embattled bid to completely overhaul the us health system
that task became suddenly much harder when the republicans snatched away the
democrats th senate seat allowing them to mount delaying tactics to slow and
thwart white house bills
in his interview obama cautioned that democrats should not try to jam the
legislation through in the short period before republican senator elect scott
brown can get to washington
would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements of
the package that people agree on obama said
the white house later said obama was not advocating narrow reform but his
remarks raised flurry of speculation in congress about the future shape of the
bill
the president cited two crucial principles brake of fast rising health care
costs and restrictions on the power of insurance firms to dump people when they
get sick or to refuse new patients who are already ill
republicans however styled their triumph as clear sign that americans wanted
obama to ditch his reform drive completely the result also heated up the
political temperature ahead of crucial congressional polls in november
this was in many ways national referendum principally on the major issue
we re wrestling with here in the congress said senate republican minority
leader mitch mcconnell
mcconnell also saw the election as vindication for his party strategy of
branding obama as traditional big spending liberal who wants to expand the
size of government
the american people have made it abundantly clear that they more
interested in shrinking unemployment than expanding government
they tired of bailouts they tired of the government spending more
than ever at time when most people are spending less and they don want
the government taking over health care
several leading democrats including pennsylvania senator bob casey said it was
time for breath to consider options on health care
the massachusetts result made for dismaying first anniversary of obama first
year in office
it followed two stinging democratic defeats in gubernatorial races in new jersey
and virginia where obama won big in and comes as his personal approval
ratings dip below percent
the shifting congressional mathematics cast doubt over whether obama will be
able to enact big ticket items like global warming legislation financial
regulatory reform and immigration reform this year
haiti city of god slum wonders about its hellish fate
port au prince jan afp
faced with almost apocalyptic devastation following last week earthquake
haiti poorest slum dwellers said the sense of abandonment and loss at times is
simply too much to bear
we were already poor before the earthquake so now what are we asks frantz
saint hilaire student who lives in port au prince city of god where
desperate residents have yet to see an international aid truck
the major earthquake has also split in two many of the district twisting
streets as residents cope with collapsed homes and tend to the scores of dead
the people of the city of god have awakened since the quake not knowing if they
will have anything to eat or drink all day
no one has come to even ask us if we need anything our situation is so
desperate our children have absolutely nothing to put in their mouths said
one local jean max romeus
not knowing where to turn many residents have taken to looting collapsed homes
they are among the hundreds convinced that in the strange world they now must
survive there is nothing wrong with looting whether to get bite to eat or
find valuables to sell on the street
tragedy has turned us into thieves said one old man echoing thought many
locals repeat
in the tiny stream that snakes through the slum there are still bodies that
have not been collected one week after the quake struck and the stench is
overpowering
there are bodies in homes bodies in churches bodies in two primary schools
we don know what aid has reached what part of the city but we have not seen
any here said placide jemais the father of four girls between the ages of
three and
we cannot hide reality from our kids and these images are just too terrible
for them
jemais home collapsed in the quake and since then he has been living outdoors
like many neighbors
we are all getting together in the central part of city of god after pm to
sleep darkness in this city makes us frightened so it is lot better for us
to protect each other he said
the strength aftershock that rocked port au prince on wednesday for many
added insult to injury
we haven even been able to bury our dead yet and we are already back fearing
for our lives said saint hilaire pointing to many homes on the brink of
collapse
please write that we need urgently and most of all water food and medicines
the rest can wait
as of today we don know if there are even any plans for aid to be sent in
here jemais added
elsewhere in the city the united nations defended its emergency aid program
and us commander warned that security concerns had to be dealt with before aid
could be distributed safely
lieutenant general ken keen head of us military contingent some
strong warned that chaotic aid distribution would risk lives
we ll have to secure these distribution points he told afp while visiting
cite soleil one of port au prince poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods
if you bring truck of food it would be riot you want to do it so that it
safe you don want somebody to get killed over bottle of water
tennis australian open results day four
melbourne jan afp
results from day four of the australian open at melbourne park here thursday
denotes seeding
men singles
