current president of the region salva kiir former rebel commander who is also
first vice president of all sudan
three more rights activists arrested in angola cabinda
luanda jan afp
three human rights campaigners including priest have been arrested in the
angolan enclave of cabinda afp learned sunday following deadly attack there
on the togolese football team
authorities deny the arrests are directly connected with the deadly january
separatist shooting that led to togo pulling out of the africa cup of nations
but human rights watch said the attack was being used to justify arrests
the angolan government is apparently trying to use the attack against the
togolese football team to justify broader crackdown on cabinda most
prominent intellectuals and human rights defenders hrw lisa rimli told afp
well known cabindan lawyer francisco luemba was seized at his home early sunday
his son joao said adding that rights activists raul tati priest and lawyer
martinho nombo were detained late saturday
they came this morning very early and took my father joao luemba told afp
then they came back and searched the house and then his office and took many
documents away nombo and tati were arrested yesterday
we believe my father has been held because of book he wrote in about
cabinda
the arrests follow the detention of university professor belchior lanso former
police officer pedro fuca and chevron employee jose zefarino pauti on charges of
crimes against state security
cabinda public prosecutor antonio nito said he could only confirm the first
three arrests as the others had not yet been presented to the prosecutor
office
he said the detentions are not directly linked with arrests made on the day of
the attack on the togo team bus
eight people are in custody following the shooting which has been claimed by
several factions of the separatist flec front for the liberation of the enclave
of cabinda that has been fighting for independence for more than years
cabindan journalist fernando lelo who spent months in prison and was
sentenced to years jail for crimes against state security before being
released and cleared without explanation said the arrest were making people
afraid
there climate of fear in cabinda and we don know who will be next he
told afp every day that passes we hear of someone else it is significant
that they are now arresting lawyers
hrw has published several reports on arbitrary arrests and detentions in
cabinda and the new york based group rimli said that we are particularly
concerned about the arrest of lawyers who have defended many people who suffered
arbitrary arrest torture and unfair trials
who will be in position to defend them now and who will defend less
prominent people who may suffer abuses in the villages of the interior in the
time to come
security around the cup of nations remains extremely high in the province which
is separated from angola by thin sliver of the democratic republic of congo
players from ghana ivory coast and burkina faso among them premiership stars
didier drogba and michael essien are training under the watch of heavily
armed police and soldiers
on saturday more than people joined march organised by the ruling mpla
popular movement for the liberation of angola to condemn the shooting
football italian serie table
rome jan afp
italian serie table ahead of sunday late game played won drawn lost
goals for against points
inter milan
ac milan
as roma
juventus
napoli
cagliari
fiorentina
palermo
parma
bari
chievo
genoa
sampdoria
livorno
udinese
lazio
udinese
bologna
atalanta
catania
siena
pope honours deported jews ahead of rome synagogue visit
rome jan afp
pope benedict xvi on sunday paid homage to more than roman jews deported
to nazi death camps as he started landmark visit to rome main synagogue
the year old pope began the much anticipated visit under cloud after
angering many jews by moving his wartime predecessor pius xii accused of
inaction during the holocaust further on the road to sainthood
as onlookers applauded the german born pope also stopped before an inscription
marking attack by palestinian extremists that killed two year old child
and wounded other people
the tension surrounding benedict third visit to jewish house of worship is
in stark contrast to the warm welcome reserved for his predecessor john paul ii
who became the first modern pope to visit synagogue the same imposing
temple on the banks of the tiber in
bitter ukraine to punish orange leaders at polls
kiev jan afp
disappointed with the failures of the orange revolution ukraine sunday was
poised to hand the pro russia viktor yanukovich comeback in presidential polls
at the expense of his west leaning rivals
opinion polls show yanukovich with lead of around percentage points over
his nearest challenger the charismatic prime minister yulia tymoshenko but
with candidates the election appears certain to require second round
the orange revolution swept ukraine old order from power and raised hopes
of new era free of kremlin influence for the country of million that would
set precedent for other former soviet states
but president viktor yushchenko the pro eu figurehead of the revolution is set
to record dismal single digit rating and be eliminated in the first round
punished for failing to end corruption and implement urgent reforms
voted for yanukovich am sick of the orange leaders want stability
