wounded by early wednesday said foreign minister bruno rodriguez
an argentine un built hospital was caring for some people mainly women and
children and was in critical situation due to the number of dead and
wounded said its director daniel desimone on todo noticias argentine news
channel
all haitian hospitals had collapsed desimone said
the quake looked set to join some of the worst catastrophes in region shaken
by earthquakes volcanic eruptions and landslides
it killed at least peacekeepers with the brazilian led un mission in haiti
and brazil defense minister was on his way to the caribbean state to assess
the situation
brazil said it was sending million dollars in immediate disaster aid
including tonnes of drinking water and food including sugar powdered milk
and sardines
peru will send two planes with metric tonnes of humanitarian aid mainly
food and doctors and nurses and two field hospitals the health minister
said wednesday afternoon adding that peruvian president alan garcia may
accompany the mission
the peruvian government declared national mourning for thursday in solidarity
with haiti
venezuelan president hugo chavez promised more aid after the departure of
first group of doctors firefighters and rescue workers from venezuela early
wednesday
chile would send metric tons of food and medicines team of search and
rescue experts and doctors said president michelle bachelet adding that two
chileans connected to the un mission were reported missing
mexico colombia and guatemala also promised to send rescue workers and aid as
soon as possible
surviving soldiers from the un peacekeeping mission in haiti of
soldiers and police were now carrying out disaster relief operations
though were hampered by debris blocked roads and teetering buildings officials
said
an argentine gendarme was reported killed and another was missing and seven
soldiers from brazil and uruguayan soldier were also missing
bolivian defense minister walker san miguel said none of bolivia estimated
soldiers in haiti had been killed and that the impoverished andean nation was
offering to help un rescue operations
haiti quake is devastating blow to un
united nations jan afp
the huge earthquake that hit impoverished haiti also dealt crippling blow to
the local un mission which lost dozens of staff including apparently its
civilian head un officials said wednesday
un chief ban ki moon said tuesday magnitude quake which raised fears that
as many as people may have been killed was tragedy for haiti and
for the united nations
haitian prime minister jean max bellerive told cnn that the death toll in
haiti worst quake in more than years could be well over
although he added hope that is not true
the un mission in haiti minustah was hit particularly hard with its main
headquarters building in port au prince flattened and dozens of staff missing
including its civilian head hedi annabi of tunisia and his deputy
haitian president rene preval insisted that annabi who was in the building
along with to members of his staff when the quake struck tuesday was
killed
alain leroy head of the un department of peacekeeping operations dpko said
however that the world body cannot confirm that he is dead
the respected tunisian official who served as deputy head of un peacekeeping
operations from to was having talks with visiting chinese
delegation in the five story concrete building known as the christopher hotel
un chief ban ki moon said
citing preliminary figures susana malcorra head of the un department of field
support said the world body could confirm minustah fatalities and other
staffers injured
she added that the total number of un personnel still unaccounted for is in the
range of
leroy said people were pulled out of the rubble alive wednesday
but at least brazilian soldiers three jordanian soldiers and one argentine
gendarme serving with minustah were killed according to military officials from
the three countries
eight chinese members of the peacekeeping mission were also buried in building
collapses according to china state council it did not say whether they were
believed to be alive or dead
brazil which is in charge of minustah military component and the biggest
contributor with soldiers sent its defense minister nelson jobim and army
chief general enzo martins peri to haiti to get first hand information
on more positive note michele montas former spokeswoman for un chief ban
ki moon who was visiting her family in haiti when the powerful earthquake struck
port au prince was accounted for according to farhan haq un spokesman
the secretary general is very relieved to hear that montas former award
winning haitian journalist who retired in early december after distinguished
un career is safe haq said
the tragedy is the worst disaster to hit the world body since the august
suicide attack on un offices in baghdad in which people including un
special envoy sergio vieira de mello were killed
in december two suicide blasts targeting un offices in algiers killed at
least people including un staffers three of them foreign nationals
ban sent edmond mulet top un peacekeeping official and annabi predecessor
to haiti to take charge of the decapitated minustah in an interim capacity
and the un boss added that he himself was prepared to visit haiti as soon as
practically possible
ban said the un system was mobilizing an emergency response team to coordinate
relief aid that was expected to arrive in port au prince soon
we are extremely concerned about the humanitarian impact in the city of
million people where the national palace the main prison hotels hospitals
and schools sustained extensive damage said john holmes the head of the un
office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs ocha
basic services such as water electricity have collapsed almost entirely ban
said
