of the city later thursday despite concerns from children aid groups that
fast track procedures could lead to families being broken up forever
tens of thousands of haitians remain seriously wounded in makeshift field
hospitals set up in tents on the ruins of the ravaged capital
international doctors working in miserable conditions lacking 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 is moored off haiti with about
medical personnel and has begun taking the worst of the injured
the international organisation for migration estimated that at least half
million people are now living outdoors in improvised camps and warned the
number was climbing as people flood in from damaged villages
thousands of us troops have poured into haiti with expected on the ground
or offshore by sunday other nations have pledged security forces to help
distribute aid provide medical treatment and keep the streets secure from
looters
general douglas fraser the head of us southern command said the extra us
troops would give us an increased capacity to move humanitarian supplies
throughout the country
three amphibious ships will support the deployment along with helicopter
squadron tilt rotor squadron and medical personnel and facilities the us
military said
the main port was to open partially despite strong signs of damage including
buckled wharves leaning telephone poles and slanting cranes with us navy and
us army divers due to start repairing its pier friday
the world bank said it would waive haiti debt payments for the next five
years and study efforts to cancel the nation remaining debt of about
million dollars
prices have soared on the streets amid general shortages anyone who managed to
stash extra food petrol or cigarettes can now get rich quick
had several cans of gasoline at home for factory on my property and have
been selling them little by little said ludovic it haitian gourdes
around us dollars no haggling he said pricing can at twice what it
fetched before the quake
world powers will discuss plans to rebuild the country at major donor
conference on monday in montreal
nba james leads cavs to another win over lakers
cleveland ohio jan afp
lebron james and the cleveland cavaliers beat kobe bryant and the los angeles
lakers for the second time this season thursday downing the reigning nba
champions
the cavaliers who embarrassed the lakers in christmas day contest saw to it
that the lakers eight game road trip got off to rocky start and spoiled any
pleasure bryant might have felt in reaching an nba scoring milestone
james scored points including straight in the closing stretch while jj
hickson pulled down career high rebounds and anderson varejao made three
free throws in the last seconds as cleveland came out on top in clash of
the nba two top teams
the cavaliers were playing their first game without mo williams the all star
pointguard who is expected to miss at least month with sprained shoulder
bryant surpassed career points in the first half becoming the th
player to do so
up next for bryant at no on the all time scoring list is lakers legend jerry
west with
but despite reaching the milestone bryant couldn match james in the fourth
quarter bryant finished with points but was only of in the second
half
the score was tied when james drained three pointer from the left side
after miss by bryant james made another basket to put cleveland up by five
points
james then hit another shot to make it with to play
ron artest kept the lakers in it with three pointer and bryant made two free
throws and jump shot to knot the score at
but james burst down the left side for lay up the lakers pau gasol had
chance to tie it again but missed two free throws after cavs timeout james
made one of two free throws and varejao grabbing the rebound on james miss
was fouled
varejao made both shots from the line to give cleveland lead with
seconds remaining bryant missed three point attempt and james saved the
rebound before varejao made one more free throw with four seconds left
cleveland sweep of the season series could give the cavaliers home court
advantage if they meet the lakers in the nba finals
tennis henin stages comeback to beat kelybanova
melbourne jan afp
former world number one justine henin came from set and down to overhaul
russian th seed alisa kleybanova in the third round of the
australian open on friday
the year old belgian playing her first grand slam since coming out of
retirement battled for two hours and minutes before overcoming the powerful
kleybanova
it was henin second marathon match in succession following her win over elena
dementieva in almost three hours in the second round with the five hours spent
on court surely taking their toll as she heads into the fourth round
henin showed all her trademark fighting qualities against kleybanova who was
just as tenacious as the seven time grand slam winner and matched her for most
of the three sets
kleybanova began superbly using her booming big serve to great advantage and
pressuring henin serve at every opportunity
henin eventually cracked and dropped her second service game to go behind and
although she had chances to break back later in the set kleybanova held firm to
take the first set
the russian didn ease off breaking henin in the opening game of the second
set and jumping out to lead
but henin began to look more and more dangerous as her one handed backhand began
to find its range and she broke kleybanova to even the set at then struck
again while leading to tie the match up at one set apiece
it was then the turn of the belgian to come out firing as she skipped away to
lead
third set whitewash seemed on the cards until kleybanova dug deep breaking
back then holding her serve to get back to
