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years after kobe quake japan preparing for big one
tokyo
as the devastating earthquake in haiti reminds the world of the tectonic fury
that lurks beneath the earth crust japan remembers the kobe quake that killed
more than people years ago on sunday with an even bigger tremor said
to be decades overdue japan has long learned to live with the daily threat of
disaster message that is regularly driven home to every school child in the
country
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urgent french academic lawyer very confident of iran acquittal
tehran jan afp
the lawyer of french academic clotilde reiss told afp on saturday that he was
very confident his client would be acquitted of charges of acting against
iranian national security during anti government protests in june
alert
french academic lawyer very confident of iran acquittal
yemen wants to show it can handle qaeda by itself analysts
sanaa jan afp
yemen is keen to show the world it can crush al qaeda militants on its own as
london conference looms that many fear could lead to push for unwelcome
foreign intervention analysts say
if events since sanaa launched new offensive last month are any measure of
that ability world powers might have reason to rest easy
on friday sanaa said its forces had killed six senior leaders of al qaeda in
the arabian peninsula aqap including the group military chief in an air
strike in the north of the country
that came only three days after security forces killed man said to be the
group kingpin in shabwa province east of the capital
and last week officials announced the capture of three militants believed
behind threats against western interests in sanaa that caused embassies to close
for several days
friday attack came day after the defence ministry vowed to clear yemen of
al qaeda jihadists and warned that intensive operations will continue against
osama bin laden extremists
while us president barack obama has said he has no intention of sending troops
to yemen sanaa has made it clear it wants no outside troops just help with
training and logistics
yemen wants to avoid foreign military intervention targeting al qaeda said
adel al ahmadi yemeni specialist on al qaeda
yemen is trying to say that it can accomplish the mission on its own and just
needs logistical assistance and political support to consolidate its regime
in the face of local adversaries
that very capacity is being debated in washington rattled by the failed attempt
of nigerian youth to blow up an airliner as it approached detroit airport on
christmas day the united states has accused aqap of training umar farouk
abdulmutallab
but for sanaa the successive and successful strikes carried out since december
prove that logistical and intelligence assistance is more effective said
analyst said ali obeid al jamhi
more to the point he added that with these strikes the yemeni authorities
prove in the runup to the london conference their ability to crush al qaeda so
that they will not show up looking weak
in short as it faces rebellion in the north and secessionist pressures in the
south yemen does not want to show up in london as country that appears to
have been beaten by al qaeda
the campaign to track down al qaeda terrorists will continue and the
government will use all means at its disposal to eradicate terrorism from yemeni
territory one senior official told afp on friday
in exchange the arab world poorest country with high rates of illiteracy and
unemployment expects from the london conference economic aid to deal with its
problems which are economic in origin ahmadi said
the conference called by british prime minister gordon brown and set for
january has been denounced by more conservative elements in the country as
plot and pretext for intervention by foreign troops in the fight against al
qaeda
earlier this week group of muslim scholars led by influential sheikh
abdulmajid zendani suspected by washington of supporting terrorism issued
fatwa calling for jihad if that happens
zendani repeated that call on friday saying it is religious duty dictated by
god this order of god cannot be annulled by anyone not king not
president not ulema muslim scholars he said
australia welcomes first female elephant calf
sydney jan afp
australian zookeepers saturday celebrated the birth of the country first
elephant conceived via artificial insemination and its first ever female calf
the kilogram pound pachyderm yet to be named was born at melbourne
zoo in the early hours of saturday morning after long hard labour and keepers
said she was rambunctious from her first breath
the baby is an incredible creature and was very strong from the beginning
suckling within two hours said delivering vet thomas hildebrandt from
germany this was textbook delivery
mother dokkoon year old asian elephant was impregnated with the sperm of
bull bong su who has lived in the zoo his entire life and preferred play to
procreating
we had to give him helping hand so to speak said zoo curator dan maloney
of bong su who has never had male role model to learn from
the calf was the first to be born in the zoo year history and only the
second elephant ever to be born in australia following the july delivery of
naturally conceived male infant luk chai at sydney taronga zoo
taronga is expecting second birth in the coming months with matriarch porntip
due to deliver calf conceived artificially with bong su sperm
melbourne zoo curator jan steele said saturday birth was an important success
for the artificial breeding program
if we want to keep breeding and not have in breeding problems it much easier
to ship semen around the country than it is to ship adult animals she told
