power
parliamentarians diplomats and analysts had earlier said they expected up to
one third of his second round of choices to be rejected in secret ballot
members of afghanistan wolesi jirga the lower house many wearing turbans and
traditional salwar kameez spent the week grilling the new nominees after being
ordered by the president to cancel their winter break to consider the list
those approved included ministers of justice foreign affairs religious
affairs economy rural development social affairs and counter narcotics
ministers for defence agriculture interior finance education culture and
mines and industries were approved in the first round of voting
karzai now needs to introduce new faces for approval to complete his cabinet
but cannot nominate anyone who has already been rejected
there has been high degree of absenteeism during the questioning of the
nominees and expect large number of them perhaps one third will be
rejected haroun mir director of afghanistan centre for research and policy
studies said before the voting started
lack of political parties means there is little cohesion among lawmakers or
consultation before they vote
parliament initial rejection of names was seen as huge blow to karzai
who is under enormous pressure to prove his commitment to clean and competent
government in return for ongoing western support to rebuild the country and
fight taliban insurgents
karzai office issued statement quoting him saying he regretted that such
large proportion of his nominees had been rejected but that he respected the
constitutional decision of the parliament
he said he had made his choices based on merit professionalism and national
partnership
the rejection has left the country without fully functioning government
dragging out the political stasis that has prevailed since the august election
diplomats said karzai wants government in place ahead of an international
conference in london on january to discuss the country future
the conference will provide an opportunity for afghanistan and its western
supporters who together have troops fighting the taliban led
insurgency under us and nato command to formalise development and security
plan in one european diplomat said
karzai first list of nominees was clear attempt to appease his critics in
the international community many of whom have made continued support
conditional on concrete progress on eradicating corruption
this is government we can work with and look forward to working with
richard holbrooke washington special representative for afghanistan and
pakistan told reporters in kabul
analysts said the new nominees had represented cross section of afghanistan
ethnic mix of pashtun uzbek tajik and hazara to mirror karzai notion of an
inclusive national partnership
haiti quake worst disaster ever confronted by un spokeswoman
geneva jan afp
the earthquake in haiti is the worst disaster ever confronted by the united
nations spokeswoman said saturday pointing out that the catastrophe has left
affected regions with little infrastructure
this is historic disaster we have never been confronted with such disaster
in the un memory it is like no other elisabeth byrs spokeswoman of the un
office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs told afp
she noted that at least local government structures remained after the
tsunami hit indonesia aceh province but in haiti the town of leogane for
example had lost all its public services in the earthquake
turkey sends cash relief aid to haiti
ankara jan afp
turkey is sending one million dollars euros in cash as well as
rescuers and relief supplies to haiti to help in the wake of powerful quake
the foreign ministry said saturday
three military planes flew to haiti saturday and fourth was to follow sunday
carrying tonnes of relief supplies and equipment including mobile
hospital it said
strong search and rescue team and medics were to join the post quake
efforts it said adding that nine turkish rescuers were already in haiti
turkey itself has been the victim of killer quakes about people died
when two powerful tremors hit the country in august and november
football serb ilic quits salzburg
vienna jan afp
attacking serb midfielder sasa ilic has quit red bull salzburg following fall
out with the austrian club dutch coach huub stevens
ilic had failed to nail down starting spot since salzburg elimination
from the champions league at the hands of maccabi haifa
the serbian had been at salzburg since signing from partizan belgrade
quake sparks massive exodus from haitian capital
port au prince jan afp
standing at bus station next to her husband and four children talulum saint
fils looks determined to get out of the haitian capital that some now refer to
as hell
go to any place but away from this city she repeats again and again
and many haitians share her scathing view of port au prince massively destroyed
by tuesday magnitude earthquake
thousands of residents have fled the city in recent days saying they were tired
of sleeping in the street afraid of being robbed by ruthless gangs or simply
fearful of new powerful aftershocks that might destroy buildings that still
remain standing
if the city dwellers have relatives in the country they gather what left of
their personal belongings and hit the road in the hope of waiting out the
catastrophe in parts of haiti that have suffered less damage
the streets smell of death saint fils goes on in distress there is no
assistance of any kind and our children simply cannot live like animals
