earlier wednesday pakistan foreign minister shah mehmood qureshi had said the
strikes sour relations with washington
more than people have died in about drone strikes in pakistan since
august but us officials do not confirm individual attacks
dead in png bus smash reports
port moresby jan afp
around people have died after two buses crashed head on in one of
impoverished papua new guinea worst ever road accidents reports said on
thursday
the buses were travelling at speeds above kilometres miles per hour and
swerving to avoid potholes when they hit each other in remote area of the
south pacific nation northeast
most of the victims were killed instantly while others died before they could
receive treatment with eight people in intensive care
it is one of the saddest days in the history of road accidents where we have
such number of commuters die at once local assistant police commissioner
giossi labi told australian associated press
parliamentarian koni iguan said it was one of the most horrific smashes he had
ever seen
this is the nastiest and bloodiest of accidents on the highway iguan said
sports us athletes with haiti ties worry and wait for word
indianapolis indiana jan afp
indianapolis colts receiver pierre garcon and other us athletes with family in
haiti watched and worried wednesday in the wake of the earthquake that has
devastated their ancestral homeland
aunts uncles nieces nephews we still have not heard much from them and my
mom is still trying to call them said garcon who was born in the united
states to parents who emigrated from the caribbean nation
keeping in contact with my mom it tough to get in touch with people down
there because of the phone lines
garcon wasn the only us athlete waiting anxiously for news of family members
in haiti and their teams and teammates offered both moral and financial support
to the rescue and relief efforts
andre berto the miami born world boxing council welterweight world champion
whose parents are from haiti said relatives have perished while some others
remain unaccounted for
like many other haitian americans my family and are working to reach my
loved ones said berto who fought for haiti at the athens olympics
from what we have learned to this point some of my family members are still
missing and we have already been informed that members of my family have passed
away in the earthquake
an anxious samuel dalembert center with the nba philadelphia ers who grew
up in haiti told espn com he had been able to contact his father but was still
trying to get in touch with other relatives
can only imagine what people there are going through he said
it really killing me right now it unthinkable imagine all the people
just inside and the building just collapses
the ers planned moment of silence and the organization will assemble funds
to donate to relief efforts team spokesman mike preston said
it kind of hard to fathom situation like this because those people didn
do anything wrong dalembert said it so hard to watch the tv feel
helpless
stanley arnoux rookie linebacker with the nfl new orleans saints worried
about his seven year old half sister esmeralda arnoux and five year old half
brother pascal arnoux who both live in haiti
ve just been trying to gain as much information through tv and the internet
but as far as like family no one able to contact them arnoux said
garcon has received support from colts teammates peyton manning and reggie
wayne both new orleans natives who were in indianapolis when hurricane katrina
hit
wayne said his experience with katrina gave him an understanding of how hard it
is to watch from afar when such disaster strikes loved ones
there no communication going on which is sort of the same situation had
with katrina wayne said we had no communication with family members
the us sports community was responding to the crisis
the world series champion new york yankees announced they are donating
dollars in aid to haiti
the yankees hope their donation will inspire people throughout the united
states to do everything they can to aid the people of haiti in their time of
need the team said in statement
cyclist lance armstrong livestrong foundation pledged dollars to
relief efforts and the seven time tour de france winner posted video message
on his website from australia where he is preparing for the tour of australia
tennis heineken open men singles quarter finals
auckland jan afp
results from the quarter finals of the heineken open here on thursday denotes
seeding
quarter finals
john isner usa bt tommy robredo esp
albert montanes esp bt michael lammer sui
arnaud clement fra bt jurgen melzer aut
police shoot five in china land protest media official
beijing jan afp
police in south china shot and wounded at least five demonstrators in clashes
over land dispute that also left law enforcement officers injured state
media and an official said thursday
the violence which occurred on tuesday in the village of longyatun in the
guangxi region also left numerous other villagers with injuries after police
used force to quell the demonstration the china news service reported
as the villagers attacked law enforcement officers with rocks knives and clubs
police shot into the crowd in self defence after first firing warning shots
and ordering protesters to disperse it said
no one was killed some people were injured an official with the lipu
county government who declined to be named told afp refusing further comment
other police and hospital officials in lipu also refused to comment on the
incident when contacted by afp
the clashes erupted after local authorities sought to arrest villagers for
obstructing public works the news report said
in china such charges are often applied to local residents who either refuse to
move off lands that have been requisitioned by the government or refuse to allow
