haitians living in the united states may be eligible to obtain temporary asylum
in the united states following the massive earthquake that devastated the
country
news
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brazil cracks down on drinking and driving
rio de janeiro
people die on the road in brazil the government has launched campaign
with zero tolerance for drivers caught with alcohol in their system there are
frequent checkpoints with victims of car accidents on prominent display
environment
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lebanese designers step up to world stage
beirut
lebanese designers have become hot item on the haute couture catwalks of
europe and new york all they need now is fashion week to call their own
culture amp lifestyle
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as part of our winter olympics coverage we will file the following report
swiss downhill veteran eyes first olympic gold
val gardena italy
at the age of didier cuche is already veteran of downhill skiing but the
swiss sporting star has experienced late career surge in recent years
becoming one of the most consistent overall skiers in the world cup in olympic
terms though he long been one of the sport best known also rans record
he hoping to change at next month vancouver winter olympics
sport
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egyptian divorcees take to the airwaves
cairo
every minute three couples divorce in egypt number that has risen by nine
percent in just the past two years alone but conservative egyptian society
still frowns upon divorced women two divorcees are trying to change that image
creating radio station dedicated to women on the brink of cutting the knot
lifestyle
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the following videos have already been transmitted
china posts scorching growth but prices heat up
shenzhen shanghai china
china red hot economy expanded by percent in but inflation surged
towards the end of the year according to government data released on thursday
that laid bare the risks of overheating gross domestic product in the world
third largest economy returned to double digit growth in the fourth quarter of
at percent but china biggest rise in inflation in months came as
the world bank and international monetary fund warned anew that the country
could face an economic bubble file footage of shipping containers at shenzhen
harbour factories in southern china and shanghai street scenes
images
raw vid
as part of our african nations cup coverage we filed the following report
football star skipper eto backs his cameroon fighters
douala
as cameroon prepares to play against tunisia in the african cup of nations
quarter finals on thursday its superstar team captain samuel eto is banking
on his indomitable lions fighting spirit for the afptv it the occasion to
look back on eto life and childhood in cameroon where the iner milan
striker is already legend
sport
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contact
saya oka
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fax
afp
hong kong consumer prices jump in december
hong kong jan afp
rising fuel and clothing prices pushed up hong kong inflation by percent
in december the government said thursday as the economy recovers and
unemployment begins to fall
the increase compares with percent rise in november the census and
statistics department said
but netting out the effect of expired government subsidies the southern chinese
city underlying consumer prices climbed more modest percent in december
compared with percent fall in november the government said
hong kong underlying inflation rate rose percent in over the previous
year the department said
december increase suggests deflationary pressures have by and large receded
as the economy continues to recover the government said in statement
further increases are expected to be rather modest in the coming months it
added
retail sales have been rising while hong kong unemployment rate fell to
percent in december the first time it dipped below five percent in year
afp graphics advisory
paris jan afp
graphics advisory
afp graphics advisory
paris jan afp thursday graphics
available now
afghanistan uruzgan map
map of afghanistan locating tirin kot the capital of uruzgan province for an
afp interview with dutch general
text slug afghanistan unrest netherlands military
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yemen maarib map
map of yemen locating maarib province where government jets targeted
suspected al qaeda leader on wednesday
text slug attacks yemen qaeda
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full body scanner factfile
factfile on the two types of full body scanners available for airport security
text slug attacks aviation security eu us talks
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solar powered plane factfile
factfile on the solar impulse plane for an afp interview with pilot bertrand
piccard who plans to fly the solar powered aircraft around the world
text slug un climate switzerland aviation
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multiple sclerosis factfile
factfile on multiple sclerosis new drug offers hope of improved treatment for
people with the degenerative disease
text slug health us research britain ms
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tasmanian devil factfile
factfile on australia tasmanian devil rare carnivorous marsupial whose
numbers in the wild have declined by percent in the past years since the
discovery of fatal cancer spreading through the population
text slug australia environment animals devils
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china economy
five economics graphics released by the chinese government on thursday
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urban fixed asset investment mm
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asia pacific markets
closings for key asia pacific markets
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haiti quake graphics
aftershock map mm
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un mission factfile mm