to buy one way tickets to fodernerg small city three hours away from the
capital the family had to sell jewelry to come up with gourdes dollars
twice the usual fare
like to rebuild our house but where will we get the money to do it she
asks
when the bus comes it is packed and those who could not squeeze themselves on
it cannot hide their anger but bus operators just shake their heads
we carry twice as many passengers as usual and we have doubled the fare because
there is no gasoline and no security in the city argues jaino nony owner of
several buses but that the right price for getting out of hell
aanoz richard year old baker who has become homeless after the quake is
livid because his savings were not enough to pay the fare
look this is my house and this is my bed now he says pointing in despair
toward the street
another bus packed with passengers and their belongings leaves the station
taking to distant city family who have spent hours waiting for any
available transportation and negotiating the fare
they say the government is receiving millions of dollars in aid but we have
not seen cent laments islaine mother of three children we and our
children have been left in the street and we have no other option but to leave
even though we have spent our whole lives here
she says she would like to return to port au prince one day but does not know
if that will be possible
the exodus is now visibly affecting the haitian capital as some of the hardest
hit neighborhoods look empty
woman who identified herself as braubrin high school teacher said she felt
fortunate to be alive because the earthquake had completely destroyed her house
but she does not hide her disappointment in the haitian government
the haitian governments have never done anything for the people braubrin
says we are absolutely dependant of other countries but we can just sit
here surrounded by dead bodies and wait for somebody to come and rescue us
half empty bus from the province pulls into the station bringing in farmer
alix bonfils who came to look for his missing brothers
we have not heard from them since the quake and cannot bear this uncertainty
any longer says bonfils
he looks at the devastation around him and says he cannot believe his eyes
we knew it was serious he throws up his hands but one really cannot realize
how serious before seeing it with his own eyes
football league results
sydney jan afp
results of australian league matches played on saturday
melbourne victory thompson kruse muscat pen hernandez
perth glory vargas og sterjovski
brisbane roar newcastle jets thompson bridges pen
friday
new zealand phoenix dadi ifill mckain north queensland fury
adelaide united dodd central coast mariners mrdja pen
egypt security court to try coptic killers prosecutor
cairo jan afp
three muslims accused of gunning down six egyptian christians on the coptic
christmas eve will stand trial before an emergency security court the state
prosecutor said on saturday
the prosecutor abdel magid mahmud said in statement that the three men were
charged with premeditated murder aimed at harming national interests
the suspects were arrested day after they allegedly shot dead the six copts
and muslim policeman along stretch of road with churches and shopping mall
in the southern village of naga hammadi on january
the drive by shooting took place after worshippers emerged from midnight mass
before christmas marked by copts and other orthodox communities across the
world on january
the killings which were condemned by pope benedict xvi sparked outrage among
egypt copts who make up about percent of the country million people
and led to clashes with police
number of muslim and coptic homes and stores were attacked and burnt in the
ensuing violence
sectarian clashes occur regularly in egypt particularly in the rural south but
the attack was the bloodiest since copts died in clashes in
egyptian human rights activist hafez abu saada said the trial would be the first
conducted by state security court over sectarian attack the courts are
usually used for terrorism cases and allow no right of appeal
it message of reassurance to the copts and to affirm the government
concern towards this case he said
copts complain of discrimination in the muslim majority country they are
permitted to build churches only after they get presidential permission and must
apply to their governor to renovate churches
the prosecutor did not announce date for the start of the trial
urgent haiti quake worst disaster ever confronted by un spokeswoman
geneva jan afp
the earthquake in haiti is the worst disaster ever confronted by the united
nations spokeswoman said saturday pointing out that the catastrophe has left
affected regions with little infrastructure
significant progress in us russia nuclear talks medvedev
moscow russia jan afp
the united states and russia have made significant progress towards new
nuclear disarmament treaty russian president dmitry medvedev said on saturday
quoted by news agencies
we have taken fairly serious step forward and to significant degree we
have brought our positions closer medvedev said quoted by the itar tass and
ria novosti state news agencies
the negotiations are not proceeding easily but on many positions we have
reached agreement with the americans the president said during meeting with
senior russian lawmakers
us and russian negotiators have been in lengthy talks on replacement for the
strategic arms reduction treaty start key cold war era disarmament
