another earthquake is threatening to hit haiti with as much if not more force
than the massive temblor that leveled port au prince seismologist say urging
the country to rebuild with strict seismological norms
words gmt by jean louis santini
haiti quake relief aid un rescue rdlead
geneva
haiti government ends the search and rescue phase of the quake relief effort
launched days ago after at least people were pulled out alive from under
the rubble the united nations says
words gmt
haiti quake france health scene
port au prince
severely handicapped four year old abandoned at doorstep is just one of the
latest grim findings by nurses and doctors of french field hospital in the
decimated haitian capital
words moved by jacques guillon picture
we have also moved haiti quake shelter scene
haiti quake elderly scene
haiti quake health religion scientology
haiti quake us aid health
americas
health us politics economy lead
elyria ohio
president barack obama vows he will never stop fighting for struggling
americans in fiery political counter attack meant to mend democratic morale
and his frayed bond with voters
words gmt by stephen collinson picture
us economy politics bank bernanke newseries
washington
us president barack obama administration scrambles to save the nomination of
federal reserve chairman ben bernanke as more opposition emerges from members of
the president own party
words moved by rob lever file picture
africa
nigeria unrest religion wrap
jos nigeria
at least bodies are recovered from wells following deadly muslim christian
clashes in central nigeria in which the estimated death toll already stood at
about and dozens of people are still unaccounted for days after
words gmt by aminu abubakar picture
asia
srilanka vote lead
colombo
sri lanka opposition warn of possible vote rigging and violence by the ruling
party ahead of next week presidential election as both sides wind up
campaigning
words gmt by adam plowright picture
un climate warming glaciers india ipcc lead
new delhi
the head of the un climate science panel says that doomsday prediction about
the fate of himalayan glaciers was regrettable error but that he will not
resign over the mistake
words gmt by rupam jain nair picture
us china it internet google ndlead wrap
washington
us president barack obama is troubled by cyberattacks on internet titan google
and wants answers from china the white house says
words moved by stephen collinson
haiti calls off search for trapped quake victims
port au prince jan afp
haiti government has ended the search and rescue phase of the quake relief
effort after two people who spent days buried under rubble were pulled out
alive and the death toll soared to more than
the united nations said people had been saved from debris but that the
government has declared the search and rescue phase over
there were live rescues by international search and rescue teams the un
organisation for the coordination of humanitarian affairs added in its latest
situation report on the relief effort
an year old woman and year old man defied the odds by being rescued from
the rubble in port au prince on friday
but over days since the magnitude quake the united nations said the
haitian government declared the rescue effort over at pm local time
gmt on friday
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 in the search for
signs or life under collapsed homes and buildings
aid workers said the number of people pulled out were record for such
disaster
haiti interior ministry said friday the confirmed death toll from the quake
now stood at it said more than people were injured and more
than were living in temporary camps
the us geological survey said the haiti disaster has already gone down in
history as the most destructive on record in this region
that probably accurate that this is the most deadly quake to occur in this
part of the world usgs geophysicist dale grant told afp
the world food programme said saturday it had scaled up its food aid to quake
survivors and distributed two million meals on friday up from million on
thursday
we are getting the job done even if we wish we could do more quicker the
agency executive director josette sheeran said after two day evaluation
mission to the capital port au prince
words cannot describe the devastation that has been wrought on haiti by the
january earthquake she said adding tribute to wfp haiti staff
ninety percent of them have lost their homes all of them are grieving the loss
of friends and loved ones and yet they have returned to work with remarkable
resilience of spirit and determination to help their country back to its feet
was able to spend time with them camping out in tents as all our staff are
doing and listening to their heartbreaking stories of loss salute them and
admire them deeply she added
as deliveries of food water shelter and medical care to hundreds of thousands
of people scaled up in port au prince and the worst affected towns of jacmel and
leogane huge relocation of survivors was also underway
the number of people leaving port au prince is increasing daily the un added
on saturday as more than people took advantage of the government
offer of free transport to other cities
the total number of people leaving port au prince by private means remains
undetermined it added
in port au prince on friday first supply of food was distributed in front of
