saturday this one coming with the extra satisfaction of victory over tanith
belbin and ben agosto
davis and white won their first national title last year with belbin and agosto
the five time national titlists and olympic silver medallists sidelined by
injury
but with the vancouver olympics beckoning davis and white showed they had what
it took against their illustrious compatriots winning all three phases of the
ice dance competition and capping their win with dramatic free dance to music
from phantom of the opera
they garnered points for the free dance for total of
there nothing quite like skating your best davis said after so many days
and weeks and years training so hard to put in performance like that in front
of home crowd is just amazing
belbin and agosto were second earning for their free dance for total
of emily samuelson and evan bates were third with an overall total of
points
the united states will send three ice dance teams to the vancouver olympics next
month
america has just two olympic berths in ladies figure skating lending extra
drama to saturday night ladies free skate for the national title
sasha cohen the olympic silver medallist who hadn competed since earning
bronze at the the world championships showed all of her old grace in the
short programme after which she was lying second behind mirai nagasu
urgent survived on coca cola man stuck days in haiti rubble
port au prince jan afp
year old haitian man rescued on saturday after spending days buried in
the ruins of grocer shop survived on snacks and coca cola he told afp in
hospital interview
ship collision off texas produces gallon oil spill
washington jan afp
shipping accident off the coast of texas on saturday spilled an estimated
gallons million of oil into the ocean the us coast guard said
the spill happened saturday morning when towing vessel the dixie vengeance
collided with an foot meter tank ship the eagle otome
as result of the collision the eagle otome sustained damage in the vicinity
of the number one starboard tank which was reported to be loaded with crude
oil the initial estimate of spilled oil is gallons the coast guard
said in statement
the collision happened near port arthur in the south east of texas near the
border with louisiana
in the wake of the crash the coast guard closed waterway and established
perimeter around the eagle otome and the dixie vengeance which was towing two
barges at the time of the collision
the coast guard said no injuries had been reported adding that it had deployed
feet meters of boom flotating container of the oil spill
alert
survived on coca cola man trapped days in haiti rubble
cjo dc jkb
am the people chavez tells followers ahead of polls
caracas jan afp
am the people president hugo chavez boomed confidently saturday as
thousands of pro and anti government demonstrators in caracas sharpened their
rhetoric ahead of this year legislative elections
marking the anniversary of the downfall of general marcos perez jimenez in
demonstrators of all stripes turned out in force in anticipation of september
legislative polls
chavez addressed thousands of followers in western caracas demanding absolute
loyalty and telling them he embodied the heart and soul of the venezuelan
people
demand absolute loyalty to my leadership anything else is betrayal the
firebrand leftist president warned
am not an individual am the people chavez said it my duty to demand
respect for the people
if you cherish the fatherland join chavez he urged asking for votes to
renew the ruling party control of both national assembly houses in the next
election
once more we have to win the majority of the national assembly and continue
building our new socialist state chavez added
let expand our socialist project he said
opposition leaders rallied to defeat chavez and turn the country around in the
polls
is the year of change for all of venezuela when hatred will be overcome
by unity pledged opposition leader julio borges before crowd of supporters
politicians critical of chavez slammed the country high crime rates and
electricity rationing mandated by the government in response to the energy
crisis
another leader andres velasquez told the crowd the opposition movement was
building unity to bring about the end of the dictatorial regime
some police guarded conflicting demonstrations as protesters converged in
the early hours of saturday and marched to the city center
thousands of government supporters poured into western caracas to hear chavez
speak
came from far away to be here to defend the revolution and the movement led
by commander hugo chavez said one supporter citing the revolutionary slogan
fatherland socialism or death
another supporter who also asked not to be named said they had come to join
the demonstration to defend our country and say no to us imperialism adding
chavez defenders would support him even with their lives
venezuela will host crucial polls in september in which chavez hopes to secure
at least two thirds of seats to maintain his current legislative majority
according to opinion polls chavez popularity which approached percent
approval at the beginning of stood now at less than percent
chavez an elected former paratrooper and vocal opponent of us influence in
the region has been in power since
teams rescue haiti man from rubble days after quake
port au prince jan afp
stubborn international teams ignored the official end of their search and rescue
mission in haiti on saturday and managed to save young earthquake victim
trapped under rubble for days
the foreign rescue teams combing the ruins of port au prince had already