but henin came again and this time there was nothing kleybanova could do to halt
her momentum as the champion won the next three games to take the match and
set up fourth round clash with countrywoman yanina wickmeyer
unseeded wickmeyer won her way into the fourth round with tough
win over italy sara errani
lawmakers decry christmas day attack intelligence flaws
washington jan afp
us lawmakers on thursday listed series of intelligence failures committed in
the lead up to foiled christmas day plot to blow up us bound plane with
nearly people aboard
democratic senator dianne feinstein who chairs the senate select committee on
intelligence and her republican counterpart kit bond met behind closed doors
with top intelligence officials
in joint statement they called the attempted attack major intelligence
failure
they said shortcomings included the failure to connect intelligence cia
material that never reached the proper places disregarding warnings from the
accused bomber father limits in the us no fly list and obstacles to proper
interrogation
feinstein said that intelligence officials were not consulted before the suspect
year old nigerian purportedly trained in yemen by al qaeda in the
arabian peninsula aqap was read his rights and granted access to lawyer
the panel prepared report and lawmakers will discuss conclusions and
recommendations in the coming weeks she added after the hearing with director
of national intelligence dennis blair national counterterrorism center chief
michael leiter and other officials
us lawmakers have been sharply critical of the failures that allowed umar farouk
abdulmutallab to board crowded airliner bound for detroit from amsterdam
as the plane came in to land he allegedly attempted to blow it up with
explosive device sewn into his underwear
the united states has scrambled to find ways to tighten air travel security
some eight years after al qaeda extremists used hijacked airliners as guided
missiles in the september attacks that killed nearly people
in my view there was enough to put this man on the no fly list he should have
been on the no fly list in my view his visa should have been revoked there
was enough said feinstein
but the california democrat applauded domestic defense for having made enormous
strides since
basketball yao sharks setting shanghai on fire
beijing jan afp
they come to enjoy the action and they also come to get free slice of pizza
when their sharks win big but basketball fans in shanghai mainly turn up to see
the main man yao ming
basketball is back in china financial hub after long time in the wilderness
which began when hometown hero yao left for the nba after leading the sharks to
the china basketball association championship in
yao who is missing the nba season with the houston rockets due to broken
foot is now the owner and general manager of the club where he launched his
spectacular career and where his father once played
new coach robert donewald an nba veteran recruited by the year old yao says
the team renaissance is largely due to shanghai prodigal son
it the yao factor no doubt about it he has set the tone donewald
former assistant with the cleveland cavaliers told afp in an interview
you can look at any company any successful sports team they have great
leadership it starts from the top he said
yao brought in the mentality the culture and it has trickled down it is his
core values he wants things done the right way
since taking over the financially ailing sharks yao has brought in donewald
new sponsor two gritty american players moved the team to bigger arena and
shaken up club management
the results are nothing short of astounding after yao left the sharks finished
the season at the bottom of the table
now they are the talk of the league the darlings of china biggest city and
sitting in fourth place with record
everyone is saying that ve become businessman but in transition
period right now half professional athlete half businessman yao said
in an interview with flashy shanghai magazine bund
what we are trying to do now is rebuild the spirit of the shanghai team this
will take long time no one generation can complete it just hope that the
bricks that am putting in place now will one day turn into jewels
besides being one of the best centres in the nba the multi millionaire yao and
his team of financial advisers have built marketing empire that has arguably
made the expectant father china most recognisable star
when the cba season began last month many fans came to the games just to see
yao sitting in the stands and now they are flocking to watch the team win
sharks spokesman zhang chi told afp
the club is offering each ticket holder free slice of pizza when the sharks
score more than points and win the game marketing ploy yao has taken
straight out of the nba playbook
guard john lucas iii son of legendary rocket playmaker john lucas and
year old american centre garret siler are two other reasons for the sharks
success
lucas is leading the team with an average of points per game and siler
who is playing hurt has chipped in points and rebounds per game
the two are leading powerful charge with star guard liu wei one of china
best players prominent fixture on the national team and one of yao
teammates during the sharks championship year
liu is averaging points and assists per game and donewald says he is
warrior the spiritual leader of the team
the american coach said he has been surprised by how quickly the team has come
together and the hard work the players have put in but it has been the shanghai
crowds that have impressed him the most
we are moving along we still have lot of errors and we still need to get
stronger and more seasoned but we are heading in the right direction donewald
said
