remains of the state desperate citizens tried to fill the void
organize neighborhood committees to avoid chaos radio metropole implored
residents to prevent people looting shops and houses
the station also called 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 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
further down the street an old lady sold plates of pasta one portion costs
gourds around dollars times more than before the earthquake
for many facing the desolation there is only one option said carneli people
who have relatives in the provinces are fleeing the city
but for thousands of others there are no options left
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 unearth supplies
tennis isner clinches first atp title in auckland
auckland jan afp
towering american john isner clinched his first atp title saturday firing
barrage of aces to clinch nailbiting victory over frenchman arnaud clement in
the final of the heineken open
the year old hit aces but his high unforced error rate kept the ice cool
frenchman in contention for the auckland title until isner grabbed the advantage
in the third set tie breaker for victory
the title win in only his second atp world tour final capped year when the
centimetre six foot nine inch isner climbed more than places in the world
rankings to at the start of the week
clement had little answer in the first set to isner booming serve and powerful
ground strokes which had earlier accounted for seventh seed juan monaco and top
seed tommy robredo
like isner clement was unseeded in the auckland event with world ranking of
but the australian open finalist found his best form to defeat second
seed david ferrer and sixth seed jurgen melzer on his way to the final
isner broke his year old french opponent in the eighth game of the first set
and easily held his own service games to take the first set
but clement came back strongly in the second set using the serve and volley and
targeting isner backhand to unsettle his bigger opponent
unforced errors in isner final service match of the second set saw the
steadier clement take the final into three sets
the pair both dropped their first service games of the third set but settled
back into their rhythm to force the tie break isner raced to lead and
clinched the title with booming forehand
cricket zimbabwe gets serious about return to test cricket
harare jan afp
after seven years in the cricket wilderness zimbabwe is at last showing real
potential for possible return to full test status
new league structure of regional first class matches funded jointly by the
international cricket council icc and local franchising sponsors is
energising the game here
players are being paid us dollar match fees win bonuses and awards for
centuries or five wicket hauls
under team of full time coaches headed by david houghton and former national
captain heath streak about young and experienced players have shown such
progress over the last three months that convenor of natonal selectors alistair
campbell is prompted to suggest zimbabwe will be playing tests in two years
houghton believes it might only be one year
cricket in zimbabwe was getting nowhere even seven years after being forced out
of tests following series of embarrassingly bad results
sri lanka new zealand and england were the main instigators by declining to
meet future commitments
but instead of rebuilding through first class domestic league and
concentrating on three or four day matches they almost exclusively played the
quick fire versions
all that changed with an exploratory visit to zimbabwe last year by former west
indies captain conrad hunte at the head of an icc delegation hunte came up with
plan designed to springboard zimbabwe return to tests on merit
his idea was for franchised teams to be established in five main regions with
local characteristics and names such as mountaineers eastern districts
southern rocks bulawayo and mashonaland eagles harare so as to provide
healthy rivalry within first class professional league structure
it began with the new season in september
cricket in zimbabwe was also decentralised by the league with the national
body zimbabwe cricket headed by chairman peter chingoka becoming little more
than general admin and finance focus
kenyon ziehl who runs the midlands team told afp our league is fully
professional on player salaries each regional franchise having chief
executive general manager enthusiastic committee and proper accounting
because of this set up our national squad will consequently get better and
better and there are early signs of this
as it happens zimbabwe remains on the official icc forward programme of tests
with series scheduled this year against west indies australia and england
these won happen but the fixtures have not been removed
according to houghton former senior zimbabwe batsman he once scored runs
against sri lanka who was engaged as senior coach told afp once we get the
fast bowling sorted out by heath streak as national bowling coach it is
presently not up to strength reckon we will be ready
houghton has been working with national coaching director andy waller former
test all rounder and other coaches
the new zimbabwe league has already attracted several former test players such
