looking for
more of the same
we are outsiders in this competition we played well in our first match and
congratulate my players
we did prepare well and we are reaping the fruits here
if we maintain this balance we can shock the world
angola who were favourites to go through to the quarter finals from this group
with mali won make the mistake of under estimating phiri players
especially after their inelegant collapse against mali when they paid the price
for thinking they had done enough at up with barely quarter of an hour
remaining
former goalkeeper kanka vemba said change of attitude was required among the
black antelopes ahead of thursday encounter
we must adopt the same attacking policy but with another mentality of
respecting our rivals
another figure in angola football community ndunguidi daniel chipped in
declaring know that with the result against mali our players have lot of
pressure on them we have to concentrate in all departments and maintain
highly competitive attitude for the entire minutes
angola were spurred on by fanatical supporters at luanda all new
seater stadium on sunday at least until the fourth minute of injury
time when the noise meter plummeted
on the plus side they have serious attacking potential witness the double from
flavio armado and penalties from gilberto and manucho
but defensive frailties including by goalkeeper carlos fernandes cost them
dear against the malians
angola skipper kali said we have to raise our heads so sad and sorry
there no explanation for letting go of such big lead but we ve got to give
good response in our next match
as coach manuel jose noted the loss of what looked like certain three points
makes the next match little more complicated the public deserved win
jose said the way angola had collapsed was one of the bitterest pills he had
ever had to swallow as manager and he will be hoping for more digestible
result come thursday
football mali algeria eager to atone for bumpy cup starts
luanda jan afp
for mali and algeria thursday second group run out gives them second
chance to prove their true worth after indifferent starts to their africa cup of
nations campaigns
in the case of mali miraculous fightback to grab point against angola having
looked down and out trailing by four goals with quarter of an hour to go masked
poor first half display that had nigerian coach stephen keshi shaking his head
in frustration
the algerians for their part paid for an error strewn tepid performance hours
later when they were whipped by outsiders malawi who face angola in the
second leg of thursday group double header at the november stadium
keshi says his side were mentally shaken by the way they let angola race into
what appeared an unassailable lead before the hosts crumbled
the spirit was low after angola keshi reported
the players are aware of the mistakes they made on sunday but it was hard
game played in difficult atmosphere given the frantic support for the home
side
barcelona midfielder seydou keita who came off the bench to score two goals
insisted his teammates had the mental strength to bounce back
algeria may be in the world cup but they re in tricky situation our position
is more favourable
the pressure is greater for them because if they drop points against us
qualification for the next round is going to be tough
keshi was cautiously optimistic of being able to call up juventus midfielder
mohamed sissoko who has been battling groin injury and missed sunday
opener
sissoko is better but whether he plays or not don know
mali will have to tread carefully on the disciplinary front with four players
booking away from one match suspension quartet that includes keita who
bagged double on sunday with frederic kanoute and mustapha yataboure
contributing
over in the algeria camp rangers defender madjid bougherra said sorry to the
nation fans for monday defeat to malawi world apart from the performance
they put in to pip egypt to the world cup in november play off in kartoum
we apologise to the algerian people we weren at the level expected of us
for this match
he blamed the shock loss in large part on the hot and humid conditions the
game kicked off at local time thursday game is scheduled for
we couldn play at our real level because the heat handicapped us greatly
there were moments where we couldn even walk on the field
we were expecting that kind of heat but it was clear that our opponents were
more used to it we have to bounce back against mali and it won be as
hot during that one
for siena striker abdelkader ghezzal algeria got what was coming to them
against malawi
we played badly and deserved to lose ghezzal conceded
we had some good chances but were not good enough to capitalise on them
this defeat will do us well as we need to rediscover the spirit that allowed
us to qualify for the world cup
we now need to focus on our next match against mali
alert
looting seen in haiti after quake afp reporter
tennis heineken open men singles nd round
auckland jan afp
results from the third day of the heineken open here on wednesday denotes
seeding
nd round
tommy robredo esp bt simon greul ger
michael lammer sui bt juan carlos ferrero esp retired hurt
marc gicquel fra bt nicolas almagro esp
philipp kohlschreiber ger bt thomaz bellucci bra
john isner usa bt juan monaco arg
albert montanes esp bt rubin statham nzl
jurgen melzer aut bt sebastien grosjean fra
china sovereign fund return may exceed pct report
shanghai jan afp
china sovereign wealth fund could earn more than percent from its
investments for up from percent for the previous year state media
reported wednesday
china investment corp cic holdings improved as the global economy and
financial markets showed signs of recovery the official shanghai securities
news reported citing an unnamed source
the report said the fund may expand the scope of its investments and will
probably add the high speed railway sector in the united states to its
underperforming overseas portfolio without elaborating
the fund said in august it had posted net profit of billion dollars in
total assets stood at billion dollars at the end of
