positive comparable sales in every geographic segment and generated higher
global revenues operating income and earnings per share in constant currencies
all tremendous accomplishments given the tough global economy he said
comparable sales sales in restaurants in operation at least months
climbed percent in driven by percent increase in the united
states
the company headquartered in oak brook illinois said that its us sales
throughout had outpaced the overall quick service industry and the firm had
picked up market share with easing commodity costs helping to boost fourth
quarter results
in european operations britain france and russia led growth in operating
income in the fourth quarter
asia pacific middle east and africa posted double digit operating income growth
driven by results in australia expansion in china and operating efficiencies
and lower commodity costs in many markets the company said
the fourth quarter results marked an improvement over the third quarter when
the hamburger chain posted six percent rise in profit and drop in sales
as we begin mcdonald january global comparable sales trend remains
positive skinner said
haiti rescuers switch focus to relief for survivors
port au prince jan afp
more aftershocks rocked the haitian capital friday as un teams switched focus
from search and rescue to relief efforts days after catastrophic earthquake
demolished much of the city
some port au prince residents ran in panic from concrete buildings fearing
repeat of the collapses that last week killed at least people and left
more than million homeless living in streets parks and makeshift tented
encampments
others are now accustomed to the tremors which still strike every day and most
residents remained concentrated on the struggle to survive and rebuild
semblance of normal economic and social life amid the ruins
meanwhile international rescue teams remained deployed around the city in the
increasingly faint hope of finding more survivors amid the rubble and us troops
and un agencies distributed humanitarian aid
un led teams in haiti on friday switched their focus away from searching for
people trapped in collapsed buildings to providing aid to hundreds of thousands
of increasingly desperate survivors
elisabeth byrs spokeswoman for the un office for the coordination of
humanitarian affairs ocha said in geneva the rescue teams are concentrating
more and more on humanitarian aid for those who need it
some rescue teams were exhausted and starting to go home but those that
remained had heavy equipment and would continue to pull out corpses she
added
survivors still faced desperate fight for life and medics said gangrene had
begun to set in
tens of thousands of seriously injured haitians remained in makeshift field
hospitals set up in tents amid the ruins of the ravaged capital
international doctors working in miserable conditions and without supplies and
modern equipment have carried out scores of amputations to save victims with
serious crush wounds or to repair internal injuries
bed capacity us naval hospital ship was moored off the coast with about
medical personnel and had begun taking some of the most seriously injured
meanwhile the un children fund unicef said it believed children had gone
missing from hospitals raising fears of trafficking for adoption abroad
we have documented let say around cases of children disappearing from
hospitals and not with their own family at the time said unicef adviser jean
luc legrand in geneva
unicef has been working in haiti for many years and we knew the problem with
the trade of children in haiti which existed before and unfortunately many of
these trade networks have links with international adoption market he said
the haiti government was on friday working to move an estimated people
out of port au prince where they are living in squalid conditions to temporary
accommodation outside the city
the government has made available to people free transportation large
operation is taking place we re in the process of relocating homeless people
said interior minister paul antoine bien aime
the government had hired buses to take quake victims to the south and north of
the caribbean nation to hastily set up villages designed to hold people
each
alongside the haitian plan french and us rescue workers had also begun to clear
debris and human waste from around the city ceremonial square the champ de
mars which has become giant refugee camp
we want to stop living like animals said carole deslouis who finally
received the promise of food and shelter in the square thursday after days of
washing her children with filthy water and begging for rice
us forces hoped to begin reopening the main port from friday following repairs
in order to receive international aid shipments and relieve pressure on the
international airport
thousands of haitians waited by the sea friday on earthquake cracked mud
surrounded by bags and babies hoping the reopening of the port would allow them
to flee to unaffected zones
roger rouzier shipping company general director who has been using the port
for years said us naval forces were patrolling cordon off port au prince
to prevent the departure of boats full of refugees
us homeland security secretary janet napolitano urged haitians to remain at home
to help rebuild their shattered country
haitians who entered us territory illegally would be repatriated she told
news conference during visit to spain
haitians need to be there to rebuild the country this is not an opportunity to
