they said they did the journey in several stages across the mediterranean and
were transported up to corsica on cargo vessel he added
source close to the case said the vessel in question was either russian or
ukrainian
the un high commissioner for refugees unhcr on saturday urged france to ensure
that each of the self proclaimed kurds was allowed to seek asylum and to ensure
complete and fair examination of each case
the unhcr calls upon the french authorities to ensure that each person seeking
the protection of france can access process seeking asylum which will ensure
them fair and complete examination of each case statement from the agency
french office said
on saturday the immigration ministry said second vessel suspected of being
involved in the mass landing had been identified and was being checked
us envoy meets israeli defence minister in push for peace
jerusalem jan afp
us envoy george mitchell met israeli defence minister ehud barak on saturday as
he pursued his efforts to revive the middle east peace process
brief statement from the defence ministry said discussions between mitchell
and barak had centred on the means of relaunching the peace process
the meeting came day after mitchell held talks with palestinian president
mahmud abbas and the day before with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu
amid pessimism of any breakthrough
israelis and palestinians have been blaming each other for the stalemate with
mitchell able to convince them to return to the negotiating table
on friday chief palestinian negotiator saeb erakat said israel was responsible
for the lack of progress and also acknowledged there were differences between
the palestinians and us administration
the american side wants to resume negotiations now without complete halt to
settlements erakat said
we want to resume negotiations on the basis of defining the borders of the
palestinian state on all palestinian lands occupied since including east
jerusalem and complete halt to all settlement activities he said
statement from netanyahu office blamed the palestinians for blocking the
resumption of peace talks suspended since israel devastating day war on
the gaza strip last winter
israel is not making any conditions for the resumption of negotiations the
palestinians are undermining this resumption by making conditions which they had
never made before it said
officials in netanyahu office said the prime minister could meet again with
mitchell on sunday
us president barack obama has admitted his drive for deal may have been
overambitious and told the latest edition of time magazine this is as
intractable problem as you get
obama said if his administration had anticipated the political problems we
might not have raised expectations as high
washington had pressed hard for israel to freeze settlement construction which
abbas has demanded ahead of any resumption of talks
mitchell has also visited lebanon and syria during his latest mission to the
region which started tuesday
football collated english fa cup results
london jan afp
collated english fa cup results on saturday
th rnd
accrington stanley symes fulham nevland duff gera
aston villa delfouneso young delph brighton elphick
forster
bolton steinsson elmander sheffield utd
cardiff bothroyd whittingham burke mccormack leicester
morrison guessan
derby mceveley doncaster
everton osman birmingham benitez ferguson
notts county hughes davies wigan scotland watson
portsmouth utaka sunderland bent
preston chelsea anelka sturridge
reading sigurdsson burnley
southampton thomas antonio ipswich counago
tottenham crouch pavlyuchenko leeds beckford pen
west brom olsson dorrans pen pen thomas newcastle carroll
wolverhampton jones zubar crystal palace lee ambrose
playing sunday
scunthorpe man city gmt
stoke arsenal gmt
biden confident iraq election row will be resolved
baghdad jan afp
us vice president joe biden said on saturday he was confident iraq leaders
would find just solution to bitter row that has seen hundreds of
candidates banned from march general election
biden landed in baghdad late on friday and used meetings with the war torn
country leaders to assure them washington would not interfere in the dispute
which has seen both sunni arabs and shiites excluded from the poll
analysts however told afp the vice president words had failed to conceal the
trip was rescue mission aimed at navigating serious political crisis which
remains unsolved
the candidates banned from taking part are accused of membership or other
links to executed dictator saddam hussein outlawed baath party feared
fedayeen men of sacrifice militia or mukhabarat intelligence agency
the dispute has stoked tension between the shiite majority now leading the
government and the sunni arab former elite and has also exposed the failings of
much vaunted but apparently stumbling national reconciliation process
want to make it clear am not here to resolve that issue said biden at
joint media conference with iraqi president jalal talabani
this is for iraqis to do not for me after today discussions though am
confident that iraq leaders are seized with the problem and are working for
final just solution
