three other emergency field hospitals were running with four more in the
pipeline said byrs backing up the five local hospitals that withstood the
tremor
relief workers were expanding to battered towns west and southwest of port au
prince including gressier petit goave where some people live and
leogane near the quake epicentre with population of
un teams have reported that to percent of buildings in leogane were
destroyed
the fuel situation in haiti is becoming more and more critical ocha said
warning that shortage could have serious impact on relief
the national telecommunications system has been partly restored but without
access to fuel the mobile network will be cut off within days which will have
serious implications for the humanitarian operation ocha added
some gallons litres of fuel are to be ferried in by truck daily
on congested roads from the dominican republic
digicel the top cell phone operator in haiti where less than one percent of
people own landlines said it had restored percent of coverage in the
capital and that coverage outside port au prince was back to normal
the international organisation for migration said it was planning with haitian
authorities to resettle people possibly in an area about kilometres
eight miles northeast of port au prince
like the tsunami the response will be on huge scale and last for months
said byrs referring to the december disaster in asia
nigerian kidnappers free three britons and columbian police
lagos jan afp
nigerian gunmen on monday freed three british expatriate workers and their
colombian colleague abducted last week in the country niger delta police
spokeswoman said
all kidnapped victims the three britons and the columbian have been
released this evening and are looking okay rivers state police spokeswoman
rita abbey said in text message to afp
she gave no further details on their state of health or if ransom was paid
before their release was secured
earlier police said that the gunmen had demanded million naira million
dollars million euros for the release of the captives
gunmen seized the three britons and the colombian last tuesday shooting dead
their police escort in the first major kidnapping for six months in the volatile
delta region
the four contract workers for the anglo dutch oil giant shell have not
been identified they were abducted in an ambush as they travelled to work from
the southern oil city of port harcourt to the shell operated afam power plant
police said
they were ambushed near the small town of obehi about halfway between port
harcourt and aba the workers intended destination situated kilometres
miles northeast of port harcourt
the incident was the first major kidnapping in southern nigeria since july last
year following lull in the wake of government amnesty which saw thousands
of militants lay down their arms
armed groups claiming to seek fairer share of oil revenue for locals have
since staged attacks on oil installations in the niger delta playing havoc
with crude output and international oil prices
in october the most sophisticated of the groups the movement for the
emancipation of the niger delta mend declared an open ended ceasefire to give
dialogue with authorities chance
but some days ago mend said it was reviewing its indefinite ceasefire
announced on sunday october and will announce its position on or before
january
mend denied involvement in the latest kidnap
hundreds of foreign and local oil workers have been kidnapped in the niger delta
since many have been released unharmed others after ransom payments
last year shell said of its workers and contractors had been kidnapped
between and
militants have also attacked pipelines and offshore facilities and even lagos
harbour at the weekend militants targeted chevron pipelines in second such
attack since the government unconditional pardon came into effect in august
last year
oil is the economic mainstay of nigeria raking in some percent of the
country earnings and contributing about percent of budget requirements for
the opec member country
urgent canadian terror plotter sentenced to life in prison media
ottawa jan afp
ring leader of group of alleged islamic extremists accused of plotting to
bomb canada main stock exchange and other targets was sentenced on monday to
life in prison media reported
nigerian kidnappers free three britons and columbian police
lagos jan afp
nigerian gunmen have freed three british expatriate workers and their colombian
colleague abducted last week in the country niger delta police spokeswoman
said on monday
all kidnapped victims the three britons and the columbian have been
released this evening and are looking ok rivers state police spokeswoman
rita abbey said in text message to afp
she did not give further details on their state of health of the three nor if
ransom had been paid for their release
the kidnappers have asked for payment of million naira million
dollars million euros before the men can be released abbey had told
afp
gunmen seized the three britons and the colombian last tuesday shooting dead
their police escort in the first major kidnapping for six months in the volatile
delta region
the four contract workers for the anglo dutch oil giant shell were
abducted in an ambush as they as they travelling to work from the southern oil
city of port harcourt to the shell operated afam power plant police said
they were ambushed near the small town of obehi about halfway between port
harcourt and aba the workers intended destination situated kilometres
miles northeast of port harcourt
the incident was the first major kidnapping in southern nigeria since july last
year following lull in the wake of government amnesty which saw thousands
of militants lay down their arms
alert
canadian terror plotter sentenced to life in prison media
football angola algeria fight on as essien hobbles home