the champ de mars central plaza which had become huge refugee camp water
tankers and toilet blocks were set up electricity was being installed
our pathetic awful life will be easier it seems will finally be able to
sleep tonight suze jean francois one of the first to be given tent at the
site
now will finally be able to gather my thoughts and mourn she added
referring to her daughter who died in the quake
many however remained living in squalid conditions waiting for assistance
while hospitals reported heart rending cases such as four year old with
cerebral palsy who was abandoned on doorstep
the child was left with message saying this little boy has no father and no
mother whoever cares about him is his family according to doctors and nurses
at french field hospital in port au prince
hollywood heartthrob george clooney meanwhile led galaxy of stars friday in
telethon fundraiser for the earthquake victims broadcast across every major us
television network
featuring some celebrities and presented by music channel mtv the line up
for the hope for haiti now telethon included madonna beyonce jay bono
bruce springsteen coldplay and jennifer hudson
the haitian people need our help they need to know they are not alone
clooney told the national audience
tennis wozniacki storms home to beat peer in third round
melbourne jan afp
fourth seed caroline wozniacki of denmark stormed home to beat israel th
seed shahar peer in the third round of the australian open on saturday
she now faces china li na for place in the quarter finals of the year
opening grand slam
obama blasts high court on campaign finance
washington jan afp
president barack obama took populist tone saturday denouncing the supreme
court decision to ease curbs on big business spending on election campaigns
battered by stunning republican win this week in the liberal bastion of
massachusetts that robbed democrats of their seat supermajority obama
defended his political agenda and vowed to continue fighting against the
special interests in washington
in my first year in office we pushed back on that power by implementing
historic reforms to get rid of the influence of those special interests the
president said in his weekly audio and video address
we ve been making steady progress
he cited curbs on the federal government hiring former lobbyists ban on gifts
from federal lobbyists to government officials and the public disclosure of all
visitors to the white house
obama blasted the high court ruling that corporations could dip freely
into their general funds to finance political campaign ads as huge victory to
the special interests and their lobbyists
this ruling strikes at our democracy itself obama said the court overturned
more than century of law
his comments came as poll found that voter dissatisfaction with the direction
of the country and oppositions to the proposals of obama fellow democrats to
overhaul the health care system drove tuesday election win by republican
senator elect scott brown in massachusetts
the post election survey by the washington post the henry kaiser family
foundation and harvard university school of public health found that
percent of massachusetts special election voters said the country was seriously
off track
nearly two thirds of brown supporters in state obama won decisively in
november also said their vote was at least in part intended to show
opposition to the democratic agenda in washington
the supreme court ruling opens the floodgates for an unlimited amount of
special interest money into our democracy it gives the special interest
lobbyists new leverage to spend millions on advertising to persuade elected
officials to vote their way or to punish those who don obama said
that means that any public servant who has the courage to stand up to the
special interests and stand up for the american people can find himself or
herself under assault come election time even foreign corporations may now get
into the act
the move would likely unleash an even more intense barrage of campaign ads than
usual in the run up to mid term congressional elections later this year and
obama reelection race it could disadvantage democrats in favor of
republicans
in seeking to regain the goodwill of voters ahead of his state of the union
address on wednesday obama added can think of anything more devastating
to the public interest
the last thing we need to do is hand more influence to the lobbyists in
washington or more power to the special interests to tip the outcome of
elections
despite lifting curbs on advertising financed by big business the ruling left
in place restrictions on companies contributing directly from their treasuries
directly to political candidate
tennis federer sounds warning as hewitt awaits
melbourne jan afp
world number one roger federer will face old adversary and former finalist
lleyton hewitt in the fourth round after striking ominous form at the australian
open on saturday
the time grand slam champion tossed aside st seeded spaniard albert
montanes in just one hour minutes and declared he was ready to
take on all comers
federer is expected to face sterner test in the round of on monday against
australian two time grand slam champion hewitt who had an armchair ride after
former finalist marcos baghdatis retired injured during their match
the swiss great leads hewitt and has won their last encounters