immigrate to the united states she said in toledo spain
head of yemen shiite rebels denies death report video
dubai jan afp
the website of the shiite rebels in northern yemen posted video on friday in
which their chief abdel malik al huthi denied having been killed as claimed by
government officials several times
all these allegations are fabricated and baseless the rebel leader said in
the video in response to the reports that he was dead or had been wounded
these allegations are intended to justify the massacres of civilians committed
by the authorities he said referring to an intensified government military
campaign against the rebels since late last year
figure skating kostner takes control at europeans
tallinn jan afp
italy carolina kostner moved closer to third european figure skating title
by leading friday short programme
kostner the and champion served notice she is ready to reclaim the
title she lost last year to finn laura lepisto by opening up point
advantage on finland kiira korpi
the year old gave an error free performance to classical medley from chopin
and tchaikovsky nailing all of her elements as she opened with triple flip
double toeloop and followed up with triple toeloop and double axel she scored
total of points
korpi the european bronze medallist also hit her jumps including
triple lutz double toeloop combination to score
the defending champion lepisto touched down on her opening triple triple toeloop
combination and stumbled on spiral sequence to the music imagined oceans
leaving her in third with
the short programme counts for third of the points with the remainder coming
in saturday free skating finale
us rejects latin american claim it is occupying haiti
la paz jan afp
the united states has rejected accusations from several leftwing ruled latin
american countries that its massive military deployment to quake hit haiti was
an occupation
the presence of the united states in haiti is basically response to request
from haiti president rene preval maria otero an official in charge of
international affairs at the us state department said in news conference in
bolivia capital late thursday
it also is based on the work of the united nations said the official who was
in la paz to attend ceremony friday ushering in bolivian president evo
morales second term
her comments came after venezuela bolivia and nicaragua all three led by
anti us governments claimed washington was using the international relief
operation in haiti as cover for military takeover
the united states has sent one of its biggest aircraft carriers to haiti along
with other navy and coast guard vessels some us military personnel have
been deployed to the region and another were due to arrive saturday us
servicemen have also taken control of haiti international airport
venezuelan president hugo chavez charged that the empire is taking hold of
haiti over the bodies and tears of its people
he added they brazenly occupied haiti without consulting the un or the oas
organization of american states
bolivia morales said wednesday he would request an emergency un meeting to
repudiate and reject this military occupation of the united states in haiti
it not right the united states should use this natural disaster to invade and
militarily occupy haiti he told press conference
if you have all these problems with the injured and the dead from the
earthquake you have to go there to save lives and you don do that from
military standpoint he added
at least people killed in south sudan clashes army
juba sudan jan afp
at least people have been killed in clashes in the troubled southern sudanese
state of jonglei in recent days military spokesman said on friday
fighting first broke out on monday in the nuer settlement of koul anyang after
quarrel between two men but soon escalated and led to the deaths of nine
people said major general kuol diem kuol
it was normal quarrel between two people but each of their villages became
involved said kuol of the southern sudan peoples liberation army spla
adding that it took place in the new fangak region of jonglei
then fighting began again on the thursday and this time it was more bloody
he said adding that while originally between people from the nuer ethnic group
the fighting later drew in dinka people who supported one side
from the fighting on thursday we have information that nuer were killed
were wounded and there are five more who are missing kuol said
he said he believed the death toll would rise
we are waiting for reliable reports as to the number of deaths from the other
side but there are sure to be casualties there too he told afp
clashes between rival ethnic groups in south sudan erupt frequently often
sparked by cattle rustling and disputes over natural resources while others are
retaliation for previous attacks
however string of recent raids has shocked many with an apparent sharp
increase in the number of attacks on women and children as well as the
targeting of homesteads
some people have been killed during clashes in the south warrap state this
month
earlier this month the united nations expressed concern at the flare up of
violence in southern sudan
ashraf qazi head of the un mission in sudan urged the south regional
government to investigate these incidents and to redouble their efforts to help
de escalate the rising wave of violence in southern sudan
in some people were killed and fled their homes higher
death toll than in the troubled western region of darfur
the situation is now calm and there are spla troops there to control the
situation kuol added