holmes said chinese search and rescue team had arrived in port au prince
where the airport was operating despite damage sustained by the control tower
two us teams were due to arrive later in the day followed by others he added
leroy said most urgent needs were for search and rescue teams with their
equipment as well as for medical teams to assist the wounded
un officials said they would launch major flash appeal for funds in the next
two to three days and had already released ten million dollars in emergency aid
ban also met with former us president bill clinton now un special envoy for
haiti here later wednesday
joining ban in meeting with members of the un general assembly clinton later
said we need water food shelter and first aid supplies
he also called on donors to send cash even one or two dollars he added and
gave the address of website www clintonfoundation org haitiearthquake
for that purpose
minustah which comprises troops and police has been deployed since
mid to help stabilize the impoverished caribbean island nation of nine
million people
football lovenkrands hat trick gives magpies fa cup joy
london jan afp
danish international striker peter lovenkrands scored hat trick on wednesday
to ease newcastle united to victory over fellow championship side plymouth
argyle in their fa cup third round replay
the year old former rangers and schalke player struck twice in the
first half and added his third in the nd minute to send the championship
leaders through to fourth round meeting away at another second tier outfit
west bromwich albion managed by former fa cup winner roberto di matteo
lovenkrands has rarely shone at the magpies but he more than repaid the faith
shown in him by manager chris hughton as he struck in the th minute shooting
home after fine work by man of the match argentinian winger jonas gutierrez
lovenkrands who appeared at the world cup finals and the euro finals
struck again five minutes from the break with header
plymouth who are third from bottom of the championship never threatened
newcastle goal and lovenkrands duly wrapped up the match minutes from full
time with soft shot which still crept past goalkeeper roman larrieu and
extended newcastle unbeaten run to
football liverpool in crisis as reading pull off fa cup shock
liverpool england jan afp
liverpool dreadful season hit crisis point on wednesday when rafael benitez
team were knocked out of the fa cup after losing to championship strugglers
reading at anfield
an own goal by ryan bertrand had given benitez side the lead over managerless
opponents but stoppage time penalty by gylfi sigurdsson sent the tie into
extra time
substitute shane long then headed th minute winner in the third round
replay that left liverpool already out of the race for the premier league title
and eliminated from the champions league shell shocked
on night to forget for benitez fernando torres and steven gerrard left the
field injured
torres who scored his first liverpool hat trick against reading in lasted
just minutes before he was replaced while gerrard failed to appear at the
start of the second half after complaining of hamstring problem
with new argentine signing maxi rodriguez from atletico madrid watching from the
stands benitez made five changes to the side that was held to draw by the
championship strugglers days earlier in the first match
there was no sign of spanish keeper jose reina who played at the madejski
stadium as diego cavalieri was given rare chance to shine while teenage
hungarian stopper peter gulacsi was on the bench
swiss international philipp degen was also handed start although big guns
torres gerrard and alberto aquilani were wheeled out in an attempt to avoid
shock
however it was reading who looked like the premier league team for long periods
of the first half
having endured wretched first half to the season the fa cup remained one of
the few pieces of silverware that liverpool could still win yet benitez side
seemed disinterested at times on freezing merseyside night
reading who are in danger of slipping into the third tier have managed just
five wins in attempts in the league this term yet twice in the space of four
first half minutes they successfully sliced open the liverpool defence
polish striker grzegorz rasiak fluffed golden chance from close range after
jamie carragher had failed to cut out simon church nd minute cross
then church who scored in the first meeting between the clubs allowed another
chance to go begging after failing to connect with jobi mcanuff cross
there was no sense of urgency about liverpool aquilani emiliano insua and
daniel agger all guilty of gifting possession too easily but they were not
alone
torres endured frustrating evening and minutes after dragging rare chance
wide the spaniard was replaced by david ngog having earlier taken knock
quite what new signing rodriguez who watched the game with liverpool scarf
wrapped round his neck made of it all is anyones guess
at least benitez side finished the half strongly yossi benayoun curling
chance narrowly wide of adam federici post before reading fell behind in the
cruel circumstances
having played so well for much of the half they saw all their hard work undone
in split second as bertrand deflected close range shot by gerrard past his
own keeper
despite having the lead liverpool continued to struggle in the second half
the loss of gerrard clearly did not help their cause
they were again let off the hook when ivar ingimarsson failed to steer
substitute brian howard free kick into the net
but in dramatic twist at the end of normal time referee phil dowd pointed to
the penalty spot after benayoun was adjudged to have fouled substitute shane
long sigurdsson sending cavalieri the wrong way to force extra time
liverpool struggled to recover from the blow and in the th minute long headed