the crowd has been awesome our young team feeds off this crowd think we
would have lost some games if it was not for the crowd it been definite
plus for us
tennis australian open results day five st update
melbourne jan afp
results from day five of the australian open at melbourne park here friday
denotes seeding
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
tennis henin and safina keep open dreams alive
melbourne jan afp
justine henin performed great escape act friday to keep her australian open
dream alive as she joined dinara safina in last but jelena jankovic
tournament ended
the diminutive belgian the champion at melbourne park was staring at
defeat after losing the first set and falling behind in the second to big
serving russian th seed alisa kleybanova
but she drew on all her experience as seven time grand slam champion to claw
back taking the second set and rattling through the third for
victory in gripping two hour minute contest
following her defeat of fifth seed elena dementieva in the previous round
henin battling win friday proved once again she is still threat despite
playing in only her second tournament on her comeback from an month
retirement
henin will next play fellow belgian yanina wickmayer the world number who
had to come through qualifying following doping scandal
wickmayer beat italy sara errani
safina the second seed clocked rapid fire minute 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 said the world number two am glad to be back and had to fight hard
and make sure won to forget the bad memories
think it was very solid match from my side pretty satisfied with
everything did
safina will next face maria kirilenko in the fourth round and after the fellow
russian outlasted italy roberta vinci
safina appears in favourable section of the draw with either kim clijsters
who plays later friday or henin likely to be her semi final opponent if she
progresses that far
while safina and henin powered on jankovic looked like spent force as she was
bundled out by st seed alona bondarenko crashing in miserable end
to the tournament for player ranked world number one this time last year
she joins other high casulaties maria sharapova and ana ivanovic on an early
plane home
the serb struggled to live up to her potential in and her big match
credentials were again found wanting when she was comprehensively outplayed by
the ukrainian who won the lead up hobart tournament
but jankovic wasn overly 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 know what have to work
on feel like my game is improving and feel like really can raise my level
and be up there
on the men side second seed rafael nadal plays later friday against th
seeded german philipp kohlschreiber while fifth seeded scot andy murray faces
frenchman florent serra
seventh seed andy roddick who had run in with an umpire in his second round
match is up against spain feliciano lopez
us bent on information imperialism chinese state media
beijing jan afp
us calls for an open internet in china are form of western information
imperialism state media commentary alleged friday after secretary of state
hillary clinton criticised chinese censorship
the us campaign for an uncensored and free flow of information on an
unrestricted internet is disguised attempt to impose its values on other
cultures in the name of democracy the global times said in an editorial
china refuses to be victimised by information imperialism added the english
language paper which is run by the people daily the main mouthpiece of the
ruling communist party
the commentary appeared after clinton delivered an internet policy speech in
washington during which she said china was stepping up web censorship and was
among countries using the internet to target and silence people of faith
the speech came amid burgeoning row over internet giant google threat to
leave china over censorship and recent cyberattacks
clinton also called for beijing to conduct thorough review of the attacks
which google said appeared aimed at cracking the email accounts of chinese human
rights activists
the global times said an unfettered web would leave china vulnerable as the
bulk of the information flowing from the us and other western countries is
loaded with aggressive rhetoric against those countries that do not follow their
lead
countries disadvantaged by the unequal and undemocratic information flow have
to protect their national interest and take steps toward this it said adding
this was essential for their political stability
the global times is an english language daily targeted at foreign audience and
viewed as barometer of the official line
no reaction to clinton speech was seen friday in the chinese language press
which has been muted on the row and the controversial censorship issues
involved
the global times has lashed out over the issue this week on wednesday it
criticised the revolving door between big corporations and washington
suggesting google had bought influence with the obama administration
vice foreign minister he yafei was however quoted by state media thursday saying
the google case should not be linked with sino us relations
china foreign ministry did not immediately respond to afp requests for comment
on clinton speech
hong kong shares down percent at break
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares dived percent by the break on friday amid regional falls
after us president barack obama said he would crack down on wall street
reckless big banks
the benchmark hang seng index tumbled points to turnover was
billion hong kong dollars billion us
bomb attack in sri lanka capital ahead of vote
colombo jan afp
key opposition activist in sri lanka was targeted at home by bomb early
