everyone worked so hard said under fire liverpool manager rafael benitez
we know it will be long way but we had to believe we could reduce the gap
today
at the emirates bolton needed just seven minutes to take the lead against
arsenal when cahill scored from kevin davies flick on
bolton doubled their lead in the th minute when lee chung yong was brought
down in the box by denilson and taylor scored from the penalty spot
but arsenal reduced the deficit in the rd minute when rosicky fired in shot
at the near post and they were level in controversial fashion seven minutes
after the break
william gallas was fortunate not be sent off for crude tackle on mark davies
but referee alan wiley let play continue
the ball eventually fell to fabregas who evaded couple of challenges before
shooting through the legs of bolton keeper jussi jaaskelainen
it was closer to an assault than tackle that was the big turning point in
the game said furious coyle who felt arsenal should have kicked the ball
out with davies on the deck
goalscoring centre half vermaelen fired the gunners in front with th minute
half volley that went in off the post
arsenal got the fourth goal they needed to go top with five minutes left when
russia forward arshavin after neat one two with eduardo slammed shot past
jaaskelainen
microsoft takes legal aim at dvr maker tivo
san francisco jan afp
microsoft has weighed in on the side of us telecom giant at amp in legal
battle with digital video recorder maker tivo
microsoft on tuesday filed suit against tivo in san francisco federal court
accusing the company of using the software titan intellectual property without
permission
we remain open to resolving this situation through an intellectual property
licensing agreement and we have initiated discussions to engage tivo in
negotiations said microsoft director of public affairs kevin kutz
the litigation comes just week after microsoft tried to quash separate
lawsuit in which tivo charges that at amp infringed on tivo patents by using
microsoft software in verse cable television service
these actions are part of legal strategy to defend at amp california
based tivo said in statement posted at its website
we remain confident in our position that at amp will be found to infringe on
the tivo patents asserted
microsoft last week assured court in texas that neither the software company
nor firms using its television program delivery technology tread on tivo
patents
in leogane chaotic crowd prevents haiti aid delivery
leogane jan afp
two trucks full of aid pulled into this devastated city west of port au prince
early wednesday morning but the arrival of the much needed relief provoked
fights that delayed distribution
located some kilometers miles outside haiti ravaged capital leogane
suffered gravely during last week massive quake and remains in dire need of
the aid brought in wednesday by the catholic relief services aid group
the people are not being reasonable they re making trouble we can open the
trucks under these conditions because they are fighting and they might even kill
each other said father guirand marat who oversees sainte rose parish and was
trying to assist with the aid distribution
the trucks parked early wednesday in the biggest makeshift camp in the city
where those made homeless by the quake have gathered
the vehicles containing flour wheat sugar and beans were quickly encircled
by crowd
aid workers tried to distribute box of food to each family taking refuge in
hastily constructed shelters and tents but crush and chaos ensued forcing
the relief personnel to seek assistance from us forces in the area
the members of the us marine lima company were initially reluctant to get
involved but father marat eventually persuaded them
with the aid of megaphone corporal clifford sajous addressed the desperate
crowd
tell me are you going to form line behind the trucks he shouted
yes the crowd responded
do you promise not to fight he asked the crowd promised
if you fight the distribution is over you understand he added to agreement
from the crowd
but within minutes cries began to ring out again as people started to fight
don make trouble stop making noise sajous shouted in vain
unable to deliver their payload the two trucks took off driving elsewhere for
another attempt to hand out aid leaving the crowd to run behind them
us lawmakers press egypt on coptic christians
washington jan afp
group of us lawmakers urged egyptian president hosni mubarak in letter
released wednesday to properly prosecute gunmen behind the recent slayings of
six coptic christians
the attack was indicative of systematic pattern of violence and an example
of alarming incidents of religious intolerance in egypt the us senators
and representatives wrote in the message which they sent on tuesday
as members of the us congress we see the protection of the coptic christian
community as shared interest and strongly urge you to reverse egypt
trend of failing to properly investigate and prosecute incidents of violence
against coptic christians the lawmakers said
on january the eve of the coptic orthodox christmas three gunmen raked
worshippers emerging from mass in nagaa hammadi with bullets the deadliest
attack since when copts were killed in sectarian clashes
three muslims were arrested two days after the attack and charged with
premeditated murder they will stand trial before an emergency security court
next month
copts who account for nearly percent of egypt population of million
are the middle east largest christian community but complain of routine
harassment and systematic discrimination and marginalization
the us lawmakers led by senator sam brownback and representative frank wolf
both republicans noted in the letter that the united states is generous donor
to egypt one of its stalwart allies in the middle east
