damaged haiti port vital to quake aid supplies
port au prince
port authorities are working hard to repair maritime installations in haiti
ruined capital the port was severely damaged during last week earthquake but
once it is up and running again it can provide secure route for the supply of
lifesaving aid
news
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as part of our african nations cup coverage we plan to file the following
algerian football fans have high hopes
algiers
algeria meets the ivory coast on sunday in the quarter finals of can the
fennecs have come from far they gave their fans scare when they suffered
humiliating defeat against malawi in the first round but have since regained
ground and their supporters once again have high hopes
sport
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as part of our winter olympics coverage we plan to file the following
vancouver canada
the winter olympics in vancouver will be the first games hosted jointly
with the aboriginal people of the land where the events are being held the
lil wat musqueam squamish and tseil waututh nations of british colombia have
been actively involved in the planning and execution of the sporting event that
will welcome the world but while some see opportunity others are concerned
about the impact this could have on indigenous communities
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we have already filed the following videos
spain provides lifeline to battered women
madrid
maria was beaten by her husband for years today she has an emergency phone
just in case her ex gets too close just one of raft of measures taken by the
spanish government in its pioneering struggle against domestic violence
special report
voiced report
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
judge denies polanski in absentia sentence bid
los angeles judge on friday denied bid by lawyers for roman polanski
requesting the fugitive filmmaker be sentenced in absentia in his decades old
child sex case polanski attorneys had filed motion urging judge peter
espinoza to sentence the director without him having to appear in the united
states archival images
entertainment
archival images
raw vid
tricksters of cleavage
paris
as the paris lingerie show gets underway we look behind the scenes of the
cadolle fashion house where the modern brassiere was invented and that still
holding up well
lifestyle amp culture
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contact
saya oka
afptv
place de la bourse
paris france
tel
fax
afp
un climate panel head says glacier alarm regrettable error
new delhi jan afp
the head of the un climate science panel said saturday doomsday prediction
about the fate of himalayan glaciers was regrettable error but that he would
not resign over the blunder
addressing press conference in new delhi rajendra pachauri chairman of the
nobel winning intergovernmental panel on climate change ipcc said the mistake
arose from established procedures not being diligently followed
am not resigning from my post there has been an error but we will ensure
greater consistency in every future report he said
am not brushing anything under the carpet he added
pachauri was referring to forecast which featured in benchmark report
on global warming that the probability of glaciers in the himalayas
disappearing by the year and perhaps sooner is very high
the ipcc fourth assessment report was page opus whose warning that
climate change was on the march spurred politicians around the world to vow
action
earlier in week the panel apologised for the poor application of well
established ipcc procedures
in the latest statement on what the media have dubbed climategate pachauri
said the report general conclusions that himalayan glaciers were retreating
due to global warming were robust appropriate and entirely consistent with
the underlying science
the world is on the path of unsustainable development and we will have to
change our lifestyle he told reporters
he said the forecast that the glaciers could disappear by may have
genuinely alarmed some people
but he said there had been benefit in that it created heightened awareness
about the real threat to himalayan glaciers
the ipcc co won the nobel peace prize for bringing climate change to the
world attention
the glacier error came to light after four prominent glaciologists and
hydrologists wrote letter to the prestigious us journal science they said the
paragraph mistakes stemmed from report by the conservation group wwf
wwf had picked up news report based on an unpublished study compounded by the
accidental inversion of date instead of in russian paper
published in
these errors could have been avoided had the norms of scientific publication
including peer review and concentration upon peer reviewed work been
respected according to the letter to science
pachauri defended the panel overall work position shared by other
scientists who say the core conclusions about climate change are
incontrovertible
he added he would finish the ipcc fifth assessment reports