friday police said despite tighter security ahead of next week presidential
election
the blast destroyed car and severely damaged the home of tiran alles key
ally of presidential candidate sarath fonseka police said adding that he and
his family had escaped unhurt
the attackers are believed to have come in van and carried out the attack and
fled police official at the scene said adding that no arrests had been made
in connection with the pre dawn bombing
an opposition spokesman alleged alles had been targeted by the ruling party
after fonseka campaign released photograph of president mahinda rajapakse
eldest son namal with tamil rebel leader at london nightclub
rajapakse reputation as war hero president is staked on his victory over the
tamil tiger rebels last year who were wiped out in huge government offensive
after years of fighting
since the photograph showed some sort of link between the president family
and the tamil tigers alles had been receiving death threats the spokesman
said even yesterday we complained that he could be targeted
international concern over escalating election related violence has mounted
with united nations chief ban ki moon on thursday expressing alarm over the
increasing number of violent incidents and killings
ban urged all sri lanka parties and their supporters to show restraint and
refrain from violence to adhere to the electoral laws and rules and to avoid
provocative acts throughout the election period and its aftermath
the independent election commissioner dayananda dissanayake was quoted as saying
wednesday that he had stopped giving directives to the police and public
officials who disregarded his orders aimed at ensuring free and fair vote
rajapakse called next tuesday vote two years ahead of schedule in bid to
cash in on the government defeat of the separatist tamil tiger rebels after
decades of ethnic warfare on the island
but he faces surprise rival to power in fonseka the former general who led
the troops to victory in may
bomb attack in sri lanka capital ahead of vote
colombo jan afp
key opposition activist in sri lanka was targeted at home by bomb early
friday police said despite tighter security ahead of next week presidential
election
the blast destroyed car and severely damaged the home of tiran alles key
ally of presidential candidate sarath fonseka police said adding that he and
his family had escaped unhurt
the attackers are believed to have come in van and carried out the attack and
fled police official at the scene said adding that no arrests had been made
in connection with the pre dawn bombing
vietnam flouts commitments to asean on rights watchdog
hanoi jan afp
vietnam is flouting its human rights commitments to the association of southeast
asian nations asean human rights watch said friday after the controversial
conviction of four democracy activists
at the beginning of the year vietnam took over the rotating chairmanship of the
regional bloc whose charter commits its members to promote and protect human
rights and fundamental freedoms
the conviction at day long trial in southern ho chi minh city on wednesday of
the four activists highlighted climate of increasingly harsh political
repression in the communist nation the new york based watchdog said
vietnam antipathy toward free expression and other fundamental rights does
not bode well for the association of southeast asian nations asean which
vietnam now chairs human rights watch said
by locking up peaceful rights defenders democracy activists and cyber
dissidents the vietnamese government is clearly flouting its promises to asean
and the international community the group asia director brad adams said in
statement
internet entrepreneur tran huynh duy thuc was sentenced to years in
prison while blogger nguyen tien trung received seven years human rights
lawyer le cong dinh and le thang long were each given five years
all were found guilty of trying to overthrow the regime
the european union delegation to vietnam called the trial and verdicts major
and regrettable step backwards while us ambassador michael michalak expressed
concern about the apparent lack of due process and called for the immediate
release of the prisoners
some observers see the case of the four as linked to next year communist party
congress when high ranking leadership posts will be determined
it is the most high profile case in series of arrests and convictions of
dissidents and bloggers in the country over the past year
tennis henin comes from behind to beat kleybanova
melbourne jan afp
former world number one justine henin came from set and down to overhaul
russian th seed alisa kleybanova in the third round of the
australian open on friday
urgent home of key sri lankan opposition figure bombed police
colombo jan afp
attackers bombed the home of key sri lankan opposition activist in colombo
early friday but he and his family escaped unhurt police said
rusal sets price at premium to peers in hong kong ipo
hong kong jan afp
uc rusal the world biggest aluminium producer raised billion us dollars
after pricing its hong kong and paris dual public offering at premium
source told afp friday
the russian giant sold billion shares at hong kong dollars each
us the midpoint of its indicative price range of dollars the
shares represented percent of its enlarged capital
rusal could price anywhere in the range but it wants to ensure high quality
distribution and good after market performance the source said
rusal the first russian company to list in hong kong will start trading on
january and list its depositary receipts in paris
hong kong financial watchdog the securities and futures commission has
imposed an unusual entry cap on the offering to discourage retail investors from
