rare haiti hope as man pulled alive from un ruins
port au prince jan afp
sniffer dogs eagerly clambered over the ruins of the haitian capital thursday as
in rare moment of hope man was miraculously pulled alive and unscathed from
the rubble of the un compound
almost hours after tuesday powerful quake the first real signs of foreign
help for the devastated caribbean island nation began to appear on the ravaged
streets of the capital as aid also began arriving at the airport
estonian police officer tarmo joveer was seen being pulled out of the rubble of
the un headquarters by specialized us rescue team from virginia
despite being shaken he appeared to have had miraculous escape as he climbed
swiftly down from the ruins punching the air in triumph smiling and hugging
his rescuers
lost the footing and was laying on the floor that was it joveer said of
tuesday afternoon terrifying quake in video by the virginia team shown on
cnn
it wasn good he admitted tersely asked about the long hours he spent
trapped under mountains of concrete where some un workers are still missing
after tuesday wave of destruction twenty two un staff were killed
it small miracle un chief ban ki moon said at the united nations in new
york where staff are reeling from the scale of the tragedy
the virginia team who arrived with tonnes of relief supplies and equipment
were among the first wave of massive international aid operation swinging into
place for the devastated nation
chinese and french teams also backed by sniffer dogs flew in with the first
light and immediately began fanning out across the country in desperate race
against time to find thousands still feared trapped in the rubble
there were mounting fears that disease could soon spread with thousands of
bodies still lying unclaimed in the streets in the tropical haitian sun
hundreds of corpses lay rotting outside the damaged main hospital here as the
wounded begged for help or screamed in pain
without gloves or disinfectants grieving survivors searched through the bodies
for their lost relatives
finally found my cousin said jean lionel valentin pointing to body
covered with white sheet but now nobody wants to help me carry the body
taxis are trying to charge me fortune and have to leave again here he
said
every minutes police van would pull up and pile up more bodies as the
strench rose becoming overwhelming
in country already dependent on international food aid aid organizations were
also desperately trying to distribute food water and shelter to millions of
victims
makeshift cities of sheets tents and awnings began springing up in public
squares in port au prince as officials estimated some three million people may
have been affected by the disaster
there were fears too for the children orphaned or separated from their
families with one charity warning up to two million could be at risk and
shocked that youngsters were left sleeping by dead bodies
children are petrified and in danger many will have been orphaned or be badly
injured themselves and in urgent need of medical help gareth owen director of
emergencies for the london based global charity save the children
this is not safe place for children we know that the prison has collapsed
and lone children are incredibly vulnerable
attack on egypt copts shows intolerance us official
cairo jan afp
christmas eve attack in southern egypt in which six coptic christians were
killed reveals an atmosphere of intolerance us assistant secretary for human
rights michael posner said on thursday
the united states is very concerned about the tragic events in nagaa hammadi
posner told reporters in cairo it part of what we see as an atmosphere of
intolerance
on january the eve of the coptic orthodox christmas three gunmen raked
worshippers emerging from mass in nagaa hammadi with bullets in the deadliest
attack since when copts were killed in sectarian clashes
reconciliation efforts between christians and muslims alone are not enough
posner said
there needs to be prosecution there needs to be break in the sense of
impunity and there needs to be justice he said
following the attack residents of nagaa hammadi were furious at what they
called government attempts to hush up egypt sectarian problem
three people were arrested and charged with premeditated murder after the attack
which also saw one muslim policeman killed
but posner said more information needed to come to light
who was involved who may have ordered the killings he asked
copts who account for nearly percent of egypt population of million
are the middle east largest christian community but complain of routine
harassment and systematic discrimination and marginalisation
posner was on his first visit to egypt in his capacity as assistant secretary of
state for the bureau of democracy human rights and labour as part of tour
that also took him to jordan and israel
while he was openly critical of the human rights situation in egypt he insisted
that democracy could not be imported
there are serious human rights problems in egypt posner said citing the
emergency law prison conditions torture abuse and religious freedom as issues
of concern
but we know that in any society change occurs from within in egypt we take
our lead from what egyptians are saying or doing it an egyptian discussion
said posner who met ministers officials ngos and activists during his visit
report by egyptian human rights groups published in december described
egypt as police state where citizens receive no protection from torture
the basic feature of human rights in egypt today is the prevalence of policy
of exception in which those responsible for violations usually escape punishment
amid climate of impunity intentionally created and fostered for several
decades said the report
