oksana domnina maxim shabalin rus
federica faiella massimo scali ita
jana khokhlova sergei novitski rus
figure skating european championship results
tallinn jan afp
results from the final day of the european figure skating championships here on
saturday
women
final result
carolina kostner ita laura lepisto fin elene
gedevanishvili geo kiira korpi fin sarah meier sui
julia sebestyen hun alena leonova rus
valentina marchei ita ksenia makarova rus elena
glebova est viktoria helgesson swe tugba karademir
tur oksana gozeva rus jenna mccorkell gbr
ivana reitmayerova svk sarah hecken ger sonia
lafuente esp natalia popova ukr teodora postic slo
withdrew susanna poykio fin
free skate standings
carolina kostner ita elene gedevanishvili geo laura
lepisto fin sarah meier sui kiira korpi fin
julia sebestyen hun alena leonova rus valentina
marchei ita ksenia makarova rus elena glebova est
oksana gozeva rus viktoria helgesson swe
tugba karademir tur ivana reitmayerova svk sonia
lafuente esp sarah hecken ger jenna mccorkell gbr
natalia popova ukr teodora postic slo
withdrew susanna poykio fin
rugby union european challenge cup results
paris jan afp
european challenge cup results on saturday
pool
parma ita bucharest rom
played friday
pool
montpellier fra worcester eng
newcastle eng padova ita
pool
montauban fra albi fra
played thursday
pool
racing metro fra wasps eng
haiti government ends quake search and rescue phase un
geneva jan afp
haiti government has ended the search and rescue phase of the quake relief
effort after at least people were pulled out alive from under the rubble
the united nations said saturday
the government has declared the search and rescue phase over the un
organisation for the coordination of humanitarian affairs ocha said in its
latest situation report on the relief effort
there were live rescues by international search and rescue teams it
added
an year old woman and year old man were extracted from under the debris in
haiti capital port au prince on friday days after the magnitude
quake
but un figures suggested that the number of those located alive had diminished
significantly in recent days
the haitian government declared the rescue effort over at pm gmt on
friday the united nations said
the government made its decision after consulting international experts it
sovereign decision ocha spokeswoman elisabeth byrs told afp
some of the search effort is continuing to look for bodies she said
up to search and rescue teams with staff and dogs had combed the
ruins of port au prince and towns and villages in south haiti for signs of life
under collapsed homes and buildings
aid workers have already said that record number of people for such disaster
were pulled out alive while thousands more are thought to have been saved by
residents
light urban search and rescue teams sent by several nations were heading home
while those with heavy lifting or drilling equipment shifted to the rest of the
huge relief effort helping to clear rubble and providing medical care byrs
said
on top of port au prince and three other airports in the neighbouring dominican
republic the united nations was also directing aid through eastern dominican
tourist resorts at puerto plata and samana
las americas airport in the dominican capital santo domingo is starting to
experience slight congestion byrs explained
as deliveries of food water shelter and medical care to hundreds of thousands
of people were scaled up in port au prince and the worst affected towns of
jacmel and leogane attention was shifting to the homeless
huge wave of displacement was under way partly with official blessing as
tens of thousands moved out to parts of the country that were not affected by
the earthquake the worst to hit the americas in recent history
the number of people leaving port au prince is increasing daily the united
nations said as more than people took advantage of the government
offer of free transport to other cities
the un food and agriculture organisation estimated that as many as one million
people could head for impoverished rural areas adding to the strain on local
resources ocha said
the government was planning to house the displaced in settlements for tens of
thousands of people each while others were being encouraged to stay with
relatives
rural communities hosting displaced people would also need help because of the
high degree of poverty
they already have trouble eking out living these communities will need
support byrs said
she underlined that haiti rainy season one of the sources of disasters that
have battered the country in recent years was about to begin
ministers from brazil france the united states and other nations are due to
hold talks in montreal on monday to coordinate aid for the quake hit caribbean
nation and prepare later summit on reconstruction
donor nations and international lending institutions pledged fresh two year
million dollar aid package to help haiti pull out of poverty and cyclone
destruction at conference in april
figure skating kostner takes third euro gold despite fall
tallinn jan afp
italy carolina kostner won her third women title despite fall in her free
skate routine at the european figure skating championships here on saturday
kostner the and champion told gold ahead of defending champion
laura lepisto of finland with elene gedevanishvili of georgia taking her first
international medal with bronze
think with this officially qualified for my olympic team said the
year old italian who had finished second at the 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
ireland party calls for urgent talks on power sharing
dublin jan afp
one of the parties in northern ireland power sharing administration sinn
fein called saturday for urgent talks with the province top minister after
crisis meeting on vexed devolution issue
sinn fein president gerry adams emerged from discussions with his leadership in
dublin to say the party was deeply concerned at the lack of an agreement with
their democratic unionist party partners on policing and justice powers