ten aid agencies warned in report earlier this month that sudan could plunge
into fresh turmoil if the world community fails to salvage the north south
comprehensive peace agreement cpa
the landmark deal ended year war between the mainly muslim north and the
oil rich but grossly underdeveloped south where most people are christian or
follow traditional religions
some two million people died and four million were forced from their homes
during the war complex conflict fought over resources oil ideology
ethnicity and religion
the cpa is meant to pave the way in april for sudan first multi party
elections in years with parliamentary and regional ballots held alongside
presidential vote ahead of referendum for the south potential full
independence slated for january
tennis clijsters crashes but henin open dream lives on
melbourne jan afp
kim clijsters was left reeling from humiliating australian open exit friday
but fellow belgian justine henin and defending champion rafael nadal kept their
grand slam dreams alive
hapless clijsters was hopelessly out of touch as she was thrashed in
just minutes by russia th seeded nadia petrova who is rewarded with
fourth round match against third seed svetlana kuznetsova
the reigning us open champion was not the only top name to crash out with
former world number one jelena jankovic also sent packing
in contrast henin performed great escape act to claw back from set down to
squeeze past russian th seed alisa kleybanova
she joined nadal dinara safina andy murray juan martin del potro and andy
roddick in the last
clijsters who came into the tournament on the back of winning the warm up
brisbane international said she was bewildered by the experience
the question is of course is why my coach my fitness coach are like how
can something like this happen she said
we haven changed anything really that the thing was completely off
the diminutive henin the champion was also staring at defeat after losing
the opening set and falling behind in the second to kleybanova
but she drew on all her experience as seven time grand slam champion to bounce
back taking the second set and rattling through the third
kind of survived little bit today she henin playing in only her second
tournament on her comeback from an month retirement
it was so difficult for me after the last match physically suffered
little bit in the last two days very happy that still in the
tournament
she next plays fellow belgian yanina wickmayer who beat italy sara errani
safina the second seed clocked rapid fire thrashing of england
elena baltacha in her first match on rod laver arena since she imploded during
last year final against serena williams
the russian took heart from winning return at the scene of one of her worst
days in tennis
didn have good memories of the last match played on rod laver arena for
sure she said am glad to be back and had to fight hard and make sure
won to forget the bad memories
she will next face maria kirilenko after the fellow russian outlasted italy
roberta vinci
while safina and henin powered on jankovic looked like spent force
she struggled to live up to her potential in and her big match credentials
were again found wanting but jankovic wasn concerned
it no big deal it only my second tournament of the year she said
just have to stay positive keep my head up high
on the men side nadal was put through his paces by german th seed philipp
kohlschreiber before winning tense battle he will next
play croat ivo karlovic who beat countryman ivan ljubicic
scotland murray maintained his flawless form by advancing with
win over frenchman florent serra
the year old who next plays american john isner equalled his best
performance here as he takes aim at maiden grand slam title
happy to have won in three sets in all of the matches he said happy
to save as much energy as possible
roddick ground out win over tenacious spaniard
feliciano lopez
it sets him up with fourth round clash against chilean th seed fernando
gonzalez who beat kazak evgeny korolev
del potro fired past german florian mayer
nordic skiing fabjan wins rybinsk sprint
rybinsk russia jan afp
women world cup freestyle sprint results on friday
freestyle sprint over km
vesna fabjan slo
magda genuin ita
justyna kowalczyk pol
claudia nystad ger
miriam goessner ger
katja visnar slo
overall world cup sprint standings after of events
petra mjadic slo points
justyna kowalczyk pol
aino kaisa saarinen fin
hanna falk swe
vesna fabjan slo
world cup overall standings after of events
justyna kowalczyk pol points
petra majdic slo
aino kaisa saarinen fin
arianna follis ita
kristin stoermer steira nor
marit bjoergen nor
riitta liisa roponen fin
marianna longa ita
natalia korosteleva rus
olga savialova rus
afp
tennis australian open results day five collated
melbourne jan afp
collated results from day five of the australian open at melbourne park here
friday denotes seeding
men singles
rd round
andy roddick usa bt feliciano lopez esp
fernando gonzalez chi bt evgeny korolev kaz
andy murray gbr bt florent serra fra
john isner usa bt gael monfils fra
juan martin del potro arg bt florian mayer ger
marin cilic cro bt stanislas wawrinka sui
rafael nadal esp bt philipp kohlschreiber ger
ivo karlovic cro bt ivan ljubicic cro
women singles
rd round
dinara safina rus bt elena baltacha gbr
alona bondarenko ukr bt jelena jankovic srb
justin henin bel bt alisa kleybanova rus
yanina wickmayer bel bt sara errani ita
maria kirilenko rus bt roberta vinci ita
zheng jie chn bt marion bartoli fra