with this policy of impunity gradually becoming the norm the prerogatives of
the security apparatus have been expanded and egypt has turned into police
state the report said
egypt has been operating under state of emergency since the assassination
of president anwar sadat which has been renewed repeatedly since then despite
protests from rights groups and regime opponents
the state of emergency allows for the detention of anyone who falls under the
broad category of constituting danger to public security
us president barack obama has placed less emphasis on political reform in the
region than his predecessor george bush
his administration rhetoric has backed away from bush robust calls for egypt
to release dissidents and ensure fair elections
formula one ecclestone concerned about new boys
berlin jan afp
formula one boss bernie ecclestone said on thursday he fears several teams may
not make it onto the grid when the season starts because of the financial
crisis
the new season begins in bahrain on march but ecclestone is not convinced
all registered teams particularly the four new additions will be ready to
race
can already imagine that certain teams will not be on the starting grid
ecclestone said according to report from german sports agency sid
they assure us the situation is not dramatic but am not so sure as we all
know there is world economic crisis and so it is very difficult for new
team to raise the necessary funds especially if the budgets are reduced
lotus campos usf and manor are the four new teams and both campos and usf
are thought to be struggling to be ready in time for bahrain
ecclestone also said he is looking at ways to make grand prix racing more of
spectacle including adding shortcuts to the circuits in the future
the year old briton is looking at the idea of allowing each formula one
driver the option of using shortcut on each grand prix track maximum of five
times to help make the races more appealing to television audiences
have already looked at proposals to find solutions but so far in vain he
said
one simple idea is that there is shortcut on the circuit which each driver
could use five times per race
it would mean no one would be wedged behind slower car and it would be very
good both for the race and television audiences
ecclestone said the idea would need to be discussed with both the formula one
teams and grand prix organisers
the president and ceo of formula one management said he is also thinking of
increasing the number of points awarded to drivers who win formula one race
from to
my idea is to create greater differential between not only first and second
but also second and third said ecclestone
it would encourage the drivers to show more desire
sarkozy calls for international conference to rebuild haiti
paris jan afp
french president nicolas sarkozy called thursday for an international conference
on rebuilding haiti after powerful earthquake devastated the impoverished
caribbean nation
france will work with the united states canada and brazil to quickly organise
donors meeting for the reconstruction of haiti former french colony he
said
proposed to president barack obama that the united states brazil canada
take the initiative to organise major international conference to rebuild
the country said sarkozy at the elysee palace
pakistan should talk to the taliban imran khan
london jan afp
cricketer turned politician imran khan called thursday for the army to withdraw
from pakistan tribal areas and for talks with the taliban warning that the
country faced catastrophe otherwise
khan said the us pakistan military offensive in the areas bordering afghanistan
was turning locals massively against the united states and boosting support for
the militants
us drone strikes on militants were sparking anger and hatred in the area said
khan who leads the marginal tehrik insaf movement for justice
the solution is to hold dialogue with the militants he told an audience at
the chatham house foreign policy thinktank in london the solution is to win
them onto our side not to bomb them with airstrikes
otherwise he warned if we continue with this military operation we are facing
catastrophe
the militants operating in the tribal areas did not share the beliefs of the
afghan taliban who wanted to create an islamist state he said
in my opinion they are political taliban they are not religious taliban
they will fade away as soon as the pakistan army moves back and dialogue is
held he added
khan said that pakistan former military ruler pervez musharraf once described
him as terrorist without beard for suggesting talks with the militants
but now it was an idea being promoted by others
now even afghan president hamid karzai considers taliban supreme leader
mullah omar to be brother khan added to laughter from the audience
he also criticised the tactics of the us military surge in afghanistan
the only way see the surge being effective is if they use their muscle to get
the taliban to the negotiating table
if they use the surge for more bloodshed can guarantee they will leave
behind because they will leave far more radical government than the one
it replaced
us drone strike in the lawless northwest border area thursday targeted
pakistani taliban leader hakimullah mehsud officials said although the militia
denied reports that he was among killed
football german league table
berlin jan afp
german league table ahead of the weekend matches as the bundesliga resumes
following the winter break played won drawn lost goals for goals against
points
bayer leverkusen
schalke
bayern munich
hamburg
borussia dortmund
werder bremen
hoffenheim
vfl wolfsburg
mainz
eintracht frankfurt
borussia gladbach
cologne
freiburg
hanover
vfb stuttgart
vfl bochum
nuremberg
hertha berlin