nd round
nikolay davydenko rus bt illya marchenko ukr
women singles
nd round
agnieszka radwanska pol bt alla kudryavtseva rus
tennis davydenko steams into open third round
melbourne jan afp
unheralded russian nikolay davydenko reinforced his status as the form player in
men tennis by cruising into the third round of the australian open on
thursday
the year old has yet to win grand slam title and has never been in final
but the sixth seed is looming as one of the genuine contenders here after
disposing of ukrainian qualifier illya marchenko
in his two matches in the tournament he has dropped just games and he is
now enjoying an match winning streak stretching back to last year
he has also dropped just one set to rafael nadal in the qatar open final this
month in seven matches in
boasting an improved all round game in recent times he won the atp world tour
finals in november and then opened with the title in doha
the year old marchenko making his grand slam debut here and ranked th in
the world was never in the contest with the russian getting early service
breaks in each set
davydenko three times quarter finalist at the australian open hit
winners while marchenko could manage just in his first encounter with
top player
the russian was all over marchenko shaky serve breaking the ukrainian seven
times
davydenko is on track to face ninth seed fernando verdasco in the fourth round
and world number one roger federer in the quarters
japanese shares up percent in morning
tokyo jan afp
japanese stocks rose percent in morning trade on thursday bucking
negative lead from wall street where us shares suffered their biggest drop of
the year overnight
the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index gained points to
by the lunch break the broader topix index of all first section
shares climbed points or percent to
shares in japan airlines were flat at two yen day after sinking to new
record low following the carrier bankruptcy filing and announcement it would
delist its shares next month wiping out shareholders investments
golf bertsch seizes bob hope lead
la quinta california jan afp
shane bertsch nabbed birdies in under wednesday to seize the first
round lead at the five round bob hope classic
bertsch completed his bogey free effort even as he shrugged off scattered rain
showers and offered putting advice to his pro am playing partners
was just comfortable bertsch said always like these formats because
help the guys out and it keeps me maybe not so focused on myself until it
time to hit and then just go and hit
alex prugh and jeff quinney shared second on while jp hayes george mcneill
joe ogilvie and garrett willis were three strokes back
heath slocum who skipped last week sony open in hawaii as his wife gave
birth was among half dozen players on
while rain swept through much of southern california the desert venue stayed
dry until wednesday afternoon
it was palm springs golf not lot of wind starting to warm up slocum
said and then all of sudden when made the turn it definitely kicked right
back up
the wind started blowing and it cooled off put the sweater back on and
obviously golf is little more difficult
but it seemed easy for bertch who missed just two greens and three fairways
needing onl putts in his round
his effort came despite difficult week in which his flight from the sony open
was cancelled
he and his family flew monday nigght from hawaii to phoenix then bertch drove
his recreational vehicle across the desert to palm springs
bertsch quinney and prugh all played the nicklaus private course one of four
in use for the tournament and considered one of the easiest on the us tour
bertsch hadn played the layout since the and didn get chance to
practice because of his travel problems
it was like new adventure over every hill bertsch said didn know
really what to expect it was one of those courses just didn remember lot
about
while wednesday weather wasn much of problem heavier rain was expected on
thursday
it was moist it wasn wet said hayes who is making his season debut we
played the ball up but we didn really have to it probably more in
anticipation of what might come than what was today
the hole hope event played opposite the european tour abu dhabi
championship is somewhat lacking in star power
canadian mike weir ranked th in the world was the top ranked player in the
field
golf bertsch seizes bob hope lead
la quinta california jan afp
shane bertsch nabbed birdies in under wednesday to seize the first
round lead at the five round bob hope classic
bertsch completed his bogey free effort even as he shrugged off scattered rain
showers and offered putting advice to his pro am playing partners
was just comfortable bertsch said always like these formats because
help the guys out and it keeps me maybe not so focused on myself until it
time to hit and then just go and hit
alex prugh and jeff quinney shared second on while jp hayes george mcneill
joe ogilvie and garrett willis were three strokes back
heath slocum who skipped last week sony open in hawaii as his wife gave
birth was among half dozen players on
while rain swept through much of southern california the desert venue stayed
dry until wednesday afternoon
it was palm springs golf not lot of wind starting to warm up slocum
said and then all of sudden when made the turn it definitely kicked right
back up
the wind started blowing and it cooled off put the sweater back on and
obviously golf is little more difficult
but it seemed easy for bertch who missed just two greens and three fairways
needing onl putts in his round