the winner in front of the kop after meeting bryn gunnarsson cross
fresh snowfalls heap more woe on shivering europe
london jan afp
fresh heavy snowfalls brought new winter woe to parts of europe on wednesday
disrupting transport links and delaying humanitarian flight to earthquake
stricken haiti
airports closed across britain hundreds of flights were cancelled in france and
germans shivered as temperatures dropped to well below freezing and snow piled
up
as new snowfalls battered britain business leaders said the worst winter in
three decades was costing the country hundreds of millions of pounds euros
dollars day
snow at london gatwick airport held up flight carrying rescue specialists
bound for haiti with tonnes of equipment
the plane eventually departed at around pm gmt and was among the
first to take off after the runway was cleared spokesman said
today snow once again meant our teams had to overcome challenging
conditions to ensure our runway was safe for aircraft and passengers including
the important mission to haiti said gatwick chief executive stewart wingate
london city birmingham cardiff and southampton airports were also shut by the
snow but reopened later in the day
london heathrow airport reported the cancellation of nearly flights
there was disruption for air travellers in france
in paris the main charles de gaulle airport cancelled percent of its
afternoon flights having scrapped percent in the morning while at orly
airport traffic was reduced by percent due to snow and sleet
french aviation authorities said the disruption was compounded by an air traffic
controllers strike which is due to continue on thursday
around half of flights into and out of orly are expected to be cancelled because
of the industrial action on thursday and around percent at charles de
gaulle according to an airport source
the french national weather service said icy conditions had gradually improved
in the north of the country while traffic was back to normal by noon in most
areas according to the national road information centre
the french agriculture minister bruno le maire said the government would help
farmers including milk and fruit and vegetable producers affected by the bad
weather
french dairy farmers whose milk has not been collected during the freeze called
for compensation
in germany one of the countries worst hit by the big freeze temperatures fell
to minus degrees celsius with fresh snow in the south while some secondary
roads in the north were still blocked
eurostar rail services between britain and continental europe were running
near normal service though six trains were cancelled
in britain the federation of small businesses estimated that the bad weather
was costing the economy at least million pounds million dollars
million euros day
woman died after falling into lake as she tried to rescue her dog in
southeast england police said
the met office national weather service said that mixture of rain sleet and
snow across england and wales was causing very icy conditions
officers in the netherlands found the body of year old woman on park
bench in town north of amsterdam who had died of exposure in the cold snap
switzerland main publicly owned salt works said it had turned down new orders
from the netherlands and germany in order to supply booming domestic needs
heavy snow on the runway forced geneva airport to open several hours late on
wednesday morning delaying around flights
temperatures rose in spain but nearly all of portugal was put on orange alert
for high winds and heavy rain expected wednesday
olympics organizers close venue to preserve snow
vancouver jan afp
spate of unseasonably warm wet weather has prompted olympics organizers
to close recreational ski areas at cypress mountain to preserve snow
resort management at cypress mountain which will host freestyle skiing and
snowboard events agreed to the closure that took effect on wednesday two and
half weeks earlier than planned
closing cypress mountain early is the responsible thing to do given the recent
weather in order to make sure we re ready to host the world best athletes in
one month time said tim gayda vice president of sport for the vancouver
organizing committee vanoc
we appreciate cypress mountain management support and we like to thank all
cypress mountain users for their understanding and look forward to helping
welcome them back in march
because of the unseasonably warm weather in the vancouver area vanoc have been
running snow salvage project to conserve snow and stockpiling snow at higher
elevations
cypress will host competition in aerials moguls parallel giant slalom
halfpipe and ski cross which is making its olympic debut in
now that the area is closed to the public vanoc planned to go ahead with
construction originally slated to begin february including the installation
of warming tents fencing wayfinding signs and olympic banners
corrected stand firm canada governor general tells haitians
ottawa jan afp
we are courageous people stand firm canada visibly distraught governor
general michaelle jean said in creole on wednesday in televised message to
former compatriots in quake stricken haiti
like me haitian communities across canada are heartbroken and overwhelmed by
the magnitude of this catastrophe said jean who was born in port au prince in
but fled the barbarous regime of papa doc duvalier with her family when
she was years old
the images and news reports are unbearable to watch she said so much
distress suffering and loss we are also of course imagining the worst
situations no image can capture that only increase our feeling of helplessness
but we are courageous people stand firm she added in nod to haitians in
canada and back home unable to hold back tears
since moving to canada with her family jean has visited haiti as journalist