but adams said sinn fein was still seeking solution to the issue and would not
yet pull out of the northern ireland assembly as many observers had feared
he said the british province deputy first minister martin mcguinness of sinn
fein would be seeking meeting within days with first minister peter robinson
of the dup
adams said that meeting would be critical and defining engagement and warned
that unless deal were struck soon sinn fein could still walk away from the
agreement under which the once sworn enemies share power
the failure thus far by the democratic unionist party to honour the st andrew
obligations and also the process they agreed with us is symptomatic of much
deeper problem adams said referring to agreement on policing powers
he said that while mcguinness had spoken to british prime minister gordon brown
and senior irish official about the policing issue the governments are not
referees in this the governments are guarantors
the transfer of policing and justice powers from london to belfast is one of the
crucial pieces in the devolution jigsaw
adams has accused the unionists of derailing talks on the issue by demanding
concessions on controls over controversial protestant orange order parades
robinson still embroiled in sex and money scandal involving his politician
wife has insisted progress is being made in the negotiations and claimed sinn
fein was stirring up an unnecessary crisis
but adams refuted robinson accusations this not about sinn fein hyping
things up this is not game of poker if the institutions are not working
then they become pointless he told reporters
what we re about is fixing the problems and returning to the basis on which
these institutions were established
three years ago sinn fein catholics who want united ireland backed the new
policing arrangements in northern ireland on condition that the province
eventually took over political responsibility for law and order from london
the protestant dup insists that the conditions must be right before powers are
transferred and sinn fein has grown frustrated at the lack of progress
robinson is fighting allegations that he was aware his wife iris had secured
pound dollar euro donation to enable her year old
lover to set up restaurant business
three decades of sectarian violence in northern ireland were largely ended by
the good friday agreement but two british soldiers and policeman were
shot dead last year in attacks claimed by dissident republicans
football mourinho takes dig at lippi ahead of milan clash
rome jan afp
inter milan coach jose mourinho could not resist dig at italy coach marcello
lippi ahead of sunday crucial derby against ac milan at the san siro
storm has been brewing this week after lippi chose to visit juventus and milan
but not inter
those inside the halls at the champions have accused the national team coach of
bias towards the other two big sides in italy while lippi himself claimed there
weren enough italians at inter to warrant trip
but mourinho suggested on saturday there was another reason the club former
coach did not return
maybe lippi didn come back here because he wasn happy at inter said
mouriho slyly
it not problem for me but who knows coming back here reminds him of
period of his career that didn go well
after great success three serie titles and the champions league during his
first spell at juventus lippi joined inter in but was fired one game into
his second season
in he returned to juventus and led them to two more titles and another
champions league final
while mourinho took dig at lippi he had much kinder words to say about his
opposite number on sunday leonardo
the brazilian had torrid start to his milan career winning only three and
scoring just six goals in his opening nine matches
but since then milan have soared winning eight of their last nine serie
encounters
first of all happy things have gone this way and secondly it shows maturity
on both his and the club part because there are clubs who at the first sign of
fragility no longer guarantee their coach the ideal conditions to continue his
work said mourinho
at milan it wasn like that they protected leonardo and now both he and the
club are happy and everything going well for them hence well done to both
leonardo and the club
leonardo for his part is looking forward to the game although he was at pains
to play down it significance in terms of the title race
inter lead his team by six points but milan have game in hand
tomorrow night game against inter will be an extraordinary match you just
need to look at the expectation surrounding this type of game and the number of
people who will watch it he said
it will even be watched live in brazil they follow lot of milan games
but don think it will be too decisive as there are lot if games left
until the end of the season and we still have to play our game in hand against
fiorentina
also from mathematical perspective you can be sure of who where because
we have game more to play
but it will be important on many other levels such games as these always leave
signals both positive and negative
that was certainly the case when they met on matchday two and inter the away
team thrashed milan
that dented leonardo team confidence to such an extent that it took them
seven matches to recover and only then when they came away from the bernabeu
with shock win over real madrid
rugbyu 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
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
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
ospreys and leicester traded blows and points from the opening quarter in an
enthralling and open 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 tigers though were threatening to score try but on each occasion either
chose the wrong option or were thwarted such as when wales full back lee byrne
intercepted scrum half ben young pass on the
instead it was the hosts who grabbed the 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 biggar failed with the subsequent conversion