his effort came despite difficult week in which his flight from the sony open
was cancelled
he and his family flew monday nigght from hawaii to phoenix then bertch drove
his recreational vehicle across the desert to palm springs
bertsch quinney and prugh all played the nicklaus private course one of four
in use for the tournament and considered one of the easiest on the us tour
bertsch hadn played the layout since the and didn get chance to
practice because of his travel problems
it was like new adventure over every hill bertsch said didn know
really what to expect it was one of those courses just didn remember lot
about
while wednesday weather wasn much of problem heavier rain was expected on
thursday
it was moist it wasn wet said hayes who is making his season debut we
played the ball up but we didn really have to it probably more in
anticipation of what might come than what was today
the hole hope event played opposite the european tour abu dhabi
championship is somewhat lacking in star power
canadian mike weir ranked th in the world was the top ranked player in the
field
hong kong shares open percent lower
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares were percent lower in the first few minutes of trade
thursday with the benchmark hang seng index down points at
urgent china industrial output expands by pct in
beijing jan afp
china industrial output expanded by percent in the fourth quarter of
compared with the same period year earlier and by percent for all of
the government said thursday
olympics vancouver ones to watch eve muirhead
vancouver canada jan afp
penpix of stars to watch at the february winter olympics in vancouver
curling
eve muirhead
blonde teenager muirhead is the new face of curling sport keen to shed its
fusty image as the chosen winter activity of middle aged aran sweater wearers
photogenic talented musician and golfer muirhead even has tattoo of the
olympic rings on her back in an image world away from scottish compatriot
rhona martin whose stone of destiny captured gold for britain at salt lake
city in
at just muirhead is aware that she could have chosen different career path
and with handicap of two the riches of the golf tour were tantalisngly close
aware michelle wie is about the same age as me she been up there
she done it and she young muirhead told the herald newspaper
to me you have to be very good golfer to make it up to the top ranks but
think done that in curling and fortunate to have family that are
in it and push me forward
she was introduced to curling when she was nine by father gordon twice world
silver medallist
as soon as stepped on to the ice just wanted to go back and back wanted
more dad brought me my first shoes and brush from canada and from then was
desperate to carry on and now to be skip for the olympic team at the age of
is great it exciting she said
muirhead is used to success having led the scottish team to successful defence
of the world junior title in sweden two years ago
olympics vancouver ones to watch apolo anton ohno
vancouver canada jan afp
penpix of stars to watch at the february winter olympics in vancouver
short track speed skating
apolo anton ohno
american apolo anton ohno with two gold one silver and two bronze medals is
set to become the most decorated olympic short track speed skater
five other short trackers have picked five olympic medals each but already
retired
in vancouver year old ohno can also replace long track legend bonnie blair
as the most medalled us winter olympian if he skates away with two more in his
third olympics
his surname is from his japanese born father yuki ohno who used the sport to
discipline his son as single dad in seattle apolo is coined from greek words
combining to mean to lead away from
ohno gained pop icon status in the us media at the salt lake city games
when he won the metres after south korean kim dong sung was disqualified
for blocking him to finish first
ohno who has also won nine world titles triumphed in the metres in turin
four years later beating south korean archrival ahn hyun soo
still feel like one of the best skaters in the world said ohno and
any given day can battle for hitting the top of the podium
after kim retired and injury hit ahn failed to qualify for vancouver ohno can
expect his toughest competition to come from another korean reigning world
champion lee ho suk the runner up to ahn in the and in turin
ohno has remained celebrity at home winning tv dancing with the stars title
with julianne hough in he was one of the us people magazine most
beautiful people in the same year
olympics vancouver ones to watch shani davis
vancouver canada jan afp
penpix of stars to watch at the february winter olympics in vancouver
speed skating
shani davis the first black winter olympic individual event champion will
attempt to match fellow american eric heiden one games record of five
speedskating gold medals at the vancouver olympics
davis three time and two time world champion is the world
record holder at each distance and won his landmark gold medal at meters
at the turin olympics where he also took silver in the
born on friday the th in davis was raised by his mother on the south
side of chicago he began roller skating at age three outracing roller rink
guards and took to the ice at age six even as playmates ridiculed him for not
embracing more typical sports such as basketball or american football
davis was brought into speedskating soon after by the son of his mother
employer who was involved with elite level speedskating
by age eight davis was winning age group titles and on his way to making