we urge you to better protect the coptic christian community by properly
investigating and prosecuting perpetrators of violence against coptic
christians providing compensation for victims of violence and ensuring the
protection and preservation of coptic places of worship they said
we also call upon your government to address ongoing discriminatory practices
affecting the coptic community including the difficulty in building and
repairing churches poor representation in certain government bodies and
security harassment of converts they wrote
new quake triggers panic in haiti
port au prince jan afp
powerful new earthquake rumbled across the ruins of haiti wednesday sending
thousands of already traumatized survivors running through the streets
screaming in terror
the magnitude earthquake struck as dawn broke eight days after the haitian
capital was leveled by massive temblor measuring that killed at least
people and left million homeless
god wants to destroy all haitians because they are bad because they are
cursed eleude joseph shellshocked mother of two told afp at squalid camp
of survivors in the place saint pierre
there were no reports of anyone being killed or wounded by the strong
aftershock but some severely damaged buildings did come tumbling down
including the last surviving wall of the main cathedral
rescuers kept up their grim search through the rubble elated by finding
survivors who had defied the odds including five year old boy brought into
hospital by his uncle on wednesday
other survivors dug out on tuesday included woman found in the ruins of
supermarket year old woman who sang as she left behind the wreckage of the
port au prince cathedral and day old baby girl
but rescue efforts are likely to start being pulled back as massive aid
operation swung into gear to help hundreds of thousands trying to survive with
little water in putrid makeshift camps where diarrhea was already rife
the united states said it was pouring in more troops who had been due to
deploy to the middle east and europe while us general said the capital main
port vital to moving in tonnes of aid should be up and running again on
friday
backed by three amphibious ships and squadron of helicopters the new troops
should be in place by the weekend as the total us force helping out in haiti
swells above in coming days
brazil was also looking to add troops to its peacekeeping contingent in
haiti boosting its force to at least while france and canada both said
they would send more police
we will be here as long as it takes because now we have even more reason to
stay said colonel joao batista bernardes the officer in charge of brazil
battalion leading the un stabilization force
international efforts are also focusing on rebuilding the country with major
donor conference set for monday in montreal
imf chief dominique strauss kahn called for multilateral aid plan for haiti on
the scale of the us marshall plan that rebuilt europe after world war ii
strauss kahn said he believed haiti needs something that is big as the
caribbean nation already one of the poorest and insecure countries in the
world before the quake looks to the future
haiti ambassador to spain yolette azor charles said reconstruction could
take years and warned the death toll could top as help has yet to
reach many villages
bed capacity us naval hospital ship meanwhile arrived off haiti
wednesday with about medical personnel and was ready to start taking on
board the worst of the injured
the tonne usns comfort will treat to patients at time chosen by
haitian officials from the thousands thronging hospitals and makeshift clinics
after marines dramatically dropped in from helicopters above the presidential
palace on tuesday troops were out in force early wednesday patrolling streets
in the business district of haiti quake ravaged capital
they ignored the looters picking through the debris for many scavenging from
the collapsed buildings was the logical way to survive but ensured the
security situation did not degenerate into riots
look when you are hungry and poor nobody helps you have to steal one
defiant young man named vincent said as looters plunged into the ruins of
flattened supermarket
aid was still in short supply for tens of thousands of survivors haunted by
despair and the fear of more aftershocks as they inhabited the squalor of the
rubble where countless bodies still lie buried
we were already poor before the earthquake so now what are we asked frantz
saint hilaire student living in port au prince city of god slum where
desperate residents were still to see an international aid truck
us secretary of state hillary clinton meanwhile said washington was working to
slash through the red tape needed to adopt children from haiti amid fears that
thousands may have been orphaned by the tragedy
the us government will do all we can to expedite the travel of children who
were in the line for adoption who have legal permanent home guardianship
waiting for them clinton told reporters
apple may replace google with bing on iphone report
washington jan afp
apple is in talks with microsoft to make bing the default search engine on the
iphone instead of google businessweek magazine reported on wednesday
businessweek citing two people familiar with the matter said the talks have
been under way for weeks and reflect the growing rivalry between apple and
google which is currently the default search engine on the iphone
google chief executive eric schmidt resigned last year from apple board of
directors and the internet search and advertising giant recently came out with
smartphone of its own the nexus one seen as rival to apple iphone
apple also recently bought mobile advertising company quattro wireless two
months after google purchased quattro wireless rival admob
businessweek said the discussions between apple and microsoft on replacing