as dion ebrahim hamilton masakadza recent double century vusi sibanda
averaging in the league tatenda taibu and john rennie
there are also efforts being made to secure the return in the england off
season of sean ervine hampshire and murray goodwin sussex the latter in
recent years being consistently at or near the top of the english county cricket
batting averages
in addition ray price greg lamb northants rickey wessels son of former
south africa captain kepler graeme cremer gavin ewing elton chigumbura
present captain prosper utseya and charles coventry runs in recent odi
form the basis of national squad
they will be off to the west indies next month for odi and twenty
ziehl foresees series of four day matches being arranged before very long
against test nation sides so as to provide further experience and incentive
good results from such matches will be critical if they are they to presage
formal application by zimbabwe cricket to the icc for new and rejuvenated
zimbabwe to resume its place as test cricket nation
four hurt in attacks on three somali radio stations
mogadishu jan afp
three journalists and security guard were injured in northern somalia friday
when unknown assailants using hand grenades launched what seemed to be
coordinated attack on three independent radio stations officials and
journalists said
the attacks occurred in the evening when radio galkaio radio mudug and radio
hobyo all of them in galkaio were attacked minutes from each other leaving
journalists in the region shocked
the attacks against the three radio stations looked coordinated and were related
to one another with an unidentified number of assailants hurling hand grenades
at the stations leaving four journalists and staff members injured colonel
abdulahi weli puntland police officer said by phone
we are investigating the incident because such attacks against the independent
radio stations are new to the region he said
abdulkadir ali jumale radio journalist who was slightly injured also
confirmed the attack saying he was shocked by it
was getting out of radio mudug after having conversation with my friends
working there when two heavy explosions seemingly hand grenades hit very close
to me the power of the explosion slammed me against the wall leaving me
unconscious for few minutes he said
was in the hospital when became normal and saw my friend mohamed isa with
injuries in his arm technician and security guard were injured in the
attack which also targeted two other radio stations he added
we are really shocked with this attack against the independent media every
journalist in the region is worried and started to fear for his safety we don
know who is targeting us nuh muse another journalist in garowe nearby
town told afp
this will jeopardize the free flow of information in the region he added
golf palmer seizes lead at sony open with strong finish
honolulu hawaii jan afp
american ryan palmer closed with three birdies in his last four holes friday to
shoot four under par and take one stroke lead after two rounds of the pga
sony open
palmer helped cap his round with monster drive on the par five th hole to
finish at nine under in the million dollar hawaii tournament
palmer two time winner on the pga tour said the key for him is to not let
his emotions get carried away
not going to sit here and say not going to think about being in the
lead he said who doesn think about it when they tee off on saturday in the
final group ll just go play golf and see what happens
defending champion zach johnson robert allenby and chad campbell shared second
place at eight under
aussie allenby and johnson of the us were part of group of six first round
leaders they both shot three under friday while campbell fired superb
allenby who sprained an ankle on monday is coming off two consecutive wins in
australia and south africa
managing my way around the golf course said allenby of melbourne when
you feel good you play little more aggressively now backing off little
bit hitting into little areas hoping to make up and down or hit it close ve
still got the confidence could win the tournament
seventeen players were separated by four shots going into the final two rounds
steve stricker had and was joined in the group at seven under by john
merrick and jeff quinney
another shot back was american davis love and masters champion angel cabera
paul goydos had tournament low and was in the group at
fijian indian vijay singh shot and made the cut on the number
among those that missed the cut were american john daly and year old
japanese star tadd fujikawa he was straddling the cut line when he hit into
canal and then bonked tree for double bogey on the par five ninth hole
rising star rickie fowler shot and also missed the cut
six powers to mull new iran sanctions in new york
new york jan afp
six major powers meet here saturday to mull response to iran nuclear
defiance but china is sending lower level diplomat in signal of its
reluctance to back tougher sanctions pushed by the west
britain france germany russia and the united states are sending top officials
of their respective foreign ministries at the meeting hosted by the european
union
the six officials representing the so called were scheduled to meet from