biden said the united states supported the exclusion of candidates linked to
saddam regime but urged legitimate procedures
the issue is not the goal of holding individuals accountable for their past
actions but the process of disqualification itself biden said
iraqis under their leaders understand that if the people see the process as
fair and transparent it will enhance the credibility of the election
as well as talabani biden met prime minister nuri al maliki parliament speaker
iyad al samarrai the un secretary general special representative for iraq ad
melkert and cross section of other political leaders
he also visited us troops before leaving the country an embassy official said
saleh al mutlak leading sunni mp and persistent critic of maliki shiite
dominated government is among those who have been barred from the election
maliki denies sunnis have been targeted ahead of the vote
the election row sparked flurry of contacts by biden in recent days aimed at
brokering compromise notably through talabani who is kurd
biden proposed the disqualifications be deferred until after the election and
that those candidates who have been barred condemn and disavow the baath party
said statement from talabani office earlier this week
joost hiltermann washington based iraq specialist and middle east deputy
programme director for the international crisis group which studies conflict
hit nations said biden trip had not gone far enough
whatever the long term planning may have been his visit was clearly rescue
mission certainly in the public eye which is what counts hiltermann said
on paper out of deference to iraqi sovereignty and iraqis strong sense of
national pride he listened rather than proposing solutions
suggesting that the actual barring of candidates be postponed till after the
elections was good but insufficient it could lead to big crisis when the
election results come in especially if people allied to mutlak amass lot of
additional sympathy votes
reider visser who runs the iraq focused website www historiae org said us
leverage had always been limited because american forces are on their way out
anyway
at most then one can guess that biden may have asked iraqi leaders to make
sure the appeals mechanisms reinstate some of the barred politicians thereby
reducing the sense of marginalisation
elections chief faraj al haidari told afp on friday more candidates could yet be
barred from the ballot
while in baghdad biden also announced an appeal against us court ruling that
dropped charges against the american private security firm formerly known as
blackwater whose guards are accused of killing iraqi civilians in
spanish league table
madrid jan afp
spanish league table after saturday early matches played won drawn lost
goals for goals against points
barcelona
real madrid
valencia
real mallorca
sevilla
deportivo la coruna
athletic bilbao
getafe
sporting gijon
villarreal
atletico madrid
osasuna
racing santander
espanyol
almeria
malaga
valladolid
tenerife
real zaragoza
xerez
football luck shines on sevilla as negredo downs almeria
madrid jan afp
sevilla enjoyed huge slice of luck as they ended run of four straight
defeats with home win over almeria on saturday and move level on points
with fourth placed real mallorca
spanish international alvaro negredo scored the decisive goal on nine minutes to
shoot down his old club almeria although the waterlogged pitch played decisive
role with captain wilmer acasiete back pass stopping dead on the soaked
surface to gift sevilla their crucial goal
it was only negredo fifth of difficult debut season since his club record
million euro move from real madrid but it is vital one to stop the losing
sequence and push sevilla closer to the champions league spots
almeria are two points above the relegation zone as new coach junma lillo
struggles to guide the club to safety
sevilla certainly had the rain soaked pitch to thank for their goal with
acasiete back pass to goalkeeper diego alves stopping suddenly due to the wet
turf and renato was on hand to lay off to negredo who rolled the ball into the
empty net
negredo seemed almost embarrassed to score the goal against old club almeria
where he spent two seasons on loan scoring goals in games before real
decided to sell him to sevilla
it was tough on acasiete and almeria but the visitors responded and henok goitom
should have equalised on minutes
negredo was at the centre of everything and had great chance minute after
the break but his weak shot was held by alves
sevilla were indebted to in form goalkeeper andres palop who denied fernando
soriano in one on one in the th minute and the hosts had an uncomfortable
last quarter of an hour as they held on for the win
champions barcelona can go eight points clear of real with victory at lowly
valladolid later on saturday as they bid to reach the halfway stage of the
season unbeaten
swede zlatan ibrahimovic has not scored in the league since win over xerez
on december and believes the referees are blowing up against him due to his
imposing ft in cm frame
when and an opponent go for the ball it looks like going to kill him
because so big said ibrahimovic just have to get used to the
way they do things in spain