taking part in the highly complicated offering
the hong kong stock exchange repeatedly postponed decision on the offering
plan due to concerns over the company crushing billion us dollar debt
racked up when metal prices plunged during the financial crisis
but the company said in november it had reached an agreement with creditors on
restructuring the debt
the listing was also impeded by unproven allegations that chief executive oleg
deripaska had links to organised crime
despite the potential risks the source said the company had already garnered
the support from institutional investors including cheung kong holdings
the blue chip company of hong kong tycoon li ka shing
rusal announced earlier that it secured four key investors for the share sale
malaysian chinese tycoon robert kuok new york hedge fund paulson amp co
european banking family scion nathaniel rothschild and russian state development
bank vneshekonombank or veb
australia condemns latest attacks against indians
sydney jan afp
australian police were friday investigating two new assaults against indians
but again denied that the violence in the northeastern state of queensland was
racially motivated
year old man was punched in the head and robbed of his wallet at phone
booth in brisbane on thursday night and in separate incident early friday
taxi driver was hit in the face during an argument with passengers he was taken
to hospital with facial cuts
new delhi warned this week that the attacks on indians could damage bilateral
relations after spate of incidents in the southern state of victoria
including the stabbing murder of young punjab man
there no doubt this has been an issue in the international arena queensland
treasurer andrew fraser said
that why we want to emphasise that this is welcoming tolerant society
he added no one endorses any violence against any individual
queensland premier anna bligh said all of the available police resources
necessary will be investigating these attacks as they would any attack against
anybody in queensland
obviously these attacks have just happened and it yet to be seen what
motivated them she said
but acting police commissioner kathy ryders said there was no evidence to
suggest the assaults were targeting indians
we are certainly not anticipating further attacks on indians that would be of
copycat nature she said
the incidents come as indians in the victorian capital melbourne prepared to
hold sunday church service in one of the city largest cathedrals to pray for
peace and protection
our hearts go out to the young indians who have suffered in this country said
melbourne anglican archbishop philip freier
we well understand the anxiety of their families in india after recent events
spokesman for indian students gautam gupta said the service was way to reject
violence and racism
despite recent mindless acts of violence we all also give thanks for australia
for its opportunities for its welcome to people from other countries and for
its values of equality friendship and celebration of difference gupta said
prime minister kevin rudd on thursday urged india to keep the regrettable
violence in perspective saying it was not isolated to indian nationals and
should be viewed in the context of broader incidences of violence
alert
home of key sri lankan opposition activist bombed police
nhl ovechkin capitals surge past crosby penguins
pittsburgh pennsylvania jan afp
alex ovechkin scored twice to lead washington to victory over sidney
crosby pittsburgh thursday in an elite nhl contest that likely previewed key
olympic match up
ovechkin the two time reigning nhl most valuable player will lead russian
olympic team that will seek to add olympic gold to their world title in
vancouver next month
russia biggest hurdle will likely be crosby and his canadian olympic
teammates seeking gold on home ice
but on thursday the focus was on the first meeting this nhl season between
washington and pittsburgh their first meeting since the penguins victory
over the caps in game seven of the eastern conference semi finals last may
the penguins went on to win the stanley cup
on the ice we didn try to think about game seven ovechkin said they re
an unbelievable team we want to improve and we want to gain that spot where
they were last year if we do everything that coach bruce boudreau says
don think anyone can stop us
characteristically crosby and ovechkin brought out the best in each other
in their career meetings crosby has goals and assists and ovechkin has
goals and assists
it had the feeling of playoff game and that obviously happens with the
match up we have with sid and ovechkin penguins defenseman brooks orpik said
the intensity was definitely there
on thursday it was tomas fleischmann who scored the go ahead goal early in the
third period and set up nicklas backstrom breakaway goal less than minute
later for the capitals who scored the last four goals of the game and won their
fifth in row
eric fehr and mike knuble also scored for the capitals as washington came back
from deficits of and despite goal from crosby and three assists from
pittsburgh evgeni malkin rookie nick johnson also scored for pittsburgh in
his first nhl game as did defenseman kris letang
pittsburgh and washington will play again on february in washington one week
before the nhl breaks for olympic competition in vancouver
it an intense game emotional much like philadelphia and the fans get into
it crosby said of playing washington you don like to lose them but that
why you play the game for games like that
british banks study obama plan to rein in finance firms
london jan afp
britain banks have said they are studying proposals by us president barack
obama to limit the size and scope of american banks and finance firms to work