noon gmt for working luncheon at the eu mission in new york but
diplomat cautioned against expecting any spectacular outcome
robert cooper senior security adviser representing the eu was to brief
reporters at the end of the closed door meeting around gmt
us secretary of state hillary clinton announced monday that the six would
explore the kind and degree of sanctions that we should be pursuing as iran
doggedly refused to comply with un demands to halt uranium enrichment
diplomats said western members of the group of the five veto wielding permanent
members of the un security council plus germany were likely to present their
russian and chinese colleagues with range of new and tougher sanctions
the goal is to crank up the pressure on iran to accept un brokered deal aimed
at allaying suspicions about the nature of its nuclear program by shipping most
of its low enriched uranium leu stockpile abroad to be further enriched into
reactor fuel
but tehran has ignored us set december deadline to back the offer drawn up
by the un international atomic energy agency and countered with its own
proposal of simultaneous and staged swap of leu with reactor fuel
measures said to be under consideration include tougher sanctions targeting
iran insurance financial and arms sectors diplomats said
washington favors sanctions targeting iran revolutionary guard corps seen as
the economic and military backbone of the iranian regime in bid to minimize
the impact on the iranian people and avoid an adverse effect on the very people
protesting president mahmoud ahmadinejad hardline regime
our goal is to pressure the iranian government particularly the revolutionary
guard elements without contributing to the suffering of ordinary iranians who
deserve better than what they are currently receiving clinton said early this
month
washington and its western allies fear that iran is secretly developing fissile
material for nuclear weapons under the cover of its uranium enrichment program
but iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and solely geared toward
generating electricity for its civilian population
washington along with britain france and germany have for months sought to
convince russia and china that the time has come to get tougher with the islamic
republic which has already snubbed its nose at three sets of un security
council sanctions
diplomats noted that moscow having seen its mediation efforts rebuffed by
tehran has signaled it is prepared to turn up the heat on the iranians
but china which has close economic and energy ties with iran has said new
sanctions would be premature and that more time should be given for diplomacy to
work
joining cooper at the meeting will be geoffrey adams for britain jacques
audibert for france emily haber for germany sergei ryabkov for russia
williams burns for the united states and kang yong counselor at china un
mission diplomats said
thai king endorses cabinet reshuffle
bangkok jan afp
thailand king has endorsed cabinet reshuffle statement said saturday
after the country protest hit coalition government moved to stem the fallout
from healthcare corruption scandal
prime minister abhisit vejjajiva fragile administration which has ridden out
widespread demonstrations since coming to power in december has recently
suffered two resignations over alleged graft
public health minister witthaya keawparadai and his deputy manit nopamornbodi
quit earlier this month over claims of negligence linked to plans for ministry
budget worth more than two billion dollars
report by government committee found prices for medical equipment to be
purchased by the ministry such as heart monitoring systems and cancer
treatment machinery had been dramatically inflated
king bhumibol adulyadej signed royal warrant reshuffling five ministers three
of them from abhisit coalition leading democrat party and two from their key
allies in the bhumjaithai party the statement said
in the major appointments announced late friday democrat member trairong
suwankhiri was appointed deputy prime minister and jurin laksanawisit was
switched from education minister to public health minister
former public health minister wittaya was named as government chief whip
although it is not ministerial position
the five new ministers will be sworn in by the king on monday at bangkok
hospital where he has been since september for medical treatment
abhisit shaky coalition faces renewed pressure from upcoming protests by
supporters of former prime minister thaksin shinawatra who was ousted in coup
in and is living abroad to avoid jail term for corruption
the so called red shirt demonstrators said they would rally in bangkok next
month ahead of court ruling on the deposed politician frozen billion
dollar fortune
football giant killers gabon target tunisia scalp
lubango angola jan afp
gabon drawn in tough first round group alongside cameroon and zambia can
enhance their chances of reaching the africa cup of nations last eight by
beating tunisia here on sunday
the azingo debuted at the nations cup in and two years later they got as
far as the quarter finals this will be their fourth nations cup finals
on wednesday they upset the record books in their opening group match by
beating four time champions cameroon