nadia petrova rus bt kim clijsters bel
svetlana kuznetsova rus bt angelique kerber ger
football bodmer out lovren in for lyon
lyon france jan afp
lyon centre back mathieu bodmer has been ruled out of his team french cup
clash at monaco on sunday due to thigh muscle injury the club revealed on
friday
croatian central defender dejan lovren the club most recent signing could
make his first appearance with the squad
the aim is to have him participate in the life of the squad said lyon coach
claude puel
tennis kuznetsova battles into open fourth round
melbourne jan afp
russian third seed svetlana kuznetsova came from set down to beat german
qualifier angelique kerber and make the fourth round of the
australian open early saturday
biathlon germany neuner wins biathlon sprint
anterselva italy jan afp
germany magdalena neuner won the women world cup biathlon sprint here on
friday ahead of compatriot andrea henkel and sandrine bailly of france
neuner who won the km race here on wednesday completed the sprint in min
sec and despite picking up one penalty finished sec ahead of henkel with
bailly at sec
it was the th world cup success of the year old neuner career
urgent head of yemen shiite rebels denies death report video
sanaa jan afp
the website of the shiite rebels in northern yemen posted video on friday in
which their chief abdel malik al huthi denied having been killed as claimed
several times by government officials
oil prices struggle higher amid weak demand
london jan afp
oil prices rose slightly on friday with gains capped by weak energy demand in
the united states and worries over the strength of china economy traders
said
new york main contract light sweet crude for march delivery climbed eight
cents to dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for delivery in march gained cents to dollars
barrel
the us department of energy doe on thursday said that gasoline or petrol
reserves in the world biggest economy increased by stronger than expected
million barrels in the week ending january striking two year high
it also said refineries operated at percent of capacity last week their
lowest rate in at least two decades apart from the immediate aftermath of
hurricane
the doe report was not very bullish price supportive the refineries
capacities were down at around percent and that was their lowest in the two
decades said anz bank oil analyst serene lim
however us crude stocks fell barrels according to the doe report
confounding expectations of large gain of million barrels
the united states is the world largest energy consuming nation followed by
number two china
meanwhile moves by china to slow down its roaring economy also weighed on oil
prices
think people are very concerned about what the chinese government would do
next to curb the consumption demand growth said lim
china economy expanded percent in the december quarter and by percent
for the whole of
oil prices jumped by about percent in as traders were heartened by
evidence that the battered global economy was on the mend with the eurozone
japan and the united states escaping fierce recession
however crude futures have struggled to make much headway in early as
economic data disappoints
on tuesday the opec oil producers cartel left unchanged its forecast for
annual oil demand growth
the organization of petroleum exporting countries said in its january report
that world oil demand in was forecast to grow by million barrels per
day bpd to average million bpd representing no major change from last
month
opec member the united arab emirates on monday said it was comfortable with
current price levels
uae energy minister mohammad bin dhaen al hamli said world oil prices were very
reasonable at the moment
asked if he preferred prices to be in excess of dollars barrel he told
reporters on the sidelines of four day alternative energy forum in the uae
capital don like over and don like
football young boys welcome bienvenu to switzerland
tunis jan afp
cameroonian forward henri bienvenu has joined bern based swiss side young boys
from tunisian outfit esperance sportive de tunis est on three year deal
his new club announced on friday
the year old joined est in and was the club top scorer in the first
half of the tunisian championship with six goals
formerly of cameroonian club coton sport de garoua henri will link up with his
new team mates including tunisian international defender issam merdassi next
thursday
young boys are the current leaders of the swiss first division
at least people killed in south sudan clashes army
juba sudan jan afp
at least people have been killed in clashes in the troubled southern sudanese
state of jonglei in recent days military spokesman said on friday
fighting first broke out on monday in the nuer settlement of koul anyang after
quarrel between two men but soon escalated and led to the deaths of nine
people said major general kuol diem kuol
it was normal quarrel between two people but each of their villages became
involved said kuol of the southern sudan peoples liberation army spla
adding that it took place in the new fangak region of jonglei
then fighting began again on the thursday and this time it was more bloody
he said adding that while originally between people from the nuer ethnic group
the fighting later drew in dinka people who supported one side
from the fighting on thursday we have information that nuer were killed
were wounded and there are five more who are missing kuol said
he said he believed the death toll would rise
we are waiting for reliable reports as to the number of deaths from the other