luanda jan afp
angola and world cup qualifiers algeria joined holders egypt and ivory coast in
the africa cup of nations quarter finals on monday
goalless draw played out to another capacity crowd at luanda
november stadium put both teams inito the last eight mix at the expense of mali
and malawi
while the hosts and the desert foxes are still in contention day nine of this
feast of african football proved the end of the road for chelsea star
midfielder michael essien
ghana best player hobbled out of contention for tuesday make or break group
date with burkina faso after picking up knee injury in training over the
weekend
this latest setback represented cruel blow not only to ghana who are already
bereft of raft of first team players and also essien who had just returned
to fitness after an injury he picked up playing for his club in the champions
league in december
essien nations cup is over and he is due to return to stamford bridge for
treatment leaving ghana with tough job on their hands as they must defeat
burkina faso to avoid first round ko
angola finished top of group with five points after sharing the spoils with
algeria who took the runners up spot by dint of their head to head record with
mali
mali inflicted defeat on malawi up in cabinda but the result was rendered
meaningless by the draw in luanda leaving mali africa footballer of the
year frederic kanoute distraught
can find the words to describe how upset am said sevilla africa
footballer of the year who was the first non africa born player to win the
award
it really hurts me that after we were knocked out in we really wanted to
do well here
for my last appearance in this competition wanted to go as far as possible
angola manager manuel jose was in far happier frame of mind after overseeing
the black antelope best ever first round showing in the nations cup
monday game started at breathless pace but after the break degenerated into
cagey affair with both sides desperate not to make mistake which could
scupper their cup campaign
angola now progress to face the runners up of group either ivory coast
ghana or burkina faso in their luanda fortress on sunday with algeria taking
on the group winners in cabinda the same day
we were nervous in the first half and had great chance but couldn score
said jose
then we heard at half time that mali were leading in cabinda so in the second
half we tried to minimise the risk of defeat it wasn good for the fans but we
had to avoid risks our main objective was to qualify
he said the absence of key players flavio and dede and the suspended stelvio had
had major bearing on the game
the return of players like flavio will be fundamental to us our task now is to
get them back for the quarter final
algeria coach rabah saadane railed at suggestiion from mali reporter at the
post match press conference that the draw had been rigged at mali expense
don come out with that sort of question don accept at all that this was
fixed match and that we had some sort of agreement with the angolan team to
play for draw said saadane who was assistant coach at the world cup
when algeria were victims of the infamous draw between austria and the then west
germany which saw those two neighbours progress to the second round at their
expense
it part of soccer you have to manage match and look for ways of avoiding
defeat
spain congratulates chile president elect
madrid jan afp
spain on monday congratulated right wing chilean billionaire sebastian pinera
for his presidential election win in its former colony in south america
the government of spain congratulates the leader of the coalicion por el
cambio sebastian pinera for his victory in the second round of the
presidential elections in chile on sunday the foreign ministry said in
statement
the government of spain expresses its will to continue to drive its excellent
bilateral relations with the government of chile within the framework of the
deep ties of history friendship and cooperation with united out two nations
sunday victory by pinera spelled an end to the ruling left wing concertacion
coalition that has ruled chile ever since the end of general augusto pinochet
dictatorship years ago
the billionaire who owns television station football club and big stake
in flagship airline lan among many other interests has promised to open the
window and let in fresh air when his four year term starts march
former eta chief to face trial for deadly madrid airport bombing
madrid jan afp
the former military chief of the basque separatist group eta will stand trial
for car bombing at madrid airport that killed two ecuadorian men
judicial source said monday
the investigating judge presiding over the case has ruled that garikoitz aspiazu
rubina alias txeroki was the commander of the attack which quashed
tentative peace talks between the spanish government and eta the source added
in november txeroki was charged along with four others over their alleged
roles in the attack just days after he was arrested in pre dawn raid on
rented apartment in the french pyrenees spa resort of cauterets
txeroki is facing charges related to other cases in spain french judge has
also charged him in connection with the december killing of two undercover
spanish police officers in southwestern france
spanish police believe he is connected to all major eta operations carried out
between late when he took over the organisation military operations and
the time of his arrest
eta is blamed for over deaths in its nearly year campaign for
independence in the basque region of northern spain and southwestern france
since it officially called off month old ceasefire in june six
months after the madrid airport bombing due to deadlock in its peace talks
with the spanish government it has killed nine people and carried out about
attacks
eta figures on several terrorist blacklists including those of the european