soul legend teddy pendergrass dies aged
los angeles jan afp
velvet voiced soul legend teddy pendergrass whose romantic ballads lit up the
and has died after long battle with cancer reports said
thursday he was
the singer whose hits included classics such as turn off the lights and
close the door passed away on wednesday at philadelphia bryn mawr
hospital his son teddy pendergrass ii said
pendergrass son told the philadelphia inquirer that his father paralyzed
from the waist down following car crash died after undergoing surgery
for colon cancer eight months ago that had led to difficult recovery
philadelphia native pendergrass was born on march and was raised by
his mother ida pendergrass after his father left at an early age
according to the singer website he began singing in church at the age of two
and was member of the all city elementary school boys choir by the time he was
six years old
he later fell in love with performing after watching music legends such as bobby
darin and chubby checker at the nightclub where his mother worked
his music career began in earnest as drummer for the the cadillacs who later
merged with harold melvin amp the blue notes
front man melvin promoted pendergrass to lead singer and the outfit enjoyed
dazzling period of success from to with hits such as if you don
know me by now and the seminal the love lost
after series of bust ups with melvin pendergrass quit the blue notes in
and subsequently forged successful solo career that included five consecutive
multi platinum albums
following the car crash that left him wheelchair bound pendergrass continued to
record helping the career of young whitney houston in the duet hold
me and later performing at the live aid concert
pendergrass announced his retirement from music in but returned for
charity concert year later to raise funds for his teddy pendergrass alliance
set up to help people coping with spinal cord injuries
jordan confirms bomb near israeli embassy convoy
amman jan afp
roadside bomb blew up near an israeli embassy convoy headed to israel from the
jordanian capital on thursday causing no casualties an israeli envoy posted in
amman confirmed
the israeli embassy convoy left amman and was headed for the hussein bridge
when the blast occurred nobody was hurt the diplomat contacted by telephone
told afp referring to the allenby bridge between jordan and the west bank
the bridge stands about kilometres miles west of amman
israeli diplomats often travel home on thursdays the start of the muslim
weekend in jordan and return on sundays to jordan which has had peace treaty
with the jewish state since
israeli media reported earlier that the bomb detonated near the convoy carrying
israel ambassador to jordan on its way to the allenby bridge
football redknapp charged with tax evasion
london jan afp
tottenham hotspur manager harry redknapp was charged with tax evasion on
thursday spokesman for english prosecuting authorities said
the charges which relate to redknapp time in charge of premier league
strugglers portsmouth result from month police investigation into alleged
corruption in english football
redknapp who has repeatedly protested his innocence said he would fight the
charges
henry harry redknapp the former football manager of portsmouth football
club has today been charged with two counts of cheating the public revenue
crown prosecution service cps spokesman said thursday
meanwhile redknapp lawyer ian burton said his client had voluntarily
attended london police station on thursday to be charged by officers
the charges against redknapp came two days after former portsmouth chairman
milan mandaric whom he worked alongside at fratton park was charged with two
counts of tax evasion during his time at the south coast club
the cps announced tuesday that mandaric now chairman of leicester had been
ordered to appear before london magistrates court on february in
connection with payment of dollars to another person via bank
account in monaco
mandaric was first informed of the impending charges last month at which point
his solicitors confirmed that they related to monies paid to redknapp
the cps statement thursday said the charges facing redknapp were connected to
those they had laid against mandaric
the cps revenue and customs division decided there was sufficient evidence and
it was in the public interest to charge mr redknapp
he is jointly charged with milan mandaric the former chairman of portsmouth
city football club following an investigation by the city of london police and
hm revenue and customs
burton who insisted his client would clear his name said harry has
cooperated fully with investigators during the course of this inquiry and is
confident of successful outcome to these court proceedings
peter storrie the chief executive of portsmouth is due back in court on
january to answer charges of tax evasion in connection with signing on fee
allegedly paid to midfielder amdy faye when he joined from french club auxerre
storrie continues to be employed by the premier league basement club grappling
with financial crisis which has resulted in players and other staff having the
payment of their salaries delayed repeatedly this season
other clubs owed money for transfers by portsmouth who under redknapp won the
fa cup have also complained of payments being delayed
as well as pursuing mandaric redknapp and storrie individually the british tax
authorities are seeking to have portsmouth wound up because it does not believe
it will be able to recover tax national insurance and value added tax payments
they say they are owed by the club and court hearing is due in february
football robben fit to face hoffenheim
berlin jan afp
bayern munich dutch winger arjen robben is fit to face hoffenheim on friday