identification using dna mm
search and rescue methods mm
tectonic plates caribbean map mm
earthquakes world mm
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paris hong kong
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afp gmt economics news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor laurent thomet
telephone
stocks world economy wrap
london
global stocks recover from sharp setback but the euro and oil drop on alarm
about the sustainability of chinese growth and eurozone national debts traders
say
words gmt
china economy rdlead wrap
beijing
china red hot economy expanded by percent in but inflation surged
towards the end of the year new data show as authorities intervene to avert the
risk of overheating
words moved by marianne barriaux picture graphic
us economy politics banking rdlead
washington
president barack obama is expected to unveil size limits for the biggest us
banks after spending billions of tax payer dollars to bail out too big to
fail financial giants
words gmt
eu software competition company takeover oracle sun ndlead
brussels
the eu competition watchdog approves us business software giant oracle bid
for hardware and software vendor sun microsystems saying the deal would not
skew the market in europe
words gmt
belgium us auto structure cuts company opel gm rdlead
brussels
general motors europe will close its opel auto production plant in antwerp with
the loss of jobs the german car company announces
words gmt
forex europe wrap
london
the euro sinks to five month low point against the dollar as worries that
china will take fresh steps to cool its economy reduces demand for risk
sensitive currencies analysts say
words gmt
commodities energy oil price lead wrap
london
oil prices rocked by concerns over chinese demand extend losses before the
release of widely monitored data on us energy reserves
words gmt
us company banking earnings sector newseries
washington
goldman sachs is set to post closely watched results after losses reported by
two big banks dampened the mood for sector struggling to get out from bailouts
and the financial crisis
words moved by rob lever
cyprus britain property focus
nicosia
foreign property owners in northern cyprus express alarm over london court
ruling which ordered british couple who had built on disputed land in the
divided island to tear down their villa and pay compensation to the owner
words gmt by cyril julien
china us it internet google rdlead wrap
beijing
china insists google threat to quit the country over censorship and
cyberattacks should not be linked to sino us ties seeking to play down
simmering row over internet freedom
words moved by susan stumme
tennis federer leads big guns through in melbourne
melbourne jan afp
roger federer and the williams sisters stamped their authority on the australian
open thursday but former world number one ana ivanovic was sent packing
the swiss world number one took his place in the third round with straight
sets demolition of hapless romanian victor hanescu
watched by britain prince william he dominated in the rout
federer bidding for his th grand slam title and fourth australian open will
now play spanish st seed albert montanes
happy with the way played today think the opponent was very different
to the one played in the first round he said
got off to good start and kind of never looked back moved well and
played some amazing shots it was great
defending champion serena showed she was still the woman to beat barely
breaking sweat as she crushed petra kvitova of the czech republic
much of the talk this year has been about the return of belgian pair kim
clijsters and justine henin but williams made clear that anyone who wants to
lift the trophy will have fight on their hands
today was better than my first round match was moving better better
energy all round lot better she said
feel like could have played lot better today
sister venus seven time grand slam champion but yet to win in melbourne was
more workmanlike grinding down austrian sybille bammer
men third seed novak djokovic overcame some first set wobbles to ease past
swiss marco chiudinelli and set up third round with
uzbekistan denis istomin
more impressive was russian sixth seed nikolay davydenko who is shaping as
serious title contender after extending his win streak to matches
the year old has yet to win grand slam and has never been in final but
his disposal of ukrainian illya marchenko served notice that his
time may have come
for ivanovic it looks like her time has past
the former finalist and world number one put in an error riddled performance to
crash out to argentinian gisela dulko
she has slipped down the rankings to be outside the top for the first time in
five years and thursday flop was the sixth time in her past seven tournaments
where she had failed to go beyond the second round
just need to keep my head up and improve said ivanovic who lost the
final to maria sharapova who is also out of this year tournament
fellow serb djokovic was off his game in the opening set conceding two service
breaks and hitting series of unforced errors
but he took control of the match to ease through
there are some things that obviously have to improve in order to play
better djokovic said
but the opening rounds especially at australian open are tricky and where
lot of surprises happen
davydenko stayed on track for quarter final with federer
having enjoyed low profile throughout his career he is getting more
attention
it interesting he said we re not talking about tennis we re talking
about my life this is my first experience like this in the press
the attention is there because he has boasted an improved all round game that he
used to beat both federer and rafael nadal in recent weeks
in other matches danish fourth seed caroline wozniacki breezed past germany
julia goerges while ninth seeded russian vera zvonereva had an easy
win over czech iveta benesova
former finalist marcos baghdatis of cyprus advanced past david ferrer
and will next face australian lleyton hewitt
ninth seed fernando verdasco and th seed jo wilfried tsonga also progressed
