relief effort the german development minister said on saturday
in an interview with the weekly welt am sonntag newspaper to appear on sunday
dirk niebel said aid was needed to improve living conditions for the survivors
of the january quake which has now claimed lives
niebel said the additional money would pay for around emergency housing
units with sanitary facilities and running water
as many as of these units which can house up to eight people could be
built each week with the help of united nations staff the minister said
the extra funds take berlin direct contribution to the aid effort to
million euros million dollars
germany has also contributed million euros to aid released by the european
union while television appeal raised further million euros in public
donations in the space of hours
us marines leave former al qaeda hotspot in western iraq
baghdad jan afp
us marines left the sunni dominated western province of anbar on saturday after
almost seven years of operations in what was once iraq epicentre of al qaeda
activity and insurgent violence
in significant milestone in the responsible drawdown of us forces from iraq
one of the four division level units is departing without replacement and marine
corps deployments to iraq come to an end us military statement said
the marines whose most high profile and bloody actions in anbar were sieges of
the city of fallujah in april and november turned over control of anbar to
iraqi security forces in september
it was the first sunni province to be returned to baghdad shiite led
government
sunni arabs in anbar were the first to turn against us forces after the toppling
of saddam hussein regime by us led invasion forces in mounting raging
insurgency that tore through the world most sophisticated military
in the first years after the invasion iraq biggest province became the
theatre of brutal war focused on fallujah and ramadi while string of towns
along the euphrates valley became insurgent strongholds and later safe havens
for al qaeda
around one third of us fatalities or troops until that time had been
sustained in anbar which borders saudi arabia jordan and syria
the brutal al qaeda led insurgency also killed around civilians in the
province according to independent website iraqbodycount org
muslims killed in nigerian clashes hrw
lagos jan afp
at least muslims died in clashes between muslims and christians this week in
central nigeria according to figures provided by muslim leaders spokesman
for human rights watch 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
bobsleigh world cup results
igls austria jan afp
bobsleigh world cup and european championship results here on saturday
beat hefti thomas lamparter sui
andre lange kevin kuske ger at
daniel schmid juerg egger sui
karl angerer gregor bermbach ger
thomas florschuetz ronny listner ger
final world cup standings after events
ivo rueeegg sui points
thomas florschuetz ger
karl angerer ger
beat hefti sui
andre lange ger
football substitute gives dour rangers little cheer
glasgow jan afp
super sub andrew little rescued point for rangers as he struck last minute
equaliser to seal draw against ten man hearts at ibrox on saturday
scott robinson gave hearts the lead in the th minute just seconds after
hearts player christian nade saw red for his second bookable offence
spirited performance from the hearts defence looked to have sealed the win
before northern irishman little popped up to strike his first club for the club
the point takes the league leaders ten points clear at the top of the scottish
premier league although rivals celtic have two games in hand starting with
their match against st johnstone on sunday
rangers manager walter smith thought his side controlled the game
couple of lapses of concentration set us back and we had to show good level
of determination and spirit to come back and get the draw smith said
hearts manager csaba lazlo said his side should have held on for the win
in this case if you have more concentration and maybe more experience you don
lose this goal rangers had one chance and it was created from our stupidity
lazlo said
in the absence of the goal partnership of kris boyd and kenny miller through
injury kyle lafferty and john fleck who between them had scored three this
season filled in up front for rangers
nade had the first real effort of the match in the fifth minute captain michael
stewart picked him out at the edge of the box but he blasted his shot high over
the bar
with some of the rangers players slow out of the blocks it was lafferty who was
first to try his luck but the northern irishman shot on the turn didn
trouble marian kello
kello had to be at his best to produce spectacular one handed save low down to
his right to prevent steven davis curling free kick creeping in
the home side threatened again from another set piece when kevin thomson
floated free kick into packed hearts box was headed just over by kirk
broadfoot
allan mcgregor had to be alert at the start of the second half when he saw
nade low drive late and got fingertip to it to force in round the post
hearts were then forced on to the back foot with sasa papac stinging the hands
of kello with yard pile driver
hearts problenms deepened when they were reduced to ten men in the nd minute
following moment of madness from nade