side but there are sure to be casualties there too he told afp
clashes between rival ethnic groups in south sudan erupt frequently often
sparked by cattle rustling and disputes over natural resources while others are
retaliation for previous attacks
however string of recent raids has shocked many with an apparent sharp
increase in the number of attacks on women and children as well as the
targeting of homesteads
some people were killed during clashes in the south warrap state earlier
this month
in some people were killed and fled their homes higher
death toll than in the troubled western region of darfur
the situation is now calm and there are spla troops there to control the
situation kuol added
ten aid agencies warned in report earlier this month that sudan could plunge
into fresh turmoil if the world community fails to salvage the north south
comprehensive peace agreement cpa
the landmark deal ended year war between the mainly muslim north and the
oil rich but grossly underdeveloped south where most people are christian or
follow traditional religions
some two million people died and four million were forced from their homes
during the war complex conflict fought over resources oil ideology
ethnicity and religion
the cpa is meant to pave the way in april for sudan first multi party
elections in years with parliamentary and regional ballots held alongside
presidential vote ahead of referendum for the south potential full
independence slated for january
football injured togo bus driver released from hospital
luanda jan afp
the angolan bus driver injured in the deadly attack on the togo football team
ahead of the africa cup of nations has been discharged from hospital
newspaper reported on friday
antonio quaresma luemba who was originally reported dead told the private
pais newspaper that he was shot in the arm and abdomen when the bus he was
driving came under fire in the northern enclave of cabinda near the congo
border
me and three togolese were seriously injured and bleeding heavily so we were
quickly transported to masabi town by car that was part of the official
escort to hospital to be rescued he said
on that day the players were all happy and they had no idea that we were to be
attacked on the way
togo assistant coach and its squad spokesman were killed when the team
convoy was ambushed by separatist guerrillas in oil rich cabinda after it had
crossed the border from congo brazzaville on january
the three buses transporting the togolese belonged to the cabinda based company
empresa de transporte publico he said
the father of six was not formally employed by the bus company but took the job
that day by chance to earn some extra cash for his family he said
angolan security forces waged minute gun battle with the separatists
casting deep shadow over the competition
togo was ordered by their government to withdraw from the competition after the
shooting which has been claimed by several factions of the separatist front for
the liberation of the enclave of angola flec
us chocolate firm hershey rules out cadbury counter bid
london jan afp
us chocolate maker hershey announced friday that it will not make counter bid
for british confectioner cadbury which had agreed earlier this week to
friendly takeover from kraft foods
the hershey company announces that it does not intend to make an offer for
cadbury the group said in brief statement to the london stock exchange
the development clears the path for kraft foods which had sealed deal last
tuesday after the famed british chocolate maker accepted sweetened bid to
create world leader in confectionery
ending bitter hostile takeover battle cadbury board agreed to an improved
offer worth billion pounds billion euros billion dollars or
pence per share
under the deal cadbury shareholders will also receive pence per share via
special dividend lifting kraft offer to billion pounds
hershey and italian peer ferrero had declared last november that they were each
considering possible bids for cadbury
and the wall street journal had reported last week that hershey was considering
cadbury bid worth at least billion dollars
britain takeover panel meanwhile handed the pair deadline on tuesday to
make an offer for cadbury
the independent panel which supervises and regulates takeovers had said that
hershey and ferrero have until january to make formal rival offer
the kraft takeover will end the independence of cadbury whose history dates
back to and whose products such as dairy milk chocolate bars are loved by
millions of sweet toothed customers worldwide
major food distribution begins in haiti capital
port au prince jan afp
tens of thousands of desperate haitian quake survivors braved ongoing
aftershocks to queue up to receive the first major hand outs of food and water
in central port au prince on friday
line of hungry but calm residents snaked around the presidential palace once
proud national symbol and now battered ruin surrounded by makeshift
refugee camp as brazilian un peacekeepers began their handout
the brazilians brought ten tonnes of ration packs and litres of water and
planned to feed families for three days each officers said
in the champ de mars ceremonial square in front of the palace the french
embassy and international aid agencies were to erect tents to hold
people later in the day ambassador didier le bret told afp
elsewhere according to world food programme spokesman david orr the un agency
staged massive aid distributions at football stadium and in the downtown
