taking part in offensive operations such as those undertaken by other countries
venezuelans march for against chavez ahead of polls
caracas jan afp
thousands of protesting venezuelans swamped the capital saturday some
supporting president hugo chavez as revolutionary hero as others railed
against his dictatorship signaling heated political climate ahead of the
elections
marking the anniversary of the downfall of general marcos perez jimenez in the
late demonstrators of all stripes turned out in force in anticipation of
september legislative 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 ahead of an
expected speech later saturday by chavez himself
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 the firebrand leftist popularity which approached
percent approval at the beginning of stood now at less than percent
chavez vocal opposer of us influence in the region has held onto power since
football hamburg sign dutch hot shot van nistelrooy
berlin jan afp
dutch striker ruud van nistelrooy signed an month contract on saturday with
bundesliga side hamburg having left spanish giants real madrid on free
transfer
his new club announced the news on saturday night after hamburg defeat at
dortmund which left bruno labbadia side fifth in the table and the year
old dutchman has signed contract until june
am really very happy that everything is in place and look forward to coming
to hamburg on monday said the dutchman who will officially be unveiled by
hamburg at the start of next week
hamburg are great team with strong squad and large ambitions which also
have
the dutchman and former manchester united ace has scored goals in league
games for real but has struggled to make the team this season because of
injury
he retired from international football after holland were knocked out of euro
by russia in the quarter finals
van nistelrooy was the champions league top scorer in and and
has scored goals in appearances in european football most lucrative
competition
he is the only player to have been the top scorer in the spanish english and
dutch leagues
ruud has proved his qualities with one of the top international clubs said
labbadia
am convinced that he will shoot important goals for hamburg
it shows this club standing that player of ruud van nistelrooy caliber
would choose to come to hamburg
football cameroon turn back egyptian journalists from training
benguela angola jan afp
cameroon officials here on saturday refused to allow accredited egyptian
journalists to cover their training
defending champions egypt will face cameroon in one of the quarterfnals of
the africa cup of nations on monday at the ombaka stadium in benguela
egyptian journalists who included afp photographer khalid desouki were
told they could not cover the training of the indomitable lions because
cameroonian journalists were also turned back by egypt when they tried to cover
their training in benguela
journalists from other countries were allowed in for the first half hour of
the indomitable lions work out at the training ground besides their hotel praia
morena
sam cw
attend kenya sect funeral claim christianity
nairobi jan afp
the founder of kenya former mungiki gang known for its beheadings said at
funeral that gathered people saturday that the sect had made new
beginning by embracing christianity
maina njenga addressed the crowd at the funeral in kitengela south of the
capital nairobi of his wife virginia nyakio whose mutilated body was discovered
soon after she was kidnapped by unknown attackers in april
this is new beginning let us forget the past njenga said the youth
gathered here today have embraced christianity that is why we are conducting
this burial in christianity
the mungiki sect officially announced its dissolution in october last year and
its transformation into political movement with njenga joining the jesus is
alive ministries
the sect had been group of mainly unemployed youths who worshipped spirits in
mount kenya and embraced rituals such as female circumcision while also
rejecting westernisation and christianity
the group which claimed to have been founded by mau mau fighters who fought
british colonial rule was banned in after becoming powerful gang known
for decapitating its victims but had continued to operate
alpine skiing weirather to miss olympics through injury
cortina ampezzo italy jan afp
liechtenstein skier tina weirather snapped cruciate ligaments in saturday
downhill at cortina and will therefore miss the winter games at vancouver next
month her country ski federation said
the year old weirather who suffered similar injuries both in and
is the daughter of double lake placid olympics champion hannelore wenzel
and world downhill champion harti weirather
on friday weirather had managed career best seventh spot in the super at
cortina
football greek football results
athens jan afp
greek football results on saturday
asteras tripolis panionios
ergotelis levadiakos livadia
larissa iraklis
playing sunday
atromitos kavala
panthrakikos xanthi
aris salonika panathinaikos
aek athens giannina
olympiakos paok salonika
standings games unless otherwise stated
panathinaikos points olympiakos paok aris asteras
aek ergotelis kavala panionios
atromitos xanthi larissa iraklis
giannina levadiakos panthrakikos
man found alive in haiti rubble days after quake
port au prince jan afp