google with bing which microsoft launched in june could still unravel and may
not be concluded quickly
the magazine noted that being the default web search engine on the iphone
carries financial benefits for google which collects money from advertising
placed alongside search results and shares it with apple
businessweek which was bought recently by bloomberg financial news agency said
that making bing the default search engine on the iphone could require users to
adjust the phone settings if they want to search the web using google
the magazine also said that apple is looking at providing search option itself
and that deal with microsoft may be about buying itself time
google is the overwhelming web search leader with percent share of the us
search market in december compared with just percent for bing according to
tracking firm comscore and also dominates in mobile search
olympics cash row engulfs games ski venue
vancouver jan afp
the owners of the whistler resort which will host the alpine skiing events at
next month winter olympics were plunged into financial controversy on
wednesday media reported
banks have started foreclosure proceedings against intrawest holdings owned by
the fortress investment group after major debt payment was missed it has
been claimed
they now plan to auction the company off on february right in the middle of
the february olympics it was reported by the globe and mail newspaper
the lenders frustrated by lack of progress in restructuring the debt gave
notice of the foreclosure to intrawest on january person familiar with the
talks told the newspaper
fortress bought intrawest for billion dollars in
spokesman for intrawest hit out at wednesday reports
there have been inaccurate and misleading media reports surrounding intrawest
today said company statement
fortress investment group continues to own and control intrawest and all of its
properties
serious discussions with intrawest lenders are ongoing regarding refinancing
and the company continues to operate business as usual at all of its resort
properties
meanwhile spokesman for the vancouver olympics organising committee vanoc
said we understandably cannot comment on intrawest finances beyond our
continued support for their efforts to settle outstanding financial matters
he added what we can confirm is that whistler blackcomb is an important
partner in the staging of the games and we continue working in very close
partnership with them to finalize overall preparations and readiness for the
skiing and sliding sport events
glb via dj
top us intelligence chief meets with pakistani americans
washington jan afp
the top us intelligence chief held meetings with pakistani americans as the
united states expands its drone attacks on militants in the south asian nation
his office said wednesday
director of national intelligence dennis blair held the roundtable discussion on
tuesday with pakistan ambassador to the united states husain haqqani as part
of an effort to boost the recruitment and retention of pakistani americans in us
intelligence agencies
we need you to help us build better relationship between the united states
and pakistan blair said during the meeting according to remarks released by
his office he also stressed the common threat both countries face
us president barack obama has put pakistan at the heart of his administration
fight against al qaeda and taliban militants
among the gathering participants were two dozen business leaders college
students and federal employees with pakistani roots blair office said the
meeting delved into past problems of mistrust the role of the media and the
rise of religious extremism in pakistan
the more inroads the us intelligence community makes and introduces itself to
regular pakistani americans relationships and trust will be built said lawyer
amina khan member of the ic heritage community liaison council an umbrella
group that coordinates outreach and recruiting activities
blair directorate oversees the united states spy agencies
more than people have been killed in about us drone strikes in pakistan
since august in program that obama has vastly expanded since taking
office year ago
the pakistani government publicly condemns the strikes but us officials say they
are necessary to protect foreign soldiers stationed in afghanistan and say
number of high value extremists have been killed in the bombing raids
haitians offered jobs to rebuild after quake
port au prince jan afp
the unite nations wednesday announced plan to create thousands of jobs mainly
in rubble removal and reconstruction to help haitian earthquake survivors start
rebuilding their lives
the program which has already employed nearly people includes the capital
port au prince where half of all buildings collapsed according to the
government and other badly hit towns such as leogane and jacmel un
officials told journalists here
total of people would be eventually be employed by the project run by
the united nations development programme undp statement said
haitians should be the main actors in the recovery process said eric
overvest undp country director in haiti
many of the hundreds of thousands who lost family members and homes in the
earthquake said they sought work more than anything now
if they give us food that will last two or three days if we get work that we
give us continuity said year old joseph nesley who joined hundreds of men
gathering outside an airport exit frequented by aid workers hoping to find work
as translators or drivers
most said they could work in any field including as security guards or in
construction
we re making lists of our names to give to the foreign officials so we can get
jobs said year old pierre jean charles marcelin
need job to survive because it so hard in haiti right now