pact which expired in december
us president barack obama and medvedev have pledged to replace start which
imposed strict limits on their countries nuclear arsenals but the talks have
gotten bogged down amid disgreements over missile monitoring
alert
haiti quake worst disaster ever confronted by un spokeswoman
tennis sydney international results
sydney jan afp
results from the seventh and final day of the sydney international wta atp
tennis tournament on saturday denotes seed
men
final
marcos baghdatis cyp bt richard gasquet fra
turkish navy rescues indian ship from somali pirates army
ankara jan afp
turkish frigate saturday staved off an armed attack on an indian commercial
ship in the gulf of aden and captured six pirates the turkish army said here
the jal layak came under machine gun fire as it was sailing miles
kilometres off shore through the warship patrolled transit corridor that
vessels are encouraged to use for safe passage the army statement said
turkish frigate gokova member of the nato anti piracy mission foiled the
attempt to hijack the ship in an operation also involving helicopter and
amphibian commandoes
the six assailants were rendered ineffective and search of their skiff
resulted in the seizure of equipment used in piracy attacks including machine
gun and knives
an international flotilla of warships has been patrolling the piracy plagued
gulf of aden one of the globe busiest maritime trade routes since
as supplies begin to arrive haitians still live in fear
port au prince jan afp
the crippled port of the haitian capital has received its first supply ship
since the killer earthquake hit boat carrying bananas and coal that was
greeted with jubilation by desperate residents of the devastated city
swarm of small boats surrounded the ship at the entrance to the harbor late
friday as it approached crumbled pier with supplies from jeremie haitian
town about kilometers miles from port au prince
bananas will provide local residents with necessary food while coal can be used
to boil water to avoid the spread of disease
but the joyful event did little to change the overall grim situation
the haitian capital insecure at the best of times is now devoid of
functioning police force bringing fears of dystopian war of all against all
in the wake of tuesday magnitude earthquake
men suddenly appeared with machetes to steal money said evelyne buino
young beautician describing long sleepless night in neighborhood not far
from the ruined city center this is just the beginning
buino immediate fear comes from nearby prison which contained the worst
gangsters in the city
when the earthquake unleashed its fury on port au prince two million
inhabitants it also let loose upon them the convicts who escaped from the
city collapsed jail
the prison large blue iron gate remains closed but its cell block was among
the scores of buildings razed by the quake allowing surviving prisoners to run
free
all the bandits of the city are now on the streets local policeman said
standing near the jail rifle at the ready they are robbing people it is
big problem
with haitian president rene preval at the airport struggling to piece together
the remains of the state desperate citizens tried to fill the void
organize neighborhood committees to avoid chaos radio metropole urged
residents to prevent people looting shops and houses
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
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 whose son bryan michael began screaming from under the
rubble few hours ago but now we have no gas or coal and you can not
sterilize it
cannot 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
with the presidential palace and several other key government buildings
destroyed the haitian government is set up in police station close to the
airport
president preval works in an office protected by two guards from his security
detail
in another office prime minister jean max bellerive meets with several
ministers his original office now serves as shelter for hundreds of families
left without homes
the government has lost its capacity to function properly but it has not
collapsed said the president who looked exhausted with dark pockets under the
eyes
thousands of residents have fled the city saying they were tired of sleeping in
the street afraid of being robbed by ruthless gangs or simply fearful of new
powerful aftershocks that might destroy what buildings remain standing
if they have relatives in the country they gather what left of their personal
belongings and hit the road in the hope of waiting out the catastrophe in parts
of haiti that have suffered less damage
to buy one way tickets to fodernerg small city three hours away from the
capital the family of talulum saint fils had to sell jewelry to come up with
gourdes us dollars twice the usual fare
but she said leaving was worth the price
the streets smell of death saint fils said there is no assistance of any
kind and our children simply cannot live like animals
but thousands of others have no choice but to stay in port au prince
in the bustling marche en fer or iron market one of the city poorest
neighborhoods teenage looters friday scuttled over the twisted concrete debris
as crowds ignored piles of dead bodies on the street in their desperate bid to
dig out supplies
urgent significant progress in us russia nuclear talks medvedev
moscow jan afp
the united states and russia have made significant progress towards new
nuclear disarmament treaty russian president dmitry medvedev said on saturday