team of french firefighters on saturday worked to dig man out of the rubble
of the haitian capital after finding him alive days after devastating
quake
we think he stuck under piece of concrete inside shop and possibly had
access to food said fire commander samuel bernes at the scene
women make up half of new bolivian cabinet
la paz jan afp
leftist bolivian president evo morales on saturday swore in new cabinet of
ministers half of whom are women first in the macho andean nation
my great dream has been fulfilled half of my cabinet are women the other half
men said morales speaking at ceremony at the quemado presidential palace
morales was sworn in for second five year term on friday after he was
easily re elected on december
female members of his cabinet include labor minister carmen trujillo justice
minister nilda copa transparency and anti corruption minister nardy suxo and
folk singer and activist zulma yugar as minister of culture
the only precedent in latin america for similar split was under president
michelle bachelet in chile who after her election divided her cabinet of
ministers equally among men and women
since coming to power in january as bolivia first indigenous head of
state morales former coca farmer and union leader has steadily increased
his control over his country
like venezuelan president hugo chavez he has also wielded fierce anti us
rhetoric and has kicked out the us ambassador and us anti narcotics officials
morales also ratified foreign minister david choquehuanca in his post as well
as finance minister luis alberto arce
us marine unit navy ships arrive in haiti us military
port au prince jan afp
us marine unit arrived off the coast of haiti saturday as the united states
continued to ramp up its military deployment to the country relief effort us
southern command said
in statement southern command said the th marine expeditionary unit had
arrived off haiti along with navy nassau amphibious ready group aboard three
navy ships the uss nassau the uss mesa verde and the uss ashland
the marines will bring all of their capability as marine air ground task
force including an infantry battalion of nearly personnel the
statement said
presently there are marines aboard uss nassau aboard uss mesa verde
and about on the uss ashland military public affairs official lieutenant
lydia ellen bock told afp in an email
the marine unit and the navy deployment were due to sail across the atlantic but
were diverted to assist us aid efforts in haiti which was devastated by
january earthquake that killed at least people
our marines are standing by for further tasking and are prepared to support any
mission they re given said colonel pete petronzio the unit commanding
officer in statement
we are well trained for humanitarian assistance have robust capability and
we re ready to help wherever we can
us military personnel are playing frontline role in aid efforts in the
caribbean nation taking control of port au prince airport shortly after the
quake to manage the flow of relief supplies flying in and anchoring hospital
ships offshore to treat injured haitians
total of us military personnel are due to be in haiti or on ships
offshore by sunday
football bordeaux cruise as minnows colmar stun lille
paris jan afp
bordeaux cruised into the last of the french cup on saturday but an under
strength lille crashed out after losing on penalties to man colmar of the
championnat de france amateurs fourth tier
french champions and current league leaders bordeaux outclassed second tier
ajaccio with argentine striker fernando cavenaghi making the most of rare
start by scoring hat trick
it always tricky to play against lower league teams in the french cup said
bordeaux manager laurent blanc
you have to show them lots of respect by trying to play your best game and
that what we did tonight
bordeaux game was one of four last ties on saturday with lower league
sides beauvais quevilly and vesoul joining blanc team in the draw for the
round of
the game at colmar was one of six matches from the round of that had been
postponed due to heavy snow
the hosts who play in the same division as lille reserves had to play extra
time with men after cedric faivre was sent off but won through when salim
mezriche converted the nd spotkick of tense penalty shootout
my feelings are slightly mixed because would have preferred to play against
lille real first team which ve been admiring for the past few weeks on the
tv said colmar coach damien ott
anyway amazed by what my players did at versus
lille defeat came on the back of league loss at sochaux which had
brought an eight game winning run to an end and left them third in the table
this kind of result is part of the cup said lille coach rudi garcia
just like to congratulate my young players for doing what expected of them
the top flight bottom club grenoble turned the tables on the season surprise
package montpellier beating ligue second placed side after extra time
to join colmar in the last
the sides were drawing at half time and at full time but nassim akrour
struck just before the extra time interval to prolong grenoble cup adventure
this qualification is little ray of sunshine for us said grenoble coach
mecha bazdarevic whose side are points from safety in the league
rennes last season beaten finalists were the first side to qualify for the