saved trapped people since the january quake but on friday the haiti
government said the focus would now switch to recovery operation
nevertheless when relatives alerted small greek team to wismond exantus
cries deep under the remains of demolished grocer shop french and american
firefighters swung into action and managed to cut him out alive
massive cheer went up from the massed ranks of the world media drawn to
what may sadly be the last of series of miraculous rescues in the otherwise
grim scene left behind by the devastating earthquake
officially the end of the rescue mission was yesterday but because
firefighters are stubborn people they came when they were called said
beaming didier le bret france ambassador to port au prince
what happened is extraordinary he resisted for days which is particularly
incredible he said as the original greek team fell into each other arms
smiling but overwhelmed by the emotion of the moment
exantus year old according to his family looked surprisingly well for
someone who had undergone such an ordeal stuck under crumpled heap of concrete
slabs and the remains of wooden store for week and half
lieutenant colonel stephane sadak of the french civil defence force that
provided medics and rescuers to back up the fire crew said it was thought he
had managed to survive on the food trapped with him under the store
exantus who was able to talk to his rescuers through an air hole cut prior to
his rescue said he believed others were buried with him after the rescue the
team started using radar to check this but no sounds were heard
the victim himself was able to squeeze his brother hand in the ambulance and
was still conscious and looking about when he was taken to field hospital in
the leafy grounds of port au prince french high school
we can say it really miracle and we can hope that it not the last said
lieutenant colonel christophe renou from french firefighting team
he was in quite large space where he could move bit inside and he found
little bit of water to help him keep going he said
the building was also made of wood in the shade of two larger concrete ones he
added offering some protection from the tropical heat
renou said that after friday order to stand down they had stopped doing
general radar sweep of downed buildings but that they would have rescuers on
standby until mid february in case more survivors were found
the daily victories of the international rescue teams have provided story of
hope alongside the bitter aftermath of the magnitude quake which killed
more than people and left hundreds of thousands homeless
spanish league table
madrid jan afp
spanish league table after saturday matches played won drawn lost goals
for goals against points
barcelona
real madrid
valencia
deportivo la coruna
real mallorca
sevilla
athletic bilbao
getafe
sporting gijon
villarreal
atletico madrid
osasuna
racing santander
espanyol
almeria
malaga
valladolid
tenerife
real zaragoza
xerez
football unstoppable barcelona go eight clear at the halfway point
madrid jan afp
barcelona moved eight points clear of real madrid at the top of the spanish
league with comfortable win at lowly valladolid on saturday to round off
an impressive first half of the season
two goals in as many minutes from xavi min and dani alves set the tone
before lionel messi scored his sixth goal in three games to take his season
tally to
real beaten by athletic bilbao last time out are now under extreme
pressure to respond with home win over malaga on sunday or risk barcelona
running away with the title
it is exactly halfway through the season and barca are still unbeaten and their
tally of points from games is just one less than their record set last
season
two goals in two minutes changed the game for us and made it more comfortable
said barca coach pep guardiola we got points last season and this season
so we are on same track but there are lots of games left in the season
the statistics make impressive reading with barcelona notching wins and four
draws while they have the best defence conceding goals and the best attack
with goals
barcelona become only the fifth team to go unbeaten for the first half of the
season joining real madrid athletic bilbao espanyol and real sociedad in the
elite club
with sergi busquets injured midfielder seydou keita made timely return from
the african cup of nations following mali elimination
keita spurned good chance early on with header while messi went close on
minutes before the breakthrough goal created and scored by xavi on minutes
xavi started the move with neat flick and raced into the penalty area to
volley in pinpoint cross from alves
alves was causing havoc down the right and scored himself two minutes later when
his overhit cross floated into the top corner and the brazilian celebrated with
samba dance
valladolid had their chances with diego costa forcing fine save from victor
valdes three minutes prior to xavi opener but there was sense of
inevitability that barca would win after going up so early on
after minutes messi who at became the youngest barca player to reach
goals last weekend finished fine move lashing home after fine lay off from
zlatan ibrahimovic
in other matches deportivo la coruna climbed up to fourth with home win
over athletic bilbao at the riazor stadium on saturday
brazilian international filipe luis scored the opener on minutes but injured
his ankle as he collided with the goalkeeper and was stretchered off with what
looked like serious injury that could potentially endanger his world cup
dream
compatriot juca added second after minutes before diego colotto own
goal tested depor nerves in the closing stages but pablo alvarez made it