quoted by news agencies
egypt security court to try coptic killers prosecutor
cairo jan afp
three muslims accused of gunning down six egyptian christians on the coptic
christmas eve will stand trial before an emergency security court the state
prosecutor said on saturday
the prosecutor abdel magid mahmud said in statement that the three men were
charged with premeditated murder aimed at harming national interests
the suspects were arrested day after they allegedly gunned down six copts and
muslim policeman along stretch of road with churches and shopping mall in
the southern village of naga hammadi on january
the attack took place after worshippers emerged from midnight mass before
christmas marked by copts on january
the killings sparked outrage among egypt copts who make up about percent
of the country million people and led to clashes with police
alert
medvedev sees significant progress in us russia nuclear talks reports
luge world cup results
oberhof germany jan afp
luge world cup results here on saturday
men
andre florschutz torsten wustlich ger
tobias wendl tobias arlt ger at
patric leitner alexander resch ger
andreas linger wolfgang linger aut
gerhard plankensteiner oswald haselrieder ita
world cup overall standings after seven of eight races
andre florschutz torsten stlich ger points
patric leitner alexander resch ger
christian oberstolz patrick gruber ita
andreas linger wolfgang linger aut
tobias wendl tobias arlt ger
activists scuffle with police over hong kong railway project
hong kong jan afp
hundreds of protesters scuffled with police saturday after hong kong lawmakers
approved controversial billion dollar express railway project
police used pepper spray on the protesters as they tried to break through
barricade surrounding the legislative council building where lawmakers met for
third time to debate the project
the activists were among thousands of people who surrounded the building since
saturday morning to demand the project withdrawal
after an eight hour meeting the council voted in favour of the project which
will link hong kong and guangzhou capital of neighbouring guangdong province
officials say the project is important for fostering economic ties between hong
kong and major cities on the chinese mainland and hope construction will be
completed by around
the project has been through year consultation it is an important
investment hong kong transport secretary eva cheng said after the meeting
pro democracy legislators tried to delay the decision saying the public had not
been properly consulted and that the scheme was over priced
they also said it would benefit only developers while forcing villagers along
the route to relocate
more than protesters staged sit in outside the official residence of
hong kong chief executive donald tsang late friday to urge the government to
drop the project
nordic skiing world cup km cross country classic
otepaa estonia jan afp
world cup km cross country classic style race here on saturday
km classic style
justyna kowalczyk pol min sec
marit bjoergen nor at sec
aino kaisa saarinen fin
charlotte kalla swe
petra majdic slo
virpi kuitunen fin
anna haag swe
masako ishida jpn
kristina smigun est
astrid jacobsen nor
world cup overall standings after of races
justyna kowalczyk pol points
petra majdic slo
aino kaisa saarinen fin
arianna follis ita
kristin stoermer steira nor
marit bjoergen nor
riitta liisa roponen fin
marianna longa ita
natalia korosteleva rus
olga savialova rus
football portsmouth birmingham called off
london jan afp
the english premiership match between portsmouth and birmingham has been
postponed because the fratton park pitch is waterlogged
bad weather has played havoc with sporting fixtures in britain with only two
premier league games going ahead last week because of heavy snow which is now
thawing out
the weather has claimed several other fixtures in both england and scotland
including the scottish premier league clash between st johnstone and aberdeen
relief agencies gearing up for more aid to haiti
geneva jan afp
relief agencies plan to step up distribution of aid supplies in haiti with the
international organisation for migration saying saturday that it is aiming to
get help to earthquake survivors daily
relief items are expected to be dispersed rather quickly as iom wfp and unicef
aim to cover some individuals per day said vincent houver iom chief of
mission in haiti
on friday the iom which is coordinating the distibution of non food relief
items and the un world food programme wfp managed to get aid to
people in port au prince transportation and logistical problems had hampered
distributing supplies immediately following tuesday earthquake
they were drawing on their stocks which were already in haiti prior to the
disaster but shipments of relief aid are now beginning to arrive in the
country
two cargo planes from the united states carrying hygiene kits water containers
kitchen sets and mobile water treatment units had arrived overnight
another shipment of tents and cots is expected over the weekend said the iom
aid is coming in we now need to sort out issues linked to warehousing iom
spokesman jean philippe chauzy told afp
at the same time as there are hundreds of thousands of families displaced or
affected by the earthquake the iom stressed that more support would still be
needed to meet the population needs
while blocked roads were among the main transportation issues in the immediate
aftermath of the earthquake they are now gradually being cleared