and collaborated on documentaries about haiti and the expatriate community in
canada
as canada first black governor general she returned to her country of birth
in to attend the inauguration of haiti president rene preval and again
last year
during her latest trip haiti was still recovering after being pummeled by
powerful storms in that left some dead and caused widespread flooding
yesterday fate once again turned against the people of haiti who had only
just begun to see glimmer of hope said jean
as she spoke canada foreign ministry announced possible canadian casualties
in the quake canadian media said nurse died in the disaster less than two
hours after arriving in haiti
jean said her uncle whose health is very fragile was safe
but she expressed anguish for her dear friend tunisian hedi annabi un chief
in haiti who was reportedly at the united nations offices in port au prince
when the building collapsed
haitian president rene preval said annabi died in the quake but this has not
been confirmed by the united nations
stand firm canada governor general tells haitians
ottawa jan afp
we are courageous people stand firm canada visibly distraught governor
general michael jean said in creole on wednesday in televised message to
former compatriots in quake stricken haiti
like me haitian communities across canada are heartbroken and overwhelmed by
the magnitude of this catastrophe said jean who was born in port au prince in
but fled the barbarous regime of papa doc duvalier with her family when
she was years old
the images and news reports are unbearable to watch she said so much
distress suffering and loss we are also of course imagining the worst
situations no image can capture that only increase our feeling of helplessness
but we are courageous people stand firm she added in nod to haitians in
canada and back home unable to hold back tears
since moving to canada with her family jean has visited haiti as journalist
and collaborated on documentaries about haiti and the expatriate community in
canada
as canada first black governor general she returned to her country of birth
in to attend the inauguration of haiti president rene preval and again
last year
during her latest trip haiti was still recovering after being pummeled by
powerful storms in that left some dead and caused widespread flooding
yesterday fate once again turned against the people of haiti who had only
just begun to see glimmer of hope said jean
as she spoke canada foreign ministry announced possible canadian casualties
in the quake canadian media said nurse died in the disaster less than two
hours after arriving in haiti
jean said her uncle whose health is very fragile was safe
but she expressed anguish for her dear friend tunisian hedi annabi un chief
in haiti who was reportedly at the united nations offices in port au prince
when the building collapsed
haitian president rene preval said annabi died in the quake but this has not
been confirmed by the united nations
us senate panel to take up military ban on gays
washington jan afp
the us senate armed services committee may look at lifting the don ask don
tell ban on gays serving openly in the us military late this month the panel
chairman told reporters on wednesday
it in the works democratic senator carl levin told reporters we re
finding apparently date somewhere in the last few days of january
obama who has drawn fire from gay rights groups for not taking steps to freeze
or repeal the rule has said the us congress is the best venue for undoing the
policy which was crafted in
about us service members have been discharged under the policy since
then and estimated costs through run at million dollars in recruiting
costs and million in training replacements according to the us government
accountability office
an overwhelming number of americans support allowing openly gay men and lesbians
to serve in the us military
the policy requires gays to keep quiet about their sexual orientation or face
expulsion
football french league cup draw
paris jan afp
french league cup quarter finals draw
le mans or bordeaux sedan
guingamp toulouse
lorient lyon
marseille lille
matches take place on january and
us lawmakers set hearing on executive pay
washington jan afp
congressional panel announced plans wednesday for hearing to look into
executive compensation practices that may have fueled the global financial
crisis
the house of representatives financial services committee has scheduled
hearing on january to discuss the issue of compensation practices for both
financial and non financial firms said panel chairman barney frank
frank spoke as major us banks geared up to announce annual bonuses for top
executives triggering warning by president barack obama administration that
hefty payouts could lead to political backlash as the nation was struggling to
recover from brutal recession
number of multimillion dollar bonus payments are likely even though most of
the payouts are likely to be in the form of stock with restrictions aimed at
discouraging excessive risk taking at many banks
frank democrat from massachusetts said that no one is talking about
capping pay but that additional regulations might be needed to boost
shareholder supervision or curb compensation schemes that encourage risk taking
there is clearly an overwhelming public justification for the regulators
restraining incentive or banning incentive structures that incentivize excessive
risk he said
think compensation has gotten excessive we may not be able to deal with it
there are limits to what you can do publicly but want to explore what we can
do further
white house spokesman robert gibbs told reporters monday that many bank
executives just continue not to get it referring to public displeasure on
bonuses
some new regulations are already in the works the federal reserve is