the costa rican who had been booked just three minutes beforehand for foul on
mcgregor kicked the ball away in frustration after being flagged off side and
referee calum murray gave him his marching orders
however the sending off seemed to spur hearts on and they took the lead
seconds later lee wallace low drive was superbly saved by mcgregor but
robinson got in front of papac to slide the rebound into the net
papac blasted chance high over from ten yards before little rescued point
for rangers in the final minute
mcculloch fiercely struck shot from the edge of the box was saved by kello but
the northern irish striker was first to the rebound to strike it home to keep
rangers ten month unbeaten record at ibrox intact
ski jump schlierenzauer at the double in poland
zakopane poland jan afp
austrian prodigy gregor schlierenzauer secured his second victory in two days by
winning the ski jump world cup event here on saturday
the year old claimed his st win on the world circuit after jumps of and
metres gave him total of points
as on friday switzerland simon ammann finished second and schlierenzauer
countryman thomas morgenstern took the remaining podium place
ammann the overall world cup leader set new polish record with jump of
to finish with points while morgenstern efforts of and
saw him muster points
it was schlierenzauer seventh victory of the season and the st of his
career he is now in fifth place in the list of all time world cup victories
which is led by finland matti nykaenen on
the back to back victories enabled schlierenzauer the defending world cup
champion to trim ammann lead at the top of the overall standings by points
to
thousands protest against new high speed trains in europe
rome jan afp
thousands protested saturday in town near italy border with france against
planned high speed train line as activists in france exhorted european
governments not to expand the network
there were at least of us and there would have been many more had the
police not slowed down traffic alberto perino the head of the no tav no to
high speed trains told italian media of the protest at susa near turin
france and italy signed deal in on building line there which is to be
strategic link in the european network and allow travel time between milan and
paris to be slashed from seven to four hours
the cost has been estimated at billion euros billion dollars but
residents of the susa valley have fiercely opposed the plan saying the
construction of tunnels would damage the environment
in separate protest environmentalists from france and spain held similar
demonstration against planned high speed line running through the basque
country
they also launched the hendaye charter after the french border town where the
protest was held which urges european governments not to build more such lines
as they are not in line with sustainable development
the text adopted by political movements from france spain and italy denounced
these projects as an ecological socio economic and human disaster
british airport partly evacuated in chemical incident police
london jan afp
police evacuated part of british airport on saturday and declared chemical
incident after man tried to carry some non identified white powder onto
plane
check in area in manchester airport in northwest england was cleared after the
substance was discovered in bag carried by an asian man planning to fly to
london heathrow
however police superintendent leor giladi said there was no imminent danger
and source said it was unlikely the incident was terror related
britain is on high alert after the terror threat assessment was raised to its
second highest level friday suggesting an attack is highly likely
police spokesman said officers were called to manchester airport shortly
before pm gmt by security staff from the check in desk at terminal
they had discovered non identified white powder in bag which man was
attempting to carry on to plane
officers attended along with the fire service and they declared it chemical
incident the spokesman added
the check in desk at terminal has been cordoned off and man in his is
helping police with their inquiries at the airport
an airport spokeswoman later confirmed that flights were leaving from terminal
but passengers had to check in at different terminal
in separate statement police chief giladi said the investigation was at
very early stage and officers had acted as precaution
however would like to stress there is no imminent danger to anyone at the
airport and there have been no reports of any injuries as result of this
substance being discovered he said
tests are being carried to out to establish what this substance is
ski jump world cup results
zakopane poland jan afp
ski jump world cup results on saturday
gregor schlierenzauer aut pts
simon ammann sui
thomas morgenstern aut
adam malysz pol
andreas kofler aut
david zauner aut
anders jacobsen nor
wolfgang loitzl aut
janne ahonen fin
jakub janda cze
overall after of events
simon ammann sui points
gregor schlierenzauer aut
thomas morgenstern aut
andreas kofler aut
wolfgang loitzl aut
janne ahonen fin
operation condor suspect extradited to argentina
brasilia jan afp
uruguayan former army officer manuel cordero was extradited saturday to
argentina where he faces trial for the disappearance of an argentine