round of when they won at fifth division saumur on friday evening
holders guingamp of ligue visit mulhouse in the last on sunday when paris
saint germain host evian and the tie of the round pits monaco against lyon
top us senators say fed chief will win second term
washington jan afp
top ranking members of the us senate banking committee voiced confidence
saturday that embattled federal reserve chief ben bernanke would be confirmed
for second term
chairman democrat chris dodd and the top committee republican judd gregg
acknowledged media speculation in recent days over bernanke confirmation but
said he had done an excellent job responding to one of the most significant
financial crises our country has ever encountered
the pair said that based on discussions with fellow senators we are very
confident that chairman bernanke will win confirmation by the senate for
second term
they said they support bernanke nomination because he is the right leader
to guide the federal reserve in this recovering economy
president barack obama administration has been scrambling to save his
nomination in the face of opposition emerging from members of the president
own party
two senate democrats barbara boxer and russell feingold announced friday they
would vote against bernanke bid to carry on after his first term ends on
january
the moves underscore major populist shift in the political landscape since
republican stunning massachusetts victory ended the democratic supermajority
in the senate
the embattled chief fate spilled over into wall street contributing in part
to three day slump of nearly five percent spurred by renewed fears over the
economic outlook tougher white house stand on banks and financial market
regulation and worries over china overheating economy
obama remains however confident the senate will confirm bernanke white
house spokesman has said despite sharp criticism of his role in the global
financial meltdown
as many as democrats are thought to oppose bernanke along with several
republicans
late friday senate democratic majority leader harry reid issued statement to
throw his support behind bernanke hinting that democrats may still manage to
secure the votes necessary to block any republican parliamentary delaying
tactics
conventional wisdom rarely credits those who averted disaster but that
precisely what chairman bernanke did reid said noting his support is not
unconditional and that he would hold bernanke to his pledge of transparency
and accountability
no vote has yet been scheduled in the senate but administration officials said
treasury secretary timothy geithner and obama chief of staff rahm emanuel were
working to secure enough votes for the nomination
the opposition highlighted deep national worries about the economy as dominant
theme ahead of november mid term elections bernanke most vocal critics charge
he has coddled wall street and turned deaf ear to main street
analysts warned meanwhile that tossing out bernanke could trigger new turmoil in
financial markets
time magazine named bernanke its person of the year in december
crediting him with helping guide the united states through financial turmoil
urgent man found alive in haiti rubble days after quake
port au prince jan afp
team of french firefighters were saturday working to dig man out of the
rubble of the haitian capital after finding him alive days after
devastating quake
football french cup results
paris jan afp
french cup results on saturday
last
bordeaux plasil wendel cavenaghi ajaccio guerriero
beauvais canales pen cuffaut agen
quevilly angers
raon etape vesoul etame
playing sunday
mulhouse guingamp
paris saint germain evian
monaco lyon
played friday
saumur rennes marveaux sow
last matches previously postponed because of poor weather
saturday
grenoble matsui ljuboja akrour montpellier montano pen
ait fana
colmar lille after extra time
colmar beat lille on penalties
saint louis neuweg sochaux privat
compiegne lens chretien og
saint ouen aumone sedan
pontivy brest de carvalho
playing sunday
thiers nancy
saint etienne lorient
alert
french team finds man alive in haiti rubble days after quake
us to appeal ruling favouring blackwater in iraq
baghdad jan afp
the united states said saturday it will appeal judge decision to clear five
american security guards accused of killing unarmed iraqis in while
working for the notorious us firm blackwater
vice president joe biden made the announcement on saturday during hour
visit to baghdad and expressed personal regret for the bloody violence at
nisur square which has become running sore among the iraqi population
today am announcing that the united states government will appeal this
decision our justice department will file that appeal next week biden told
reporters at joint press conference with iraqi president jalal talabani
dismissal is not an acquittal he said
iraq welcomed biden remarks with foreign minister hoshyar zebari describing
the appeal as good news
this is very important issue for the iraqi people and the us government
responded positively to request from the foreign ministry to appeal against
the court ruling which is very good news zebari told afp
the five guards who had been part of convoy of armoured vehicles had been
charged with killing the civilians and wounding others in an attack using
guns and grenades at the busy baghdad square in september