bulgarian defence minister visits afghanistan
sofia jan afp
bulgarian defence minister nikolay mladenov has arrived on an unannounced visit
to afghanistan his press office said thursday
can confirm that the minister is on visit to afghanistan until the end of
this week said ministry press officer without giving any further details
according to the daily dnevnik which has correspondent travelling with
mladenov the minister arrived in afghanistan on wednesday for five day visit
the newspaper reported mladenov held talks in kabul on thursday with
afghanistan second vice president abdul karim khalili defence minister abdul
wardak and us ambassador to kabul karl eikenberry
he also met isaf commander general stanley mcchrystal where the minister
suggested gathering all bulgarian troops and medical teams at single site in
afghanistan rather than three at present
that would cut costs and enable sofia to send out more troops the newspaper
quoted mladenov as saying
bulgaria currently has total of around troops in nato isaf force in
afghanistan stationed at the airport in kandahar and in the zone around kabul
airport
bulgarian military medical doctors are also working in an isaf hospital in the
western city of herat
the newspaper said mladenov would also visit the country troops guarding
the airport in the southern city of kandahar
the bulgarian government decided in december to send more troops to kandahar
airport in the coming months and is considering adding another troops by the
end of this year
dnevnik said mladenov visit was related to the upcoming afghanistan donor
conference in london on january which he will attend in the capacity of
foreign minister
it was announced earlier this week that mladenov would switch from the defence
ministry to the foreign ministry as part of reshuffle following the
resignation of foreign minister rumiana jeleva
haiti quake is new warning of latin america faultline
bogota jan afp
the earthquake that devastated haiti last week has reminded many latin americans
of the perilous ground they stand on
map of the world faultlines makes the danger clear red line running from
the frigid tip of south america along the continent spine to the warm waters
of the caribbean
the cities on the faultline path are among the biggest in the region
santiago la paz lima quito bogota and caracas all of central america is
threatened too
the images of haiti destruction have brought back all too clear memories of
past disasters an earthquake that hit peru in killing people
the quake that killed people in guatemala and mexico city
tremor which killed people
if that were not enought to worry about south america holds the unenviable
record for the strongest earthquake ever measured at on the richter scale
it hit in valdivia in southern chile on may and killed people
the area with the highest risk of major quake runs from southern peru to
northern chile according to estella minaya director of the regional seismology
center for south america
strains across that region gathering over decades have built up more and more
energy that will eventually explode she told afp
so what can be done after haiti suffering the question of how to prepare for
major quake has gained fresh urgency
in most of the countries in the risk zone specialists and officials said drills
are regularly organized and numerous observation stations have been set up
but much remains to be done to protect the million people living in the
area where close to percent of people live in cities and third live in
poor shoddily constructed dwellings in shanty towns or slums
in chile colombia peru there is legislation intended to ensure that houses
are build in accordance with earthquake resistant regulations but in bolivia in
particular there are no controls in that regard explains minaya
in bogota city of seven million people many in makeshift homes built on the
side of mountain some percent of buildings do not comply with earthquake
rules according to specialists cited in the local media
in venezuela more than half of the population lives in humble dwellings that
could not withstand an earthquake and more than percent of venezuelans live
in the zone most at risk for seismic activity added carlos genatios an expert
on earthquake preparedness
across the continent more and more specialists believe the most effective
approach is microzoning with regulations for each area based on the risk of
seismic activity there rather than national rules that are frequently ignored
colombia and ecuador have already implemented this system but there is long
way to go before zero risk is reached experts say
bulgarian defence minister visits afghanistan
sofia jan afp
bulgarian defence minister nikolay mladenov has arrived on an unannounced visit
to afghanistan his press office said thursday
can confirm that the minister is on visit to afghanistan until the end of
this week said ministry press officer without giving any further details
according to the daily dnevnik which has correspondent travelling with
mladenov the minister arrived in afghanistan on wednesday for five day visit
the newspaper reported mladenov held talks in kabul on thursday with
afghanistan second vice president abdul karim khalili defence minister abdul
wardak and us ambassador to kabul karl eikenberry
he also met isaf commander general stanley mcchrystal where the minister
suggested gathering all bulgarian troops and medical teams at single site in
afghanistan rather than three at present
that would cut costs and enable sofia to send out more troops the newspaper
quoted mladenov as saying
bulgaria currently has total of around troops in nato isaf force in
afghanistan stationed at the airport in kandahar and in the zone around kabul
airport
bulgarian military medical doctors are also working in an isaf hospital in the
western city of herat
the newspaper said mladenov would also visit the country troops guarding
the airport in the southern city of kandahar
the bulgarian government decided in december to send more troops to kandahar
airport in the coming months and is considering adding another troops by the
end of this year
