the constitution bans any abuse of religious symbols in lebanon country of
different religious communities and where civil war was fought at
least partly across muslim christian divide
alpine skiing american miller wins wengen super combined
wengen switzerland jan afp
american bode miller dominated both the downhill and slalom runs to win the
world cup super combined here on friday
the year old miller clocked combined total of min sec sec ahead
of swiss star carlo janka with silvan zubriggen further sec adrift
the world cup continues here with racers competing in downhill on saturday and
slalom on sunday
un says homeless after unprecedented haiti quake
geneva jan afp
an estimated people have been left homeless in the devastation wrought
by the unprecedented earthquake in haiti with one in homes in the capital
destroyed the un said on friday
helicopter assessment by the un mission in haiti found that some areas around
port au prince suffered percent destruction as aid workers struggled to
rush help into the debris ridden area
first estimates suggest some percent of the housing in port au prince has
been destroyed which roughly translates to about people left homeless
said elisabeth byrs spokeswoman of the un office for the coordination of
humanitarian affairs ocha
another un body estimated that percent of buildings had collapsed or been
affected after the capital and surrounding areas were hit by an earthquake that
had no historical precedent in the region
we re talking definitely about an earthquake which probably has recurrence
period of several hundred years said andrew maskrey specialist at the
international strategy for disaster reduction
an ocha situation report said some million people live in areas hit by
strong shaking from the magnitude earthquake that flattened much of
haitian capital port au prince this week
besides port au prince jacmel an area south of the capital and carrefour
nearby suburb closer to the epicentre were also affected according to the un
un teams on the ground were urging countries to stop sending search and rescue
teams into an aid bottleneck but called for doctors and medical personnel to
treat thousand of casualties suffering crush injuries or fractures
seventeen teams are on the ground six more are arriving byrs told
journalists
right now we don need more disaster search and rescue teams that would only
clog the airport she added
an airbridge was being set up between port au prince small airport and hub
at santo domingo in the neighbouring dominican republic to channel relief
supplies and staff arriving from around the world ocha said
no more field hospitals are needed the priority is for medical teams nurses
surgeons for trauma and medicines to cope with mounting casualty numbers as
people reached care byrs added
the world health organisation said eight hospitals or health facilities in the
quake area had collapsed or were seriously damaged while international
committee of the red cross staff found at least five other hospitals were still
working
the un health agency was unable to give an estimate of casualties
the scale of this is little bit unfathomable we know there are hundreds
said who spokesman paul garwood
we don want to overwhelm what already there that one of the lessons we
learned from the tsunami he added referring to the december
disaster
the world food programme was lining up emergency food rations for two million
people hit by the quake initially to last at least days
people are unable to cook so they need ready to eat meals said wfp
spokeswoman emilia casella
the un is due to launch first flash appeal for hundreds of millions of dollars
in aid for haiti on friday in new york
so far countries organisations and companies have already pledged
million dollars million euros in aid for victims of the devastating
earthquake ocha data showed
thousands of international aid workers already stationed in the impoverished and
aid dependent caribbean country including cuban doctors switched to
emergency disaster relief
the physical destruction is so great that physically getting from point to
point with the supplies is not an easy task said casella
getting physically tonnes and tonnes of equipments of food and water is not as
instant as twitter or skype or hour satellite news she added
cuba allows us to use its airspace for haiti quake effort
washington jan afp
the united states said friday it had been granted rare permission to use cuban
airspace for aid and evacuation flights in the wake of haiti devastating
earthquake
we have coordinated with the cuban government for authorization to fly medical
evacuation flights from the us naval station guantanamo bay to miami florida
through cuban airspace cutting minutes off one way flight time the white
house said in statement
the deal will allow us planes to overfly cuba en route to and from guantanamo
which is perched on the communist island southeastern tip
the agreement puts aside decades of cold war animosity between washington and
havana in the midst of global efforts to help the ranks of injured and estimated
haitians made homeless by the massive magnitude quake
the united states has used the base which became notorious as internment
camp for war on terror suspects to give haiti evacuees medical treatment
there are an estimated americans in haiti some of whom were injured in
the disaster
some us citizens were evacuated earlier thursday with about more slated
to be flown out later in the day the state department said
friday announcement could provide an air bridge to ease logistical bottlenecks
in port au prince which have caused haitians to receive just trickle of aid
as they face fourth day of the crisis
west african body presents road map for niger
niamey jan afp
the economic community of west african states ecowas has presented rival sides