history success that has brought more black youths into us speedskating
programs
controversy has dogged davis as well he has his own individual sponsors which
ran him afoul of us speedskating sponsorships which often conflicted davis
spent significant time training in canada rather than at us facilities
in us teammate chad hedrick criticized davis for not being part of the us
team pursuit squad which lost to end hedrick bid for five medals davis said
he had told officials earlier he would not skate the event so he could
concentrate on his individual events
davis is favorite in the and at vancouver with the and
the long distance races the and expected to be trouble spots
olympics vancouver ones to watch sidney crosby
vancouer canada jan afp
penpix of stars to watch at the february winter olympics in vancouver
ice hockey
sidney crosby
just six months after leading his pittsburgh penguins to stanley cup
championship sidney crosby is ready for the challenge of his first olympics
the year old canadian was left off team canada in but executive director
steve yzerman made sure they didn make the same mistake twice
hockey purists have an attachment to sid greg millen canadian hockey
analyst said
he represents what canadians think they are proud but humble
crosby has goals and points in games this season for the penguins
he is on pace for his first goal season in the nhl which would give him
more than he had in any of his four previous seasons
canada big mistake in winter games was leaving sid the kid off the team
and it showed in the results as they finished disappointing seventh
he heads into the vancouver games four years older and better equipped to handle
the pressure of an olympics his international experience includes the
world championships the and world junior championships
everybody knows crosby can score goals but he also does things well on the ice
when he doesn have the puck despite his superstar status the word
complacency isn in his vocabulary
he is continually fine tuning his game and it is showing in the increased number
of goals he has scored this season
love watching him play edmonton oilers coach pat quinn said
he my favorite in the nhl and guys who will carry our flame for our canadian
hopes
we ve had eras where people have stepped forward and been the face of our game
gordie howe and bobby hull and then you get bobby orr and wayne
gretzky and mario lemieux the kid is the face of our game and he good
face
olympics vancouver ones to watch sidney crosby
vancouer canada jan afp
just six months after leading his pittsburgh penguins to stanley cup
championship sidney crosby is ready for the challenge of his first olympics
the year old canadian was left off team canada in but executive director
steve yzerman made sure they didn make the same mistake twice
hockey purists have an attachment to sid greg millen canadian hockey
analyst said
he represents what canadians think they are proud but humble
crosby has goals and points in games this season for the penguins
he is on pace for his first goal season in the nhl which would give him
more than he had in any of his four previous seasons
canada big mistake in winter games was leaving sid the kid off the team
and it showed in the results as they finished disappointing seventh
he heads into the vancouver games four years older and better equipped to handle
the pressure of an olympics his international experience includes the
world championships the and world junior championships
everybody knows crosby can score goals but he also does things well on the ice
when he doesn have the puck despite his superstar status the word
complacency isn in his vocabulary
he is continually fine tuning his game and it is showing in the increased number
of goals he has scored this season
love watching him play edmonton oilers coach pat quinn said
he my favorite in the nhl and guys who will carry our flame for our canadian
hopes
we ve had eras where people have stepped forward and been the face of our game
gordie howe and bobby hull and then you get bobby orr and wayne
gretzky and mario lemieux the kid is the face of our game and he good
face
olympics vancouver ones to watch alex ovechkin
vancouver canada jan afp
penpix of stars to watch at the february winter olympics in vancouver
ice hockey
alex ovechkin
alex ovechkin is hitting his stride just ahead of the vancouver olympics
the year old russian is one of the few players in the national hockey league
who can bring fans out of their seats with his end to end rushes
he is also student of the game and has the skill and charisma that hockey
purists like but he has also been accused of being dirty player who lets
others fight his battles for him
ovechkin may be the villain in hockey circles but the kids eat him up they
think he is sick said canadian television analyst and former nhl goaltender
greg millen
ovechkin was named the nhl player of the week last week scoring points in
four games
he also reached the goal mark for the fifth straight national hockey league
season and is on pace to score goals this season with the washington
capitals
flash meets substance and skill whenever ovechkin and canadian golden boy sidney
crosby square off
the rivalry between the two has grown testy on the ice and is the best thing
that has happened to the nhl since the glory days of wayne gretzky edmonton
oilers in the
it has also silenced the critics who claimed hockey was on its death bed few
years ago ovechkin is the most electrifying player in the league and could very
well lead the league in goals by the end of the season