these last five years were madness said volodymyr efremenko manual
labourer as he cast his vote in kiev school
yanukovich an ex mechanic jailed twice for petty crime in the soviet union
was ingloriously beaten in after the orange revolution street protests
forced re run of presidential polls marred by mass vote rigging in his favour
tymoshenko famed for her peasant style blonde hair braid is seen as more in
favour of eu integration than yanukovich but has also played up her close ties
to russian strongman prime minister vladimir putin
today is not just the election of candidate but when ukraine determines its
future for the next decades tymoshenko declared as she voted in her home city
of dnipropetrovsk alongside her rarely seen businessman husband olexander
voting in kiev yanukovich confidently declared that the ukrainian people want
change and new stage in the history of our country will begin very soon
turnout after the first seven hours of voting was percent the election
commission said but polls were to stay open until gmt the run off vote is
scheduled for february
the bitter campaign saw the shady pasts of the candidates once again dredged up
yanukovich was jailed twice in the soviet era for theft and assault though the
convictions were erased in the late tymoshenko herself was briefly
detained in on smuggling charges that were later quashed
the level of cynicism in ukraine is such that one local politician is even
standing under the name of protivsikh against everyone while website
appeared last week offering voters the chance to auction off their votes
yanukovich should win around percent of the vote in the first round and
tymoshenko percent according to the latest polls by the kiev international
institute of sociology
third place is expected to go to businessman sergiy tigipko who appears to have
made late surge and is given an outside chance of springing first round
upset
andrew wilson ukraine expert at the european council on foreign relations said
the first round gap between yanukovich and tymoshenko would be crucial as she
would be hard pressed to make up difference of more than percent
yushchenko and tymoshenko were comrades in arms in the orange revolution but
later became sworn enemies their relationship poisoned by perennial power
struggle and mutual accusations of criminal wrongdoing
since yanukovich has sought to reinvent himself with the help of western
pr strategists and to show he is not servant of the kremlin but defender of
ukrainian interests
he has also sought more support in the country ukrainian speaking west
traditionally the heartland of tymoshenko and yushchenko supporters while
holding on to his powerbase in the russian speaking east
this time allegations of vote rigging appear not to be shadowing the vote
although scandal has erupted over the presence of hundreds of georgians in the
eastern city of donetsk who officials allege were sent to disrupt the poll
football ronaldinho hat trick puts the heat on inter
rome jan afp
hat trick hero ronaldinho inspired ac milan to crushing thumping of man
siena to close the gap on serie leaders inter milan to just six points with
the milan derby to come next week
milan also have game in hand meaning they could potentially draw level with
the four in row champions if they were to win next weekend crunch clash
playing the league basement sitters milan hardly needed helping hand but
they got exactly that as siena goalkeeper gianluca curci was harshly sent off on
minutes
ronaldinho despatched the resulting penalty and marco borriello scored on
minutes to put the game to bed before half time before the brazilian rounded off
the scoring in the second period
milan started in determined mood following inter draw at bari on saturday
night and ronaldinho took an alessandro nesta cross on his chest on three
minutes before sending spectacular overhead bicycle kick just off target
but on minutes the referee took the decision that essentially ended the game
as contest
jardim brandao dithered on the ball in his own box and borriello dispossessed
him before trying to round curci
there was minimal contact between the pair and borriello crumpled to the ground
but the striker last touch had been too heavy anyway and left him no chance of
reaching the ball before back tracking defender
even so the referee pointed to the spot and showed curci straight red card
substitute goalkeeper gianluca pegolo first task was to pick the ball out of
his net
siena battled on gamely and on minutes massimo maccarone someone escaped from
crowd of three defenders on the edge of the milan box to bundle through before
firing over on the stretch as thiago silva came across to put him under
pressure
yet just two minutes later the lead was doubled as andrea pirlo curled cross
into the near post and borriello hooked brilliant volley over his shoulder and
into the top corner
ronaldinho proved constant menace and had two early second half chances
flicking the ball over the bar with the first and being denied by pegalo with
the second
but minutes from time he rose unmarked in the box to head home david
beckham corner
then having tricked his way into the area ronaldinho flicked the ball wide of
the far post but the brazilian finally sealed his first milan hat trick with
rocket into the top corner from outside the area minute from time