when the bundesliga resumes after the winter break the german giants announced
thursday
the year old injured an ankle at bayern training camp in dubai earlier this
month but coach louis van gaal insists the netherlands star is percent
fit
robben sat out bayern win over swiss side basel in friendly on tuesday
but will take on hoffenheim with his side third in the table and two points off
leaders bayer leverkusen
french midfielder franck ribery will definitely miss friday game against
seventh placed hoffenheim with foot injury but is expected to be fit to face
bremen on january
urgent sarkozy calls for international conference to rebuild haiti
paris jan afp
french president nicolas sarkozy called thursday for an international conference
on rebuilding haiti after powerful earthquake devastated the impoverished
caribbean nation
ecb chef rejects talk of greece leaving eurozone
frankfurt jan afp
european central bank head jean claude trichet on thursday dismissed the notion
that greece could leave the eurozone because of its debt crisis but told athens
it had to get its finances in order
trichet said suggestions that greece might resign or be expelled from the
nation eurozone because of its soaring deficit and debt reflected an absurd
hypothesis
he added however that greece and several other eurozone members had lot of
hard work to do
trichet spoke after the central bank kept its key interest rate at record low
percent to underpin what it said would be moderate economic recovery
in message to all eurozone countries hit by global slump the ecb chief
said they have to address the situation in taking the appropriate bold and
courageous measures to get strained public finances under control
greece debt debacle thrust it to the top of the bank list of problems but
ireland italy portugal and spain have troubles of their own and analysts say
market fears could fuel full blown crisis if officials do not act credibly and
soon
trichet said there would be no exception for greek government bonds within the
bank collateral requirements which are to revert to pre crisis criteria at
the end of this year
that would mean that greek bonds would not be accepted as collateral by the bank
at current ratings
no government no state can expect from us any special treatment he stressed
although direct assistance by the bank or eurozone members to greece would
violate rules on which the single currency is based observers widely expect
some kind of eu help for greece in the end
for the ecb chief however the problem is not to get help the problem is to
help oneself
he commended an austerity budget unveiled by dublin saying what have seen
coming from ireland has been quite impressive in terms of adjusting to new
circumstances without losing time
greek officials pledged to present friday plan for resolving the debt crisis
with finance minister george papaconstantinou calling it roadmap to reverse
the huge credibility gap greece faces in financial markets
barclays capital economist thorsten polleit told afp unsound public finances
are not natural catastrophe they are the result of political decisions that
gives hope that governments are going to take action
he warned however that if people become convinced that this is not the case
this could be serious
the rest of trichet press conference suggested the ecb will leave its main
lending at on hold for most if not all of the year while gradually withdrawing
exceptional monetary supply measures as market conditions permit
the bank said the economy should grow at moderate pace in but that the
recovery would likely be uneven and was subject to uncertainty
with current rates deemed appropriate little news was expected in the coming
months therefore
after all the excitement of the last year healthy dose of boredom has
returned to the ecb meetings ing senior economist carsten brzeski concluded
iraq election officials bar nearly candidates from poll
baghdad jan afp
iraq election organisers on thursday barred nearly politicians and parties
from contesting the country upcoming national poll including many linked to
saddam hussein outlawed baath party
we decided this afternoon to exclude around names and political entities
from the list of candidates said hamdia husseini senior official with the
independent high electoral commission ihec
husseini did not specifically mention the baath party but said the excluded
candidates fell under the law of the committee of justice and integrity which
bars saddam loyalists from taking part in elections
attack on egypt copts shows intolerance us official
cairo jan afp
christmas eve attack in southern egypt in which six coptic christians were
killed reveals an atmosphere of intolerance us assistant secretary for human
rights michael posner said on thursday
the united states is very concerned about the tragic events in nagaa hammadi
posner told reporters in cairo it part of what we see as an atmosphere of
intolerance
on january the eve of the coptic orthodox christmas three gunmen raked
worshippers emerging from mass in nagaa hammadi with bullets in the deadliest
attack since when copts were killed in sectarian clashes
reconciliation efforts between christians and muslims alone are not enough
posner said
there needs to be prosecution there needs to be break in the sense of
impunity and there needs to be justice he said
following the attack residents of nagaa hammadi were furious at what they
called government attempts to hush up egypt sectarian problem
three people were arrested and charged with premeditated murder after the attack
which also saw one muslim policeman killed
but posner said more information needed to come to light
who was involved who may have ordered the killings he asked