state radio
this way we can keep families together and just ship semen wherever we need it
to keep the blood lines going
as few as asian elephants are thought to remain outside of capitivity
across the continent and only half of all month pregnancies in the wild
succeed
as supplies begin to arrive haiti still lives in fear
port au prince jan afp
the crippled port of the haitian capital has received its first supply ship
since tuesday killer earthquake boat carrying bananas and coal that was
greeted with jubilation by desperate residents of the devastated city
swarm of small boats surrounded the ship at the entrance to the harbor late
friday as it approached crumbled pier with supplies from jeremie haitian
town about kilometers miles from port au price
bananas will provide local residents with necessary food while coal can be used
to boil water to avoid the spread of disease
but the joyful event did little to change the overall grim situation
the haitian capital insecure at the best of times is now devoid of
functioning police force bringing fears of dystopian war of all against all
in the wake of tuesday huge earthquake
men suddenly appeared with machetes to steal money said evelyne buino young
beautician describing long sleepless night in neighborhood not far from
the ruined city center this is just the beginning
buino immediate fear comes from nearby prison which contained the worst
gangsters in the city
when the earthquake unleashed its fury on port au prince two million
inhabitants it also let loose upon them the convicts who escaped from the
city collapsed jail
the prison large blue iron gate remains closed but its cell block was among
the scores of buildings razed by the quake allowing surviving prisoners to run
free
all the bandits of the city are now on the streets local police man said
standing near the jail rifle at the ready they are robbing people it is
big problem
with president rene preval at the airport struggling to piece together the
remains of the state desperate citizens tried to fill the void
organize neighborhood committees to avoid chaos radio metropole urged
residents to prevent people looting shops and houses
the station also appealed for volunteers to protect company distributing
badly needed drinking water
people are hungry thirsty they are left on their own said leon meleste an
adventist sporting white new york baseball cap
it is increasingly dangerous the police doesn exist people are doing what
they want
patricia etique swiss citizen who divides her time between europe and haiti
explained the dire predicament now facing many haitians
people had reserves for few days but now they are dwindling they are afraid
to go downtown in search of food because it has become too dangerous
there is lot of tension in the center she said near the national palace
where thousands gathered to flee their devastated homes
kassana jean chilove young mechanic who lost her daughter in the earthquake
expressed fury at the government
the government is bluffing us she said there are millions of dollars
pouring into haiti but we see nothing
at the head of the country group of friends is divvying up the money we are
going to be in the shit for long time
before the earthquake we had bottled water or boiled it for ourselves said
nurse marie jose carneli whose son bryan michael began screaming from under the
rubble few hours ago but now we have no gas or coal and you can not
sterilize it
can not buy anything because my money is stuck in the rubble of my house
she said throwing plastic bottle angrily at an area were pigs were scavenging
for food
with the presidential palace and several other key government guildings
destroyed the haitian government is now working from police station close to
the airport
president preval works in an office protected by two guards from his security
detail
in another office prime minister jean max bellerive was holding meeting with
several ministers his original office now serves as shelter for hundreds of
families left without homes
the government has lost its capacity to function properly but it has not
collapsed said the president who looked exhausted with dark pockets under the
eyes
out in the city an old lady sold plates of pasta one portion costs gourds
around dollars times more than before the quake
for many facing desolation there is only one option said carneli people who
have relatives in the provinces are fleeing the city
but thousands of others there have no such choice
in the bustling marche en fer or iron market one of the haitian capital
poorest neighborhoods teenage looters friday were scuttling over the twisted
concrete debris as crowds ignored piles of dead bodies on the street in their
desperate bid to dig out supplies
figure skating chan jumps out to commanding lead at canadians
london canada jan afp
reigning world silver medallist patrick chan overcame few small errors on
friday to win the men short programme by wide margin at the canadian figure
skating championships
the year old chan scored points despite touching down on triple
flip then doing double toe loop instead of triple as part of jump
combination
had tons of energy chan said can really project my face and upper body
due to that energy
in the women competition five time defending champion joannie rochette
settled for second place behind cynthia phaneuf after the short programme on
friday
chan who had already booked berth at the vancouver olympics next month has
substantial lead on vaughn chipeur heading into sunday free skate
chipeur earned points with solid programme and joey russell placed third
with
phaneuf skating just ahead of rochette in the final two routines of the last