dnevnik said mladenov visit was related to the upcoming afghanistan donor
conference in london on january which he will attend in the capacity of
foreign minister
it was announced earlier this week that mladenov would switch from the defence
ministry to the foreign ministry as part of reshuffle following the
resignation of foreign minister rumiana jeleva
tennis federer royal command performance
melbourne jan afp
roger federer turned on royal performance to sweep majestically into the
australian open third round where he was joined by novak djokovic and nikolay
davydenko on thursday
watched by britain prince william in the official box the world number one
was in imperious touch rifling through romanian victor hanescu in straight
sets in breezy one hour minutes
federer bidding for his th grand slam title and fourth australian open will
now take on spanish st seed albert montanes in the next round
elsewhere on day four former champion djokovic overcame an early stumble to get
past dogged swiss marco chiudinelli while sixth seeded davydenko disposed of
ukrainian qualifier illya marchenko
used to it because play lot of primetime matches where there are very
important people watching federer said of playing before prince william
this one tonight was obviously extremely special it pleasure of course
playing in front of him
federer was in blinding touch on rod laver arena he broke hanescu serve five
times and didn drop his own while hitting winners of them with the
forehand federer dominated the match points to
hanescu has still to take set off federer in their four meetings as the swiss
legend stepped up gear after his muddling opening round performance against
russian igor andreev
federer is on track to face either former finalists lleyton hewitt or marcos
baghdatis in the fourth round and potential quarter final with davydenko
djokovic the serbian third seed needed four sets and almost three hours to
wear down the world number chiudinelli
he dropped the opening set but eventually dominated chiudinelli to set up
third round encounter with uzbekistan denis istomin
djokovic has painful memories of his ill fated australian open title defence
last year when he retired during his quarter final with andy roddick through
cramping and heat fatigue
there are some things that obviously have to improve in order to play
better djokovic said
but the opening rounds especially at australian open are tricky and where
lot of surprises happen
kind of feel that little pressure this is what felt little today
davydenko who has yet to win grand slam title and has never been in final
crushed marchenko
in his two matches in the tournament he has dropped just games and is
enjoying an match winning streak
never think am favourite for any tournament he said
know very good player and if feel good for sure can beat everyone
it only four days here
spanish ninth seed fernando verdasco stormed through with win
over ukrainian ivan sergeyev and french th seed jo wilfried tsonga brushed
aside american taylor dent
hewitt set up an enticing third round rematch with baghdatis after straight
sets win over american donald young
unseeded baghdatis slogged out win over spanish
th seed david ferrer
hewitt meeting with baghdatis revives memories of their epic third round
encounter at the tournament
that game started just before midnight and ran for four hours minutes to be
the latest finish in open history
hewitt prevailed but was spent force for his
next match against eventual champion djokovic
no religious justification for child marriage saudi cleric
riyadh jan afp
senior saudi cleric said the prophet mohammed marriage to nine year old
girl some centuries ago cannot be used to justify child marriages today
saudi newspaper reported thursday
the comments by sheikh abdullah al manie member of the council of senior
ulema scholars followed the marriage of year old girl to man years
her senior
manie told okaz newspaper that circumstances are different today from when
islam prophet mohammed married young aisha
aisha marriage cannot be equated with child marriages today because the
conditions and circumstances are not the same manie said
the sheikh spoke as the case of girl in the the city of buraidah in al qasim
province marrying man estimated to be years old sparked new criticism of
saudi arabia not having law banning child marriages
according to report last week in al riyadh newspaper the girl was given in
marriage by her father against both her and her mother wishes the newspaper
reported that the marriage was sealed by dowry payment and had been
consummated
saudi arabia legal system is based on islamic sharia law which is defined by
the koran and other islamic texts judges are all islamic scholars and instead
of adhering to modern written body of laws base their decisions on their own
interpretations of these texts
the case of aisha known to muslims as the mother of believers is often used
by saudi judges and clerics to justify child marriages
the government human rights commission said it was following the buraidah
case which is currently being weighed by local court
the mother of the buraidah girl asked for our help requesting that we become
involved to help her daughter in getting divorce commission head bandar al
aiban told afp
the case is now in the hands of the legal authority and do not want to say
anything before they make their decision but hope they will reach decision
very soon he said
aiban said in june that riyadh was working on new regulations to impose
minimum age for marrying that could range from to years old
prince william salutes courageous australia fire survivors
melbourne jan afp
britain prince william thursday paid tribute to the courageous survivors of
horrific firestorms that killed people last year as embodying the spirit of
australia
william used his only official speech down under to salute the thousands
who survived february black saturday wildfires after an emotional day
touring the fire wasted region
today on the outskirts of melbourne was privileged to see the spirit of
australia in its purest most magnificent form the prince told official
