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
dpko head alain leroy earlier said at least five people were confirmed dead in
the collapsed minustah headquarters
at least brazilian soldiers three jordanian soldiers and one argentine
gendarme serving with minustah were killed military officials from the three
countries said
seven brazilian soldiers and another argentine gendarme were missing
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
un troops and police were helping maintain order and assisting with rescue
operations according to un officials
and holmes said his office 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 was due to meet with former us president bill clinton now un special
envoy for haiti here later wednesday
un officials meanwhile said other un facilities across port au prince had also
suffered damage
minustah which comprises troops and police has been deployed since
mid to help stabilize the impoverished caribbean island nation of eight
million people
italy most welcoming country in europe minister
la granja spain jan afp
an italian minister on wednesday said italy was the most welcoming country in
europe days after violent attacks forced more than african farm workers
to flee town in the south of his country
andrea ronchi the european affairs minister said racism did not exist in italy
and accused the rest of europe of leaving italy to face the problem of
clandestine immigration alone
in italy there is no racism it does not exist it is an accusation made by
people who do not know italy he said on the sidelines of an informal meeting
of european affairs ministers in la granja spain
we will give them those making the accusation free tour at our expense to
show them what there is in italy solidarity and welcome but it is true there
is violent phenomenon illegal immigration he told journalists
these accusations are the fruit of left wing culture no longer in step with
citizens he said
italy is the most welcoming country in europe and anyone accusing us of racism
is stupid
two nights of clashes in the southern town of rosarno last week between italians
and immigrants left injured of whom were foreigners
the violence prompted more than immigrants to leave the area most on
special buses arranged by the italian authorities
the united nations the egyptian government and humanitarian groups all
expressed concern over the treatment of immigrants in italy impoverished
south
on tuesday the united nations said the violence revealed serious and deep
rooted problems of racism against migrant workers and rome needed to do
more to tackle the issue
but on wednesday ronchi accused europe of abandoning italy to deal with
immigration on its own
italy has been alone on the economic and political front facing the urgent
problem of illegal immigration he said
criticise europe for wasting time in creating refugees rights agency he
said
ronchi said the eu lisbon treaty was the last chance to create european
entity that was more concrete less bureaucratic and more political as the
continent currently risked being sidelined
biathlon world cup results
ruhpolding germany jan afp
world cup results here on wednesday
women km sprint penalty for missed target
anna carin olofsson swe penalties olga medvedtseva rus at
magdalena neuner ger darya domracheva blr
anna boulagyna rus andrea henkel ger
sandrine bailly fra tora berger nor anna
kristin flatland nor iana romanova rus
selected helena jonsson swe
world cup sprint standings after five of rounds
anna carin olofsson zidek swe pts helena jonsson swe olga
medvedtseva rus kati wilhelm ger svetlana sleptsova rus
overall world cup standings after of rounds
helena jonsson swe pts anna carin olofsson zidek swe
svetlana sleptsova rus olga medvedtseva rus kati wilhelm
ger
football africa cup of nations gabon cameroon
lubango angola jan afp
full result of opening group match in africa cup of nations on wednesday
gabon cousin cameroon
teams
gabon didier ovono rodrique moundounga bruno ecuele moise brou georges
ambourouet bruno mbanangoye alain djissikadie paul kessany cedric
moubamba stephane nguema daniel cousin capt roguy meye pierre aubameyang
coach alain giresse fra
cameroon idriss kameni geremi njitap nicolas koulou rigobert song henri
bedimo enoh eyong landry nguemo tchoyi somen alexandre song jean
makoun achille webo mohamadou idrissou samuel eto capt achille
emana
coach paul le guen fra
referee daniel bennett rsa
yellow cards nguema meye
up to un foreign staff missing in haiti spokeswoman
geneva jan afp
up to un expatriate staff in haiti are still missing following the
earthquake that levelled the main un mission building in the capital port au
prince spokeswoman said wednesday
between and expatriate un personnel are unaccounted for said
elisabeth byrs spokeswoman for the un office for the coordination of
humanitarian affairs
we are also very worried about our local staff she told afp
bodies line the streets of port au prince
port au prince jan afp
streets in the haitian capital were lined with the bloodied twisted bodies of
the dead wednesday as traumatized victims of powerful earthquake battled to
survive in city in ruins
as daylight revealed the full scale of the devastation after terrifying night
rocked by aftershocks the pitiful cries of those still trapped rose up from
under tons of rubble amid fears the death toll could top