real madrid are in action on sunday when they host malaga at the santiago
bernabeu looking to bounce back from shock loss at athletic bilbao last
time out
real are five points behind pacesetters barcelona but coach manuel pellegrini is
still willing to part with year old dutch striker ruud van nistelrooy who has
been strongly linked with move to german side sv hamburg
we have four strikers and we are well covered said pellegrini now the
season is quite advanced and think he every right to take decisions that he
thinks are best for him the club has total respect for his career his capacity
as player and as person
in saturday late match deportivo la coruna host real conquerors athletic
bilbao at the riazor stadium
depor lost at home to sevilla in the kings cup quarter final first leg in
midweek but are going strong in sixth position while bilbao are having great
season too and are single point behind depor
afp americas news agenda for january
washington jan afp
duty editor michael mathes tel
what happening in the americas on sunday
aid efforts continue in haiti
port au prince international aid continues to flood into devastated haiti to
assist survivors of the january quake that killed more than people
expect coverage haiti quake picture video graphic
washington president barack obama political advisors appears on sunday
talkshows to discuss the impact of republican win in massachusetts
appearances include white house senior advisor david axelrod on cnn state of
the union and abc this week white house advisor valerie jarrett appears on
nbc meet the press and fox news sunday hosts white house press secretary
robert gibbs coverage on merit
park city utah following the sundance film festival expect coverage
entertainment us film festival sundance
football united star rooney relishes four goal haul
manchester england jan afp
wayne rooney believes he is set to enjoy the most prolific season of his life
after his first ever four goal haul inspired manchester united win over
hull on saturday
after opening the scoring in the eighth minute at old trafford rooney hit three
more goals in the final eight minutes to send united top of the premier league
becoming the first united player to bag four in game since ruud van nistelrooy
in champions league clash against sparta prague in
england forward rooney now has league goals this season and needs five more
to beat his previous best of
it is the first time have scored four times in professional football match
and it is great feeling rooney said am really proud of the achievement
it is something special
confident of beating my best season at united will be disappointed if
don because ve still got hopefully another games to play won be
happy if don get more than
the difference this season is that ve consciously been getting in the box
more and trying to put myself in goalscoring situations
afp gmt news advisory
washington jan afp
duty editor carlos hamann
tel
top stories
haiti calls off search with toll at
nigerian religious clashes toll soars
biden says us to appeal ruling favoring blackwater
haiti quake thlead wrap
port au prince
thousands of sobbing haitians converge on the shattered cathedral to mourn their
archbishop and other quake victims as the government officially calls off the
search for survivors
words gmt by deborah pasmantier picture video graphic
nigeria unrest religion wrap ndlead
jos nigeria
at least bodies are recovered from wells following deadly muslim christian
clashes in central nigeria taking the estimated death toll well past with
dozens of people are still unaccounted for
words gmt by aminu abubakar picture
iraq us diplomacy justice security blackwater thlead
baghdad
vice president joe biden says washington will appeal us court decision to drop
charges against the american security firm formerly known as blackwater whose
guards are accused of killing iraqi civilians in
words gmt by salam faraj picture
haiti quake
haiti quake banks finance ndlead
port au prince
haitians line up outside private banks in the capital as they await the
reopening of branches closed since an earthquake devastated the city
words gmt picture
haiti quake relief aid un rescue thlead
geneva
haiti government ends the search and rescue phase of the quake relief effort
after at least people are pulled out alive from under the rubble the united
nations says
words moved
middle east
iraq vote thlead wrap
baghdad
us vice president joe biden says he is confident iraq leaders will find
just solution to the bitter row that has seen hundreds of candidates banned
from march general election
words gmt by arthur macmillan picture video
europe
france migration kurds lead
bonifacio france
france launches probe and calls for european summit to combat illegal
immigration day after self proclaimed kurds arrive in corsica in the first
known large scale landing of migrants on the french mediterranean island
words gmt
serbia religion patriarch ndlead
belgrade
serbia powerful orthodox church enthrones bishop favouring closer ties with
the vatican as its new head in ceremony in belgrade cathedral
words moved picture
asia
afghanistan unrest lead wrap
kabul
militants kill two us soldiers and three civilian women in afghanistan and