cic was set up to help china find more lucrative ways to invest its foreign
exchange reserves which stood at trillion dollars at the end of september
and are parked mainly in low yielding instruments such as us treasury bonds
the fund has been shifting its focus to raw materials and renewable energy after
seeing its investments in us bank morgan stanley and private equity firm
blackstone group crushed by the global crisis
afghan civilian deaths at most in taliban attacks un
kabul jan afp
civilian casualties in the afghan war rose significantly last year over to
the united nations said wednesday with the vast majority of the deaths
caused by taliban attacks
the un mission for afghanistan unama reported percent rise in civilian
deaths in up from year earlier
the rise makes the deadliest year for afghans since the war began soon
after the taliban regime was overthrown in us led invasion in late
the intensification and spread of the armed conflict in afghanistan continued
to take heavy toll on civilians throughout the report said
as the insurgency has escalated and spread from the southern provinces where it
began was also the deadliest for foreign forces fighting the taliban with
troop deaths up from for the year before
the un report said percent of last year civilian deaths or were in
insurgent attacks while pro government forces including nato and us troops were
responsible for percent or civilian deaths last year
another civilians were killed in violence unattributable to the conflicting
parties it said
was the worst year in recent times for civilians affected by the armed
conflict the report said adding unama hr human rights recorded the
highest number of civilian casualties since the fall of the taliban regime in
white house touts stimulus job impact
washington jan afp
the white house on wednesday said billion dollar economic stimulus plan
had saved or created up to two million jobs but that its impact on quarterly
economic growth had slowed
president barack obama council of economic advisors cea said the bill known
as the recovery act had added between three and four percentage points to gross
domestic product growth in the third quarter of
but it said that the plan which was fiercely opposed by republicans when it was
passed last year had slightly smaller impact on economic expansion in the
fourth quarter adding between and percent to economic growth
in effect the white house argued that without the stimulus the economy may not
have returned to growth at all after brutal recession
we know that when you have fiscal stimulus it has the biggest impact of growth
rates when it is first ramping up said cea chair christina romer
the administration is battling to restore robust economic growth as it enters
crucial political year with unemployment at percent ahead of mid term
congressional elections in november
the cea report said that the stimulus had raised employment by up to two million
jobs as far as the end of last year
our estimate is that as of the fourth quarter we think the recovery act
has added between to two million jobs relative to where we otherwise would
have been romer told reporters
she described the recovery act as the biggest boldest stimulus in american
history
it has done exactly what we anticipated it would do romer said
republicans have however lashed the economic stimulus act as costly failure
and are branding obama job killing president
representative darrell issa the top republican on the house oversight and
government reform committee blasted what he called the self serving and
deceptive numbers being put out by the white house on job creation
another word for it is propaganda issa said in statement
the second cea quarterly report on the stimulus was released before obama was
due to visit suburban maryland later wednesday and deliver remarks on clean
energy jobs created by the stimulus plan
it said the employment impact of the stimulus plan was expected to increase
substantially over time as would the total economic effect of the plan as
people who had found new jobs boosted spending
by the end of billion dollars of the plan had been outlayed or used to
provide tax cuts the cea said
afghan civilian deaths at most in taliban attacks un
kabul jan afp
civilian casualties in the afghan war rose significantly last year over to
the united nations said wednesday with the vast majority of the deaths
caused by taliban attacks
the un mission for afghanistan unama reported percent rise in civilian
deaths in up from year earlier
the rise makes the deadliest year for afghans since the war began soon
after the taliban regime was overthrown in us led invasion in late
the intensification and spread of the armed conflict in afghanistan continued
to take heavy toll on civilians throughout the report said
afp graphics advisory
hong kong jan afp
wednesday graphics
haiti quake
map locating the epicentre of magnitude quake that hit haiti tuesday
text slug haiti quake
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haiti facts
fact file on haiti
text slug haiti quake
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japan airlines
chart showing daily closing values for japan airlines for the past month
text slug japan airline company distress jal
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japan us bases
graphic on futenma us air base in japan okinawa province focus of an
ongoing row in japan on the relocation of us military facilities
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png facts
fact file on papua new guinea us secretary of state hillary clinton will travel
wednesday to papua new guinea for talks on climate change and economic
development
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solar eclipse
graphic fact file and illustration of the solar eclipse on january
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solar eclipse
graphic illustrating the path of solar eclipse in asia on january
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afghanistan attack
map of afghanistan locating garmsir district where at least nine people were