juventus slumped to their seventh defeat in games with reverse at
chievo that is sure to increase the pressure on under fire coach ciro ferrara
juve dropped to fourth but will tumble out of the champions league places if
napoli avoid defeat at home to palermo in the day late game
as roma moved up to third as on loan striker luca toni scored his first goals
for the club in win over free falling genoa
simone perrotta opened the scoring on minutes after scramble at corner
and then toni turned home mirko vucinic cross on the stroke of half time
and on the hour mark vucinic turned provider again for toni to head home his
second
alert
rome jewish leader asks pope to open archives on wartime predecessor
german soldiers kill afghan at checkpoint military
berlin jan afp
german soldiers opened fire on car speeding towards checkpoint in northern
afghanistan killing an afghan and wounding another the military said sunday
soldiers had erected temporary checkpoint in kunduz after warnings of
suicide attack toyota car had suddenly pulled out of the checkpoint queue and
sped towards the guards the german military said in statement
despite hand signals and warning shots the car did not stop but continued its
journey at high speed towards the checkpoint it said
as result of this escalation the soldiers opened fire with their handguns
and shot and wounded two passengers in the vehicle
the injured afghans were taken to hospital in kunduz later we received the
news from the hospital that one of the patients had died in the meantime the
statement said
it did not make clear if they were civilians
the shooting follows similar incident on friday in which german troops shot
and injured another afghan driver whom they said had been speeding towards
checkpoint
civilian casualties of the war against the taliban are touchy issue in
afghanistan especially those caused by international troops
the nato led force in kabul said its troops shot and killed civilian in
afghanistan south early sunday when they fired on large vehicle travelling
at high speed without headlights towards one of its convoys
germany has the third largest international contingent in the nato force with
about troops most of them in the north where security has deteriorated
this year with sharp rise in attacks on foreign forces
on september german commander called in raid near kunduz that killed up
to people including several civilians
the bombing prompted public outrage forcing the defence minister at the time to
resign
voting underway in cliff hanger chilean vote
santiago jan afp
chileans voted sunday in what promises to be an extremely tight presidential
election contest between conservative billionaire sebastian pinera and lefist
former president eduardo frei
polls ahead of sunday second round balloting suggested dead heat with some
million voters eligible to cast ballots in the andean nation which is one of
latin america most prosperous countries
outgoing president michelle bachelet who is not allowed to stand for another
term under chile constitution has thrown her full weight behind frei bid
victory for pinera meanwhile would signal an end to the left wing rule
enjoyed over the past two decades by bachelet four party concertacion
coalition which has been in power since the end of general augusto pinochet
dictatorship in
pinera said the time was ripe for change in chile after two decades of leftist
rule
it good to have change after years and we re going to do things much
better he said shortly after casting his ballot at polling station in
downtown santiago
frei meanwhile said chile had been well served by two decades of leftist
leadership and insisted there is no reason for the country to switch parties
now
we have talked lot about change but change to what he asked after casting
his vote in la union
the squeaker election is remarkable shift from the december first round
vote when pinera prevailed with percentage point lead over frei
that margin is now seen to have shrunk to just percentage points less
than the margin of error in recent opinion surveys
polling stations were to close at pm gmt with initial returns
expected three hours later
pinera media magnate and big stakeholder in chile flagship lan airline had
been confident of beating frei an uncharismatic politician who was head of
state from to until bachelet managed to turn the tide
bachelet enjoys sky high popularity ratings after rolling out well received
social welfare program and successfully guiding chile recovery through last
year global financial crisis
she has been leveraging that support squaring it behind frei member of the
christian democratic party whose father eduardo frei montalva served as
chile president from to
the fruit of her efforts was seen in survey wednesday which showed pinera with
percent of intended ballots and frei with percent
as she arrived at santiago polling station with her mother and dozens of
supporters bachelet acknowledged that this is very competitive election
pinera was bitter that his margin for victory had been so dramatically reduced
and was especially nettled by comment bachelet made on thursday saying she
would vote for frei because he was honest
the message bachelet was pushing was clear that pinera multiple business
interests made him less than ideal candidate to run chile vibrant economy
pinera camp has tried to counter by portraying the tycoon as somebody who