the undp said in statement that it aimed to jumpstart the local economy with
cash for work activities including street repairs and electricity
the haitian government estimates at least died in the january quake
while were injured and million left homeless
researchers claim death toll in dr congo far less than cited
vancouver canada jan afp
researchers claimed wednesday that the common estimate of million deaths due
to war in the democratic republic of the congo is vastly inflated
the human security report released wednesday at the united nations in new
york challenged the research used to arrive at the figure saying estimates of
the democratic republic of the congo war death toll are at least twice as high
as they should be
the shocking death toll estimate has been used worldwide to bolster political
support for massive un peacekeeping mission and humanitarian aid in the heart
of africa
the estimate of million war deaths most from indirect causes including
starvation and disease since war began in was calculated from series
of five surveys by the international rescue committee and in two of the
surveys by the burnet institute of australia
but andrew mack ex strategic planning director to former un secretary general
kofi annan and now director of the human security report project at simon fraser
university in vancouver criticized the survey methods
for example he told afp the irc assumed the drcongo mortality rate before
the war was the same as the sub saharan average but in fact the rate in the dr
congo was lower than elsewhere in the region
by substituting more appropriate pre war mortality rate in the irc data
mack estimated people died between and far fewer than the
irc estimate of million
mack did not give his own estimate for death toll
but he noted the first two of the irc surveys were not done in randomly
selected area on representative population as is standard in statistical
research
the irc and the burnet institute responded with joint email to afp that they
strongly affirm findings based on standard and scientifically grounded
methodology and which remain the best estimates available of conflict related
mortality in congo
the email said researchers previously acknowledged the criticisms raised by the
human security report which do not invalidate our findings our estimates
have been supported by numerous other studies
we believe this information is valid and that it has been and continues to be
of essential value to public health and political decision makers said the irc
and burnet
the human security report called the shrinking costs of war said estimates of
war death tolls in iraq sudan and now the dr congo have become controversial
and highly politicized
mack told afp disputes put billions of dollars in humanitarian aid at risk by
discrediting population health surveys as whole
policy makers need to have hard data anything that questions the
credibility of these surveys is bad thing
mack called on the united nations to mandate national population health survey
to provide evidence in each country where the security council launches new
peace keeping operation
new research finds promising treatment for hepatitis
washington jan afp
us scientists have discovered way to block replication of the hepatitis
virus potentially leading to better treatment for the top cause of liver cancer
in the united states study said wednesday
in vitro experiments identified protein that is essential to the reproductive
cycle of the hepatitis virus hcv the researchers said
an altered synthetic version of the protein was found to destroy the virus
ability to replicate they added
the altered protein led to compounds that prevented the aggregation or
replication of hcv virus said study lead author jeffrey glenn professor of
gastroenterology and hepatology and director of stanford university center
for hepatitis and liver tissue engineering
because the compounds operate by disrupting mechanism that is only needed by
the virus the researchers hope any new drugs developed from their research will
be less toxic for humans
glenn foresees year to months of preclinical and animal testing before the
food and drug administration fda can approve the class of compounds for
clinical trials in humans
the study was published wednesday in the online edition of science translational
medicine
if the new compounds prove effective in hcv patients they could boost efforts
to fight the virus tendency to rapidly acquire resistance to current drug
treatment while avoiding the worst side effects common to these treatments
glenn said
at present the only hepatitis treatment approved by the us food and drug
administration is cocktail of interferon and ribavirin which is toxic must
be administered in week course and is effective in less than half of
patients
hepatitis virus is huge problem said glenn it infects over
million people worldwide many of whom don even know they have it
according to the world health organization who million people worldwide
are infected with hepatitis which is transmitted via blood and can progress
over years into cirrhosis and liver cancer
there are an estimated four million carriers of the virus in europe and between
three and four million people in the united states are chronically infected
according to the who
football scottish cup draw
glasgow jan afp
revised draw for the fifth round of the scottish cup after wednesday fourth
round and fourth round replay matches
th rd
dunfermline celtic
st johnstone dundee united
hibernian montrose
dundee ayr united
raith rovers aberdeen
kilmarnock inverness ct
st mirren rangers
ross county stirling
ties to be played on the weekend of february
urgent zelaya can leave honduras in possible political settlement
tegucigalpa jan afp
deposed honduran president manuel zelaya said wednesday that his putative