implementing new rules on incentive pay for large complex banking
organizations
congress has been debating variety of rules but has failed to reach
consensus
few firms including investment giants goldman sachs and morgan stanley are
implementing guidelines voluntarily to offer bonuses in the form of restricted
stock with clawback mechanisms possible
football english fa cup fourth round draw
london jan afp
revised draw for the fourth round of the english fa cup after wednesday third
round replay matches
th rd draw
southampton ipswich
reading burnley
derby brentford or doncaster
bristol city or cardiff leicester
stoke arsenal
notts county or forest green rovers wigan
scunthorpe manchester city
west bromwich albion newcastle
everton birmingham
accrington stanley or gillingham fulham
bolton sheffield united
portsmouth sunderland
preston chelsea
aston villa brighton
tranmere or wolves crystal palace
tottenham leeds
ties to be played on the weekend of january
football liverpool knocked out of fa cup
liverpool england jan afp
liverpool season suffered another setback on wednesday when they were knocked
out of the fa cup by struggling championship side reading
liverpool lost after extra time in their third round replay at anfield
having led the tie until the last minute of normal time when gylfi
sigurdsson converted penalty to send the game into the extra period
shane long then hit the winner in the th minute to send reading fourth from
bottom in the second tier championship into the fourth round where they will
face premier league strugglers burnley
medical charity overwhelmed by haiti quake victims
washington jan afp
international medical charity medecins sans frontieres msf struggled wednesday
to cope with massive influx of survivors of the powerful earthquake in
haiti many with severe injuries spokesman said
patients with severe traumas head wounds crushed limbs have been streaming
into temporary structures set up by msf doctors without borders in and around
port au prince but the charity is only able to offer them basic medical care
toronto based msf spokesman paul mcphun told tele conference
one of msf emergency medical facilities collapsed in the quake which struck
shortly before dusk on tuesday and the other two were so badly damaged they
were unusable mcphun said
at msf martissant health center in poor area of port au prince patients
are now in tents on the grounds and the medical staff have been dealing with
flow of casualties from the town msf says on its website
at least people have sought help at the three sites where msf has set up
makeshift clinics including some people who have been treated for burns
caused when domestic gas containers exploded in collapsing buildings
member of msf in toronto told afp that the aid agency four canadian staff
had been accounted for but was unable to comment on the status of msf other
international and local staff
mcphun said earlier that not all of msf local and international staff
in haiti had been accounted for
many msf workers were in structures that fell apart during the earthquake and
many more have families who live in precarious conditions in port au prince and
they are trying to establish what happened to their families while they also
support emergency care operations mcphun said
but in spite of the dire conditions rampant insecurity and worries for their
families staff worked through the quake and into the following night and
morning trying to help people injured in the strength quake
one msf worker in port au prince reported hundreds of thousands of people who
are sleeping in the streets because they are homeless
we see open fractures head injuries hans van dillen said on msf website
the problem is that we cannot forward people to proper surgery at this stage
because the haitian capital medical facilities have been wiped out by the
quake
one of msf emergency care centers collapsed in the earthquake and two others
were severely damaged and unusable leaving the international medical aid group
hamstrung to treat survivors of the tremor
the level of care we can provide without that infrastructure is limited we are
able to provide stabilization basically first aid because we don have
the infrastructure to manage surgery right now and unfortunately what we re
seeing is large number of patients in critical condition mcphun said
we need referral we need secondary level hospital care we need surgical care
that our focus to try to bring that to them and try to address that that
our priority mcphun said
msf expects within the coming days to be able to send more international aid
workers to haiti to bolster its harried team there
the challenge now is how to get them there but we need to get them in there
and we need to get them in there fast he said
port au prince airport reopened wednesday to allow aid shipments to come into
the devastated country
msf was preparing emergency freight shipments including an inflatable hospital
with two operating theaters for dispatch to haiti said mcphun
aid operations in port au prince have been further hampered by power cut that
has left the capital in the dark by downed communication lines and by haiti
chronic safety woes
but msf is hoping that the reputation it has established for itself during its
or so years in haiti will provide it with security cloak as it works to
help haitians patch up their wounds and rebuild their lives after the massive
quake
msf is one of few aid organizations that have worked continually in haiti red
zone described by mcphun to afp as an area of certain insecurity level
that prohibited many organizations from actively working there without armed
escorts
we have long history in haiti and have been identified as very medical aid
organization we hope that will work in our favor now mcphun said
football fa cup third round replay results collated
london jan afp