other winners on day six were serbian third seed novak djokovic russian sixth
seed nikolay davydenko spaniards fernando verdasco and nicolas almagro and
poland unseeded lukasz kubot
the finalist and th seed jo wilfried tsonga of france had fighting
win over german tommy haas and his next opponent will be almagro
who ousted colombian allejandro falla in straight sets
federer said he was in top shape for the battles ahead in the final week of
tournament he has won three times before
feel like fresh and ready to take on the bigger names he said
so far it been great happy the way feeling obviously you ll
elevate your game gradually as the opponents get harder
the swiss top seed was never threatened by baseliner montanes and broke the
spaniard service three times
djokovic stormed into the fourth round with an impressive win over
denis istomin following patchy performances in his first two outings and will
next play kubot
he lifted his game to higher level to dominate the rd ranked uzbek in the
one hour and minutes contest
think at some stage in the tournament you want to have straight sets win
an easy win so you can get fast off the court and try to save all the energy as
much as you can for the upcoming challenges djokovic said
so it was good to have the match like this
davydenko crushed argentinian juan monaco and is yet to drop set
in three matches to reach the last for the fifth year in row
the win over the th seeded monaco extended his current winning streak to
matches and the year old said for the first time he felt like grand slam
title was within reach
am feeling very good confident now he said
davydenko will now play ninth seed verdasco who was gifted place in the
fourth round when austrian opponent stefan koubek retired after losing the first
set complaining of virus
hewitt the nd seed was leading at the time the unseeded baghdatis
walked to the net to concede the match with shoulder injury and give the
australian an early passage into the round of
it blessing that didn finish really late and have to bounce back from
tough five set match because it hard enough playing roger when you re fresh
hewitt said
kubot was another beneficiary of an early withdrawal after russian th seed
mikhail youzhny withdrew with wrist injury before their match
top kashmir rebel killed ahead of india republic day
srinagar india jan afp
troops shot dead top ranking militant in restive indian kashmir and security
forces battled islamic rebels ahead of next week republic day national
holiday police said saturday
rebel violence routinely increases in the revolt hit muslim majority state ahead
of the annual public holiday
but tensions in india have been heightened by warnings by western intelligence
agencies that flights of state run air india and other private carriers could be
targeted by islamist militant groups
police in the kashmir summer capital of srinagar said tariq lone leading
rebel belonging to the pro pakistan militant outfit hizbul mujahedin was killed
late friday in gunbattle with troops in southern kishtwar district
lone alias azhar was wanted militant police spokesman said adding
security forces were engaged in two other gunbattles saturday against militants
in south kashmir
the fighting came as india defence minister antony warned of the
likelihood of more militant attacks and infiltration bids along the line of
control the de facto border which divides kashmir between nuclear armed india
and pakistan
the attempts by militants to infiltrate are increasing he told reporters in
new delhi
however he said india armed forces were ready to counter any threats
his statement came day after india increased airport security and warned its
domestic airlines about possible hijack attempt after receiving tip off from
western intelligence services
the alert said indian flights could be targeted by islamist groups aligned to
al qaeda or the pakistan based lashkar taiba let militant group which
opposes india rule in kashmir
kashmir had been relatively stable in recent months
but there has been spike in violence in the run up to the republic day
festivities including militant siege of srinagar hotel that resulted in the
death of two militants policeman and civilian bystander
inspector general of police farooq ahmed said in srinagar that security forces
have intensified frisking and stepped up their vigilance to keep militants at
bay
police are more concerned given the recent spate of militant attacks he said
republic day marks the date in when india new republican constitution
came into effect india gained independence from britain in but went
through transitional phase when it was still classed as dominion
kashmiris have spurned the celebrations since the insurgency began two decades
ago and separatists call for it to be marked as black day
the insurgency has claimed more than lives according to an official
count
india and pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence over
kashmir which is claimed by both
tensions have been running high between pakistan and india in the wake of the
mumbai attacks which killed people that new delhi says were planned and
executed by the let
football fowler league future in doubt after dispute report
melbourne jan afp
liverpool great robbie fowler playing future in australia league is in
doubt after selection dispute at his north queensland fury club reports said