in niger political crisis with road map to resolve the conflict the
authorities and the opposition said friday
the mediator nigerian former president abdulsalami abubakar on thursday
presented document concerning his suggestions and asked us to make written
proposals by january said nouhou arzika representing the government
arzika added that abubakar envisaged face to face talks between president
mamadou tandja side and the opposition on february and hoped to wrap up
discussions by february
we have to work on synthesis by the mediator of propositions made by the
different parties opposition spokesman bazoum mohamed said
neither arzika nor mohamed gave any details of what was in abubakar plan
ecowas has been mediating in the large and desperately poor country on the
southern edge of the sahara since december
the opposition wants transition period to draft new constitution and
organise democratic elections
privately owned newspapers close to tandja side reported that he has proposed
keeping new constitution he forced through last august but was ready to bring
the opposition into the running of the state
after almost years in power tandja won highly controversial extension of
his mandate for at least another three years by way of the constitutional
referendum which was vigorously opposed and then boycotted by his foes
the president went on to call parliamentary elections last october which were
also boycotted by the opposition and led to niger suspension from ecowas and
the suspension of development aid by the european union
the united states has also imposed sanctions on tandja regime
cricket south africa england scoreboard at tea
johannesburg jan afp
scores at tea on the second day of the fourth test between south africa and
england at the wanderers stadium on friday
england first innings
south africa first innings overnight
smith strauss sidebottom
prince swann broad
amla not out
kallis not out
extras lb nb
total wkts overs
fall of wickets prince smith
to bat de villiers duminy boucher mclaren steyn morkel
parnell
bowling anderson nb sidebottom broad
swann collingwood
match position south africa lead by runs with eight wickets remaining in the
first innings
toss england
umpires steve davis aus tony hill nzl
tv umpire daryl harper aus
match referee roshan mahanama sri
un rights chief urges uganda to scrap anti gay bill
geneva jan afp
un rights chief navi pillay on friday urged the ugandan government to scrap an
anti homosexuality bill which is to be put before parliament saying that it was
blatantly discriminatory
the bill clearly breaches international human rights standards as it is
blatantly discriminatory said pillay in statement
the draft law which has been harshly condemned by the united states and
european union would impose the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality
applicable in cases of rape of minor by person of the same sex or where one
partner carries the aids virus
it would also criminalise public discussion of homosexuality and could penalise
an individual who knowingly rents property to homosexual
the bill proposes draconian punishments for people alleged to be lesbian gay
bisexual or transgendered the high commissioner for human rights said
it is extraordinary to find legislation like this being proposed more than
years after the adoption of the universal declaration of human rights made
it clear this type of discrimination is unacceptable she added
calling on uganda to shelve the draconian draft bill pillay warned that the
bill could seriously hurt the country reputation
to criminalise people on the basis of colour or gender is now unthinkable in
most countries she said
the same should apply to an individual sexual orientation international
human rights standards strongly suggest that the state should not dictate the
nature of private consensual relations between adults she added
pakistan army probes reports of taliban leader death
islamabad jan afp
pakistan military is investigating reports that taliban leader hakimullah
mehsud was killed in us bombing raid the army spokesman said friday as the
militant group insisted he was alive and well
missiles fired from an unmanned us aircraft killed at least islamist
insurgents at training camp in the lawless northwest tribal belt thursday and
security officials said mehsud may have been among the dead
so far we do not have confirmation of him either getting killed or getting
injured it will take little more time to confirm this or otherwise chief
military spokesman major general athar abbas told afp
intelligence agencies are at their work they are trying to probe and find out
from their sources
the us strike hit in remote and mountainous area between the districts of
north and south waziristan and abbas said issues of access in the taliban
controlled area were one hurdle in obtaining information
we only have the information that there was strike and there was the
presence of militants in the compound but whether the leadership was there or
not is yet to be confirmed he added
as reports emerged thursday of mehsud possible demise in the strike the
tehreek taliban pakistan ttp group he commands swiftly put out statement
saying he was alive and on friday repeated their claims
hakimullah is alive and safe met with him last night there was not even
scratch on him ttp spokesman azam tariq told afp by telephone
he left the place of the strike or minutes beforehand he said
referring to the remote shaktoi area pounded by the missiles
tariq said meeting of taliban elders would be convened soon to decide whether
to release new video of mehsud proving their claims
hakimullah mehsud assumed leadership of the group blamed for the deaths of
thousands of people in attacks in pakistan after his predecessor baitullah
mehsud was killed in us drone strike in august last year