the demolition of their homes to make way for public works
china has recently seen rash of violent clashes over land across the country
many sparked by forced evictions as officials and property developers seek to
cash in on soaring real estate market
the violence in guangxi erupted after police had arrested several of the
villagers only to be surrounded by other residents who demanded their release
the report said
according to postings on the popular chinese blog site tianya police shot seven
villagers killing one while also using electric batons and tear gas
as many as villagers have been taken into custody the postings said
pictures posted on the website show one man being treated in hospital with two
bullet wounds to his chest
the guangxi incident comes after one person was killed and scores injured when
police clashed with villagers in eastern jiangsu province last week after
protest against the forced eviction of farmers from rural lands
defiant china web users back google
beijing jan afp
chinese internet users flooded the web on thursday appealing for google not to
close down its operations in the country after the us giant ultimatum to
beijing over censorship and cyberattacks
it not google that withdrawing from china it china that
withdrawing from the world one internet user said on twitter sentiment
echoed in other tweets
google announced on tuesday it would no longer censor search engine results in
china and possibly pull out of the world largest online market complaining
about cyberattacks and censorship by the communist regime
china based cyber spies struck the internet giant and reportedly more than
other firms in an apparent bid for computer source codes intellectual property
and information about human rights activists around the world
chinese online users have been flooding twitter even though the micro blogging
website is currently blocked by beijing evidence that savvy web surfers can
easily circumvent the great firewall of china
the authorities in the world most populous nation regularly block content and
websites they deems politially objectionable in vast censorship system in
country with an estimated million online users
social networking site facebook and google video sharing system youtube are
also blocked
strongly asking google to stay the government is really too overbearing
said one posting on baidu com google chief rival in china
not worshipper of foreign things and deeply love my country but the
government cannot be too excessive
on sina com another popular chinese web portal reaction was also strong
if google disappears from china how will intellectuals look for information
said one online user
others however were more sceptical
they re bluffing one said on sina com google situation in china was not
easy it hard for capitalist company to adapt in communist country
another said it would be mistake for the internet giant to leave china
leaving the chinese market would indicate the failure of google in china the
chinese market is huge it would even be mistake on their part the online
user said
google announcement was reported in some state run newspapers on thursday
although there was no mention of it in the people daily the ruling communist
party mouthpiece
china vast media and publishing industries are tightly controlled by the
party either directly or through self policing by the nation proliferating
media outlets to avoid running afoul of authorities
publications that have crossed the line with aggressive reporting or content
deemed to have embarrassed the government have been subject to shut downs while
editorial officials have been dismissed and even prosecuted
but the english language global times which is run by the people daily said
china will lose out if google makes good on its threat saying people had the
right to free flow of information
should the world most populous nation fail to provide foothold to the
world top search engine it would imply setback to china and serious loss to
china net culture it said
it said google withdrawal would be an incalculable loss to its long term
commitment to innovation as well as loss of future business
the information highway demands not only safe driving but also free flow of
traffic and in the interests of the majority right to know free flow of
information should take precedence in civil society the global times said
google and china going their separate ways would hurt both sides
china has said it was seeking more information about the announcement requests
for comment from the foreign commerce and information technology ministries
were not immediately answered
the global times which splashed the story on its front page as did the
state run china daily said while censorship was justified in transitional
society like china to maintain social stability some limits were needed
the government must face up to the challenge of where and how to put the
checkpoints on the information highway it said
us drone strike kills in nw pakistan officials
peshawar pakistan jan afp
missile strike by us drone aircraft hit pakistan northwest tribal belt
near the afghan border on thursday killing at least people security
officials said
the attack took place in pasalkot village in north waziristan stronghold of
taliban and al qaeda linked militants and was the seventh suspected us missile
attack in the tribal district this month
at least people were killed in the missile strike senior security
official told afp
urgent us missile strike kills in nw pakistan officials
peshawar pakistan jan afp
missile strike by us drone aircraft hit pakistan northwest tribal belt
near the afghan border on thursday killing at least people security
officials said
alert
us missile strike kills at least people in nw pakistan officials
nba rockets down timberwolves in triple overtime
houston texas jan afp