the problem however is that there is now increasing traffic arising from
people who are leaving the haitian capital
to get around the traffic issue chauzy said the iom is looking at distributing
supplies during the early hours of the day
egypt muslim brotherhood names conservative as new leader
cairo jan afp
egypt main opposition group the muslim brotherhood named conservative
mohammed badie as its new leader on saturday in move analysts said signals
switch to less active role in politics
badie veterinary professor at southern university was chosen by consensus
by members of the consultative council his predecessor mohammed akef told
press conference in cairo
the brotherhood is officially banned but controls fifth of seats in the
egyptian parliament after it ran independent candidates in the last general
election in
badie told reporters that the brotherhood rejected violence and aimed to achieve
gradual reforms
we believe in incremental reform and that takes places in peaceful and
constitutional way we reject violence and denounce it in all its forms the
new leader said
the group has affiliates in other muslim states some with official status
egypt brotherhood leader is in theory the movement chief on the
international front but groups in other countries are autonomous in practice
the choice of badie the group eighth supreme guide since it was founded in
signals return to less high profile public role than in the last poll
when the brotherhood supporters fielded candidates analysts said
born in in the nile delta town of mahalla el kubra badie was jailed for
nine years in the after being accused of membership of brotherhood
paramilitary cell that allegedly planned the overthrow of the government
he later became responsible for ideological education in the group
in the case for which badie was jailed thousands of islamists were convicted
and imprisoned while influential radical islamist thinker sayid qutb was
executed
although disowned by some brotherhood members for his radical views badie and
others in the movement continued to embrace qutb who advocated armed struggle
to impose islamic law
badie is one of the sons of the organisation they were introduced to what
was military organisation that preached revolution said abdel moneim mahmud
journalist associated with the group reformist wing
to be realistic the organisation never actually did anything but at the end
of the day it was the door through which they entered the brotherhood and they
believed in it he said
badie election came after bitter dispute between conservatives in the group
who place the emphasis on strengthening the organisation and ideological
outreach and reformists advocating more active public role
akef resigned last year before the end of his term in office in protest after
conservative members of the brotherhood politburo opposed promotion for essam
erian who is associated with the group reformist wing
the conservative wing has been seen to consolidate its control in subsequent
politburo elections in which the group deputy chief mohammed habib and
reformist leader abdel moneim abul futuh lost their seats
analysts say the new leadership team and campaign of arrests by police are
likely to encourage shift away from public life the government has also
passed laws that make it harder to contest the parliament election
there are two causes for the regression of political work the first is intense
government pressures and the constitutional changes made on participation in
elections said diaa rashwan an expert on political islam
the other factor is that badie is not involved in public work he is part of
the ideological work
two british soldiers killed in afghanistan ministry
london jan afp
an explosion has killed two british soldiers in southern afghanistan britain
ministry of defence said on saturday
two british soldiers from rd battalion the rifles were killed by an explosion
near sangin in helmand province yesterday friday military spokesman
lieutenant colonel david wakefield said in statement
they were on foot patrol protecting the local population from insurgents when
the attack happened
their deaths bring to four the number of british soldiers killed in afghanistan
this year
total of british service personnel died in afghanistan last year the
bloodiest for the british military since the falklands war total of
have been killed since operations began in
urgent egypt security court to try coptic killers prosecutor
cairo jan afp
three muslim men accused of gunning down six coptic christians on christmas eve
will stand trial before an egyptian emergency state security court the state
prosecutor said on saturday
iran fully supports lebanon unity vice president
beirut jan afp
iranian vice president mohammad reza tajeddini said his government fully
supports the unity and independence of lebanon during visit to beirut on
saturday the lebanese president office said
the iranian official conveyed president mahmud ahmadinejad appreciation for
president michel sleiman efforts to strengthen the atmosphere of consensus
in lebanon and emphasised president ahmadinejad full support for the unity
sovereignty and independence of lebanon and its territory statement released
by sleiman office said
prime minister saad hariri son of murdered ex premier rafiq hariri announced
the formation of new government on november more than four months after his
us and saudi backed alliance defeated hezbollah led bloc backed by syria and
iran in general election