union and the united states
in new row un climate body to probe himalayan glacier forecast
paris jan afp
the un panel of climate scientists said on monday it would probe claims its
doomsday prediction for the disappearance of himalayan glaciers was wrong as an
expert said he had warned of the mistake
the nobel winning intergovernmental panel on climate change ipcc is already
under attack over hacked email exchanges which skeptics say reflected attempts
to skew the evidence for global warming
the new controversy focusses on reference in the ipcc landmark fourth
assessment report in that said the probability of glaciers in the himalayas
disappearing by the year and perhaps sooner is very high
at the weekend britain sunday times newspaper reported that this reference
came from the green campaign group wwf which in turn took it from an interview
given by an indian glaciologist to new scientist magazine in
there is no evidence that the claim was published in peer reviewed journal
cornerstone of scientific credibility it said
we are looking into the issue of the himalayan glaciers and will take
position on it in the next two or three days the ipcc chairman rajendra
pachauri said in an email to afp
in an interview with afp leading glaciologist who contributed to the fourth
assessment report described the mistake as huge and said he had notified his
colleagues of it in late months before publication
loss of the himalayan glaciers by would take two or three times the highest
expected rate of global warming said georg kaser of the geography institute at
austria university of innsbruck
this number is not just little bit wrong but far out of any order of
magnitude it is as wrong as can be wrong
to get this outcome you would have to increase the ablation ice loss by
fold you would have to raise temperatures by at least degrees celsius or
degrees fahrenheit
it is so wrong that it is not even worth discussing pointed it out
asked why his warning had not been heeded kaser pointed to kind of
amateurism among experts from the region who were in charge of the chapter on
climate impacts where the reference appeared
they might have been good hydrologists or botanists but they were without any
knowledge in glaciology he said
the fourth assessment report said that the evidence for global warming was now
unequivocal that the chief source for it was man made and that there were
already signs of climate change of which glacial melt was one
the massive publication had the effect of political thunderclap triggering
promises to curb greenhouse gases that had stoked the problem
kaser said the core evidence of the fourth assessment report remained
incontrovertible
am careful in saying this because immediately people will again engage in
ipcc bashing which would be wrong he said
but he acknowledged that the process of peer review scrutiny and challenge
which underpin the ipcc reputation had entirely failed when it came
specifically to the figure
the reference appeared in the second volume of the fourth assessment
report tome published in april that focussed on the impacts of climate
change especially on human communities
part of the problem said kaser was everyone was focussed on the first
volume published in february which detailed the physical science for
climate change
work on this volume was much more attractive to the community of
glaciologists and they had failed to pick up on the mistake that appeared in
the second he said
the question of glacial melt is vital one for south asia as it touches on
flooding or water stress with the potential to affect hundreds of millions of
lives
indian environment minister jairam ramesh has repeatedly challenged the ipcc
claims
the ipcc came under ferocious attack from climate skeptics last month ahead of
the un conference in copenhagen
emails from scientists at britain university of east anglia top centre for
climate research were leaked and seized upon as evidence that experts twisted
data in order to dramatise global warming
some of the thousands of messages expressed frustration at the scientists
inability to explain what they described as temporary slowdown in warming
pachauri has vowed to investigate the affair
nigerian kidnappers free three britons and columbian police
lagos jan afp
nigerian gunmen have freed three british expatriate workers and their colombian
colleague abducted last week in the country niger delta police spokeswoman
said on monday
all kidnapped victims the three britons and the columbian have been
released this evening and are looking ok rivers state police spokeswoman
rita abbey said in text message to afp
bosnian police in kilo heroin bust report
sarajevo jan afp
bosnian police have seized kilos pounds of heroin in raids aimed at
breaking up drug dealing network in sarajevo the fena news agency said
monday
officers raided several apartments in an operation that began on friday making
four arrests and seizing three guns and euros dollars fena
quoted police officer predrag kurtes as saying
police spokesman irfan nefic told afp the drugs were currently being analysed
and could not yet be valued
the balkan states including bosnia hercegovina are key transit route for
drugs coming from central asia into western europe
senate election pushes obama agenda to cliff edge
new york jan afp
voters in massachusetts decide on new senator tuesday and possibly the fate
of president barack obama ambitious reform agenda
the special election to fill the seat of the late democratic veteran edward
kennedy could see republican scott brown score stunning upset against democrat
martha coakley in what was believed to be one of her party safest seats
the latest public policy polling survey conducted over the weekend gives brown
percent to coakley percent one published by left leaning website the