charges against the blackwater employees were dismissed last year when judge
ruled us prosecutors violated the guards rights by using incriminating
statements they had made under immunity during state department probe
the ruling outraged the baghdad government which maintains that people were
killed
the united states is determined to hold to account anyone who commits crimes
against iraqi people biden added
while we fully respect the independence and the integrity of the us judicial
system we were disappointed with the judge decision to dismiss the indictment
which was based on the way some evidence had been acquired
us federal judge ricardo urbina dismissed charges against the five guards on
december last year
the decision was welcomed by the us company but several senators including
republican presidential candidate john mccain have since voiced regret at the
ruling and called for us government appeal
the iraqi government said this week it was considering lodging its own complaint
against blackwater which has since been renamed xe services to seek
compensation for the families of the victims
but the admissibility of such case was immediately considered doubtful because
all of the families except one have agreed damages from xe according to
lawyer injured in the incident
the lawyer hassan jabbar salman said the families of those killed were offered
dollars and those wounded received between and dollars
from the us security firm
blackwater worldwide changed its name in february following what the
company said was switch of business focus
critics however suggested that the rebranding was an effort to polish an image
tarnished by an alleged culture of lawlessness and lack of accountability among
blackwater staff
in december the new york times reported blackwater took part central
intelligence agency snatch and grab missions to capture or kill insurgents in
iraq and afghanistan
the north carolina based firm lost its contract to provide security for us
embassy diplomats in baghdad in may after iraqis and critics repeatedly
accused it of adopting cowboy mentality to duties in the country
biden president barack obama pointman on iraq arrived in baghdad late on
friday
the main thrust of his visit was to defuse row over the banning of hundreds of
candidates from march general election over their alleged links to executed
dictator saddam hussein
haitian ministry working to coordinate aid from diaspora
port au prince jan afp
haiti ministry for diaspora affairs said saturday it is working to funnel aid
from haitians living abroad to their relatives in the quake stricken country
many of whom survive on remittances
we have made available telephone numbers and internet addresses so that
haitians can get the latest news about their families and we are coordinating
aid coming from the diaspora said edwin paraison diaspora affairs minister
since the january disaster haitians abroad have worked to keep in touch with
their relatives despite damaged communications but have also tried to send them
money food and clothes
more than three million haitians live outside the caribbean nation mainly in
the united states the dominican republic the antilles and france
all the necessary administrative and tax formalities are being given to
humanitarian aid from the haitian diaspora added paraison who narrowly
escaped injury when his ministry collapsed during last week quake
financial transfer offices here have been overrun by haitians waiting to receive
funds from overseas
according to the world bank remittances are usually estimated to account for
around third of gdp in haiti the western hemisphere poorest nation
telethon raises million canadian dollars for haiti
montreal jan afp
televised fundraising drive in canada featuring celine dion and other local
stars raised more than million canadian dollars million us for victims
of haiti earthquake organisers said
singers including dion diane dufresne and the group tragically hip lent their
voices to the event broadcast live on television and radio on friday night in
english and in french
celebrities appealed to canadians to give funds for survivors of the january
disaster which killed more than people left more than homeless
and laid waste to much of the haitian capital
we have to hold out our hands and help these people so ask you to be very
generous to come together for haiti said dion who made donation of
canadian dollars us with her partner and manager rene angelil
canadians responded by donating million canadian dollars in two hours
organizers said the funds will go to aid organizations including the red cross
so far canadians have given total of million canadian dollars million
us in aid for the stricken caribbean nation
prime minister stephen harper announced on saturday that the canadian government
would continue to match the donations of its citizens despite last week fixing
ceiling of million dollars million us
also on friday hollywood stars led by heartthrob george clooney and top
musicians held huge fundraising drive for haiti live on us television
although it is not yet known how much that event raised
ski canada mckeever to make history in vancouver
banff canada jan afp
canadian cross country skier brian mckeever was chosen for the vancouver
olympics making him the first winter sports athlete to compete in both the