group received scores of points from judges while rochette scored
to take second with amelie lacoste distant third at
the short programme counts for one third of the total score with saturday free
skate accounting for the rest
was still able to get good score to be in good position for the free
skate and that what short programme is for at least in my case rochette
said
two skaters from each discipline at the meet will qualify for next month
vancouver winter olympics
rochette also trailed phaneuf at last year nationals before rebounding in the
long programme to win her fifth consecutive crown rochette the world silver
medalist has already clinched one of the two women singles spots on canada
olympic team
tessa virtue and scott moir extended their commanding lead in ice dance posting
score in the original dance to take an overall score of into
saturday free dance
definitely wouldn say perfect there were already some areas we wanted to
improve but it was great step for us virtue said it was just about as
good as we could have done today
with just two olympic spots just points separates second and third place
in dance
kaitlyn weaver and andrew poje were second with points slightly in front
of vanessa crone and paul poirier
annabelle langlois and cody hay won the pairs short programme with score of
points defending champions jessica dube and bryce davison were second
with points while meagan duhamel and craig buntin scored to place
third
the women free skate is saturday with the men free scheduled for sunday
cricket bangladesh too ordinary to beat india says sehwag
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
india vice captain virender sehwag has said bangladesh are an ordinary side
and cannot beat his world number one team in two test series starting here on
sunday
don think so sehwag said on saturday when asked whether bangladesh could
beat india in tests
bangladesh can surprise anybody in one day matches but not in tests it an
ordinary side
the hosts have won just three of their matches since gaining test status in
losing and drawing six they have lost four of their five tests against
india the lone draw coming in rain hit match here in
bangladesh beat an under strength west indies in an away test series last
year but sehwag said the hosts did not have the bowlers to put pressure on
strong indian batting line up
the kind of batting line up we have think it difficult for bangladesh to
take indian wickets even sri lanka can do that so it very very
difficult for bangladesh said sehwag
we are confident we can bat well in bangladesh there is no change in our
attitude and thinking our record in bangladesh is very good we have won four
test matches against bangladesh
india batting has been strengthened with the return of veterans sachin
tendulkar rahul dravid and venkatsai laxman who were not part of the side that
lost tri series in bangladesh recently
india became the top ranked team in tests when they beat sri lanka in home
series last year but sehwag said his side were focused more on playing good
cricket than rankings
we are playing test match tomorrow and we re not thinking that we are number
one number two or number three yes we have test against bangladesh and we
have to do well to win the match he said
bangladeshi batsman mohammad mahmudullah said his team could force draw
against formidable india if the batsmen played to their potential
we are least bothered about india being the world top test side he said
we have our own game plan if we stick to that and our batsmen play well we
can draw the match
bangladesh coach jamie siddons said the team could opt for three pronged pace
attack against the indians because they were very good against spin
it means shafiul islam year old seamer who made his one day debut in the
tri series is likely to win test cap
bangladesh will be without fast bowler and regular skipper mashrafe mortaza who
is recovering from knee injury
the second and final test will begin in dhaka on january
bangladesh from shakib al hasan capt mushfiqur rahim tamim iqbal imrul
kayes junaid siddique mohammad ashraful raqibul hossain mohammad
mahmudullah shahriar nafees shahadat hossain rubel hossain enamul hossain
mahbubul alam shafiul islam
india from mahendra singh dhoni capt virender sehwag gautam gambhir
rahul dravid sachin tendulkar venkatsai laxman yuvraj singh harbhajan singh
zaheer khan shanthakumaran sreesanth amit mishra pragyan ojha ishant sharma
murali vijay dinesh karthik sudeep tyagi
case of snatched ex president body baffles cyprus
nicosia jan afp
more than month after the embalmed body of cyprus former president tassos
papadopoulos was snatched from his grave the east mediterranean holiday island
remains at loss as to who stole it and why
this type of crime done by professionals who are very well prepared is
extremely difficult to clear up said andreas kapardis criminologist at the
university of cyprus
in bank robbery you have dna cameras information from the underworld who
spends the money who recently acquired guns in this particular case there is
no direct intelligence he told afp
papadopoulos who was president from to died of lung cancer on
december at the age of
he was buried in eucalyptus grove in cemetery of deftera village outside the
capital nicosia but on the eve of the first anniversary of his death his
remains disappeared in one of the most shocking crimes in cypriot history
the grave was plundered as general power failure plunged the entire area into
darkness made worse by storm of unusual violence said source close to the
investigation
the thieves at least four of them probably took an hour to desecrate the
grave using special equipment to remove the kilo pound tombstone
