benjamin raich aut
didier cuche sui
aksel lund svindal nor
michael walchhofer aut
didier fago sui
ted ligety usa
ivica kostelic cro
marcel hirscher aut
manuel osborne paradis can
world cup slalom standings after five races
reinfried herbst aut points
julien lizeroux fra
ivica kostelic ita
silvan zurbriggen sui
benjamin raich aut
israel collectively punishing gaza amnesty
jerusalem jan afp
amnesty international on monday accused israel of collectively punishing the
population of the gaza strip with border closures tightened after the islamist
hamas movement bloody takeover
the british based rights group said the firing of rockets by palestinian
militants which the israeli military says has dropped by about percent
since its offensive in gaza last year did not justify the sanctions
the blockade does not target armed groups but rather punishes gaza entire
population by restricting the entry of food medical supplies educational
equipment and building materials said malcolm smart the group middle east
and north africa director in statement
the blockade constitutes collective punishment under international law and must
be lifted immediately
amnesty said egypt was partly to blame because it only occasionally opens its
rafah crossing with gaza the only terminal bypassing israel
it also faulted cairo for starting work on an underground border wall in bid
to halt the smuggling tunnels that have become an economic lifeline to the
territory but are also used by hamas to smuggle in weapons and money
however as the occupying power it is israel that bears the foremost
responsibility for ensuring the welfare of the inhabitants of gaza amnesty
said
monday is the one year anniversary of the mutual ceasefires that ended the
day gaza war which killed some palestinians and flattened entire
neighbourhoods thirteen israelis were killed during the fighting
israel imposed strict sanctions on gaza in following the capture of an
israeli soldier by hamas and other militants in deadly cross border raid
it tightened the blockade when hamas which is pledged to israel destruction
seized power in june after week of bloody street battles with forces
loyal to the western backed palestinian president mahmud abbas
haitian police fire on looters one killed
port au prince jan afp
haitian police opened fire on group of looters sunday killing at least one of
them as hundreds of rioters ransacked market in quake hit port au prince
one rioter man in his was killed outright by bullets to the head as the
crowd grabbed produce in the marche hyppolite
another looter quickly snatched the rucksack off the dead man back as clashes
continued and police reinforcements descended on the area armed with pump action
shotguns and assault rifles
french medics urge priority for haiti aid planes
paris jan afp
french aid group struggling to get medical relief to earthquake victims in
haiti on sunday urged us authorities to speed up the landing of supplies there
after one of its aircraft was turned away
medecins sans frontieres doctors without borders msf demands that cargo
planes bringing emergency medical and surgical supplies be authorised with
priority to land in port au prince in order to treat the thousands of injured
people awaiting vital surgery it said in statement issued in paris
an msf plane carrying an inflatable field hospital was turned away from landing
and diverted on saturday night to the dominican republic and the material had to
be delivered by road to the haitian capital which would take whole day it
said
another msf plane was due to arrive in port au prince on sunday morning it
added urging that this one be allowed to land there
the united states has taken charge of operating port au prince airport and
tensions have risen as poor coordination has delayed deliveries of desperately
needed aid
another french plane carrying medical aid was turned away on friday prompting
an angry reaction from french secretary of state for cooperation alain joyandet
that plane was eventually allowed to land however and the french president
office on sunday played down talk of dispute with washington over coordinating
aid
eu prepares reconstruction aid for haiti
brussels jan afp
european union nations expect to announce monday aid contributions to help
rebuild quake struck haiti and call for an international conference to back the
effort according to eu officials
we re going to show our willingness to work on the immediate needs of the
country but also on future reconstruction the spokeswoman for the eu spanish
presidency said sunday on the eve of emergency talks in brussels
ministers responsible for development issues will meet in brussels with eu
foreign policy chief catherine ashton from gmt for around two hours of
talks on the quake which is thought to have killed more than people
spanish foreign minister miguel angel moratinos will also take part
the ministers will examine the efforts by the nations to help provide aid
some million euros in initial funds have been sent from europe and
discuss the reconstruction process that will follow
according to an initial eu damage assessment more than physical
structures were destroyed or damaged in the haitian capital port au prince by
the magnitude earthquake that struck on tuesday
some people were hurt and million are without shelter
the emergency talks in brussels are expected to finalise first reconstruction
aid package for the longer term with funds from both the eu budget and the
member nations
the european commission is working to redirect some of the development funds
for haiti to fill the first tranche an eu official said
an eu diplomat said we hope that the european states will also provide their
first indication of how much they will be willing to give
the diplomat said the eu is likely to call for an international reconstruction
conference on haiti under the auspices of the united nations and the world bank
after the meeting eu humanitarian aid commissioner karel de gucht will travel
to the haitian capital port au prince to assess first hand the needs of the