the reports due out in and will focus on sea level changes the
influence of periodic climate patterns such as the monsoon season and el nino
and forge more precise picture of the regional effects of climate change
rational people continue to repose faith in ipcc and are seeing the larger
picture pachauri said
india environment minister jairam ramesh said following revelation of the
gaffe he felt vindicated after repeatedly challenging the ipcc work on
glaciers
ramesh has said he believes there is no conclusive scientific evidence linking
global warming to the melting of glaciers
alpine skiing women world cup downhill results
cortina ampezzo italy jan afp
women world cup downhill results on saturday
lindsey vonn usa
maria riesch ger
anja paerson swe
nadja kamer sui
ingrid jacquemod fra
fabienne suter sui
fraenzi aufdenblatten sui
julia mancuso usa
aurelie revillet fra
daniela merighetti ita
elena fanchini ita
marie marchand arvier fra
martina schild sui
gina stechert ger
leanne smith usa
nadia styger sui
anna fenninger aut
carolina ruiz castillo esp
andrea fischbacher aut
lucia recchia ita
did not finish
st leg chemmy alcott gbr margret altacher aut andrea dettling sui
keely kelleher usa tina weirather lie
world cup overall standings after races
lindsey vonn usa pts
maria riesch ger
kathrin zettel aut
anja paerson swe
tina maze slo
kathrin hoelzl ger
sandrine aubert fra
elizabeth goergl aut
maria pietilae holmner swe
fabienne suter sui
world cup downhill standings after five races
lindsey vonn usa points
maria riesch ger
anja paerson swe
nadja kamer sui
emily brydon can
pan arab tv police plan disturbing media watchdog
riyadh jan afp
proposal to create pan arab television monitor is disturbing move that
could could lead to censorship of broadcasts critical of arab governments
media watchdog said on saturday
the saudi egyptian proposal to establish regional office to supervise
satellite broadcasters is aimed directly at qatar based al jazeera the
palestinian hamas group al aqsa tv and hezbollah al manar channel paris
based reporters without borders said
this proposal is disturbing to say the least the group said in statement
the danger is that this super police could be used to censor all tv stations
that criticise the region governments it could eventually be turned into
formidable weapon against freedom of information
the proposal to create the office for arab satellite television is to be
discussed when information ministers from arab league countries meet in cairo on
january
reporters without borders said the proposal stems in part from recent move by
the us congress to allow satellite owners to be branded terrorist entities if
they allow broadcasts by television channels also branded as such
but it also represents an effort to strengthen traditional values the group
said
the two leading regional satellite operations are arabsat created by the arab
league and based in riyadh and nilesat based in cairo and controlled by the
egyptian government
the two groups carry broad range of hundreds of free to air and pay tv
channels in arabic and other languages from regional and global channels
not all of the arab league governments support the proposal reporters
without borders said citing opposition from qatar and lebanon
some fear this office would end up controlling content on privately owned tv
stations others have voiced concern about loss of sovereignty the group said
alpine skiing women world cup downhill results
cortina ampezzo italy jan afp
women world cup downhill results on saturday
lindsey vonn usa
maria riesch ger
anja paerson swe
nadja kamer sui
ingrid jacquemod fra
fabienne suter sui
fraenzi aufdenblatten sui
julia mancuso usa
aurelie revillet fra
daniela merighetti ita
elena fanchini ita
marie marchand arvier fra
martina schild sui
gina stechert ger
leanne smith usa
nadia styger sui
anna fenninger aut
carolina ruiz castillo esp
andrea fischbacher aut
lucia recchia ita
did not finish
st leg chemmy alcott gbr margret altacher aut andrea dettling sui
keely kelleher usa tina weirather lie
football angola face biggest game ever against ghana jose
luanda jan afp
angola face the biggest game in their history when they take on ghana in the
africa cup of nations quarter final coach manuel jose declared here saturday
the hosts reached the last eight in ghana two years ago and also made it
to the world cup finals in germany but sunday showdown at luanda
november stadium is on higher plane according to the portuguese manager
in ghana we reached the same position but tomorrow is different we re playing
in front of our home fans and we have good chance of reaching the semi
finals
jose took over deflated angola side last year after trophy filled spell at
egyptian giants al ahly
discussing the two jobs at press conference at the team hotel on saturday he
joked at al ahly we had million fans in angola only million
it impossible to compare but would say have more pressure on me as
national coach than did in egypt
he said his priority when he took the angolan job was to build team that could