successor porfirio lobo had agreed to allow him to leave the country as part of
settlement in the country political crisis
olympics cash row engulfs games ski venue
vancouver jan afp
the owners of the whistler resort which will host the alpine skiing events at
next month winter olympics were plunged into financial controversy on
wednesday media reported
banks have started foreclosure proceedings against intrawest holdings owned by
the fortress investment group after major debt payment was missed
they now plan to auction the company off on february right in the middle of
the february olympics it was reported by the globe and mail newspaper
the lenders frustrated by lack of progress in restructuring the debt gave
notice of the foreclosure to intrawest on january person familiar with the
talks told the newspaper
spokesman for the vancouver olympics organising committee vanoc said we
understandably cannot comment on intrawest finances beyond our continued
support for their efforts to settle outstanding financial matters
he added what we can confirm is that whistler blackcomb is an important
partner in the staging of the games and we continue working in very close
partnership with them to finalize overall preparations and readiness for the
skiing and sliding sport events
us backs montenegro bid to join nato
washington jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton on wednesday threw us support behind
montenegro bid to join nato as the balkan country pursues political reforms
the chief us diplomat pledged the united states support for montenegro
becoming an integral part of the euro atlantic community as she stood next to
visiting montenegrin prime minister milo djukanovic
offered the support of the united states as montenegro makes some of the
reforms in the rule of law area that both nato and the european union are
looking to see clinton told reporters in washington
she congratulated montenegro for its admission last month to nato membership
action plan precursor to full membership and thanked the premier for his
government commitment to sending infantry troops to the nato led force in
afghanistan
clinton said she hoped to take the prime minister up on his invitation to visit
montenegro at future date
djukanovic said would like to announce with confidence that montenegro will
be the next state to become new member of nato while voicing his government
intention to enhance the rule of law
we stand committed to doing this in order to improve the quality of life of our
citizens and achieve our european and euro atlantic goals as early as soon
as possible he said through an interpreter
would like to reiterate on this occasion too that montenegro is and will
remain responsible and reliable partner to the us and eu in dealing with the
still outstanding issues in the balkans he said
and we will also work closely with our partners in other places beyond our
region starting with afghanistan he added
haiti main port reopening for business
port au prince jan afp
the damaged main port in haiti is reopening for service on friday us general
said as french vessel had already begun unloading aid supplies at port au
prince wednesday
we will have the port open friday for business said lieutenant general ken
keen who is in charge of supervising the us military operations to help haiti
left in ruins in magnitude quake on january
we ve been doing assessments all week to ensure it is safe to offload cargo
here he added saying he hoped to have the port fully operational in three
weeks
but an afp journalist saw that french ship the francis garnier was already
docked along the quay wednesday unloading relief aid and equipment
access to the port which remains under haitian control will help unclog the
capital airport which was also damaged in the quake and only has one runway
the massive aid operation has jammed the airport and supplies have been
frustratingly slow to reach the people in need
officials estimate that were killed in the quake and million left
homeless
ideally we would want equipment and supplies here and offload personnel at the
airport which has very limited capacity keen said
brigadier general mike dana in charge of the logistics of the american
operation in the caribbean country said we will have fuel shipped here this
weekend
fuel supplies have been running low since the quake and us officials had
estimated at the weekend that the fuel stocks held at the port would only last
another two days
the port is probably at percent of its capacity right now said dana but
after days it will be at full capacity
us defense secretary robert gates said earlier that he had ordered port
clearance ships to deploy to haiti which within week or two could get the
port back in operation
football scottish cup results
glasgow jan afp
scottish cup results on wednesday
th round
livingston dundee harkins
th round replay
stirling albion mullen murphy albion rovers walker
baseball czech year old havlicek signs with rays
st petersburg florida jan afp
stepan havlicek year old pitching prodigy from the czech republic has
signed minor league contract with the tampa bay rays the us major league
baseball club announced wednesday
havlicek pitched for the czech junior national team and struck out batters in
scoreless innings during the european junior championships last august in
bonn germany
the rays said havlicek would likely attend some portion of spring training
which begins in late february and would play in major league baseball
australia academy later this year
the training would help determine at what level of the minor league
developmental system havlicek might start in his quest to someday reach the
roster of the rays who lost to philadelphia in the world series
football english football league results
london jan afp
english football league results on wednesday
league one
oldham tranmere
league two