this was only their second ever victory in the tournament and another win at the
chela stadium against the carthage eagles could well propel them to the quarter
finals once more
gabon who have population of just two million people and who are scheduled to
co host the nations cup were not intimidated by their nemesis in the world
cup qualifiers the indomitable lions of cameroon who defeated them home and
away to book their flight to south africa
they held out in lubango for famous win to partially avenge the loss they
suffered at the hands of the lions last year
coach alain giresse has said he would be satisfied with place in the knockout
stage
even if we finish second in this group we will be happy what we want is to
qualify for the next round said the former france world cup star
probably the biggest shortcoming of this team is that several of their key
players have been without clubs for some time and so may struggle with match
fitness especially as they continue to progress in the competition
however the entire team will have been encouraged by the sight of le mans
giant goalkeeper didier ovono keeping clean sheet against the likes of inter
milan striker samuel eto and his high profile team mates on wednesday
the pitch at the chela stadium is the best of the four stadiums for this
championship and will suit the attractive passing game of the azingo
tunisia on the other hand are undergoing rebuilding process after they were
pipped at the post by nigeria for ticket to the world cup in june
faouzi benzarti back at his former post has re organised the side assembled by
sacked portuguese coach humberto coelho meaning this is team in transition
over half the team is taking part in their first nations cup this is young
team that believe will get better as the competition progresses assured
skipper karim haggui
sochaux defender yassine mikari should be fit for sunday tie after he had to
pass late fitness test to star against zambia while more is expected from
esperance midfielder oussama darragi as the champions attempt to prove they
can also hold their own many thousands of miles away from home
however the appointment of benin referee coffi codjia for the game has been
greeted by uproar in tunisia
last year etoile du sahel protested against his appointment for their caf
champions league clash against al ahly of tripoli in april listing several
instances where they claimed he had been unfair to tunisian teams and prompting
his replacement
malaysia plays down risks after us advisory on borneo
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysia has moved to reassure foreign visitors after united states travel
advisory warned of the risk of terrorist attacks in borneo tourist
destination
thousands of westerners visit the state of sabah annually attracted by its
scenery and world class diving especially in waters off sipadan close to the
troubled southern philippines
the united states embassy in kuala lumpur said friday there was present
concern over resorts in isolated areas in eastern sabah including sipadan
where foreign hostages were snatched in
there are indications that both criminal and terrorist groups are planning or
intend acts of violence against foreigners in eastern sabah the embassy said
in notice on its website
the abu sayyaf group based in the southern philippines has kidnapped
foreigners in eastern sabah in the past
but the malaysian government sought to limit the damage telling potential
visitors procedures had been ramped up
security and intelligence there has been tightened tremendously and there have
been no reported attempts or acts of terror including against foreigners
mohamed tajudeen abdul wahab national security council secretary was quoted as
saying by the new straits times newspaper saturday
the us advisory identified the destinations of semporna mabul and sipadan and
called on citizens to please avoid or use extreme caution in connection with
any travel in these areas or locations
mohamad shafie apdal mp for semporna dismissed the threat of attacks by islamic
militants and said the government had established military base in his
constituency to ensure security for tourists
at least one or two platoons patrol our tourist centred islands in sabah he
was quoted as saying by the newspaper
in the abu sayyaf militant group snatched people including
foreigners in sipadan it held them hostage on jolo island for several months
three dead in train collision in fog bound northern india
agra india jan afp
three people died and around dozen were injured when two express trains
collided in thick fog in india northern state of uttar pradesh saturday
senior railway official said
the accident happened near tundla kilometres miles from the taj mahal
town of agra when the driver of one of the trains apparently did not react to
signal slamming his train into another on the same track
according to preliminary information there are three deaths devesh mishra
divisional railway manager at agra told afp
television footage showed two carriages of the shram shakti express travelling
from new delhi to the industrial hub of kanpur badly mangled after the
collision
saturday accident comes fortnight after people were killed in similar
train accidents in uttar pradesh
dense fog in northern india over the past two weeks has caused chaos on the