do itself justice on home soil at the africa cup of nations
when began had one important problem to solve the last four games before
became coach angola lost three and drew one and let in seven goals and didn
score one
knew that it was normal with angola playing at home all the people wanted
team that had the ability to reach the final here in to get to the final
you have to win matches must play good football that was my priority
and that what we have done we ve built very solid and competitive team
that plays nice football
while much of ghana squad is based in europe angola players are culled
either from local clubs or generally second tier sides in europe prompting jose
to comment we don have famous players our players are with medium not top
teams except flavio and gilberto
so we have had to compensate by having highly organised side
with our high motivation we can deal with stars on other teams and tomorrow
with that attitude hope we can reach the semi final
captain kali who is clubless expressed optimism that key players ded and
flavio had overcome their fitness concers and would play part in sunday
match
the defender added ghana are great footballing country we know it will be
very very hard we will have to at the top of our game both mentally and
physically to beat them
proud of my country of what we have achieved so far and we want to do
more
playing at home we are almost obliged to win if we get through the quarter
final anything can happen
ghana are feature on the world football map angola want to climb higher to
be the same
militants destroy nato fuel truck in nw pakistan police
peshawar pakistan jan afp
taliban militants on saturday attacked and destroyed fuel tanker in northwest
pakistan supplying nato troops in neighbouring afghanistan police said
group of armed militants ambushed the truck outside peshawar and opened
fire
they ordered the driver and the assistant to get down and set the tanker on
fire early saturday morning senior police official mohammad karim khan told
afp
khan blamed the attack on taliban militants saying they have been carrying out
similar attacks in the past
another police official ali khan confirmed the incident and said the militants
fled after the attack
militants launch frequent attacks on supplies for us and nato led forces
fighting taliban insurgents across the border
international troops in landlocked afghanistan are hugely dependent on pakistan
for supplies with about percent passing through pakistan
the bulk of equipment required by foreign troops is shipped through the troubled
khyber tribal region of northwest pakistan
us officials say northwest pakistan has become safe haven for al qaeda and
taliban militants who fled the us led invasion of afghanistan and have
regrouped to launch attacks on foreign troops across the border
elsewhere gunmen on motorbike shot dead two soldiers on saturday in the oil
and gas rich baluchistan province which is in the grip of tribal insurgency
and violence linked to taliban militants officials said
the incident took place in khuzdar town kilometres miles south of
quetta the capital of baluchistan which borders iran and afghanistan
two armed gunmen chased four army personnel who were travelling in vehicle
and sprayed bullets on them in market in khuzdar killing two of them and
wounding two others district police chief nazir ahmad kurd said
senior security official in the area also confirmed the incident and
casualties and said no one had claimed the responsibility for killings
hundreds of people have died in baluchistan since late when rebels rose up
to demand political autonomy and greater share of profits from natural
resources
baluchistan has also been hit by attacks blamed on taliban militants
alpine skiing cuche at the double with kitzbuehel downhill win
kitzbuehel austria jan afp
swiss veteran didier cuche shot out warning to pretenders to the crown of
world cup and olympic speed events with double triumph here after sealing
downhill victory on saturday
cuche made it two out of two with win down the notorious streif course to
follow up on his super success hours earlier it was the first double here
since stephan eberharter achieved the feat in
it was also cuche fourth win of the season and th overall and came after he
clocked min sec with slovenian andrej sporn at sec and italian werner
heel in third further sec adrift
think it the best weekend in my career said cuche it incredible to
nail the double that only eberharter and hermann maier in have
achieved
really very proud and offer my excuses to austria joked the swiss
racer
cuche swiss team mate carlo janka remained atop the world cup overall
standings after placing th at sec ahead of austrian slalom specialist
benjamin raich who finished well down the field sec off cuche pace
the course biggest casualty was that of reigning world cup downhill champion
michael walchhofer
the austrian lost his balance coming into tight turn after steep jump an
edge catching and spinning him around backwards before propelling him into the
course side safety netting