crosby now has stanley cup ring which ovechkin hopes he will get this year
with the first place capitals
attendance at capitals games spiked percent after ovechkin scored one of
most the spectacular goals in nhl history against the phoenix coyotes in january
two years later he signed whopping year million dollar contract
these olympics are just the appetizer for ovechkin who is looking forward to
when the winter games are in sochi russia
olympics vancouver ones to watch alex ovechkin
vancouver canada jan afp
alex ovechkin is hitting his stride just ahead of the vancouver olympics
the year old russian is one of the few players in the national hockey league
who can bring fans out of their seats with his end to end rushes
he is also student of the game and has the skill and charisma that hockey
purists like but he has also been accused of being dirty player who lets
others fight his battles for him
ovechkin may be the villain in hockey circles but the kids eat him up they
think he is sick said canadian television analyst and former nhl goaltender
greg millen
ovechkin was named the nhl player of the week last week scoring points in
four games
he also reached the goal mark for the fifth straight national hockey league
season and is on pace to score goals this season with the washington
capitals
flash meets substance and skill whenever ovechkin and canadian golden boy sidney
crosby square off
the rivalry between the two has grown testy on the ice and is the best thing
that has happened to the nhl since the glory days of wayne gretzky edmonton
oilers in the
it has also silenced the critics who claimed hockey was on its death bed few
years ago ovechkin is the most electrifying player in the league and could very
well lead the league in goals by the end of the season
crosby now has stanley cup ring which ovechkin hopes he will get this year
with the first place capitals
attendance at capitals games spiked percent after ovechkin scored one of
most the spectacular goals in nhl history against the phoenix coyotes in january
two years later he signed whopping year million dollar contract
these olympics are just the appetizer for ovechkin who is looking forward to
when the winter games are in sochi russia
hong kong gold opens lower
hong kong jan afp
hong kong gold opened lower thursday at us dollars an ounce
down from wednesday close of us dollars
olympics vancouver ones to watch alex ovechkin
vancouver canada jan afp
alex ovechkin is hitting his stride just ahead of the vancouver olympics
the year old russian is one of the few players in the national hockey league
who can bring fans out of their seats with his end to end rushes
he is also student of the game and has the skill and charisma that hockey
purists like but he has also been accused of being dirty player who lets
others fight his battles for him
ovechkin may be the villain in hockey circles but the kids eat him up they
think he is sick said canadian television analyst and former nhl goaltender
greg millen
ovechkin was named the nhl player of the week last week scoring points in
four games
he also reached the goal mark for the fifth straight national hockey league
season and is on pace to score goals this season with the washington
capitals
flash meets substance and skill whenever ovechkin and canadian golden boy sidney
crosby square off
the rivalry between the two has grown testy on the ice and is the best thing
that has happened to the nhl since the glory days of wayne gretzky edmonton
oilers in the
it has also silenced the critics who claimed hockey was on its death bed few
years ago ovechkin is the most electrifying player in the league and could very
well lead the league in goals by the end of the season
crosby now has stanley cup ring which ovechkin hopes he will get this year
with the first place capitals
attendance at capitals games spiked percent after ovechkin scored one of
most the spectacular goals in nhl history against the phoenix coyotes in january
two years later he signed whopping year million dollar contract
these olympics are just the appetizer for ovechkin who is looking forward to
when the winter games are in sochi russia
olympics vancouver ones to watch sandrine aubert
paris jan afp
penpix of stars to watch at the february winter olympics in vancouver
alpine skiing
sandrine aubert fra
it might seem strange to single out year old racer who made her debut on
the world cup circuit way back in but aubert has only now begun to hit
some winning form
with four world cup victories to her name including two this season in are and
zagreb aubert can go to whistler in good heart despite seeing her form have
slight dip in the run in to the games
aubert who cuts striking figure at more than ft cm tall remains
strong outside bet for the slalom and super combined events
ve had dip in form but know that will come back strong ll be much
stronger mentally in the olympics said aubert third in the world cup slalom
standings behind germany maria riesch and austrian kathrin zettel
while she might shun the speed events in her quest for medal aubert can
expect some tough competition from riesch in form zettel and her austrian team
mate marlies schild sweden anja paerson and sarka zahrobska of the czech
republic
aubert also remains in the running for the slalom crystal globe and after
finishing fifth in the final slalom race before the games in maribor slovenia
she said nothing lost
there all to play for and it will come down to the final day ll really
have to give it my all
olympics vancouver ones to watch marcel hirscher
paris jan afp