before digging up the coffin and removing papadopoulos body
after carefully covering their tracks using lime they took out the body which
had been embalmed before burial and left the casket behind as the body was
lighter easier to conceal kapardis said
the cyprus police who have appealed to interpol the fbi and scotland yard as
well as to greek and israeli police scoured the surrounding areas including the
papadopoulos estate
we are gathering intelligence concerning the case and we evaluate them we are
following all the possible leads police spokesman michalis katsounotos told
afp
members of papadopoulos family say no ransom demand for the return of the body
has been received
we are completely in the dark and there is very little evidence the late
president son nicholas an mp since told afp dismissing some of the
speculation surrounding the case
this includes that it was political action aimed at symbol of greek cypriot
nationalism ahead of the first anniversary of his death or mafia crime against
one of the richest families on the divided island
his son describes as malicious theories linking the grave robbery with an old
case involving the law firm of the ex president and the sanctions busting
transfer of money to cyprus by late serbian president slobodan milosevic
for former foreign minister george lillikas the date of the grave robbery was
not chosen by chance
this was political message to say we can achieve that we want when we
want he told afp
like many greek cypriots lillikas said he found it impossible that the theft
could be the work of his fellow citizens because it is beyond our culture
but kapardis rejected this argument as based on prejudices and did not rule
out the involvement of foreign secret services in the crime
this act serves the purpose of dividing the people sending the message that we
can get to anybody at any time it creates sense of insecurity anxiety
tension and of course revenge he said
papadopoulos led greek cypriots in rejecting un plan to reunify the island in
referendum turkish cypriots backed the plan in simultaneous vote but
it failed divided island joined the european union the same year
the theft of papadopoulos body came ahead of accelerated un led talks that
began this month aimed at giving boost to the inter communal peace process
with the target of reunifying the island in
cyprus has been split since turkey occupied its northern third in in
response to an athens engineered greek cypriot coup aimed at uniting the island
with greece
pope failed assassin to be freed after three decades in jail
ankara jan afp
mehmet ali agca the turk who tried to kill pope john paul ii in walks
free monday after almost three decades behind bars planning to cash in on his
turbulent past with million dollar media projects and to get married
he has also said he wants to travel to the vatican to see the tomb of john paul
ii who had visited him in prison in and forgave him for the attack and
meet with his successor pope benedict xvi
agca who will be released from high security prison near ankara is in
good health both physically and mentally his lawyer haci ali ozhan said he
wants to get married and will look for fiancee
agca has received more than offers from foreign publishers and movie makers
eager to buy his story in the hope that he may finally lift the shroud of
mystery still surrounding his attack on the pope ozhan said
in series of rambling letters from prison agca has fed suggestions he is
mentally disturbed claiming to be the second messiah announcing plans to write
the perfect bible and volunteering to go to afghanistan to kill al qaeda
leader osama bin laden
others however believe he is sly operator playing the fool
agca may say few words to the press after his release monday but will not
hold press conference at the request of publishers and producers who are
currently negotiating with him ozhan said
he plans to stay briefly in an ankara hotel and then go on holiday he added
agca was year old militant of the notorious far right grey wolves on the
run from turkish justice facing murder charges when he resurfaced in st
peter square in rome on may and opened fire on the pontiff driving to
an audience in an open vehicle
john paul ii was seriously wounded in the abdomen and agca spent the next
years in italian prisons
he has claimed the attack was part of divine plan and given often
contradictory statements frequently changing his story and forcing
investigators to open dozens of inquiries
charges that the soviet union and then communist bulgaria were behind the
assassination attempt were never proved
john paul ii wrote in his book memory and identity that he was convinced the
assassination attempt was planned and commissioned and that agca was mere
puppet
in italy pardoned agca and extradited him to turkey where he was
convicted for the murder of prominent journalist abdi ipekci two armed
robberies and escaping from prison crimes all dating back to the
the turkish authorities had released agca in january amid legal mix up
but re arrested him after eight days when court ruled that reductions to his
jail term under amnesty laws and penal code amendments had been miscalculated
in his most recent letter released wednesday agca called for new american
empire promoting democracy and peace condemned terrorism and described al
qaeda as psychopathic criminal nazi organisation
after day of deliveries us ship runs out of haiti aid
aboard the uss carl vinson jan afp
helicopters sit ready to go from this us aircraft carrier off haiti but there
problem after day of frantic aid runs there is simply nothing left to
deliver
aboard the warship some us military personnel have been coordinating the