the ttp denied baitullah mehsud death for weeks apparently amid fierce
infighting over his successor hakimullah mehsud himself had to counter rumours
of his own demise at the hands of rival militant in october
insecurity hampering rescue efforts in haiti
port au prince jan afp
rescue teams racing against the clock in haiti ruined capital have found
already nightmare conditions compounded by widespread insecurity that forces
them to stop work at nightfall
looting threats of violence and reports of gunfire in port au prince have
rattled rescuers most of whom operate without weapons or armed guards
our biggest problem is insecurity yesterday they tried to hijack some of our
trucks today we were barely able to work in some places because of that said
delfin antonio rodriguez civil defense chief and rescue commander for the
dominican republic
there looting and people with guns out there because this country is very
poor and people are desperate
the world food programme said friday its warehouses in port au prince had been
looted and that it would have to restock in order to feed survivors
deepening the volatility in the city haiti main prison was partly destroyed
allowing thousands of prisoners to escape
lieutenant general pk keen who heads the us relief operation in haiti on
friday said he was cognizant of the increasing concerns about security
up to this point we have not seen great deal of insecurity but clearly that
is concern and we will work with the government and the national police to
deal with it as best we can keen told cnn from the port au prince airport
rescue crews from bolivia the dominican republic france united states and
venezuela were among the first to arrive to try and rescue countless thousands
buried in the rubble from tuesday cataclysmic earthquake
rodriguez said another major obstacle in assisting victims was the lack of
functioning hospitals almost all of which were destroyed or abandoned
he said large field hospital was needed to attend the countless injured but
that in the present circumstances it was impossible to build one
we can put it together at nightfall and by morning it would be gone he
added
the other big problem is the lack of coordination with local authorities said
colonel jose cavallo rodriguez deputy civil defense chief
haiti has no army and its police force has largely disappeared after the quake
leaving security operations largely to un peacekeepers many ministries and
offices have been destroyed and government officials killed leaving huge gaps
in administration
the global community has responded quickly to the disaster with countries
currently on the ground and search and rescue teams up and running according
to the us state department
but with the window of opportunity to save lives shrinking with each passing
minute international assistance is being stymied rescuers said
it coming in but its not going out probably because of insecurity we re
taking risks over here because we re neighbors one of the dominicans said
haiti and the dominican republic share the island of hispaniola
but the rules the rescue teams work under are very strict they said because
they carry no weapons
the main concern is to leave before nightfall even if they are in the middle of
rescue operations
on thursday the dominican team worked feverishly to extricate government
official trapped in rubble near rotting body for two days
since we couldn bring all our equipment with us and there nothing in port
au prince everything takes longer said cavallo
in hours the dominican team pulled survivors and dozens of corpses from
the rubble of the collapsed parliament building the bodies included
senators who were holding meeting when the quake struck
the voice went out that rescue crew was working downtown and soon the
dominicans were surrounded by cars bringing injured people while others told
them of collapsed buildings nearby where the wails of buried survivors could be
heard including school
we ll try getting there tomorrow but for now it dangerous answered
dominican firefighter
we can be there tomorrow at am in the meantime hydrate them give them
water
close by team of california firefighters the second rescue crew to arrive in
country was digging out two women survivors from under the rubble of home
few hours later there was no response from one of the women
india software giant tcs posts net profit up percent
mumbai jan afp
india largest software exporter tata consultancy services on friday said
consolidated net profit rose percent in the third quarter beating forecasts
as outsourcing orders improved
net profit was billion rupees million dollars for the three months
to december up from billion rupees year earlier according to indian
accounting norms
revenue for the quarter rose five percent to billion rupees statement
to the mumbai stock exchange said
tcs once again posted high growth in difficult year said tcs chief
executive chandrasekaran in statement
the us markets continued to lead demand recovery while uk and european markets
were also beginning to invest in the upturn the company said
tcs showed sequential growth across all regions in which it operates the
statement said
during the quarter tcs added net employees and new clients
for the quarter tcs was awarded multi million dollar multi year contract for
us based pharmaceutical firm without disclosing more details
chandrasekaran said demand recovery was being seen across the financial
services banking and telecom sectors
tcs does not offer revenue outlook
on friday tcs shares rose percent or rupees to at the mumbai
stock exchange prior to its earnings data announcement
earlier this week its rival infosys surprised the markets with smaller than
expected fall in net profit of percent to billion dollars and raised
its outlook for revenue