knows how to generate wealth not just for himself but for the nation
it was clear that whatever advantage he once had has now evaporated and the
contest could go either way
we are seeing very content frei and an insecure pinera who for the first
time is realizing that he can lose the presidential vote runoff bernardo
navarrete of the university of santiago told afp
frei has gone forth in technocrat fashion focusing his campaign on promising
voters that social development programs established by bachelet would be
maintained
and he said he is counting on high turnout from his supporters
each vote counts each vote in each polling station will make the difference in
this election he said last week urging vigilance by vote observers
football gabon tunisia teams
lubango angola jan afp
teams for an africa cup of nations group match here on sunday
tunisia mathlouthi mikari jemal haggui capt ben radhia dhaouadi ragued
msekni korbi chermiti jemaa
coach faouzi benzerti
gabon ovono moundounga ecuele brou ambourouet mbanangoye kessany nguema
mouloungui cousin capt aubameyang
coach alain giresse fra
referee koffi codja ben
football italian serie results
rome jan afp
italian serie results ahead of sunday late match
ac milan ronaldinho pen borriello siena
atalanta doni padoin lazio
chievo sardo juventus
fiorentina mutu bologna gimenez di vaio
parma udinese
as roma perrotta toni genoa
sampdoria pazzini pen catania llama
playing later
napoli palermo
saturday
bari baretto pen pen inter milan pandev pen
cagliari larrivey jeda livorno
list of countries that have pledged aid funds to haiti
geneva jan afp
here is list of countries which have pledged emergency relief funds for haiti
as of sunday according to data on the un office for the coordination of
humanitarian affairs website
some of these countries and others not on this list have sent aid in other
forms such as search and rescue teams or supplies
australia million dollars
belgium dollars
brazil million dollars
britain million dollars
cambodia dollars
canada million dollars
china million dollars
colombia dollars
czech republic dollars
denmark million dollars
estonia dollars
european commission million dollars
finland million dollars
germany million dollars
greece dollars
grenada dollars
guyana million dollars
iceland dollars
india million dollars
indonesia million dollars
ireland dollars
italy million dollars
japan million dollars
luxembourg dollars
mexico million dollars
monaco dollars
morocco million dollars
netherlands million dollars
new zealand dollars
norway million dollars
poland million dollars
russia dollars
singapore dollars
slovenia dollars
south africa dollars
south korea million dollars
spain million dollars
sweden million dollars
switzerland million dollars
taiwan million dollars
thailand dollars
united states million dollars
urgent three haiti quake survivors pulled from rubble
port au prince jan afp
three survivors were pulled from the rubble sunday five days after massive
earthquake devastated haiti infrastructure and killed tens of thousands of
people rescuers said
urgent moment of silence for haiti as pope visits rome synagague
rome jan afp
the head of rome jewish community called sunday for moment of silence for
the victims of haiti massive earthquake at the start of visit by pope
benedict xvi to the city main synagogue
china confirms eight nationals killed in haiti
beijing jan afp
china said sunday the bodies of eight nationals buried in haiti devastating
earthquake had been found as the asian nation first batch of humanitarian aid
arrived in the caribbean nation
china ministry of public security said in statement the victims were members
of the country police force but more detailed report by the official xinhua
news agency said some were peacekeepers
huge magnitude earthquake hit haiti on tuesday leaving tens of thousands
of dead in the capital port au prince and surrounding areas
xinhua said four of the victims were part of the un peacekeeping mission in
haiti and the other four were members of team sent to port au prince by the
public security ministry for peacekeeping consultations
the team had just arrived in haiti and was meeting un officials when the quake
struck the report said
china foreign ministry spokeswoman jiang yu said thursday all other chinese in
haiti were safe including more than un peacekeepers
the bodies of the eight dead comrades will be repatriated back to china as soon
as possible the ministry said
president hu jintao expressed deep condolences over their deaths and sent
words of comfort to their families xinhua said
china has sent chinese rescue personnel and load of relief supplies to
haiti amid mounting fears for the thousands still trapped under the ruins
china southern airlines said its boeing carrying tonnes of emergency
supplies reached port au prince after hour flight from beijing xinhua
reported on sunday
the million yuan million dollar cargo including tents water
food emergency lights medicine clothes and water purification equipment is
part of million yuan relief package announced by beijing on friday
china central government has also said the chinese red cross society will
donate one million dollars in aid supplies
beijing had proposed the establishment of joint rescue and search team with
taiwan but the plan was rejected taiwanese foreign ministry official was
quoted as saying sunday