flights of us helicopters carrying aid since early morning
visible from the ship is haiti scarred capital city port au prince devastated
by tuesday magnitude which haitian officials say killed at least
people
in less than hours helicopters from the uss carl vinson made some trips
to scout the ravaged landscape and deliver items that were originally intended
for the ship crew
among the supplies dropped off were thousands of bottles of water and energy
drinks sheets and hundreds of camp beds
dozens of hospital beds have been arranged on board the ship to accomadate those
injured in the quake including us citizen evacuated from the us embassy in
port au prince
the take off and landing space offered by aircraft carriers are crucial for the
international aid effort which has struggled to get in relief via port au
prince single runway airport
the relief work also faces logistical and coordination challenges according to
rear admiral ted branch the most senior military official aboard the uss carl
vinson
we have lift we have communications we have some command and control but we
don have much relief supplies to offer said branch who commands the battle
group led by the nuclear powered carl vinson
we have no supplies at the airport that we have access to there are other
supplies there that are under the control of other agencies other organizations
and we haven yet coordinated together to make those supplies available for
anyone to deliver he added
us humanitarian aid for haiti is being sent in part through guantanamo bay
which is serving as logistical base for the us relief effort but the supplies
have taken time to arrive
we need to get that kind of supply chain process energized to have an efficient
route point for the supplies unfortunately that doesn happen overnight
branch said
the commander noted that some supplies remain at the airport and could easily
be delivered by us helicopters
the problem is some people are perhaps not ready to release their stuff to the
most efficient transportation makers and want to deliver supplies themselves
despite the desperation in haiti capital where dead bodies were being thrown
into mass graves friday as people looted damaged stores for food branch said
aid distributions had been relatively calm
so far the crowd has been pretty well behaved during distributions he said
we will have to see as distributions become more regular if we see unruliness
of mob type behavior hope we don
from police station president tried to ensure haiti survival
port au prince jan afp
working from police station close to the airport the haitian government is
trying to provide some governance to the country whose main symbols of power
have been torn down by tuesday devastating earthquake
the national palace big white structure that was home to the presidency was
destroyed along with several other buildings that housed ministries
we have decided to temporarily place the seat of the presidency and government
in these police barracks to be closer to our international partners says
president rene preval walking around in shirtsleeves
the airport which serves as link between haiti and the outside world has
been taken over by hundreds of american troops who try to organize delivery of
aid
the seat of government may move in day or two say people from the president
entourage
the president works in an office protected by two guards from his security
detail
in another office prime minister jean max bellerive is holding meeting with
several ministers who can still move around the city his original office now
serves as shelter for hundreds of families left without homes
the government has lost its capacity to function properly but it has not
collapsed assures the president who looks exhausted with dark pockets under
the eyes
sitting behind round table president preval is talking on the phone with his
dominican republic counterpart leonel fernandez
thank you leonel for what you are doing for us the president says into the
phone handed to him by the dominican ambassador communication is difficult
will move to another place
it is no longer secret that the haitian government is now working without
secure means of communication
the president recalls that in the hours that followed tuesday earthquake he
got on motorcycle and followed by his ministers toured the haitian capital
to survey the damage
was personally touched by this tragedy preval tells afp sleep at
friend house and have trouble falling asleep have lost people close to
me
the president rattles off macabre list two senators prominent writer and
geographer georges anglade and his wife the parents of one minister the
children of another who has been longtime friend
we are all victims the president lets out sigh as drops of sweat appear on
his forehead the office has no air conditioning
the generator has given up the ghost explains one of the presidential aides
in the middle of the conversation the president presents his excuses and leaves
to help senator who had just been pulled from under the rubble and will now
go to the dominican republic to receive medical assistance
no one is alone in his situation understand that people suffer because they
have relatives under the rubble but they must understand that there are
thousands of people in that very same situation says preval
he calls on haitians to show patience and condemns those who accuse the
government of inaction
there are people that underestimate the extent of damages and claim that we
don work quickly enough to bring in relief argues preval it is indecent to
take advantage of people pain in bid to score political points
preval says his government priorities include distribution of gasoline to