jpmorgan reports big jump in profits
washington jan afp
banking giant jp morgan chase reported on friday big jump in net profit to
billion dollars in the fourth quarter of highlighting renewed health
in the troubled sector
the new york based financial giant doubled its profits for the full year to
billion dollars and quadrupled the numbers put up in the fourth quarter of
the results highlight return to health in the banking sector after year of
crisis but were expected to fuel public resentment over hefty profits and
compensation of firms bailed out by the government and at time when much of
the us economy continues to struggle and unemployment remains high
chairman and chief executive jamie dimon said he was gratified by the results
but said they fell short of both an adequate return on capital and the firm
earnings potential
while we are seeing some stability in delinquencies consumer credit costs
remain high and weak employment and home prices persist accordingly we remain
cautious
the profit for the quarter amounted to cents shares better than the
cents expected by analysts
revenues in the period rose to billion dollars from billion dollars
year earlier for the banking group one of the strongest to emerge from the
global financial crisis
skeleton world cup results
st moritz switzerland jan afp
results here on friday in the seventh event in the skeleton world cup
men one leg only
eric bernotas usa
kristan bromley gbr at
martins dukurs lat
michael douglas can
jon montgomery can
overall world cup standings after seven out of eight races
martins dukurs lat points
sandro stielicke ger
frank rommel ger
jon montgomery can
tomass dukurs lat
britain confirms date for london talks on yemen
london jan afp
an international meeting on fighting extremism in yemen being hosted by britain
will take place on january th the foreign office said friday
prime minister gordon brown called the meeting days after nigerian umar farouk
abdulmutallah allegedly tried to blow up christmas day flight from
amsterdam to detroit he is thought to have been trained in yemen
brown initially said it would be held on january the day of an international
conference on afghanistan in london but will now take place the day before
foreign office spokesman confirmed
the spokesman could not yet confirm which countries are likely to attend or
subjects for discussion
earlier this month brown said in an article on the downing street website that
enemies of democracy and freedom were now trying to mastermind death and
destruction from yemen as well as other better known homes of international
terror such as pakistan and afghanistan
malaysian charged over facebook threat to bomb temple
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysian police friday charged student accused of posting comment on the
social networking website facebook threatening to petrol bomb hindu temple
officials said
mohamad tasyrif tajuddin faces up to year in prison if convicted for
posting an offensive comment on january
ten churches have been been fire bombed or vandalised in malaysia in the past
week after the high court decided on december to lift government ban on
non muslims using allah as translation for god
he is the person who posted on facebook that he was willing to attack the batu
caves temple for money deputy national police chief ismail omar told afp
police say the man is the same person who was arrested earlier this week after
he posted another comment on facebook claiming that he had manufactured the
explosives used in the series of church fire bombings
however the student was released after police found his comment on the church
attacks was prank
we found out it was the same person but the reason why he was charged today has
got nothing to do with the allah row or the church attacks ismail said
religion and language are sensitive issues in multiracial malaysia which
experienced deadly race riots in
radical yemen cleric zendani renews call for jihad
sanaa jan afp
powerful yemeni cleric sheikh abdulmajeed al zendani said on friday it would be
religious duty dictated by god to defend yemen through jihad or holy war
if it is occupied by foreign power
from the moment the enemy invites itself onto our territory and occupies us
our religion imposes the obligation of jihad on us said zendani who has
been labelled global terrorist by the us administration
it is religious duty dictated by god he said during friday prayer sermon
in the yemeni capital
this order of god cannot be annulled by anyone not king not president
not ulema muslim scholars zendani added in firm voice
zendani was responding in part to comments on wednesday by the chairman of the
us senate armed services committee carl levin who urged washington to consider
targeting al qaeda militants in yemen with armed drones air strikes or covert
operations but not invade the country
yemen council of clerics which includes zendani had made similar call on
thursday for jihad if foreign troops join the war on al qaeda in the
impoverished arabian peninsula country
if any party insists on aggression or invades the country then according to
islam jihad becomes obligatory said statement signed by clerics read at
news conference
the clerics also stressed strong rejection of any foreign intervention in
yemeni affairs whether political or military
they also rejected any security or military agreement or cooperation between
yemen and any foreign party if it violates islamic sharia law and the
setting up any military bases in yemen or in its territorial waters
in his friday sermon zendani repeated that we reject any interference in
yemeni affairs adding that the right of self defence is duty
he called on his fellow yemenis to promote the fatwa religious decree in the
media and on the internet and urged arab and muslim countries to support yemen