on saturday
the former england international striker refused to play in changed playing
formation for the fury home match against brisbane roar in townsville
according to fox sports
fowler was subsequently not named in the fury squad for the match and his
position with the club appears uncertain
the former liverpool star is the highest profile signing in the five years of
the league and is playing club football outside england for the first time
since he finished as the fourth highest all time scorer with goals in the
premier league
there have been reports that fowler has been prepared to walk out on the club
with year of his contract still remaining because his wife has failed to
settle in north queensland
fowler told british newspaper this week that his wife was finding it tough to
adjust
the kids are very adaptable to where they are but think my wife still needs
bit of convincing he said
it not like back at home where there more stuff to do and more families
that we know so she still adjusting
tennis tsonga edges past haas into fourth round
melbourne jan afp
tenth seeded frenchman jo wilfried tsonga clawed his way into the fourth round
of the australian open with fighting win over german tommy
haas on saturday
his reward is clash next up against th seeded spaniard nicolas almagro
britain raises terror threat to severe
london jan afp
britain has raised its terror threat assessment from substantial to severe
suggesting an attack is highly likely ahead of international meetings on
yemen and afghanistan in london next week
home secretary alan johnson announced the change on friday four weeks after the
attempted bombing of an airliner heading from amsterdam to the us city of
detroit
the joint terrorism analysis centre has today raised the threat to the uk from
international terrorism from substantial to severe johnson said referring to
the assessment unit within the mi domestic intelligence agency
this means that terrorist attack is highly likely but should stress that
there is no intelligence to suggest that an attack is imminent
johnson refused to say whether the amended threat assessment now four on
scale of five was linked to the attempted attack on the northwest airlines
flight on december
we never say what the intelligence is he said adding it shouldn be
thought to be linked to detroit or anywhere else for that matter
but us official who requested anonymity said that the implication
the us department of homeland security said the announcement brought britain in
line with us security measures introduced over the last few weeks
the year old nigerian man charged with trying to blow up the detroit bound
plane with explosives hidden in his underwear is believed to have trained in
yemen after studying in london al qaeda claims it sent him on the mission
johnson said the higher threat level meant britain put more resources in we
heighten the state of vigilance
he stressed that britain continues to face real and serious threat and urged
the public to remain vigilant
the threat level was last at severe in july last year when it was downgraded
to substantial suggesting an attack remains strong possibility
alex carlile the british government independent reviewer of anti terror
legislation said the move was aimed at making the public more aware but was
not designed to scare people
he said the government has quite rightly decided that if you don tell the
public to be vigilant they re not going to be vigilant
the message from the current change of assessment is not that we should be more
afraid but that we should be little bit more vigilant than we have been
mike granatt former security official in the british government said the
public would not see marked change except people may discover at airports
that suddenly everybody has to be searched more vigorously he told bbc radio
india has increased security at its airports and warned domestic airlines about
possible hijack attempt after tip off from western intelligence services
although there is no suggestion it is linked to britain move
prime minister gordon brown on wednesday reiterated the threats britain faced as
he announced the suspension of direct flights from yemen until new security
measures are in place
brown described the afghanistan pakistan border as the crucible of terrorism
but said the failed detroit attack highlighted the threat posed by yemen based
militants
meeting in britain on wednesday is aimed at strengthening international
support for yemen in its efforts to combat al qaeda
the day after president hamid karzai will attend high level conference in
london on the way forward in violence scarred afghanistan us secretary of state
hillary clinton will also take part
there have been number of attempted bombings in britain in recent years
following the attacks of july when four suicide bombers targeted the
london transport system killing themselves and others
since the threat levels have been made public they have twice briefly been
raised to the top critical level meaning an attack was expected imminently
the first time was on august after series of arrests linked to
plot to down transatlantic airliners and the second on june after car
bombs failed to detonate in london and burning jeep was driven into glasgow
airport in an attempted attack
alpine skiing olympic eyes on vonn after cortina double