citizen brazilian police told afp
his extradition had been ordered on tuesday but was postponed as his lawyers
argued he was in such poor health he needed to remain hospitalized
but after medical examinations saturday cordero was taken to brazil border
with argentina and handed over to argentine authorities brazilian police
spokesman said
cordero who had been under house arrest at his home near the brazilian border
before being hospitalized served as an army colonel and intelligence officer in
the uruguayan army
he is accused of being part of operation condor coordinated repression by
right wing south american dictatorships in the against left wing activists
that was carried out with cia assistance
cordero is specifically suspected of being behind the disappearance of adalberto
soba in argentina
he tried unsuccessfully to avoid extradition by claiming he was protected under
law in brazil granting amnesty to brazilian soldiers acting under that
country military government argentina has no such amnesty however
cordero was arrested in february under warrants issued by argentina and
uruguay
the head of brazilian association called justice and human rights jair
krikchke said cordero was believed to have been the third in command of unit
dedicated to disappearances torture and murders
rugby union european cup tables
paris jan afp
european cup pool tables after saturday second batch of matches played won
drawn lost points for against bonus points total points
pool
munster qualified
northampton
perpignan
treviso
pool
clermont qualified
ospreys qualified
leicester
viadana
pool
stade francais qualified
ulster
edinburgh
bath
pool winners and two best runners up qualify for last eight
italy berlusconi could face third corruption trial reports
rome jan afp
italian prime minister silvio berlusconi could face another corruption trial
following an investigation into the purchase of television rights by part of his
media empire newspapers reported on saturday
prosecutors in milan announced the end of an investigation into mediatrade rti
acquisition of rights to broadcast films move that is normally followed by
request for court case
group of including berlusconi the us film producer frank agrama and two
people from hong kong are suspected of inflating the price paid to paramount
and other studios and using the money to create slush fund
the politician is suspected of breach of trust while his friend fedele
confalonieri the head of mediaset subsidiary of berlusconi holding company
fininvest is suspected of tax fraud
the inquiry began in with raid on rti and the seizure of million
dollars million euros from the swiss bank accounts of hong kong based
company belonging to agrama
mediaset mediatrade rti parent company rejected all accusations
the cinema rights that are the subject of this inquiry were bought at the
market rate the accounts and tax declarations were made transparently and in
strict accordance with the law mediaset said in statement
the prime minister supporters said he was the victim of an attack by judges
and the media ahead of regional elections in march
berlusconi is currently on trial in two other cases
one is for fraud and false accounting and also involves television rights bought
by mediaset while the other centres around allegations he bought the silence of
his former tax lawyer the briton david mills in two court cases in the
the trials resumed earlier this month after italy constitutional court threw
out an immunity law that berlusconi shepherded through parliament soon after his
election for third term in april
the self made billionaire has faced multiple legal battles since he burst on to
the political scene in the mid but has never been definitively convicted
rugbyu man ospreys edge tigers to reach last eight
paris jan afp
welsh side ospreys secured their third successive european cup quarter finals
spot on saturday as they beat two time champions leicester tigers in
thrilling clash
the one try of the match came from ospreys irish winger tommy bowe who touched
down for his seventh try of the pool phase to become just the second player
after argentine felipe contepomi to score tries in every first stage match of
the tournament
however their joy was tempered as the losers made protest about ospreys at
one point having men on the pitch when lee byrne returned from blood
binning but his replacement sonny parker stayed on the pitch leading to referee
alan lewis admonishing the unfortunate ospreys official responsible
it is understood tournament rules mean the result of the match cannot be
affected
england were fined five figure sum during the world cup when dan luger
briefly appeared as th player during their group victory over samoa in
melbourne
for the moment ospreys winning their th successive home match in the
competition are guaranteed to take one of the two best runners up spots
london irish or northampton will take the other one after french side clermont
topped their pool by crushing italian whipping boys viadana
london irish host titleholders leinster later on saturday at twickenham with
the english side needing to win to even have chance of reaching the last
eight
clermont and ospreys joined three time winners toulouse biarritz and two time
champions munster in the last eight the irish province having ensured