walchhofer took few moments to untangle himself from the second of the three
net set up but was able to ski down unaided albeit on one ski
pope urges priests to make astute use of internet
vatican city jan afp
pope benedict xvi on saturday urged priests to use the internet astutely in
message for this year world communications day
make astute use of the unique possibilities offered by modern communications
the pope said
the christian message can traverse the many crossroads created by the
intersection of all the different highways that form cyberspace and show that
god has his rightful place in every age including our own he said
priests stand at the threshold of new era the year old pope said as
new technologies create deeper forms of relationship across greater distances
they are called to respond pastorally by putting the media ever more effectively
at the service of the word
embracing the almost limitless expressive capacity of digital communication
benedict said the technology requires priests to become more focused
efficient and compelling in their efforts
the head of the roman catholic church urged priests nevertheless to stay true to
their vocation
priests present in the world of digital communications should be less notable
for their media savvy than for their priestly heart their closeness to christ
he said this will not only enliven their pastoral outreach but also will give
soul to the fabric of communications that makes up the web
the head of the vatican social communications advisory council said the
message was aimed at encouraging new look at the church pastoral action
today in the digital world
the pope is urging priests to consider not only those already in the church bu
also an opening to those with other religious aspirations as well as non
believers claudio maria celli told news conference
the vatican has long had website now in eight languages and year ago it
created news channel on the youtube video sharing site
since may the church entered the world of social networking on the
internet by creating facebook site dubbed pope you
celli said the site received nearly two million visits over the christmas
holidays
the roman catholic church established world communications day which is on may
in
this year theme is the priest and pastoral ministry in digital world new
media at the service of the word
turkish airliner searched in germany after fake warning
berlin jan afp
german police said saturday they had searched turkish airliner after an email
warned that terrorism suspect was aboard
passengers and their luggage were disembarked and closely checked after the
turkish airlines plane landed at cologne airport late friday but nothing was
found
police said the email whose sender has not been found could have been
targeting one of the passengers in personal dispute
earlier friday turkish sun express flight from stuttgart to izmir in turkey
made an emergency landing at thessaloniki in greece after cabin crew found
death threat message in toilet
the plane carrying passengers was also evacuated and searched
bodies dug out in wells after nigerian massacre village elder
jos nigeria jan afp
at least bodies are recovered from wells following deadly muslim christian
clashes in central nigeria in which the estimated death toll already stood at
about
so far we have picked bodies from the wells but more people are still
missing said umar baza head of kuru karama village near the city of jos told
afp on telephone
we took an inventory of the displaced people from this village sheltering in
three camps and we realise that people can still not be accounted for he
added
we believe there are more bodies in the wells but the degree of their
decomposition makes it difficult to continue the retrieval operation we have
therefore decided to sand fill all the wells baza further said
head of the muslim volunteer team in the village mohammed shittu said further
searches would be carried out on saturday with security escorts
now we have bodies in all taken from the wells as from thursday we are
still going back there today saturday to comb the bush around the village to
search for more bodies he also told afp
from the account of survivors some people fleeing attacks were ambushed and
killed in the bush that is why we are going there to search for more bodies
muslim official who visited kuru karama to arrange for the burial of bodies
told global rights watchdog human rights watch hrw that corpses had been
recovered in wells including the those of young children
the state government has given no official death toll for the violence which
broke out last sunday in jos capital of plateau state and later spread to
nearby towns and villages but religious leaders and medical workers said they
had counted around bodies by wednesday
hrw on saturday urged vice president goodluck jonathan to order an immediate
criminal investigation into credible reports of massacre of at least
muslim residents of town in central nigeria
hrw said in statement received in lagos that witnesses said groups of armed