aaron brooks scored career high points and chuck hayes snagged career
high rebounds wednesday as houston downed nba rivals minnesota in
triple overtime
al jefferson pulled down franchise record rebounds and scored points for
the timberwolves in what was minnesota first ever three overtime game
the rockets led most of the contest but corey brewer knotted the score at
at the buzzer to end regulation with shot from half court
trevor ariza scored points and shane battier added points and rebounds
for the rockets who beat the timberwolves for the th straight time
ryan gomes scored points wayne ellington chipped in and brewer scored
for the timberwolves
the timberwolves rallied from five point deficit early in the first overtime
and went ahead on three pointer by ellington
brooks hit two free throws to tie it up again and both teams missed potential
winning shots in the last minute
early in the second overtime jefferson hit two free throws and hook shot to
put the timberwolves up
ariza hit jumper from the wing then converted three point play
brooks free throws put houston up but ellington tied it again with
three pointer with seconds left
the rockets played the third triple overtime game in team history and those in
the audience to see them pull off the victory included former rockets dikembe
mutombo and steve francis
tennis djokovic loses to verdasco at kooyong
melbourne jan afp
former australian open champion novak djokovic suffered brusque reversal of
form thursday to crash out of the kooyong classic at the hands of
spain fernando verdasco
but the serb was far from concerned happy that he got in pair of solid
matches at the eight man special event in preparation for the first grand slam
of beginning monday
the victory sends on form verdasco into saturday final against the winner of
friday contest between us open winner juan martin del potro and melbourne
finalist jo wilfried tsonga of france
in relegation matches chile fernando gonzalez handed german tommy haas
second defeat in as many days
croatian ivan ljubicic benefitted when sweden robin soderling retired with
sore right shoulder after losing their opening set
the results didn even matter said world number three djokovic who defeated
haas emphatically on wednesday opening day
the main point is to get good practice and get points and gains before the
australian open which is my main priority
didn feel good on the court he played well but made way too many
unforced errors
djokovic loss ended run of five straight victories against open semi
finalist verdasco
verdasco admitted he was surprised by his easy victory adding that the
traditional swirling wind of the kooyong club was problem for both players
we all know that here every day is pretty windy it is not easy for everybody
but was feeling pretty good
was trying to control the conditions and just give my percent and be the
best as possible for the australian open that the goal
you never go to the court especially with guy like novak djokovic and think
you are going to win
tennis sydney international results st update
sydney jan afp
results from the fifth day of the sydney international wta atp tennis tournament
on thursday denotes seed
women
semi finals
serena williams usa bt aravane rezai fra
elena dementieva rus bt victoria azarenka blr
men
quarter finals
richard gasquet fra bt potito starace ita
julien benneteau fra bt leonardo mayer arg
foreign actresses move centre stage in bollywood
mumbai jan afp
for years they performed as backstage dancers or had minor roles but foreign
actresses are moving centre stage in india hindi language film industry and
becoming big names in their own right
the latest overseas name to take starring role is barbara mori mexican
model and former television soap opera actress who makes her bollywood debut in
the upcoming film kites alongside hrithik roshan
mori has not been seen on the promotional rounds for the movie which hits
screens in may but she has been constant presence in india on posters the
internet and in the media particularly gossip columns
roshan father rakesh who produced the film said that kites about
latino dancer who falls in love with con artist was the first bollywood
movie with global theme which meant an actress like mori was must
brazilian model giselli monteiro was unheard of in india until last year when
she took the role of harleen kaur in the hit love aaj kal love today and
tomorrow with saif ali khan
people call me love aaj kal girl in india and that is what am famous for
monteiro said
was doing modelling and came to india came to know that there was an
opening for foreign born girl in the film love aaj kal and went for it
to my surprise was selected as the main lead heroine for the film and not the
role for which had gone to audition
director imtiaz ali said was looking for punjabi girl and giselli suited
the role so took her in the film
no one knew that she was brazilian until the film was released we kept that as
surprise package
monteiro whose dialogue was dubbed is now learning hindi in the hope of
bagging more roles
bollywood was not known for its use of foreign talent apart from the odd
western backpacker picked up in downtown mumbai to act as poorly paid extra
but as the industry expands from its domestic base to capture overseas audiences
and moves away from traditional themes and stylised song and dance routines
it is also broadening its horizons with casts
foreign actresses who have previously starred in major bollywood films include
alice patten the daughter of britain last governor to hong kong chris
patten who was in the hit rang de basanti colour me saffron
another aamir khan film from laagan tax where locals from small
indian village take on their colonial rulers at cricket featured british
actress rachel shelly
tania zaetta an australian who had previously appeared in baywatch featured
in salaam namaste greetings in