late on and the depor players held up three fingers as tribute to filipe luis
who dons the number three shirt
the win helped depor put their kings cup loss to sevilla behind them and go
fourth point above sevilla and real mallorca
bilbao come crashing back down to earth after their win over real and stay
down in seventh
earlier sevilla enjoyed huge slice of luck as they ended run of four
straight defeats with home win over almeria on saturday and move level on
points with fifth placed real mallorca
spanish international alvaro negredo scored the decisive goal on nine minutes to
shoot down his old club almeria although the waterlogged pitch played decisive
role with captain wilmer acasiete back pass stopping dead on the soaked
surface to gift sevilla their crucial goal
sevilla coach manolo jimenez paid tribute to his players for fighting their
tiredness brought on by playing in the league kings cup and champions league
there are no words to express how proud am of the team said jimenez at
half time there were three players wanting to change fatigue is beginning to
show because of all the competitions we are playing in
it was only negredo fifth of difficult debut season since his club record
million euro move from real madrid but it is vital one to stop the losing
sequence and push sevilla closer to the champions league spots
us paratroopers meet the bogeyman in quake hit haiti slum
port au prince jan afp
troops from the us nd airborne met the bogeyman in port au prince notorious
cite soleil slum on saturday during reconnaissance mission to set up an aid
distribution point for quake victims
he bogeyman and the people here smashed his brains out with rocks because
they thought he was stealing children from families sleeping on the street
says the troops creole interpreter reggie
the slum inhabitants stand nonchalantly around the dead man bloody body
already teeming with flies and surrounded by the chunks of concrete with which
he was killed early saturday morning
but the paratroopers task is not to deal with the victims of haiti summary
and sometimes superstitious justice
we re looking for good place to do aid distribution so we need to speak to
local people about how they feel about the government about the gangs how to
recognize them and what are the threats says specialist byron middlekauff
the people they re pretty calm they push each other but they never get
aggressive with us they re not aggressive just desperate
middlekauff tells of man who came to previous aid distribution noticed
his leg was broken and his tibia was sticking out we offered him medical
attention but he said he just wanted water that kind of blew my mind his leg
is going to fall off
what about my church over there suggests reggie who lived in florida until
overstaying his visa by five years and getting thrown out it run by pastor
leon they say he bad guy but he never done anything to me
are there gangs here middlekauff asks rapidly growing crowd of people at
the large church that resembles warehouse some are curious all are hungry
few people have guns mostly pistols and hand weapons says reggie but none
of the real deal and how do you spot gang if you see group of
people hanging out together they re all mean looking and there smell of
marijuana in the air
the troops ask the crowd what they think of the government there no
government comes the unified answer the government can give security the
police can give security the un can
the us troops try to get contact numbers for local community leaders known as
casecs and asecs but no one has them
which one higher casec or an asec asks one soldier don know
wasn briefed on that another answers
the troops find casec assistant guilloux jocelyn who assures them that
they can distribute water and ready to eat meals without fear of the chaos that
has erupted in some places
there are no gangs here but lots of bullies he says few of them may have
pistols they don use them on people here but maybe they have to go somewhere
else to use them on job
jocelyn says that cite soleil inhabitants have been completely ignored by the
government since the january quake that killed more than people the
deadliest recorded disaster ever to hit the americas
to them the government doesn exist says jocelyn
football collated spanish league results
madrid jan afp
collated spanish league results on saturday
sevilla negredo almeria
valladolid barcelona xavi alves messi
deportivo la coruna filipe luis juca alvarez athletic bilbao
colotto og
sunday all gmt unless stated
sporting gijon racing santander tenerife valencia villarreal real
zaragoza xerez osasuna espanyol real mallorca getafe atletico madrid
gmt real madrid malaga gmt
figure skating us championships results
spokane washington jan afp
results here on saturday from the united states figure skating championships
qualifier for the vancouver winter olympics
ice dance
final standings after free dance
meryl davis charlie white tanith belbin ben agosto
emily samuelson evan bates kim navarro brent bommentre
madison chock greg zuerlein madison hubbell keiffer hubbell
free dance
meryl davis charlie white tanith belbin ben agosto
emily samuelson evan bates kim navarro brent bommentre
madison chock greg zuerlein madison hubbell keiffer hubbell
football riise late show sinks juve leaves ferrara on brink
rome jan afp
norway left back john arne riise popped up in injury time to head home the
winner as as roma condemned man juventus to an eighth defeat in matches
with success in turin on saturday
the defeat will surely leave juve coach ciro ferrara on the brink as his mis