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
ospreys were so dominant that they had the ball inside their opponents half for
percent of the second period opening minutes but 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
however the young fly half was removed by ospreys australian coach scott
johnson for the final minutes as the clash became increasingly nervy and
pressurised with james hook moving to fly half and the experienced sonny parker
coming on in the centre
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
haitians line up as private banks re open
port au prince jan afp
haitians lined up outside private banks in the capital saturday as they awaited
the reopening of branches which have been closed since quake devastated the
city days ago
after haiti central bank reopened on thursday private banks have been asked
to respond to the needs of thousands of clients who want to withdraw money
which they have been unable to do since the january disaster
haiti association of private banks said that each customer would be allowed to
withdraw the equivalent of up to dollars it also called for security
forces to be on hand for the reopening
residents in port au prince descended on money transfer shops which reopened on
friday desperate to receive money to their relatives abroad especially in the
united states
signs of normal life have been slowly returning to the capital since the
magnitude quake which killed more than people and left at least
homeless
markets and street vendors have been returning to business causing long traffic
jams in certain streets
rugby union european cup tables
paris jan afp
european cup pool tables after saturday first 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 winners and two best runners up qualify for last eight
car bomb attack kills four in pakistan
peshawar pakistan jan afp
suicide bomber killed at least four people including two children saturday
while militants destroyed nato tanker in region of pakistan known for
harbouring al qaeda and the taliban
the attacker detonated car bomb outside police station in gomal near the
northwestern city of tank which neighbours the taliban stronghold of south
waziristan where pakistani troops are battling islamist militants
the bomber struck outside the police station killing one policeman and
three passers by including two children district police chief ejaz abid told
afp
he said people including five policemen three passers by and three
prisoners in the police lock up were wounded
this was car bomb attack which is reaction to the ongoing operation in
south waziristan region abid added
pakistan sent about troops backed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships
into battle against the taliban in south waziristan in october and says they
are making progress and militants are fleeing
during visit to pakistan that ended friday us defence secretary robert gates
said he would ask islamabad about plans to broaden its campaign to neighbouring
north waziristan
military spokesman major general athar abbas responded by saying it would take
between six months to year to completely stabilise south waziristan which
was needed before security forces opened up any new fronts
attacks blamed on the tehreek taliban pakistan ttp show no sign of abating
with bombings increasingly killing and maiming civilians
another senior police official ghazanfar hussain who confirmed the incident and
casualties said he was carrying out routine desk work inside the station when
large blast rocked the building
attacks blamed mostly on the taliban have killed more than people across
pakistan since july concentrated in the northwest and major cities
foreign minister shah mehmood qureshi condemned saturday bombing and
emphasised that terrorism will never be allowed to succeed in its nefarious
designs foreign ministry statement said
pakistan is also under us pressure to do more to eliminate taliban and al qaeda
linked militants along its western border with afghanistan
taliban militants on saturday attacked and destroyed fuel tanker in northwest
pakistan supplying nato troops in neighbouring afghanistan police said
group of armed militants ambushed the truck outside peshawar opened fire
and set the tanker on fire senior police official mohammad karim khan said
militants launch frequent attacks on supplies shipped through the troubled
khyber region for us and nato led forces fighting taliban insurgents across the
border
elsewhere gunmen on motorbike saturday shot dead two soldiers and wounded two
others in khuzdar town kilometres miles south of quetta the capital
of southwestern baluchistan bordering iran and afghanistan police said
hundreds of people have died in baluchistan since late when rebels rose up
to demand political autonomy and greater share of profits from natural
resources
urgent figure skating kostner wins third european women title
tallinn jan afp
italy carolina kostner won her third women title at the european figure
skating championships here on saturday
kostner the and champion told gold ahead of defending champion
laura lepisto of finland with elene gedevanishvili of georgia taking bronze
after the free skating final
alert
figure skating italy kostner wins women european figure skating gold
rugbyu european cup results
paris jan afp
results of european cup pool matches on saturday
pool
viadana ita clermont fra
ospreys wal leicester eng
playing later kick offs in gmt
pool
bath eng ulster irl edinburgh sco stade francais fra
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
funeral services for beloved haitian archbishop
port au prince jan afp
hundreds of mourners including haitian president rene preval were to attend
funeral services saturday for archbishop joseph serge miot aside the rubble of
the city once imposing cathedral
the year old archbishop popular figure in this largely catholic country
was killed in the devastating january earthquake that leveled this city and
collapsed the notre dame assumption cathedral