men believed to be christians attacked the largely muslim population of
kuru karama on tuesday morning
after surrounding the town they hunted down and attacked muslim residents
some of whom had sought refuge in homes and local mosque killing many as they
tried to flee and burning many others alive the statement said
christian and muslim leaders in plateau state said previously the unrest owed
more to the failure of political leaders to address ethnic differences than to
inter faith rivalries
this tragic event certainly challenges us all to address the deep hurts
festering wounds and unresolved grievances from earlier episodes said abuja
catholic archbishop john onaiyekan and sultan of sokoto abubakar saad in
joint statement
some people have already taken refuge in military barracks churches and
mosques around the city after fleeing the fighting the red cross said
vice president goodluck jonathan pledged that the ringleaders responsible for
the violence would be brought to justice and ordered the army to take over
security of the affected regions and sensitive neighbouring areas
the federal government is determined to secure convictions of the perpetrators
of this crime no matter how highly placed he said in broadcast late
thursday
jos has been hotbed of religious violence in nigeria whose million people
are divided almost equally between followers of the two faiths
an estimated people were killed in religious clashes in the city in late
alpine skiing cuche at the double with kitzbuehel downhill win
kitzbuehel austria jan afp
swiss veteran didier cuche made it two out of two with win in saturday world
cup downhill race to follow up on his super success hours earlier
cuche fourth win of the season and th overall came after he clocked min
sec with slovenian andrej sporn at sec and italian werner heel in
third further sec adrift
moderate quakes hit bolivia costa rica usgs
washington jan afp
moderate earthquakes shook bolivia early saturday us seismologists said
although there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage
magnitude tremor hit miles kilometers west northwest of santa
cruz bolivia largest city at am gmt with depth of miles
km according to the us geological survey
quake of magnitude struck nearby minutes later miles km
northwest of santa cruz
another magnitude temblor struck miles km south southeast of golfito
in costa rica at depth of miles km at am gmt the usgs
said it was followed by magnitude quake minutes later
ireland party holds key talks on power sharing deal
belfast jan afp
one of the parties in northern ireland power sharing government sinn fein
held key meeting saturday which could determine the future of the strained
administration in the british province
sinn fein accuse their pro british democratic unionist party dup partners of
blocking deal on the devolution of policing and justice powers one of the
crucial pieces in the devolution of powers from london to belfast
gerry adams the sinn fein president said the unionists had derailed talks on
the issue by demanding concessions on controls over controversial protestant
orange order parades
but dup leader peter robinson still reeling from sex and money scandal
involving his politician wife said progress was being made in the negotiations
and claimed sinn fein were stirring up an unnecessary political crisis
sinn fein leadership met in dublin with the party ruling executive expected
to announce their next move later saturday
there were fears that sinn fein who want united ireland may carry out
their threat of withdrawing from the power sharing government unless they can
reach deal on the vexed issue of policing arrangements
three years ago sinn fein backed the new policing arrangements in northern
ireland on condition that the province assembly eventually took over political
responsibility for law and order from london
but robinson who is the province top minister insists that the conditions
must be right before powers are transferred and sinn fein has grown frustrated
at the stand off
ahead of the meeting sinn fein vice president mary lou mcdonald said we have
said all along that we are in this to make the st andrew agreement come into
effect to ensure the institutions work that is the sinn fein position
but this needs to be dialogue with purpose there needs to be product at the
end of it
there is possibility that sinn fein could announce the resignation of martin
mcguinness as deputy first minister or threaten he will withdraw by specified
date unless policing and justice is resolved
another option is to appeal for the british and irish governments to intervene
in the talks
robinson meanwhile is fighting allegations that he was aware that his wife iris
had secured pound dollar euro donation to enable her
year old lover to set up restaurant business
three decades of sectarian violence in northern ireland were largely ended by
the good friday agreement but two british soldiers and policeman were
shot dead last year in attacks claimed by dissident republicans
tennis wozniacki storms home to beat peer