lacking heavy equipment in the poorest nation in the americas residents in
port au prince frantically dug with their bare hands to reach the victims
witnesses said
the downtown area was mostly destroyed said afp correspondent clarens renois
adding tour of the area had left him completely overwhelmed and shocked my
legs knocked out from under me my heart ripped to shreds
hospitals many of them either collapsed or damaged were struggling to cope
with flow of wounded as basic services such as power and water as well as
medical supplies dwindled
everywhere we go there massive demand from people to help them with
trapped family members or people suffering from major injuries the toronto
based spokesman for medicines sans frontiers paul mcphun said
so you re on the streets and you re getting mobbed with people needing medical
care he told telephone press conference
teams are basically managing what comes to them they are already getting
overwhelmed he said adding all of our health structures are either
condemned or collapsed so we can use them
hours after the magnitude quake wrecked even the capital most sturdy
buildings the dust and debris covered city was hit by dozens more powerful
aftershocks forcing survivors to take shelter on streets
people have been screaming and praying all over the place throughout the
night the catholic relief service which has operations in the country said
in message on the micro networking service twitter
two million people live in the densely populated capital of the impoverished
caribbean nation many of them crammed into flimsy shantytowns thrown up around
the coastal town and perched on its hillsides
as an international aid effort swung into action prime minister jean max
bellerive told the us television channel cnn that the final death toll could be
well over
hope that is not true because hope the people had the time to get out
because we have so much people on the streets right now we don know exactly
where they were living
but so many so many buildings so many neighborhoods totally destroyed and
some neighborhoods we don even see people so don know where those people
are
as television images showed people being brought out of the ruins president
rene preval told the miami herald he feared thousands had died describing the
scene as unimaginable
parliament has collapsed the tax office has collapsed schools have collapsed
hospitals have collapsed he said there are lot of schools that have lot
of dead people in them
first lady elisabeth preval told the daily this is catastrophe
stepping over dead bodies lot of people are buried under buildings the
general hospital has collapsed we need support we need help we need
engineers
as day broke over the largely unstable country where un peacekeepers have been
based since some looting broke out with residents snatching items from
partially destroyed supermarket early wednesday
the normally gleaming white presidential palace on the central champs de mars
square was seen in ruins its central cupola now collapsed symbol of nation
upended
hospitals hotels schools and government ministries were also leveled
the headquarters of the united nations mission in the country was destroyed and
scores were still missing un officials said
in twitter message said to be from us musician richard morse based in haiti
said there was little help available in the carrefour feuilles area on the edge
of downtown
no police presence there is no un presence in the carrefour feuilles
area people are trying to take care of themselve he wrote on the micro
internet social networking
people are buried in the st gerard school by st gerard church we heard voices
in the rubble saw bodies no official vehicles in area
the devastation will only add to the poverty and hardship already faced by the
nation of million people where percent live on less than two dollars
day
horror in haiti quake as up to feared dead
port au prince jan afp
haiti prime minister wednesday warned the death toll may top in
calamitous earthquake which left streets strewn with corpses and thousands
missing in scene of utter carnage
hospitals collapsed destroyed schools were full of dead and the cries of
trapped victims escaped from crushed buildings in the center of the capital
port au prince which an afp correspondent said was mostly destroyed
prime minister jean max bellerive told cnn the final death toll from the
quake could be well over as an international aid effort geared up in
race against time to pull survivors from the ruins
hope that is not true because hope the people had the time to get out
because we have so much people on the streets right now we don know exactly
where they were living bellerive said
but so many so many buildings so many neighborhoods totally destroyed and
some neighborhoods we don even see people so don know where those people
are
president rene preval painted scene of complete destruction in his
impoverished caribbean nation after the quake struck on tuesday
parliament has collapsed the tax office has collapsed schools have collapsed
hospitals have collapsed he told the miami herald estimating the number of
dead in the thousands
there are lot of schools that have lot of dead people in them he said as
experts spoke of the worst quake to hit the disaster prone nation in more than
century
with hospitals also having crumbled in the fury of the quake medical services
were struggling to cope with the flow of wounded