olympics and paralympics
mckeever has won seven paralympic medals including four gold
mckeever suffers from stargardt disease which has left him with impaired
sight his brother robin acts as his guide
bodies recovered from wells after nigerian massacre official
jos nigeria jan afp
at least bodies were recovered from wells after muslim christian clashes in
central nigeria village head said saturday taking the unofficial death toll
past
so far we have picked bodies from the wells but more people are still
missing umar baza head of kuru karama village near the city of jos told afp
by telephone
we took an inventory of the displaced people from this village sheltering in
three camps and we realise that people can still not be accounted for he
said
kuru karama is muslim enclave in christian region kilometres miles
south of jos
the head of the muslim volunteer team for the victims burial mohammed shittu
said now we have bodies in all taken from the wells as from thursday
at least muslims died in the clashes according to figures provided by
muslim leaders spokesman for global rights watchdog human rights watch hrw
said saturday
as of yesterday friday at least muslims have died in jos including
those found in wells in kuru karama this information was provided by muslim
officials in jos the hrw eric guttschuss told afp by telephone from
washington
the christian association of nigeria said that they have not compiled their
estimates on death toll hopefully they will do that before the weekend runs
out he said
but earlier this week christian leader the reverend chung dabo secretary of
the christian association of nigeria can in jos told afp that christians
had died
the unofficial death toll is estimated at
earlier saturday in statement hrw urged vice president goodluck jonathan to
order an immediate criminal investigation into credible reports of massacre
of at least muslim residents of kuru karama
dozens of them were stuffed down wells or in sewage pits hrw said in the
statement
the state government has given no official death toll for the violence which
broke out last sunday in jos capital of plateau state and spread to nearby
towns and villages
some people fled the fighting to take refuge in military barracks
churches and mosques around the city according to the red cross as the
government called in the army to restore order
an afp reporter in jos saturday saw scores of residents fleeing the city in cars
and buses
religious leaders and medical workers said they had counted bodies by
wednesday before the dead started to be recovered from kuru karama another
bodies were found and buried saturday in jos cemetery
hrw quoted witnesses as saying groups of armed men believed to be christians
attacked the largely muslim population of kuru karama on tuesday morning
after surrounding the town they hunted down and attacked muslim residents
some of whom had sought refuge in homes and local mosque killing many as they
tried to flee and burning many others alive the statement said
christian and muslim leaders in plateau state have both said the unrest owed
more to the failure of political leaders to address ethnic differences than
inter faith rivalries
jonathan pledged that the ringleaders responsible for the violence would be
brought to justice and ordered the army to take over security of the affected
regions and sensitive neighbouring areas
jos has been hotbed of religious violence in nigeria whose million people
are divided almost equally between followers of the two faiths
an estimated people were killed in religious clashes in the city in late
business was slowly picking up in jos saturday with more more shops opening and
roadside hawkers displaying their wares while long queues of residents
scrambled for water at public taps
although no military patrols were visible checkpoints still remained
british police arrest in anti islam demonstration
london jan afp
british police arrested people and four officers were injured when scuffles
broke out at demonstration by about members of an anti islam group in
central england on saturday
in the latest protest by the right wing english defence league which was formed
last year to campaign against islamic extremism police clashed with
demonstrators as they sought to separate them from rival anti fascist march
many of the edl demonstrators had been drinking before the march in the central
town of stoke during which members waved placards proclaiming patriotism is
not racism and terrorists off our streets
police said people had been arrested for public order offences and four
officers had been injured including one officer who was hospitalised with an
arm injury and second who underwent medical checks after being assaulted
the vast majority of demonstrators today expressed their views peacefully
said police superintendent dave mellor
he added however the actions and behaviour of small minority of protestors
have been totally unacceptable and deplorable
us marine unit navy ships arrive in haiti us military
port au prince jan afp
us marine unit arrived off the coast of haiti saturday as the united states
continued to ramp up its military deployment to the country relief effort us
southern command said
in statement southern command said the th marine expeditionary unit had
arrived off haiti along navy nassau amphibious ready group aboard three navy