before catastrophe occurs
the islamic nation will not stand by with its arms crossed in the face of these
crusades he added
to defend ourselves and defend our country and our territory we only fear god
and we are confident in victory he told worshippers who responded with
cries of allahu akbar god is greatest
al qaeda franchise in yemen al qaeda in the arabian peninsula claimed
responsibility for the botched christmas day attack on us airliner and
washington has accused the group of training the alleged assailant nigerian
umar farouk abdulmutallab
in the wake of the failed attack the yemeni government has intensified its
operations against al qaeda insisting that it can tackle the militants on its
own without the need for foreign military intervention
one of the members of the council of clerics sheikh saleh salabani was blunt
in predicting failure for the americans if they do get involved
us strikes he said would drive the populace into the arms of al qaeda
we might not love al qaeda he said but it is for our government to get rid
of them and not anyone else
and the country defence ministry vowed on thursday to do just that
it said it would clear yemen of al qaeda jihadists and warned that intensive
operations will continue against osama bin laden extremists
citizens have been warned not to hide any al qaeda members and have been urged
to cooperate with the security forces against the extremists the defence
ministry sep net website quoted security source as saying
us president barack obama has said he has no intention of sending troops to
yemen or to somalia in the horn of africa just across the bab al mandab
strait
russian hackers jam traffic with porn video reports
moscow jan afp
traffic jerked to standstill as rubbernecking motorists ogled pornographic
clip posted by hackers on big screen video billboards in moscow russian news
agencies reported on friday
the company that operates the billboards panno ru said hackers were behind
graphic sex video broadcast late thursday night on two roadside screens along
moscow garden ring road one of the city busiest arteries
this was an attack by hackers on the computers as result of which one of the
commercial video clips was swapped for an indecent video panno ru commercial
director viktor laptev told ria novosti
he speculated the attack could have been linked to competition on the
advertising market or simply hooliganism
witnesses said traffic crawled to halt as unbelieving motorists craned their
necks to stare at the rated clip which ran for about minutes on the
oversized screens
within three minutes we found it out and within fifteen minutes the screen was
shut off the deputy head of the moscow city advertising committee alexander
menchuk was quoted as saying by interfax
pope seeks closer ties with holocaust denier group
vatican city jan afp
pope benedict xvi on friday urged rapprochement with catholic fraternity
that includes holocaust denying bishop just two days before high profile
visit to rome synagogue
calling christian unity priority for the roman catholic church the pope urged
the vatican doctrinal watchdog to overcome doctrinal problems that prevent
full communion between the church and the pius society
the remark came as the pontiff upcoming synagogue visit is already clouded by
jewish anger over his decision last month to move wartime pope pius xii further
along the road to sainthood
many jews accuse pius xii of inaction during the holocaust and the president of
italy assembly of rabbis giuseppe laras has said he will not be on hand for
the sunday visit
on friday the year old german pontiff was addressing the vatican department
he headed for quarter century the congregation for the doctrine of the faith
he said he counted particularly on the commitment of the congregation to
bringing the pius society back into the catholic fold
the swiss based fraternity rejected the vatican ii declaration absolving
jews of blame for jesus death and their leader archbishop marcel lefebvre
ordained four bishops without vatican blessing
benedict predecessor john paul ii fearing schism ex communicated the four
who include richard williamson of britain who has dismissed as lies the fact
that some six million jews were killed in the holocaust claiming that only
between and jews died before and during world war ii
year ago pope benedict unleashed an outcry among jews as well as within the
catholic church when he lifted williamson ex communication as he began
reaching out to the lefebvrists
spain receives proof mali hostages are alive report
madrid jan afp
the spanish government has viewed video which proves that three aid workers
held hostage in mali since november by the north african branch of al qaeda are
alive spanish newspaper reported friday
foreign minister miguel angel moratinos declined to comment on the report in el
mundo when asked by public television tve
el mundo quoting sources close to the issue said the video gave definitive
proof that the three are alive which madrid was waiting for before it formally
engaged in contact with members of al qaeda to secure their release
all three hostages who were kidnapped on november in mauritania and then
taken to northern mali can be seen in the video including albert vilalta who
suffered bullet wound in one of his legs when he tried to escape it said he
appeared to be in good health
the video was seen by spanish government official on monday in mali capital
bamako it was made by al qaeda in the islamic maghreb aqim and addressed to
the mali authorities
earlier this month el mundo reported that the group had demanded seven million
dollars and the release of several of its members in return for the spanish
hostages two men and woman
madrid has not confirmed receiving ransom request last week moratinos said