authorities and the people
his visit will be an opportunity to assess the immediate life saving
humanitarian aid needs as well as the medium and long term requirements for
reconstruction and rehabilitation of the country statement said
de gucht will also meet haitian officials and un aid representatives to discuss
how relief work is being coordinated and what the eu can do to consolidate and
strengthen the efforts
ashton will travel to new york on wednesday for meetings with us and un
officials on the destruction from tuesday earthquake
rugby union european cup results
paris jan afp
european cup results on sunday
pool
scarlets wal london irish eng
playing later
pool
northampton eng perpignan fra
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toulouse fra harlequins eng
played saturday
pool
treviso ita munster irl
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gloucester eng biarritz fra
pool
leicester eng viadana ita
clermont auvergne fra ospreys wal
pool
stade francais fra bath eng
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cardiff blues wal sale eng
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leinster irl brive fra
played friday
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glasgow sco newport gwent dragons wal
pool
ulster irl edinburgh sco
iran jails opposition ex mp for six years lawyer
tehran jan afp
iran has sentenced senior reformist and former mp mohsen safai farahani
arrested after the disputed june presidential election to six years in jail
his lawyer said on sunday
safai farahani who has been detained since june was accused of acting
against national security propaganda against the system insulting officials
and spreading lies lawyer hooshang pour babai told the state broadcaster
he said the reformist had been sentenced to six years in jail for the first two
charges and acquitted of insulting officials and spreading lies for lack of
evidence adding there would be an appeal
safai farahani was rounded up along with scores of prominent reformists and
journalists shortly after the june poll which gave hardliner mahmoud
ahmadinejad second term amid widespread allegations of fraud
the government accused its reformist opponents of seeking to undermine the
regime by instigating mass street protests against ahmadinejad
several have been sentenced to hefty prison terms some have been released on
bail pending possible appeals
veteran industrialist safai farahani is one of the leaders of iran
largest reformist party the islamic iran participation front which strongly
backed ahmadinejad leading challenger in the vote former prime minister mir
hossein mousavi
safai farahani also served as an mp between and and as deputy economy
minister and head of iran football federation under the reformist presidency
of mohammad khatami between and
meanwhile little known student activist majid dorri was also sentenced to
years in jail opposition website rahesabz said
dorri received years imprisonment after being found guilty of links with the
islamic republic main exiled opposition the people mujahideen organisation
the website said
he got another year for acting against national security by participating in
illegal gatherings it added
cricket england lost focus says happy smith
johannesburg jan afp
south african captain graeme smith said on sunday his team had been happy
about england angry reaction to the umpiring review decision process during
the fourth and final test
speaking after south africa squared the series with victory by an innings and
runs smith said england spent so much time and energy on that it enabled
us to focus on our cricket to see them lose focus on what was important gave us
more confidence
england made an official complaint to the international cricket council icc
about television umpire daryl harper alleged failure to turn up the volume on
his feed from the stump microphone enabling smith to escape being caught behind
when he had scored only in an innings of
the england and wales cricket board ecb claimed the protocols agreed before
the series had not been followed
the icc has promised an investigation
england captain andrew strauss said he did not agree with smith that his team
had lost focus because of the controversy but he admitted his players had been
frustrated
think the players got frustrated by position in the game when we wanted
things to go our way they didn that often the case when you re behind in
game you re clutching at straws sometimes
both captains gave qualified backing to the system which enables players to ask
for maximum of two unsuccessful reviews of umpiring decisions in each innings
the system generally in this series has worked well said strauss we ve got
more decisions right as result of it we haven got every decision right but
we re more frustrated by the way we ve played in this game than we are with the
review system
smith said he had been sceptical about the system going into the series
teams are trying their luck lot more it really is to take the shocking
decisions out of the game maybe if you only had one review teams wouldn take
so many chances
we have to keep trialing it and keep improving it there are always going to be
frustrations we have to view it in the right light try and build on that and
give it chance to work
iraq ex deputy pm aziz in hospital after stroke lawyer
baghdad jan afp
iraq former deputy prime minister tareq aziz under saddam hussein has suffered
stroke and been moved from jail to us military hospital his lawyer told afp
on sunday
he suffered stroke on friday and was transferred to hospital in the us base
at balad kilometres miles north of baghdad said lawyer badie aref
his condition is serious and they will decide today whether he stays in
hospital or should be returned to camp cropper us run prison in the iraqi
capital where he has been detained
aziz was named deputy premier in under the regime of executed dictator
saddam hussein having previously been foreign minister he turned himself in to