firing team slumped to sixth defeat in eight serie clashes and to make
matters worse italy goalkeeper gianluigi buffon was dismissed
the win moved in form roma to within two points of second placed ac milan who
play inter milan on sunday
they now have eight wins and three draws in their last league matches but
club captain francesco totti doesn want to get carried away
we re going through great period in terms of results we stood up to juve
he said
where do we want to get to right now we re not thinking about anyone else than
ourselves
roma coach claudio ranieri who was fired by juve two games before the end of
last season earned his first win as coach away to juve but denied there was
any extra satisfaction
the city rome is starting to believe in this team we re having fun and we re
playing well he said
feel nothing personal part of roma and happy because we re in top
four
it an important win because juve want to stay in race for champions league
finish and win today puts them further behind us
ferrara felt his team had deserved more from their best performance since
beating inter at home at the beginning of december
this defeat hurts and even more so because we re going through difficult
period he said
it feels unjust given what the players did on the pitch in terms of desire
quality and the way they played think we deserved more
ferrara sprung surprise in his line up leaving out former world player of the
year fabio cannavaro in favour of nicola legrottaglie possibly in order to
combat the aerial threat posed by roma forward luca toni
but both coaches plans were thrown out the window couple of minutes in as
toni pulled up with calf injury and was replaced by totti making his comeback
from injury
the switch seemed to suck any attacking threat out of roma and juve dominated
the first minutes
bosnia veteran hasan salihamidzic fired well over from distance on nine minutes
before brazilian forward amauri rose highest in crowded box to meet zdenek
grygera right wing cross heading wide under pressure from nicolas burdisso
juve best chances were coming from the flanks and amauri won another header on
minutes this time from fabio grosso left wing cross but again he directed
it wide
next it was devilish free kick from diego that caused problem in the roma
defence but alessandro del piero couldn get enough contact to direct his
header on target
juve needed stroke of luck or moment of genius to break the deadlock and
they got both six minutes after the restart
diego low ball into the box spun up off juan foot del piero was perfectly
placed for the dropping ball and his left foot volley from tight angle low
into the far corner was pure vintage
but if juve had needed something special to find the net roma needed helping
hand and they got it courtesy of grosso and the referee
rodrigo taddei ran onto through ball into the box and tried to turn inside
grosso but the full back left out an arm and although contact was minimal
taddei flopped to the ground and the referee pointed to the spot with totti
slotting home the penalty
juve resorted to the tactic that served them well in the first period and
substitute antonio candreva lofted high ball into the box but amauri header
was straight at goalkeeper julio sergio
the hosts were almost made to pay as taddei released the breaking riise with
juve caught upfield but buffon sacrificed himself charging out of his area and
bringing down the marauding norwegian full back to prevent him going through on
goal
buffon barely even waited for the red card before walking off the field
but then riise it was who charged forward deep into injury time to meet david
pizarro cross at the back post and heap misery on juve
earlier catania cruised to crucial victory at home to parma to improve
their chances of beating the drop leaving them th but just one point from
safety
venezuelans march for against chavez ahead of polls
caracas jan afp
thousands of venezuelans took to caracas streets saturday some supporting
president hugo chavez as revolutionary hero as others railed against his
dictatorship signaling heated political climate ahead of this year
legislative elections
marking the anniversary of the downfall of general marcos perez jimenez in
demonstrators of all stripes turned out in force in anticipation of september
legislative polls
chavez addressed thousands of followers in western caracas demanding absolute
loyalty and telling them he embodied the heart and soul of the venezuelan
people
demand absolute loyalty to my leadership anything else is betrayal said
the firebrand leftist president
am not an individual am the people chavez said it my duty to demand
respect for the people if you cherish the fatherland join chavez he urged
asking for votes to renew the ruling party control of both national assembly
houses in the next election
once more we have to win the majority of the national assembly and continue
building our new socialist state chavez added
opposition leaders rallied to defeat chavez in the polls
is the year of change for all of venezuela when hatred will be overcome
by unity pledged opposition leader julio borges before crowd of supporters
politicians critical of chavez slammed the country high crime rates and
electricity rationing mandated by the government in response to the energy
crisis
another leader andres velasquez told the crowd the opposition movement was
building unity to bring about the end of the dictatorial regime
some police guarded conflicting demonstrations as protesters converged in
the early hours of saturday and marched to the city center
thousands of government supporters poured into western caracas to hear chavez