katrina kaif hong kong born briton is the industry most bankable foreign
star and the most searched for bollywood celebrity on internet search engine
google
the former model who shot to fame in namastey london hello london
starred in two hits last year new york and ajab prem ki ghazab kahani an
amazing story of strange love
her initial appearances saw her voice dubbed but she now speaks her own
dialogues
claudia ciesla german model actress and singer is also trying to break
bollywood
chance audition after she came to india on modelling assignment saw her
appear on bigg boss the local version of the hit reality television show big
brother
never knew that would become this famous in india after entering the bigg
boss house she said
in public places have found fans and they want to have my autograph this all
seems so unbelievable and like dream
she is now set on staying in mumbai and learning hindi in the hope of breaking
into films
palestinians fight settlements with new planned suburb
ramallah west bank jan afp
bulldozers are carving out new suburb on hilltop in the occupied west bank
for once it isn jewish settlement but the first ever planned palestinian
suburb
the developers of rawabi as the community is known hope it will one day
provide much needed housing for some people and help cement palestinian
claims to the territory amid similar communities built by settlers
the city is not settlement says bashar al masri head of the bayti real
estate investment company which is carrying out the million dollar
million euro project along with qatar diar real estate company
instead it can be considered palestinian attempt to keep palestinians on
their land in order to contain israeli settlement he says
the building of modern suburb in the west bank which is governed by the
western backed palestinian authority and receives considerable international
aid is in sharp contrast to the lingering devastation in the gaza strip which
has been under strict closure since the hamas movement seized power in
the first phase of the rawabi project calls for the construction of some
residential buildings housing people within three years the second phase
will double the occupancy over the following three years
the city will include schools and hospitals and the homes will be within the
means of middle class palestinians with units selling for to
dollars to euros
covering some hectares acres it will be one of the largest
investment projects in the occupied territories and has won the enthusiastic
support of the palestinian authority
this project proves that there are opportunities for investment in palestine
palestinian economy minister hassan abu libdeh says
ironically the hilltop suburb resembles the dozens of israeli settlements
scattered across the territory which the palestinians have condemned as facts
on the ground aimed at thwarting the creation of an independent state
the sight of palestinian bulldozers is strange because we are used to seeing
israeli bulldozers stealing our land and digging it up to build settlements
says mohammed khamis as he watches from nearby village
there are some cynical comparisons that palestinians are involved in this sad
scene associated with israeli settlement but we hope that the project will be
the beginning of an expansion of related investment abu libdeh says
the project is being carried out in area part of the occupied west bank
governed by the palestinian authority but comes amid general push to assert
greater palestinian control over the territory occupied by israel in
palestinian prime minister salam fayyad has vowed to construct housing and
infrastructure in area which is under complete israeli military control as
part of his plan to build the institutions of palestinian state by
the rawabi project nevertheless depends in part on israel which must open the
main road between the new suburb and the nearby town of ramallah and grant
permission for the construction of new infrastructure masri says
we have not yet obtained israeli approval but there is no israeli opposition
to this he says we have approval in principle
as the palestinians have accelerated projects aimed at generating economic
growth following the devastating intifada or uprising they have demanded
that israel halt its own construction projects in the territory which are
considered illegal by the international community
palestinian president mahmud abbas has refused us demands to relaunch peace
talks suspended during last winter gaza war until israel halts all settlement
activity including in mostly arab east jerusalem
israel in november enacted month moratorium on new building starts in the
west bank but excluded east jerusalem public buildings and projects already
under way prompting the palestinians to slam the move as insufficient
nearly half million israelis live in more than settlements scattered
across the west bank and east jerusalem many of which resemble western style
suburbs and house thousands of people
homeless haitians turn city center into refugee camp
port au prince jan afp
bereft distraught and dazed haitians flocked to the center of ruined port au
prince wednesday night turning central square into an open air refugee camp
lacking water food and medicine
today haiti has again become nation that doesn know happy endings said
milien roudy lying in park with his wife and two daughters
the family had eaten nothing in the last hours like many of the thousands
who gathered around the champs de mars square in the center of the capital
with their homes and lives destroyed families prepared to spend second night
outside many too scared to seek shelter in those structures still standing
because of persistent strong aftershocks
many laid covered in dirt bearing visible wounds and sporting makeshift slings
or bloodsoaked cotton taped hastily over fresh injuries