us forces in april after saddam was overthrown
aziz has reportedly suffered two heart attacks while in custody
aref however did not specify if the latest stroke was cardiac or neurological
aziz saddam principal spokesman to the outside world for two decades was
sentenced to years in jail for murder in march in what was the first
conviction against him
he was given an additional seven year term last august for his role in expelling
kurds from northern iraq almost three decades ago
golf red hot schwartzel cruises to second successive win
johannesburg jan afp
south african charl schwartzel clinched back to back european tour triumphs on
sunday when he posted final round to win the joburg open by six strokes
the year old from vereeniging south of johannesburg carded under par
total of over the weset and east courses at royal johannesburg and
kensington club seven days after topping the africa open leaderboard
schwartzel became the first golfer to win consecutive tournaments on the
european circuit since german martin kaymer lifted the french open and scottish
open trophies last july
shot behind at the halfway stage of tournament delayed several times since
thursday by rain and storms schwartzel made his move on saturday by shooting
to enter the final round four shots clear
and he extended that to record handsome win with none of his challengers for
the euro first prize able to match him over the par metre
layout in leafy upmarket suburb of the south african financial capital
former ryder cup star darren clarke of northern ireland finished with three
under to tie for second place with south african keith horne whose was
the lowest final day score
south african james kamte and danny willett of england fired each to share
third position on nine shots adrift of five time european tour winner
schwartzel
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 as many as 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 which could
have claimed up to lives
on the eve of his departure ban grimly confirmed that minustah civilian chief
hedi hannabi 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
nordic combined world cup results
chaux neuve france jan afp
result of the th nordic combined world cup event ski jump followed by
km cross country race here on sunday ski jump position in brackets
magnus moan nor min sec jason lamy chappuis fra at sec
mario stecher aut bill demong usa pavel
churavy cze johannes rydzek ger felix gottwald
aut norihito kobayashi jpn taihei kato jpn
jan schmid nor
overall world cup standings after of rounds
jason lamy chappuis fra points felix gottwald aut magnus
moan nor tino edelmann ger johnny spillane usa
afghanistan karzai to announce new peace scheme
kabul jan afp
afghan president hamid karzai is set to announce new scheme for forging peace
with the islamist taliban and other militants fighting to topple his government
his spokesman said sunday
the plan would be announced ahead of key international conference set for
london on january at which the country security and development will be
discussed said waheed omar
conceding that past efforts at peace have failed omar said the new plan would
include economic incentives as many men carrying guns for the taliban do so for
cash rather than ideology
we have done some things in the past but we have not done enough omar told
reporters
we have not been able to provide proper security for those who join the
government we may have not been very good at providing them with economic
opportunities jobs and anything else anybody would want after reintegration
he said
the scheme we are proposing this time is taking all those into consideration
and learning from the past and trying to come up with proper programme where
we have all the necessary ground to allow those joining the programme to have
peaceful life he said
karzai has long been calling for peace talks with the taliban sometimes
even offering government posts to its leaders but the militia has
consistently refused to enter into any dialogue with kabul until international
forces leave the country
omar said the reintegration programme would reach out to all ranks from the
political leadership to fighters on the ground
the united states and nato allies currently have troops in afghanistan
fighting the taliban led insurgency with another being deployed this
year
abbas urges us endgame unless israel freezes settlements
ramallah west bank jan afp
palestinian president mahmud abbas urged washington on sunday to declare an
endgame to resolve the decades old middle east conflict if israel does not
agree to halt settlement growth
abbas in statement carried by the official wafa wire service said arab
states and the palestinians would present unified position to the united
states offering two options
either israel adheres to complete halt to settlements and the guidelines of
negotiations or america must come and say this is the endgame with respect to
determining borders and the refugee issue and other final status issues
abbas has resisted months of us pressure to relaunch peace talks suspended
during last year gaza war saying israel must first freeze all settlement
activity in the occupied west bank including annexed arab east jerusalem
in november israel hawkish prime minister benjamin netanyahu enacted
month moratorium on new building starts in the west bank but excluded east
jerusalem public buildings and projects already under way
the united states hailed the move as unprecedented but the palestinians have
rejected it as insufficient
israel hardline foreign minister avigdor lieberman however said on sunday
that his country would make no more gestures towards the palestinians
as far as we are concerned we have exhausted our arsenal of gestures there
will be no more gestures right now it is time for gestures from the
palestinians he told press conference
last week abbas appeared to give some ground by demanding halt to settlement
growth for fixed period but in sunday statement he remained adamant about