the funeral mass was to take place just outside the destroyed cathedral close
to where miot was found day after the quake his body crushed by rubble in
the ruins of his office
us agency for international development usaid director rajiv shah was
scheduled to attend the funeral the us state department said friday
shah was to take military transport on saturday from santo domingo capital of
neighboring dominican republic to port au prince before returning to
washington on sunday
afp gmt news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor gunther kern
tel
top stories
haiti calls off search with toll at
biden in iraq to defuse barred election candidates row
nigerian religious clashes toll soars
haiti quake ndlead wrap
port au prince
haiti government officially abandons the search and rescue phase of the quake
relief effort as mourners gather in the capital wrecked cathedral to honor
the country archbishop and other victims
words gmt by charles onians graphic picture video
we will also move haiti quake relief aid un rescue thlead
iraq vote rdlead wrap
baghdad
us vice president joe biden says iraq march election must be fair credible
and transparent but insists that washington will not interfere in simmering
row over barred candidates
words gmt by arthur macmillan picture
nigeria unrest religion wrap lead
jos nigeria
at least bodies are recovered from wells following deadly muslim christian
clashes in central nigeria taking the estimated death toll well past with
dozens of people are still unaccounted for
words gmt by aminu abubakar picture
europe
france migration kurds
bonifacio france
france launches probe and calls for european summit to combat illegal
immigration day after self proclaimed kurds arrive in corsica in the first
known large scale landing of migrants on the french mediterranean island
words gmt
serbia religion patriarch ndlead
belgrade
serbia powerful orthodox church enthrones bishop favouring closer ties with
the vatican as its new head in ceremony in belgrade cathedral
words gmt
asia
afghanistan unrest lead wrap
kabu
militants kill two us soldiers and three civilians in afghanistan and kidnap
police chief in wave of violence day after kabul offers the taliban cash to
lay down their arms
words gmt
pakistan unrest wrap
peshawar pakistan
suicide car bomb attack kills at least four people while militants destroy
nato tanker in region of pakistan known for sheltering taliban and al qaeda
fighters
words gmt by lehaz ali
egypt says to back yemen at london conference
sanaa jan afp
yemeni president ali abdullah saleh held talks saturday with egyptian foreign
minister ahmed abul gheit who stressed his country support for yemen at an
upcoming london conference
we will provide all political support for yemen at this meeting gheit said at
news conference in sanaa where he and egyptian intelligence chief omar
suleiman met with saleh
egypt and the rest of the arab states will stand with yemen in this meeting
and back any mechanism agreed upon to provide it political economic and
security support he added
the london conference on extremism in yemen starts on wednesday and will be
attended by representatives from countries
it was called by british prime minister gordon brown days after it emerged
nigerian accused of trying to blow up us airliner on christmas day could have
been trained by the yemen based al qaeda in the arabian peninsula
football giant killers reading claim another scalp
reading england jan afp
fa cup giant killers reading claimed another premier league scalp with
victory over burnley in the fourth round on saturday
the managerless championship strugglers had shocked liverpool in third round
replay at anfield and they proved that was no fluke thanks to gylfi sigurdsson
late winner at the madejski stadium
sigurdsson who was only declared fit on the eve of the tie after recovering
from foot injury produced cool finish with three minutes left to stun brian
laws side
burnley had beat reading in last season championship play off semi finals but
it was the royals who were the dominant force this time
brian mcdermott in temporary charge following the sacking of brendan rodgers
would have been encouraged in the early stages when sigurdsson who scored
penalty in second half time added on in the win over liverpool tested
burnley goalkeeper brian jensen from long range
reading striker grzegorz rasiak should have done better than shoot tamely wide
after flowing move cut open the clarets defence
jensen was forced into action to keep out simon church snap shot then
sigurdsson curled free kick narrowly over
burnley finally sparked into life when wade elliot found graham alexander and
the scotland midfielder smashed his low shot just wide
joey gudjonsson went even closer when he met chris eagles cross only for his
shot to be blocked on the line
reading appealed in vain for penalty when jobi mcanuff went down under
challenge from gudjonsson but referee andy urso waved play on
the hosts were indebted to australian goalkeeper adam federici for keeping them
in the match in the closing stages he made full stretch save from kevin
mcdonald and then tipped away david edgar header
after surviving those near misses mcdermott men pushed forward again and
jensen tipped over header from matthew mills
reading pressure was rewarded in the th minute when andy griffin cross
picked out sigurdsson and he pushed his shot into the bottom corner
athletics tergat wants kenya to reclaim win men km world title
nairobi jan afp
former five time world cross country champion paul tergat on saturday said it
will be fitting honour for kenya to win the world cross country men km
title before the championship becomes biennial event in
this year championships in bydgoszcz poland in march will be the last one to
be held annually since and tergat who was the last kenyan runner to win
the title years ago says kenya has the last chance to end the long wait
believe this is strong commitment from the athletes to correct their past
mistakes said tergat at the armed forces cross country championships on