copts who account for nearly percent of egypt population of million
are the middle east largest christian community but complain of routine
harassment and systematic discrimination and marginalisation
posner was on his first visit to egypt in his capacity as assistant secretary of
state for the bureau of democracy human rights and labour as part of tour
that also took him to jordan and israel
while he was openly critical of the human rights situation in egypt he insisted
that democracy could not be imported
there are serious human rights problems in egypt posner said citing the
emergency law prison conditions torture abuse and religious freedom as issues
of concern
but we know that in any society change occurs from within in egypt we take
our lead from what egyptians are saying or doing it an egyptian discussion
said posner who met ministers officials ngos and activists during his visit
report by egyptian human rights groups published in december described
egypt as police state where citizens receive no protection from torture
the basic feature of human rights in egypt today is the prevalence of policy
of exception in which those responsible for violations usually escape punishment
amid climate of impunity intentionally created and fostered for several
decades said the report
with this policy of impunity gradually becoming the norm the prerogatives of
the security apparatus have been expanded and egypt has turned into police
state the report said
egypt has been operating under state of emergency since the assassination
of president anwar sadat which has been renewed repeatedly since then despite
protests from rights groups and regime opponents
the state of emergency allows for the detention of anyone who falls under the
broad category of constituting danger to public security
us president barack obama has placed less emphasis on political reform in the
region than his predecessor george bush
his administration rhetoric has backed away from bush robust calls for egypt
to release dissidents and ensure fair elections
alert
sarkozy calls for international conference to rebuild haiti
urgent jordan confirms bomb near israeli embassy convoy
amman jan afp
roadside bomb blew up near an israeli embassy convoy headed to israel from the
jordanian capital on thursday causing no casualties an israeli envoy posted in
amman confirmed
european stocks close slightly firmer
london jan afp
europe main stock markets closed slightly firmer on thursday with london
ftse index of leading shares gaining percent to points
in paris the cac rose percent to points while in frankfurt
the dax added percent to points
football algeria lead mali at half time
luanda jan afp
defender rafik halliche headed in free kick after minutes to give algeria
lead over mali at half time in their africa cup of nations group match on
thursday
rallying lopez wins dakar th stage despres on brink of victory
san rafael argentina jan afp
chilean motorcyclist francisco lopez won the th stage of the dakar rally on
thursday km timed run from san juan to san rafael
lopez riding an aprilia finished ahead of france yamaha rider david
fretigne who was seconds off the pace with norway pal ullevalseter ona
ktm min sec behind the winner
overall leader cyril despres of france on ktm stayed in charge of the
overall standings an hour ahead of the chilean despite losing more than
minutes on the stage
with the race due to end in buenos aires on saturday despres is virtually
assured of overall victory
regional summit on zimbabwe madagascar opens in mozambique
maputo jan afp
key southern african leaders opened special summit in the mozambican capital
maputo on thursday to discuss the ongoing crises in zimbabwe and madagascar
the presidents of south africa mozambique zambia namibia and the democratic
republic of congo are attending the talks
president armando guebuza of mozambique the chair of sadc politics defence
and security troika opened the summit with special focus on the strained power
sharing deal between zimbabwean president robert mugabe and prime minister
morgan tsvangirai which south african mediators have been working to revive
we would like to salute the dialogue and the progress that has been registered
in zimbabwe between the parties to the power sharing agreement guebuza said
we also salute the effort that been demonstrated by the sadc facilitator
south african president jacob zuma in fulfilling the decisions of our
regional organisation
the leaders met behind closed doors following guebuza opening comments
zimbabwean officials had earlier said that mugabe would attend the summit but
he was not seen at the opening ceremony
sadc executive secretary tomaz salomao said they would hear report from sadc
foreign ministers who met last week in maputo to discuss the troubled power
sharing deals in zimbabwe and madagascar
twenty two un expat staff killed in haiti quake un chief
united nations jan afp
at least un expatriate staffers were confirmed killed in the devastating
haiti quake and some others were still missing un chief ban ki moon said
thursday
ban said the dead were troops and police serving with the un mission in haiti
minustah in the haitian capital
un spokesman martin nesirky said tally of civilian un losses in the world
body worst disaster since was not yet available
he said four un police personnel were killed and nine others injured while
minustah military component had fatalities
we re still trying to pull together an overall picture the spokesman added
ban did deliver one piece of good news announcing that an estonian police
officer was pulled out of the rubble alive early thursday and transferred to an
argentinian hospital in port au prince
it small miracle ban said
nesirky identified the estonian as tarmo joveer bodyguard extracted from