daily kos showed them equal but with coakley sharply down from week ago when
she led by eight points
the stakes are huge not so much for who will represent the northeastern state
but because win by brown would demolish the fragile supermajority democrats
use in the senate to override opposition to health care reform and the rest of
obama agenda
with senate votes democrats are able to prevent republican filibusters and
push through legislation with only democrats would need republican support
which in today increasingly rancorous partisan divide looks unlikely to
happen
the president showed his alarm sunday when he took time off from the haiti
earthquake crisis and other pressing issues to campaign in boston
he told noisy crowd of coakley supporters that the big initiatives of his
presidency the health care plan clean energy initiatives and attempts to
repair the damage from last year financial meltdown are on the line
lot of these measures are going to rest on one vote in the united states
senate obama said that why the opponents of change and progress have been
pouring money in
obama faces this perilous situation exactly year after his january
inauguration and his lofty promise to bring in new climate of political
cooperation
republicans who took drubbing during the presidential and general
election now believe they are poised for comeback while democrats are
scared
most damaging of all to the democrats would be collapse of their bogged down
health care reform plan the bill is said by the party to be almost ready for
passing but if that th senate vote is not there obama landmark initiative
could die
democrats are racing to draw up contingency plans for rapid passing of health
care in the event of losing the massachusetts seat but that would likely
provoke firestorm of republican complaints
republicans could start legal battle over the legitimacy politico website
reported
equally alarming for obama is the potential for this special election to herald
defeat in the nationwide mid term congressional elections in november
especially troubling for democrats is brown popularity with independents
crucial factor in many elections across the country
registered democrats outnumber republicans three to one in massachusetts but
there are even more independents and public policy polling found that brown
leads to percent in that sector
also he is getting percent of the vote from people who backed obama in last
november presidential election while coakley is getting only four percent of
one time john mccain supporters
republican strategist bradley blakeman wrote on politico that if brown wins
then republicans will see the race as barometer of the storm that is coming
this fall for democrats throughout the country
democrats wrote blakeman will batten down the hatches and hunker down
incumbent democrats will run for the hills away from obama and their
congressional leaders
the analytical rothenberg report said the result as usual in special elections
could depend on turnout and therefore is harder to predict
however the combination of public and private survey research and anecdotal
information now strongly suggests that republican scott brown will defeat
democrat martha coakley
in last minute bid to reverse that momentum coakley aired new tv campaign
ad monday featuring obama appearance on sunday in which he praised her
achievements that analysts said was aimed at getting the party base to hit
the polls
the white house insists that coakley can pull off victory and that health
care reform is safe
the plan to get health care passed is to continue to do what we re doing in
ironing out the differences between the house and senate spokesman robert
gibbs said sunday
said this on friday when was asked and ll say it on sunday on the ride
home we think martha coakley is going to win this race
france credit no longer problem central bank
paris jan afp
companies that are in healthy financial state no longer have any problems
getting loans in france the governor of the central bank said in an interview
on french television channel lci on monday
credit in normal cases is no longer problem it companies that are in
trouble essentially that have trouble refinancing christian noyer said
asked about figures showing decline in the volume of credit last year noyer
said that this was more problem of demand than supply
it particularly small and medium sized enterprises that have seen growth
in credit while bigger companies have seen fall in credit and it falling
because it being replaced by issuing bonds and shares he added
the latest figures from the central bank show that the volume of credit to
companies declined by percent in november on month comparison
the volume of credit to the non financial private sector rose by percent
over the same period still far from percent government target
urgent nigerian kidnappers free three britons and colombian
lagos jan afp
nigerian gunmen have freed three british expatriate workers and their colombian
colleague abducted last week in the country niger delta police spokeswoman
said on monday
iran prosecutor assassinated in tense kurdish region report
tehran jan afp
gunmen assassinated on monday the prosecutor of northwestern region of iran
where security forces have been battling kurdish separatists for years local
media reported
vali haji gholizadeh was shot dead at his door step in the town of khoy on
the border with turkey fars news agency said
the agency said the attackers fled the scene and apparently left behind no
traces but added the slain prosecutor had been threatened in the past few
days
he had brilliant record in battling counter revolutionaries land grabbing
and moral corruption fars reported
northwestern iran which has sizeable kurdish population has seen deadly
fighting in recent years between iranian security forces and members of the