speak
came from far away to be here to defend the revolution and the movement led
by commander hugo chavez said one supporter citing the revolutionary slogan
fatherland socialism or death
another supporter who also asked not to be named said they had come to join
the demonstration to defend our country and say no to us imperialism adding
chavez defenders would support him even with their lives
venezuela will host crucial polls in september in which chavez hopes to secure
at least two thirds of seats to maintain his current legislative majority
according to opinion polls chavez popularity which approached percent
approval at the beginning of stood now at less than percent
chavez an elected former paratrooper and vocal opponent of us influence in
the region has been in power since
football riise late show sinks juve leaves ferrara on brink
rome jan afp
norway left back john arne riise popped up in injury time to head home the
winner as as roma condemned man juventus to an eighth defeat in matches
with success in turin on saturday
the defeat will surely leave juve coach ciro ferrara on the brink as his mis
firing team slumped to sixth defeat in eight serie clashes and to make
matters worse italy goalkeeper gianluigi buffon was dismissed
the win moved in form roma to within two points of second placed ac milan who
play inter milan on sunday
they now have eight wins and three draws in their last league matches but
club captain francesco totti doesn want to get carried away
we re going through great period in terms of results we stood up to juve
he said
where do we want to get to right now we re not thinking about anyone else than
ourselves
roma coach claudio ranieri who was fired by juve two games before the end of
last season earned his first win as coach away to juve but denied there was
any extra satisfaction
the city rome is starting to believe in this team we re having fun and we re
playing well he said
feel nothing personal part of roma and happy because we re in top
four
it an important win because juve want to stay in race for champions league
finish and win today puts them further behind us
ferrara sprung surprise in his line up leaving out former world player of the
year fabio cannavaro in favour of nicola legrottaglie possibly in order to
combat the aerial threat posed by roma forward luca toni
but both coaches plans were thrown out the window couple of minutes in as
toni pulled up with calf injury and was replaced by totti making his comeback
from injury
the switch seemed to suck any attacking threat out of roma and juve dominated
the first minutes
bosnia veteran hasan salihamidzic fired well over from distance on nine minutes
before brazilian forward amauri rose highest in crowded box to meet zdenek
grygera right wing cross heading wide under pressure from nicolas burdisso
juve best chances were coming from the flanks and amauri won another header on
minutes this time from fabio grosso left wing cross but again he directed
it wide
next it was devilish free kick from diego that caused problem in the roma
defence but alessandro del piero couldn get enough contact to direct his
header on target
juve needed stroke of luck or moment of genius to break the deadlock and
they got both six minutes after the restart
diego low ball into the box spun up off juan foot del piero was perfectly
placed for the dropping ball and his left foot volley from tight angle low
into the far corner was pure vintage
but if juve had needed something special to find the net roma needed helping
hand and they got it courtesy of grosso and the referee
rodrigo taddei ran onto through ball into the box and tried to turn inside
grosso but the full back left out an arm and although contact was minimal
taddei flopped to the ground and the referee pointed to the spot with totti
slotting home the penalty
juve resorted to the tactic that served them well in the first period and
substitute antonio candreva lofted high ball into the box but amauri header
was straight at goalkeeper julio sergio
the hosts were almost made to pay as taddei released the breaking riise with
juve caught upfield but buffon sacrificed himself charging out of his area and
bringing down the marauding norwegian full back to prevent him going through on
goal
buffon barely even waited for the red card before walking off the field
but then riise it was who charged forward deep into injury time to meet david
pizarro cross at the back post and heap misery on juve
earlier catania cruised to crucial victory at home to parma to improve
their chances of beating the drop leaving them th but just one point from
safety
teams rescue haiti man from rubble days after quake
port au prince jan afp
an international rescue team on saturday dug man out of the rubble of the
haitian capital days after devastating quake and sped him to hospital for
emergency care
the man named as wismond exantus and in his early twenties moved and talked as
he was brought onto the dusty street carried by french firefighters to round
of applause for the french and smaller us and greek rescue teams
he had been trapped in grocer shop and had probably managed to eat and drink
during the long days and nights under the rubble said lieutenant colonel
stephane sadak of the civil security forces
exantus taken by stretcher to an awaiting ambulance and whisked to the french
hospital along with his two brothers
the rescue success came as aid workers switched their focus to getting vital
food water and shelter to the homeless after two people were pulled out of the
rubble on friday
we can say it really miracle and we can hope that it not the last