kidnap police chief in wave of violence day after kabul offers the taliban
cash to lay down their arms
words moved
pakistan unrest wrap
peshawar pakistan
suicide car bomb attack kills at least four people while militants destroy
nato tanker in region of pakistan known for sheltering taliban and al qaeda
fighters
words moved by lehaz ali
football spanish league results
madrid jan afp
spanish league results on saturday
sevilla negredo almeria
playing later
valladolid barcelona gmt
deportivo la coruna athletic bilbao gmt
sunday all gmt unless stated
sporting gijon racing santander tenerife valencia villarreal real
zaragoza xerez osasuna espanyol real mallorca getafe atletico madrid
gmt real madrid malaga gmt
bobsleigh swiss bob double joy at world cup
igls austria jan afp
swiss pair beat hefti and thomas lamparter won the two man bobsleigh world cup
final and simultaneously picked up the european championship accolade on the
igls piste in austria on saturday
driver hefti and brakeman lamparter tore down in combined time of minute
seconds to see off germans andre lange in his final season and kevin
kuske by sec for fourth victory this season
another swiss pair daniel schmid and juerg egger were third at sec
ivo rueegg gave switzerland another crown as he topped the overall individual
world cup standings with points despite not actually winning race ahead
of germany thomas florschuetz and another german karl angerer
hefti could only manage fourth
five podium finishes were just enough for the consistent rueegg to secure the
title
bobsleigh world cup results
igls austria jan afp
bobsleigh world cup and european championship results here on saturday
beat hefti thomas lamparter sui
andre lange kevin kuske ger at
daniel schmid juerg egger sui
karl angerer gregor bermbach ger
thomas florschuetz ronny listner ger
final world cup standings after events
ivo rueegg sui points
thomas florschuetz ger
karl angerer ger
beat hefti sui
andre lange ger
bobsleigh swiss bob double joy at world cup
igls austria jan afp
swiss pair beat hefti and thomas lamparter won the two man bobsleigh world cup
final and simultaneously picked up the european championship accolade on the
igls piste in austria on saturday
driver hefti and brakeman lamparter tore down in combined time of minute
seconds to see off germans andre lange in his final season and kevin
kuske by sec for fourth victory this season
another swiss pair daniel schmid and juerg egger were third at sec
ivo ruegg gave switzerland another crown as he topped the overall individual
world cup standings with points despite not actually winning race ahead
of germany thomas florschuetz and another german karl angerer
hefti could only manage fourth
five podium finishes were just enough for the consistent ruegg to secure the
title
muslims killed in nigerian clashes hrw
lagos jan afp
at least muslims died in clashes between muslims and christians this week in
central nigeria according to figures provided by muslim leaders spokesman
for human rights watch said saturday
as of yesterday friday at least muslims have died in jos including
those found in wells in kuru karama this information was provided by muslim
officials in jos the hrw eric guttschuss told afp by telephone from
washington
the christian association of nigeria said that they have not compiled their
estimates on death toll hopefully they will do that before the weekend runs
out he said
of the total figure of muslims who died in the four day bloody unrest of
them were brought to the jos central mosque
the unofficial death toll from the clashes is put at
football minnows colmar stun lille in french cup
paris jan afp
an under strength lille crashed out of the french cup in the round of on
saturday after losing an epic penalty shootout to man colmar of the
championnat de france amateurs fourth tier
the game finished after minutes and colmar who play in the same division
as lille reserves were forced to play extra time with men after midfielder
cedric faivre was shown second yellow card for attempting to score with his
hand
the extra minutes also failed to yield goal and after each side scored four
penalties in the shootout sudden death ensued
lille captain stephane dumont who scored his first penalty drilled his side
th spotkick against the post enabling salim mezriche to put his team into the
next round and dump ligue third placed side out of the competition
my feelings are slightly mixed because would have preferred to play against
lille real first team which ve been admiring for the past few weeks on the
tv said colmar coach damien ott
anyway amazed by what my players did at
lille defeat came on the back of league loss at sochaux which had
brought an eight game winning run to an end
this kind of result is part of the cup said lille coach rudi garcia
just like to congratulate my young players for doing what expected of them
it was colmar second consecutive penalty shootout success in the tournament
after their victory over second tier metz in the previous round
they will play ligue strugglers boulogne sur mer in the next round
the top flight bottom club grenoble turned the tables on the season surprise