party of free life of kurdistan pjak as well as other kurdish rebels operating
from bases in neighbouring iraq
the group is closely allied with the turkish kurdish rebel group the kurdistan
workers party pkk which is listed as terrorist group by ankara and much of
the international community
iraq iran syria and turkey all have significant ethnic kurdish minorities
venezuelan vessel sinks off colombia three missing navy
bogota jan afp
the colombian navy plucked people from the open sea tuesday after
venezuelan flagged vessel sank in the caribbean off its northern coast it said
three people were unaccounted for
frigate several coast guard vessels helicopter and patrol plane took
part in the search for crew members of the motor vessel calypso
the vessel which was bound for panama went down nautical miles off the
caribbean port of cartagena with people aboard
the navy said in statement that survivors were rescued and transferred to
naval hospital in cartagena
pirates get record ransom for greek supertanker
mogadishu jan afp
somali pirates on monday freed the greek supertanker maran centaurus its owners
said after plane dropped ransom of seven million dollars in cash on deck
pirates said two of their gang were killed in clash over the share out of the
spoils delaying the release of the tanker and its crew of hijacked in the
indian ocean on november
residents of the pirate lair of harardhere on the somalia coast said there
were bodies in the streets after fierce infighting
maran tankers management inc report that the vessel was released by those
holding her at local time today gmt the operators and managers of
the greek juggernaut said in statement
the european union anti piracy naval mission said the fs salamis warship had
sent helicopter to provide medical assistance and added that the metre
foot vessel was headed for durban in south africa
ecoterra international an environmental group that monitors illegal maritime
activity in the region said the last pirates left the year old supertanker
early monday
the tanker owners did not comment on ransom payment but ecoterra said at
least seven million dollars are believed to have been dropped from small plane
onto the deck of the oil laden giant and another two million dollars paid in
cash transfer
it said the pirates reportedly bragged about generously giving dollars to
each crew member filipinos nine greeks two ukrainians and romanian
for good cooperation
it said the ransom stash is reportedly now held in heavily guarded house in
harardhere
residents of the coastal village said there were exchanges of machine gun fire
after two clans had started fighting over the cash
the pirates are exchanging heavy machinegun fire inside the town and there are
dead bodies in the streets said husein warsame
the total of around nine million dollars exceeds the eight million believed to
have been paid for the release year ago of the sirius star saudi owned
supertanker of roughly the same size
the hijacking of the sirius star in sent shockwaves through the shipping
world as it demonstrated the ease with which pirates were able to operate in one
of the world busiest maritime trade routes
foreign naval missions have largely secured the gulf of aden but are powerless
to effectively patrol the wider indian ocean and shipowners are increasingly
turning to private security to fend off the pirates
the maran centaurus which had no private guards to secure its two million
barrels of crude oil was headed from saudi arabia to the united states
the tonne deadweight supertanker was easy prey for pirates equipped
with fast skiffs and grapnels as it moves slowly could not outmanoeuvre its
attackers and fully laden has low freeboard
supertankers such as these with less than crew on ship third of
kilometre long cruise on auto pilot most of the time and would rarely have
anybody keeping watch on deck at night
since foreign navies deployed to protect the crucial maritime choking point of
the gulf of aden somalia pirates have ventured deeper into the indian ocean
seizing ships as far east as the seychelles and beyond
always paid in cash to avoid modern transaction monitoring large ransoms have
often been parachuted from small planes directly onto the deck of the hijacked
ship
the pirates still hold at least ships and around seamen hostage
unofficial figures show that was the most prolific year yet for somali
pirates with more than attacks including successful hijackings and
total of ransoms believed to comfortably exceed the million dollars raked
in during the previous year
the us navy bahrain based fifth fleet said on monday that jamaican flagged
ship managed to deter piracy attack off the coast of yemen on sunday
greece cancels third of flu vaccine orders
athens jan afp
greece cancelled monday third of its swine flu vaccination orders and sought
compensation for the advances it paid to the big companies that provide them
the health ministry said
meanwhile norway agreed deal with british pharmaceutical giant
glaxosmithkline gsk to reduce its number of vaccines by percent according
to its health ministry
we will pay only for the deliveries we have received greece health minister
said at press conference adding the country demands the refund of the
advance orders from gsk and two other pharmaceutical firms novartis and
sanofis
the socialist government cancelled million of its flu vaccine orders from
total of million originally destined for the million greek population
so far million vaccines have been delivered and just greeks have
received the vaccination
in norway the ministry of health announced deal with gsk identical to one
the pharmaceutical giant signed with germany and belgium allowing the country
to save around million euros million dollars
last year norway had ordered million vaccinations from gsk foreseeing two
doses for each of its million citizens in accordance with the