others pitched makeshift tents and then looked furtively to the skies for any
sign that aid was arriving from the outside world
united by tragedy their stories were different but heartbreakingly similar
most stood in or near building that collapsed without warning when the quake
struck and then relied on the miracle of friend or relative who could pull
them to safety
alive but only just they waited wednesday night to see what the international
community would deliver
if the international community really wants to help haiti they should give the
money directly to us and not to the government said year old james who
shared make shift camp with others
but one person was missing his six year old sister who was buried under the
rubble of the family home
james student said he had looted rice and water from supermarket which he
carefully rationed out under the envious gaze of other families who are
spending second night without food
standing by him clement public official decried the lack of assistance
in over hours no one not the un or any authority has come to give us even
glass of water he said
the air over the avenue was thick with dust and the smell of urine which only
intensified in the heat as the hours passed
with no access to clean water many simply quenched their thirst by drinking
dirty water from public fountains
our souls are heavy we don know what to tell our children about what will
happen tomorrow said marie denise mother of four
no camps have been set up because help is late in coming and we are too scared
to sleep in half destroyed houses if it rains it will be terrible we would
have nowhere to go said year old clarisse nurse
up to people may have been killed in tuesday massive earthquake
according to some estimates
across the city bodies lined streets unclaimed and covered with cloth still
other corpses could be glimpsed underneath rubble dust covered lifeless limbs
protruding from twisted metal and crumbled concrete
there is no state to help us said laurent year old university student
pointing to the ruined presidential place and string of destroyed ministries
fortune mynusse sat among group of older people that stared into the
ever growing crowd
when you see so many dead children you think that destiny is confused it was
more like our turn she said
blind operators taught to sell at moscow call centre
moscow jan afp
once encouraged to take dreary factory line jobs making electric plugs and
curlers blind people in moscow now have new option working at hi tech call
centre
the call centre in northern moscow employs almost blind and visually
impaired people bold experiment in nation where people with disabilities
struggle to find interesting jobs or indeed any job at all
with rapid confident sales pitch one operator alexei voronov talked into
his headset selling accountancy software
this is the year old history graduate first job and he says he would be
unlikely to find work more suited to his qualifications
doubt it very much it very difficult to find work in russia voronov
said people don create the right conditions for the disabled
many of the centre staff used to work at upp or educational production
facility he added referring to the soviet era factories that were set up to
give disabled people job
they were putting together hair curlers or plugs voronov told afp
they earned rubles about euros the system is still working and
people are sitting there but they are all trying to leave
up to blind people work in enterprises like that according to the all
russia society of the blind
last year president dmitry medvedev said there were million registered
disabled people in russia of whom six million could work but no more than
percent of those six million have jobs
there are around blind people in russia of whom just over are
employed according to the all russia society for the blind
alexei romanov the deputy director of the call centre and himself blind said
it was the ideal workplace for people with disabilities
the project is unique you won find anything similar in europe
he said discrimination was common in practice companies always look for
reasons to say no to disabled people
the centre opened last year with grant from moscow city government and has
two floors of office space full of computer equipment for operators
some visually impaired workers are able to read huge type on screens while
completely blind people work use software that turns commands into speech
voronov is not the only over qualified operator at the centre
dmitry kasatkin is doing history phd at moscow state university but was glad
to find his day job helping customers having trouble putting money on their
cell phones
tall striking figure in satin shirt and dark glasses romanov studied history
and worked as an academic before going to work at telecoms company because he
needed to earn more to support his three children
he said that when he started as phone operator himself he was the only
disabled employee out of at his company
the moscow government provided one off subsidy for equipment at the call
centre but the three companies involved have invested immeasurably larger
sums and must make it pay romanov stressed
the state won give us another kopeck he said
the starting costs were massive the equipment for each call station cost around
dollars staff said and the centre still needs to attract more clients
to make profit
ambitiously the project will expand this summer with second centre in moscow
employing more people romanov said
salaries at the centre start at dollars month that means person can
start family have baby he can start living go on holiday he can live as
an equal member of society he added
the salary is low by moscow standards even if people with disabilities are also
eligible for state benefits
romanov called it comparable with pay at other call centres although moscow