there are tens of thousands of victims and considerable damage haiti
ambassador to the organization of american states duly brutus told afp without
specifying the number of dead
the most urgent need is to help the thousands of people who are still alive and
trapped in the ruins he added saying the last quake of such magnitude to
strike haiti was in
preval wife first lady elisabeth preval told the us daily she had seen
bodies in the streets of port au prince and had heard the cries of victims still
trapped in the rubble of the parliament building
stepping over dead bodies lot of people are buried under buildings the
general hospital has collapsed we need support we need help we need
engineers she said
un chief ban ki moon said the capital with its population of two million people
had borne the brunt of the quake which struck at pm gmt saying vast
areas had been destroyed
while much of the rest of the impoverished caribbean nation appeared largely
unaffected ban gave grim assessment of the devastation in port au prince
saying the city few basic services had collapsed
there is no doubt that we are facing major humanitarian emergency and that
major relief effort will be required he told press conference in the united
nations as he prepared to visit haiti as soon as possible
the temblor toppled the cupola on the gleaming white presidential palace
major hotel where tourists were missing and the headquarters of the un
mission in haiti where up to personnel were unaccounted for
five people were confirmed dead in the un headquarters and the head of the
peacekeeping mission tunisian hedi annabi was among the missing
jordan reported that three of its peacekeepers were killed and wounded in the
quake brazil said of its peacekeepers were killed while eight chinese
soldiers were buried in rubble and were missing state media said
an argentine staffed hospital was the only one left operating in the city and
was struggling to cope with huge numbers of injured its director told argentine
television
the situation is really critical because we cannot cope with this many dead and
injured daniel desimone told todo noticias
there are lot of dead people in the streets lot of injured he added
major international relief operation was put underway with the united states
france britain and canada all promising help
us president barack obama vowed swift and aggressive effort to save lives and
said search and rescue teams would arrive within hours after heartwrenching
earthquake
this tragedy seems especially cruel and incomprehensible he said
the us military on wednesday mobilized ships aircraft and expert teams due to
arrive within hours to help the relief effort an aircraft carrier the uss carl
vinson was on the way and due to arrive thursday
planeloads of rescue teams and relief supplies were quickly dispatched from
nations including britain canada russia spain france germany the
netherlands and russia
as well as virtually destroying port au prince the earthquake also caused
widespread destruction in the resort town of jacmel south of the capital
witness said wednesday saying he saw an entire mountain almost collapsed
it is complete devastation here personally am lucky to be alive said
emmet murphy local head of the us non governmental organization adci voca
was driving back to jacmel in the mountains when the entire mountain seemed
to fall down all around me
two hundred foreigners were missing at the hotel montana french secretary of
state for cooperation alain joyandet said
among the dead was the archbishop of port au prince monsignor serge miot the
missionary international service news agency misna reported in rome
pope benedict xvi urged generous response to the catastrophe lamenting
haiti tragic situation involving huge loss of human life great number of
homeless and missing and considerable material damage
urgent up to un foreign staff missing in haiti spokeswoman
geneva jan afp
up to un expatriate staff in haiti are still missing following the
earthquake that levelled the main un mission building in the capital port au
prince spokeswoman said wednesday
football sakho gaffe sends psg out of league cup
paris jan afp
comical own goal from paris saint germain defender mamadou sakho handed
second division guingamp victory and place in the quarter finals of the
french league cup on wednesday
the promising year old defender horribly sliced an attempted clearance over
his own goalkeeper apoula edel and into the net in the th minute after
brazilian forward gilmar had seen his attempted lob parried
guingamp had been made to weather stern pressure throughout the last tie at
their icy stade du roudourou home with psg veteran ludovic giuly seeing an
effort cleared off the line and driving blistering shot against the crossbar
the hosts victory was rendered all the more impressive by the fact that
midfielder moustapha diallo had been sent off barely four minutes before sakho
own goal for an ugly two footed lunge on jean eudes maurice
second division metz will hope to repeat their victory over lyon at the same
stage of last season competition when they travel to the stade gerland to
renew acquaintances with claude puel side later on wednesday
marseille visit saint etienne in the late kick off with om coach didier
deschamps pledging to field full strength line up that could feature mamadou
niang and lucho gonzalez who are on the recovery trail after injury