complete halt
we cannot return to the negotiations if israel stays with this position abbas
said referring to the limited moratorium
us middle east envoy george mitchell is expected to return to the region this
week to try again to convince both sides to restart negotiations
israel maariv newspaper reported earlier this month that washington was
pushing plan to restart peace talks that foresees reaching final deal in two
years and agreeing on permanent borders in nine months
us soldier dies in afghanistan nato
kabul jan afp
an american soldier has died in afghanistan after being wounded while fighting
taliban led insurgents nato said sunday
nato international security assistance force isaf said the soldier died on
saturday in eastern afghanistan an increasingly volatile theatre of the war
against the anti government militants
an isaf service member from the united states died of wounds yesterday as
result of an engagement with insurgents in eastern afghanistan it said
it gave no other details
around international troops are deployed to afghanistan under us and
nato command to fight the islamist militants
another troops being sent to the country are due to arrive by august
military officials have said
the decision to send more foreign soldiers is part of renewed strategy for
bringing the fight to the taliban while backing up battlefield progress with aid
and development efforts to win over local populations
the increased forces however mean more engagements and inevitably higher
rate of deaths among foreign troops the officials say
this has become evident in recent months as the total death toll among
international soldiers in was compared with for the year before
according to an afp tally based on that kept by the independent website
icasualties org foreign soldiers have died in afghanistan so far in
civilian casualties have also become central issue with the garmser district
of southern helmand province current focal point as the taliban foment
hostility and isaf and afghan forces retaliate
isaf said civilian died after being shot by its troops early sunday when they
fired on large vehicle travelling at high speed without headlights towards one
of its convoys
after firing three to five rounds into the grille of the vehicle it stopped
isaf said
the initial assessment determined one civilian received gunshot wound to the
chest the man died of his wounds this morning none of the other five
passengers suffered any injuries it said
garmser has been the scene of violence for days after demonstrations that
government investigators said were whipped up by taliban rumours that foreign
troops had desecrated koran
seven people were killed on tuesday during protest that turned violent when
shots were fired from among crowd officials said
the following day another five afghan civilians were shot and wounded outside
military base during demonstration that appeared to be related to the tuesday
incident
the un said last week that the number of civilians killed in the afghan war
jumped last year to making the deadliest year for ordinary afghans
since the us led invasion in civilians were killed
the majority or percent were killed in taliban attacks it said
among the taliban arsenal are roadside bombs which military intelligence
officials say account for up to percent of foreign troop casualties as well
as afghan security forces and civilians
afghanistan defence ministry said two afghan soldiers were killed on saturday
in the sangin district of helmand by roadside bomb
in helmand marjah district an air strike was called in during fire fight
between militants and afghan troops also on saturday the ministry said
resulting in the deaths of five terrorists
in southern paktika province four militants were killed and three wounded in
nato air strike on saturday the spokesman for the provincial governor mukhlis
afghan said
in herat province on the western border with iran district governor was
killed in taliban ambush sunday along with five other people spokesman for
the provincial police chief said
the district chief anti crime chief an employee of the crime department of
chishti sharif district and three policeman were killed in taliban ambush
noor khan nikzad said
the interior minister said the deaths occurred in minute shootout with
militants
alpine skiing men slalom world cup results
wengen switzerland jan afp
men world cup skiing results after the slalom here on sunday
ivica kostelic cro
andre myhrer swe
reinfried herbst aut
benjamin raich aut
julien lizeroux fra
silvan zurbriggen sui
marcel hirscher aut
ted ligety usa
manfred pranger aut
michael janyk can
lars elton myhre nor
jimmy cochran usa
felix neureuther ger
julien cousineau can
urs imboden mda
markus larsson swe
mattias hargin swe
natko zrncic dim cro
brad spence can
kentaro minagawa jpn
christoph dreier aut
wolfgang hoerl aut
giuliano razzoli ita
maxime tissot fra
naoki yuasa jpn
bernard vajdic slo
krystof kryzl cze
anton lahdenperae swe
failed to qualify for nd leg axel baeck swe patrick bechter aut mitja
dragsic slo stefano gross ita tim jitloff usa justin murisier sui
rainer schoenfelder aut ryan semple can matic skube slo mitja valencic
slo
did not start st leg matts olsson swe david ryding gbr
did not finish first leg marc berthod sui patrick biggs can jens byggmark
swe mauro caviezel sui david chodounsky usa marc gini sui alexander
koll aut jukka leino fin mario matt aut bode miller usa manfred
moelgg ita akira sasaki jpn paul stutz can aksel lund svindal nor
patrick thaler ita
disqualified st leg dimitri cuche sui
disqualified nd leg cristian deville ita trevor white can
iran jails opposition ex mp for six years websites
tehran jan afp
iran has sentenced senior reformist and former mp mohsen safai farahani
arrested after the disputed june presidential election to six years in jail
opposition websites reported on sunday
last night saturday he was informed of the verdict after spending more than
days in custody he was sentenced to six years in prison kaleme and