transport network with delays or cancellations of trains and flights
commonplace
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
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
tennis henin laps up open atmosphere but plays down chances
melbourne jan afp
justine henin lapped up the atmosphere of melbourne park on saturday but played
down her chances of winning her first grand slam since coming out of retirement
the belgian who proved she still has what it takes by making the final of her
first tournament back at this month brisbane international said she was
thriving on being in the grand slam arena once more
it great feeling to be back said the seven time grand slam winner who
was granted wildcard this year after months out of the game
it different feeling from what experienced in brisbane of course it
different kind of atmosphere
so need few days to find the good rhythm and to find my place again but
feel it my place to be here that already great thing
and it was great to be on the rod laver arena again and to hit on this magical
court to see all these people again people that didn see for long time
so it was interesting
was curious about what was going to feel but it only positive things
glad to be here
but the former world number one was quick to play down expectations saying it
would take weeks if not months to once again reach the form that won her
tournaments
feel like still here to build my confidence again and it will take
probably few weeks maybe few tournaments maybe few months to really be
at my top she said
it doesn mean cannot win matches that the attitude got out of
brisbane it been quite constructive
here in melbourne with the same attitude
the year old lost that brisbane final to arch rival kim clijsters who
herself is on the comeback trail
henin said it was fantastic warm up for melbourne with clijsters pushing her
to level she had not played at for long time
kim pushed me to another level that wasn used to anymore that was what
needed before coming here she said adding that she was recovering well from
the leg injury that forced her out of this week sydney international
of course would have preferred to go and play in sydney but physically
needed few days to recover she said
after three or four days was almost percent then my left foot was also
bit sore
but could practice in the last three or four days and feel good in
practice of course competition is another thing
one key difference with henin now is that she has matured she is the first to
admit that the intense sometimes dour woman who agonised over defeat has been
replaced with more relaxed individual
she said she was determined to enjoy herself more now
wouldn say ve changed but probably grew up and realised that was
somebody except being only tennis player and this person is really important
to me now she said
so now think that going to be as engaged as was before focused
concentrate percent on my job but know there is something else
the experience got in the last two years will help me to yeah be more calm
and quiet and more mature in my life on the tour hope so
tennis never thought of quitting says sharapova
melbourne jan afp
maria sharapova insists she never considered quitting when serious shoulder
injury forced her out of the game and warned saturday the hunger is back again
the russian pin up won the australian open in but was deprived of defending
it last year after failing to recover from surgery in time
the injury kept her out of action until may and she has yet to rediscover the
form that made her world number one
but despite her interests outside the game the year old said she never
seriously thought about giving up tennis
there so many ways out during that period of time she said of her months on
the sidelines
you know there so many wake up calls excuses you could make to not want to
be back out there
but there was never really that thought in my mind that didn want it
again always wanted to go out there wanted to get better wanted to
compete
worked hard to get back on the court think that why just have to be
really grateful and fortunate for every match that get to play for the rest of
my career
sharapova has only played an exhibition in hong kong as warm up for the
opening grand slam of the season but said she was happy with her form and
feeling good
really well she said when asked about her preparations
ve had the last couple of months to look back at the year really go out on
the court and work on few things that felt like needed to work on
kept working on my shoulder made sure that was strong and ready to go for
the year
with justine henin and kim clijsters returning to the scene after coming out of
retirement the williams sisters still firing and crop of younger players
cracking the top sharapova said she was excited about the coming year
honestly hope that this will be one of the most exciting years in women
tennis she said
you have the story lines of the comebacks you have the depth of the top
there many possibilities
hope that we can create great rivalries between each other and good matches
there no better way to start than grand slam
sharapova seeded opens her tournament against fellow russian maria
kirilenko someone she knows well