killed in shooting during large protest on tuesday
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tennis australia open
graphic showing the venue of the australian open in melbourne january
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tennis australia open women
graphic showing previous winners of the australian open women singles titles
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graphic showing previous winners of the australian open men singles titles
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tennis hawkeye
graphic on the hawkeye technology used at major tennis tournaments in advance
of the australian open
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asia pacific markets
closings for key asia pacific markets
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map showing the pacific countries to be visited by us secretary of state hillary
clinton this week
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paris hong kong
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urgent afghan civilian deaths at most in taliban attacks un
kabul jan afp
civilian casualties in the afghan war rose significantly last year over to
the united nations said wednesday with the vast majority of the deaths
caused by taliban attacks
haiti president alive after massive quake official
mexico city jan afp
haiti president rene preval is alive after massive earthquake that
destroyed the presidential palace and other buildings in port au prince haiti
ambassador to mexico said
all can confirm is that president and his wife are alive and well
ambassador robert manuel said
the situation is very serious he added at press conference after meeting
with mexico deputy foreign minister salvador beltran
lt hov sah arb
alert
afghan war civilian deaths up in to most in taliban attacks un
hundreds feared dead as quake strikes haiti
port au prince jan afp
the strongest earthquake to hit haiti in over century rocked the impoverished
caribbean nation tuesday toppling buildings and triggering fears that hundreds
have been killed in wave of destruction
some of the country most venerable buildings including haiti presidential
palace were destroyed by the late afternoon magnitude quake and photos of
the scene clearly showed dead bodies arrayed in the streets
as night fell residents of the capital suffered through the terror of series
of strong aftershocks according to scattered reports from the country and
communications were patchy in the quake aftermath
the full magnitude of destruction quickly dawned on haitian officials one of
whom described the quake as catastrophe of major proportions
the us geological survey usgs said strong aftershocks hit the country in
the hours after the initial gmt quake
sara fajardo of catholic relief services told afp that staff in the country were
terrified the aftershocks would topple more buildings
most of the catholic relief services staff is going to be sleeping on the crs
office compound but they re sleeping outside because they re too afraid to sleep
indoors out of safety concerns because of the aftershocks she said
there have been buildings that have fallen down there was one right across
from our office fajardo said after crs members spoke with staff in haiti
locals and photographers posted photos on microblogging internet site twitter
showing scenes of utter devastation with flattened buildings ripped up
telephone poles and crushed cars
pall of grey smoke hung over part of one city as dazed residents covered in
dust were helped from the rubble roads and highways had been snapped their
tarmac twisted and torn
video of the initial quake aired on cnn showed thick cloud of dust erupted
from dozens of collapsing buildings obscuring the view of port au prince for
minutes after the temblor
think it really catastrophe of major proportions haiti ambassador to
the united states raymond alcide joseph told cnn
the quake shook the earth for more than minute and left buildings including
haiti presidential palace parliament and several ministries damaged beyond
repair
the headquarters of the un mission in haiti minustah which has served as
peacekeeping mission there since was also destroyed by the temblor
the headquarters of the united nations stabilization mission in haiti has been
destroyed in large part there are numerous people underneath the rubble both
dead and injured local employee said
night fell shortly after the quake and there was no electricity to light the
streets making it difficult to tell how many people had been injured or killed
in the disaster
but initial estimates suggested high death toll in the haitian capital an
overcrowded city full of poorly constructed buildings
when we get an idea of the toll it will be measured in the hundreds local
doctor who was bloodied and nursing an injured left arm told afp
nations around the world offered aid and the united states france canada and
governments across latin america geared to send help
us president barack obama said my thoughts and prayers go out to those who
have been affected by this earthquake as the state department pentagon and us
southern command began to put together aid teams
in paris foreign minister bernard kouchner said france expresses its complete
solidarity with haiti
canada which hosts an strong haitian community said it was deeply
concerned
rachel wolff international media director for world vision said their national
director in port au prince described terror after the quake
he said he heard quite bit of screaming in the capital where he works people
seemed very frightened people were out in the streets there was bit of
panicked situation she told afp
hours after the quake some residents continued tweeting as they hoped for help
when my batteries die will no longer be able to communicate it going to be
long night our prayers go out to everyone wrote one in their message
the usgs said the quake epicenter was just kilometers nine miles
southwest of port au prince
tsunami alert for the caribbean region was issued but swiftly lifted
usgs geophysicist susan potter said the last earthquake of such magnitude to