wednesday three remaining ties all exclusively feature top flight clubs with
lens facing lorient toulouse hosting nancy and high flying lille currently
second in ligue taking on rennes
holders bordeaux tie at le mans was postponed for the second time in two days
after local authorities deemed the home side snowbound pitch unplayable
the game initially due to be played on tuesday was postponed again on
wednesday and will now go ahead on date to be decided at meeting between the
french football federation and the professional football league on thursday
sedan became the first side to book place in the last eight when they beat
clermont on tuesday thanks to goal in the th minute from former monaco
trainee alexis allart
nigeria mulls air marshals on us bound flights minister
abuja jan afp
nigeria plans to deploy air marshals on all flights to the united states after
the foiled attack on us jetliner by nigerian man the aviation minister said
on wednesday
believe very soon nigeria will be signing the agreement with the us to put
air marshals on our flights babatunde omotoba told reporters adding that this
followed request by us authorities
inmates flee port au prince prison after quake collapse un
geneva jan afp
the united nations said wednesday that the main prison in haiti capital port
au prince collapsed during the devastating earthquake allowing some inmates to
escape
the main prison in the capital collapsed and some inmates fled said elisabeth
byrs spokeswoman for the un office for the coordination of humanitarian
affairs
several official buildings including the presidential palace and parliament
and un offices were destroyed in the magnitude quake on tuesday according
to haiti president rene preval
strong quake hits indonesia papua province seismologists
jakarta jan afp
strong magnitude earthquake struck indonesia papua province early
thursday but there were no reports of casualties and no tsunami warning was
issued seismologists said
the quake struck at am jakarta time gmt wednesday kilometres
miles northwest of the west papua provincial capital of manokwari at
depth of kilometres the geophysics and meteorological agency said
an afp reporter in manokwari said the tremors lasted less than seconds and
there was no panic or damage from the quake
indonesia sits on the pacific ring of fire where the meeting of continental
plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity
magnitude quake that struck sumatra island on september last year
killed more than people
football cousin goal gives gabon shock triumph over cameroon
lubango angola jan afp
hull city striker daniel cousin was the hero as gabon caused the biggest upset
so far in shock filled africa cup of nations by defeating cameroon on
wednesday in the first group clash
cousin scored early in the first half and the gabonese survived numerous
goalmouth scares to record only their second victory in four appearances at the
biennial continental showcase
cameroon four time champions and twice runners up entered the game as hot
favourites to secure maximum points having comfortably beaten gabon twice in
qualifers for the angola tournament
veteran cameroon central defender rigobert song created history when the match
kicked off by becoming the first footballer to play in eight nations cup
tournaments
the year old from turkish club trabzonspor overtook current egypt captain
ahmed hassan and two retired stars compatriot hossam hassan and ivorian alain
gouamene
cameroon started by taking the game to gabon and achille emana was unlucky after
eight minutes when his shot was pushed on to the post and away for corner by
goalkeeper didier ovono
but the game took dramatic twist on minutes when the indomitable lions
failed to clear cross and cousin darted through to push the ball wide of
goalkeeper iddriss kameni and give gabon shock lead
going in front boosted the confidence of outsiders gabon and they retained the
advantage until half time with reasonable comfort as cameroon star samuel eto
failed to make his expected impact
geremi njitap did worry ovono with free kick and eto finally came to life
just before the break with dribble past several defenders but the ball was
eventually cleared
cameroon france born coach paul le guen made change in central midfield for
the second half introducing tchoyi somen for landry nguemo and the new face was
soon making his presence felt
ovono who once battled to make living playing in el salvador was in inspired
form and did well to parry close range header off corner and foiled eto
when the inter milan striker seemed poised to equalise
frustration crept into the game as cameroon continued to dominate possession
only to be thwarted by ovono who used his feet to push away close range emana
drive at the expense of corner
gabon time wasting cost midfielder stephane nguema and striker roguy meye yellow
cards with the latter booked for taking too long to leave the field when
substituted by pierre emerick aubameyang
ovono came to the rescue again as time ticked away touching dipping free kick
from njitap over the crossbar and the resultant corner ended with rigobert song
blazing over
biathlon swedish veteran olofsson zidek take sprint win
ruhpolding germany jan afp
sweden anna carin olofsson zidek clinched her second win of this season
biathlon world cup and th of her career with victory in the sprint here on