remarkable th successive appearance in the quarter finals with win over
champions northampton on friday
stade francais ensured there would be four french sides in the last eight for
the first time since the season later on saturday when they topped pool
four despite losing to edinburgh
closest rivals ulster recorded their first ever win on english territory with
victory over bath but it will be of little consolation to the
champions
clermont have been in fine form of late topping their championship and now
winning their pool
we are delighted for the club for the squad and for the supporters said
clermont inspirational captain aurelien rougerie
we are satisfied but it is vital we remain humble and do not get above
ourselves
ospreys and leicester traded blows and points from the opening quarter in an
enthralling game
tigers took the lead three times through two penalties by toby flood and
superb drop goal by irish centre jeremy staunton only for ospreys welsh
international fly half dan biggar to level on all three occasions with
successful penalties
the hosts grabbed what was to prove crucial try which originally stemmed from
rampaging run by former all black great jerry collins with james hook
delivering beautifully weighted grubber kick that bounced up perfectly for
bowe who touched down
ospreys came out all fired up in the second half but biggar was unsuccessful
first with penalty and then drop goal both from distance but in front of
the posts
it was the tigers who put points on the board when flood landed his third
penalty to leave the ospreys to the good
the welsh side though made it in the th minute when biggar slotted
over penalty
the tigers poured on the pressure in search of the try they needed to get the
win but sterling defence by the hosts denied them time and again
the visitors last opening culminated in experienced all black aaron mauger
knocking on just five metres from the try line as ospreys held out for superb
victory
man of the match ospreys flanker marty holah said that the difference from
previous matches was their tactical kicking and he believed that they could
reach the semi finals for the first time
we can be proud of ourselves today saturday said holah
but we have to back this performance up in the quarter finals however have
to say we do possess huge self belief to go out and do it there is no reason
we can do it
five die in romanian cold snap
bucharest jan afp
cold snap in romania has left five people dead in two days authorities said
saturday
in snow covered bucharest year old homeless man was found dead in the
street on saturday according to medical authorities in the capital
two other men aged and died in the southwestern mehedinti and eastern
alba regions from exposure
two men also died in arges in the south and bacau in the east the health
ministry had said friday advising romanians to stay indoors to protect
themselves from the cold
as temperatures in the country plunged to minus degress celsius minus
fahrenheit at night over the last days the ambulance services and the police
in bucharest conducted joint patrols to identify homeless people and lead them
to shelters
according to local help group about homeless people live in the
capital
cold weather and blizzards have also caused problems for motorists mainly in the
southeastern region
several roads were closed including part of the highway linking bucharest to
the black sea port of constanta
german leftist leader retires for health reasons
berlin jan afp
germany opposition far left leader oskar lafontaine former finance
minister said saturday he will retire from politics after undergoing cancer
surgery last year
lafontaine co heads the die linke party which has grouped former east
germans communists and members of former west germany left since its
foundation in
former head of the centre left social democrats spd lafontaine served as
finance minister under then chancellor gerhard schroeder until he quit in
after short tenure in huff over what he said were the government neo
liberal policies
for health reasons will not be candidate for the post of party chairman at
the party convention and will give up my mandate to the bundestag germany
federal parliament lafontaine told news conference
his announcement ended months of speculation about his political future
since his operation in november die linke militants had been wondering whether
he would stand for re election as the party co leader in the party congress to
be held in may
the party other head year old lothar bisky has already said he will not
contest
in lafontaine was the spd candidate in germany first legislative
election after unification but was defeated by incumbent chancellor helmut kohl
one of the main architects of the end of germany year division
during the campaign in which he was critical of rapid unification of
germany communist east and capitalist west he was seriously injured in
knife attack by deranged woman
often affectionately nicknamed napoleon from the saar small region bordering
france lafontaine still heads his party parliamentary group in the regional
assembly
die linke garnered percent in the last country wide legislative election in
september
rugbyu european cup results
paris jan afp
results of european cup pool matches on saturday
pool
viadana ita clermont fra
ospreys wal leicester eng
pool