chang tai fu taiwan acting ambassador in haiti told the state central news
agency that china commercial representative there had suggested that taipei
and beijing jointly conduct rescue and relief missions
however the proposal has been rejected courteously by chang on grounds that
the rescue teams of the two sides have been tasked with different missions
haiti is one of the countries that recognise taipei rather than beijing
taiwan ambassador to haiti hsu mien sheng and other staff at the embassy
were injured when their port au prince headquarters collapsed during the killer
quake they have been sent to the neighbouring dominican republic for treatment
taiwan has sent member search and rescue team to haiti while mulling
dispatching medical team
the island has boosted its pledge of humanitarian aid to five million us
dollars up from the previously announced dollars the foreign ministry
said
alert
three haiti quake survivors pulled from rubble rescuers
corrected ban visits haiti the un worst ever disaster
newark new jersey jan afp
un secretary general ban ki moon headed to haiti on sunday to experience first
hand what he described as the most serious humanitarian crisis to face the
world body in decades
am going to haiti with very heavy heart to express solidarity and full
support of the un to the people of haiti ban told journalists accompanying him
on day long trip to the disaster zone
tuesday magnitude quake in haiti has killed an estimated people and
was also the worst ever disaster for the un with staffers confirmed dead and
nearly others still unaccounted for
we have to prepare for the worst ban said as he flew out of newark referring
to un employees still missing after the disaster that flattened much of the
capital port au prince and nearby towns in western haiti
ban said the three top priorities were to save as many people as possible to
bring emergency humanitarian aid in the form of water food and medication and
to coordinate the massive aid effort he said
the un has noted that at least local government structures remained after the
tsunami hit indonesia aceh province but in the haiti town of leogane
for example all public services were lost in the earthquake
between and people are thought to have died in that town alone an
indication of the horrific scale of the catastrophe beyond port au prince
ban will assess the caribbean nation needs and attempt to boost the shattered
morale of the brazilian led united nations stabilization mission in haiti
minustah
the un secretary general is expected to meet haitian president rene preval and
pledge the world body full support in the wake of the disaster
on the eve of his departure ban grimly confirmed that minustah civilian chief
hedi annabi his brazilian deputy luiz carlos da costa and acting police
commissioner doug coates of the royal canadian mounted police were confirmed
to have died
the united nations was his life and he ranked amongst its most dedicated and
committed sons the un boss said of annabi veteran tunisian un
troubleshooter
annabi was meeting with visiting chinese police delegation when the quake
flattened minustah main headquarters building in port au prince christopher
hotel building
ban has sent edmond mulet top un peacekeeping official and annabi
predecessor to port au prince to take charge of the decapitated minustah in an
interim capacity
accompanying ban in haiti will be un development program head helen clark top
un peacekeeper alain leroy un humanitarian chief john holmes and susana
malcorra who is in charge of the world body field support operations
holmes on friday appealed for million dollars from the world community to
help three million quake victims in the western hemisphere poorest country for
period of six months
the money is to be used for urgently needed food water and sanitation medical
supplies tents and blankets logistics and education
ban last toured haiti with former us president bill clinton in march to
urge the international community to aid the island nation after it was battered
by hurricanes the previous year
clinton and fellow former president george bush named by the white house as
special coordinators of aid to haiti launched an appeal saturday to raise tens
of millions of dollars for the stricken country
islamic games called off in rift over persian gulf tag
riyadh jan afp
the riyadh based islamic solidarity federation on sunday called off the athletic
games planned for tehran in april because of iran use of the term persian
gulf on winners medals
the isf headed by saudi olympic federation president prince sultan bin fahd
said after an emergency board meeting that iran local organising committee
unilaterally took some decisions without asking the federation by writing some
slogans on the medals and pamphlets of the games
iran did not abide by the rules of the islamic solidarity sports federation
and did not follow the decisions taken by the general assembly of the
federation at previous meeting in riyadh it said in statement
the games were being called off because of the dispute the isf said
swine flu worries and the dispute over tehran insistence on using persian
gulf for the waters between iran and the arabian peninsula had already caused
the games to be postponed since an initial planned date of last october
the arab countries of the oil rich region insist on the term arabian gulf or