package montpellier beating them after extra time to join colmar in the
last
the sides were drawing at half time and at full time but nassim akrour
struck just before the extra time interval to prolong grenoble cup adventure
this qualification is little ray of sunshine for us said grenoble coach
mecha bazdarevic whose side are points from safety in the league
it was real cup tie in every sense
earlier beauvais of the championnat national third tier booked their place in
the last by beating nine man agen
rennes last season beaten finalists were the first side to qualify for the
round of when they won at fifth division saumur on friday evening
defending french champions and current league leaders bordeaux take on corsican
ligue outfit ajaccio later on saturday
haiti mourns bishop as search efforts called off
port au prince jan afp
thousands of sobbing haitians gathered at shattered cathedral saturday to
mourn their archbishop and other quake victims as the government officially
called off the search for survivors
the announcement came despite the rescue on friday of two people who spent
days buried in the rubble but officials said aid workers had to switch their
focus to getting vital food water and shelter to the homeless
several international rescue teams however were still hoping for miracles and
hunted for signs of life amid the destruction wrought by the magnitude quake
on january which killed more than people
president rene preval led crowd of mourners who wept and sang creole songs at
the funeral service for archbishop joseph serge miot of port au prince near the
ruined shell of the notre dame de assomption cathedral
the body of the year old who was popular figure in this largely catholic
country was laid out in an open casket wearing his ceremonial mitre with
visible injuries to his face
he served his diocese with discreet devotion he had deep concern for the
poor and for the young said joseph lafontant the auxiliary bishop who led
the service
the creator wants us to take part in the creation of new country new
haiti new world he said
the united nations in geneva said the haitian government had declared the search
and rescue phase over at pm gmt on friday despite the most recent
successes
an year old woman and year old man were pulled from collapsed buildings
in port au prince on friday both were being treated in hospital
the government made its decision after consulting international experts it
sovereign decision elisabeth byrs spokesman for the un office for
coordination of humanitarian affairs told afp
but un relief spokesman in haiti vincenzo pugliese said some foreign
search and rescue teams were still in the capital days after the earthquake
and so far they have saved people
he confirmed the government had switched its focus from rescue to relief
operations but said this does not mean that search and rescue operations have
stopped
convoy of food aid that was being distributed by an unidentified ngo without
an escort of un peacekeepers was attacked and looted in the south of capital on
friday pugliese said
gangs came in and took all the food he said calling for independent agencies
to coordinate better with the main un effort to avoid such problems
the incident came despite growing signs of normal life returning to the city on
saturday haitians lined up outside private banks as they awaited the reopening
of branches which have been closed since the quake
the un world food programme said saturday it had scaled up its food aid to quake
survivors and distributed two million meals on friday up from million on
thursday
but as the assistance effort gained pace in port au prince and the worst
affected towns of jacmel and leogane huge relocation of survivors out of the
capital is also underway
the number of people leaving port au prince is increasing daily the un said
as more than people took advantage of the government offer of free
transport to other cities
an unknown number of other people had left the capital by private means it
said
many in port au prince are still living in squalid conditions while hospitals
reported heartrending cases such as four year old with cerebral palsy who was
abandoned on doorstep
the child was left with message saying this little boy has no father and no
mother whoever cares about him is his family according to doctors and nurses
at french field hospital in port au prince
the un also warned that haiti rainy season was about to begin potentially
causing further problems for survivors
hollywood heartthrob george clooney meanwhile led galaxy of stars friday in
telethon fundraiser for quake victims broadcast across every major us television
network
featuring some celebrities and presented by music channel mtv the line up
for the hope for haiti now telethon included madonna beyonce jay bono
bruce springsteen coldplay and jennifer hudson
the haitian people need our help they need to know they are not alone
clooney told the national audience
pope benedict xvi separately called on haitians to show solidarity over the
distribution of aid to survivors
berlin sends extra five million euros to haiti
berlin jan afp
germany is to release an extra five million euros to help the haiti earthquake