bath eng ulster irl
edinburgh sco stade francais fra
playing later kick off gmt
pool
brive fra scarlets wal london irish eng leinster irl
played friday
pool
munster irl northampton eng
perpignan fra treviso ita
playing sunday
pool
biarritz fra glasgow sco dragons wal gloucester eng
pool
harlequins eng cardiff wal sale eng toulouse fra
figure skating kostner takes third euro gold despite fall
tallinn jan afp
italy carolina kostner came back from fall to win her third european figure
skating gold here on saturday
the and champion took the title ahead of defending champion laura
lepisto of finland with elene gedevanishvili of georgia winning bronze
think with this officially qualified for my olympic team said the
year old italian who had finished second at nationals
skating to bach air and vivaldi violin concerto she reclaimed the title she
lost last year to lepisto finishing comfortable points ahead of the finn
with gedevanishvili nearly nine points behind the winner
but three weeks before the winter olympics in vancouver the performance of the
europeans is unlikey to worry their rivals in asia and north america despite
kostner warning think we from europe are ready to fight the japanese
koreans and the americans just be ready
the year old from bolzano opened her routine strongly with triple flip
triple toeloop combination but her four minute free skate included just four
clean triple jumps
she singled her triple flip and then fell on her bottom attempting the following
triple loop struggling to hold her triple salchow doubled toeloop combination
but she nevertheless placed first in the free skate with points for an
overall total of
my first emotion was that felt little angry that popped the flip she
said
the mistake threw me little off but in general very pleased feel that
on the right way and this result here gives me confidence
lepisto who last year became the first finnish skater to win the title after
taking bronze the previous year also failed to skate cleanly despite solid
opening triple toeloop triple toeloop combination
she also had four triples in her performance to adios nonino and fuga
misterio but touched the ice on her first double axel fluffed her second
double axel and doubled planned triple lutz and triple loop jumps
she scored third highest in the free skate behind gedevanishvili with and
overall
it started very well with my triple triple combination and felt really good
and comfortable said lepisto
but then came some double jumps and stupid errors on the landings it could
have been better but genuinely happy with the silver medal
gedevanishvili performance to bizet carmen gave her country their first
senior medal in an isu event
the year old coached by robin wagner who lead sarah hughes to the
olympic title achieved the highest techncial scores giving her for the
free skate and overall
made little mistake but it ok she said
now want to go to the olympic games and improve
finland kiira korpi second after the short programme finished off the
podium after sloppy performance in which she fell on triple loop and
touched down on her triple flip
biden confident iraq election row will be resolved
baghdad jan afp
us vice president joe biden said on saturday he was confident iraq leaders
would find just solution to the bitter row that has seen hundreds of
candidates banned from march general election
biden landed in baghdad late on friday and used meetings with the war torn
country leaders to assure them that washington would not interfere in the
dispute which has seen both sunni arabs and shiites excluded from the poll
analysts however told afp the vice president words had failed to conceal the
reality that the trip was rescue mission aimed at navigating serious
political crisis which remains unsolved
the candidates banned from taking part are accused of membership or other
links to executed dictator saddam hussein outlawed baath party feared
fedayeen men of sacrifice militia or mukhabarat intelligence agency
the dispute has stoked tension between the shiite majority now leading the
government and the sunni arab former elite and has also exposed the failings of
much vaunted but apparently stumbling national reconciliation process
want to make it clear am not here to resolve that issue said biden at
joint press conference with iraqi president jalal talabani
this is for iraqis to do not for me after today discussions though am
confident that iraq leaders are seized with the problem and are working for
final just solution
biden said the united states supported the exclusion of candidates linked to
saddam regime but urged legitimate procedures
the issue is not the goal of holding individuals accountable for their past
actions but the process of disqualification itself biden said
iraqis under their leaders understand that if the people see the process as
fair and transparent it will enhance the credibility of the election
as well as talabani biden met prime minister nuri al maliki parliament speaker
iyad al samarrai the un secretary general special representative for iraq ad
melkert and cross section of other political leaders
saleh al mutlak leading sunni mp and persistent critic of maliki shiite
dominated government is among those who have been barred from the election
maliki has denied that sunnis have been targeted ahead of the vote