wednesday
the year old clocked min sec with russia olga medvedtseva sec
behind while third placed magdalena neuner of germany was sec off the pace
defending champion and world cup leader helena jonsson was down in th place
min sec behind olofsson zidek but stays on top of the overall standings with
points to the swede
france swine flu epidemic ends doctors
paris jan afp
the swine flu epidemic in mainland france that has killed hundreds has ended
monitoring group of doctors said on wednesday
it the end of the epidemic thierry blanchon one of the doctors of the
sentinelles flu monitoring network told afp
the number of cases of the fever reported to doctors has fallen below the
epidemic level for the past two weeks he said the virus is certainly still
spreading but at very weak pace
he added that vaccinations should continue in order to prevent resurgence of
the flu virus which health authorities say has killed people in
mainland france
football french league cup results
paris jan afp
french league cup round of results on wednesday
guingamp sakho og paris saint germain
le mans bordeaux postponed due to heavy snow
playing later
lyon metz lens lorient toulouse nancy lille rennes saint etienne
marseille
played tuesday
sedan allart clermont
football africa cup of nations group standings
lubango angola jan afp
africa cup of nations group standings after early match on wednesday played
won drawn lost goals for against points
gabon
tunisia
zambia
cameroon
fixtures
lubango unless noted times gmt
jan
tunisia zambia
jan
gabon tunisia
cameroon zambia
jan
cameroon tunisia
at benguela
gabon zambia
note group winners and runners up qualify for quarter finals
football africa cup of nations gabon cameroon
lubango angola jan afp
result of opening group match in africa cup of nations on wednesday
gabon cousin cameroon
urgent football gabon shock cameroon in africa cup of nations
lubango angola jan afp
gabon shocked cameroon in the opening group match of the africa cup of
nations on wednesday
alert
football gabon shock cameroon in africa cup of nations on wednesday
us official questions china space intentions
washington jan afp
senior us defense official on wednesday voiced doubts about china insistence
that its use of space is for peaceful means as washington appealed for steady
military ties with the rising asian power
the chinese have stated that they oppose the militarization of space their
actions seem to indicate the contrary intention said wallace gregson the
assistant secretary of defense in charge of asia
we continue to press the chinese for explanation gregson told congressional
hearing
china says its rapidly growing military budget is for defensive purposes
chinese president hu jintao pledged with us president barack obama at november
summit to promote the peaceful use of space
however china air force commander told state media last year that
militarization of space was historical inevitability
china in became the third nation after the united states and the former
soviet union to conduct star wars test shooting down one of its own
satellites
on tuesday china said it had successfully intercepted missile in test of an
air defense system in what analysts described as show of strength after the
united states finalized sale of missile equipment to beijing rival taiwan
admiral robert willard the head of the us pacific command covering asia
appealed to china not to sever military relationship after any future us arms
package to taiwan as beijing has done in the past
willard said he and defense secretary robert gates told senior chinese
general xu caihou during his visit to the united states last year of the
mutual benefit of maintaining it regardless of differences
think we will be testing the maturity of that military to military
relationship in the future not just over our legal obligations to conduct
taiwan arms sales but over other issues willard told the hearing
china considers taiwan where the mainland nationalists set up rival
government in after losing the civil war to be province awaiting
reunification by force if necessary
the united states in switched recognition to beijing but the congress
approved the taiwan relations act which requires the us administration to
provide arms to taiwan to ensure its defense
alert
up to un staff missing after haiti quake un spokeswoman
urgent nigeria mulls air marshals on us bound flights minister
abuja jan afp
nigeria is planning to deploy air marshals on all flights to the united states
after the foiled attack on us jetliner by nigerian man minister said on
wednesday
urgent strong quake rocks indonesia seismologists
jakarta jan afp
strong magnitude earthquake struck indonesia papua province early
thursday but there was no tsunami warning issued and no early reports of
casualties seismologists said
alert
nigeria mulls deploying air marshals on us bound flights minister
celebrities appeal for haiti quake relief
los angeles jan afp
haitian born music star wyclef jean led an army of elebrities wednesday in an
urgent appeal for aid following the devastating earthquake which rocked the
star caribbean homeland
jean said in statements on his website and on micro blogging network twitter
that the earthquake had been natural disaster of unprecedented proportion
and that millions in port au prince were in peril
cannot stress enough what human disaster this is and idle hands will only