cortina ampezzo italy jan afp
all eyes at next month winter olympic games will be firmly set on lindsey vonn
after the american won her fifth successive world cup downhill race here on
saturday
it was the year old second win in two days after she had claimed victory in
the super on saturday and her eighth this season
vonn consolidated her lead atop the world cup overall standings ahead of
germany maria riesch
the american reigning world champion in the downhill and super clocked min
sec making up for sluggish top part of the course with an impressive
finish on the metre long course under brilliant sunshine
she finished sec ahead of maria riesch with sweden anja paerson and nadja
kamer of switzerland both in third at sec
the victory saw vonn go level with her childhood heroine and former us ski racer
picabo street who won five downhill races on the trot in the season
austrian annemarie moser proell holds the record with eight consecutive
downhill victories in and over two seasons
the world cup continues here on sunday with giant slalom
abandoned patients another burden for haiti hospitals
port au prince jan afp
severely handicapped four year old abandoned on doorstep is just one of the
latest grim findings by nurses and doctors of french field hospital in the
decimated haitian capital
on the child blanket an ominous message this little boy has no father and
no mother whoever cares about him is his family thank you for your goodwill
volunteers from the french aid group la chaine de espoir and from the alliance
for international medical action who manage the field hospital associated with
france clinique lambert spent day finding new home for the child who was
born with cerebral palsy
he was finally placed in the care of mother teresa missionaries of charity
the volunteers are also scrambling to find solution for year old woman
chichi nelson whose broken leg is now set in plaster cast she too has lost
her parents
she should have left today because she is staying in bed that would be more
useful for more severely wounded person but she has no one explained
veronique barbas volunteer
the bed field hospital which french police installed where the french high
school once stood has accommodated six quadriplegics no one knows what to do
with them
these people are completely paralyzed they no longer have home or family
they need someone to take care of them constantly and they are taking up six
beds said colonel michel orcel doctor
we already have no room for convalescents we don keep amputees for more than
two days and these six people are giving us trouble because they don belong in
an emergency center
his frustration is shared with many of the other doctors nurses and volunteers
struggling to care for the wounded who just keep coming while even the most
basic of medical supplies remain scarce
learning about the hospital from word of mouth three pregnant women showed up
as they were about to give birth
that not what we are designed for but we don have the heart to turn them
down especially because one of the women has pregnancy that is not looking
good but don know what we will do because we don have midwives orcel
said
it was the same miserable scene at the hospital in cite soleil the largest slum
in port au prince
operated jointly by doctors without borders msf medecins sans frontieres and
doctors of the world medecins du monde this hospital has become the mini
city sanitary lung treating people and performing serious
operations since the quake struck on january
the one story structure did not emerge unscathed from the temblor showing
cracks worried it could collapse the staff have placed all patients under
tents in the backyard
we are treating lot of open fractures with people who need to recuperate
over two to six weeks said the head of the msf mission stefano zannini
we also have people who don have anything left no family no place to go
that why we are desperately searching for centers to welcome these people
hospitals are also poorly organized on thursday night four pick up trucks
filled with two dozen people suffering fractures arrived at the lambert
hospital pinning their hopes on rumors beds were available there
tennis hewitt faces up to federer after baghdatis retires
melbourne jan afp
former finalist lleyton hewitt had an easy ride into the fourth round of the
australian open after cypriot marcos baghdatis retired with shoulder injury in
the second set on saturday
the australian nd seed was leading at the time the unseeded baghdatis
walked to the net to concede the match and give hewitt an early passage into the
round of
hewitt will now take on top seed and time grand slam champion roger federer
on monday
it blessing that didn finish really late and have to bounce back from
tough five set match because it hard enough playing roger when you re fresh
hewitt said
it was an anti climatic end to the match after hewitt who lost to marat safin
here in the final had broken the baghdatis service four times to control
the match on rod laver arena
the finalist was treated for right shoulder injury at the changeover
after dropping the opening set to love and was seen taking two painkilling
tablets
but once he was broken in the sixth game of the second set he decided he could
not continue and retired
felt some pain in the shoulder baghdatis said felt bit of pain
yesterday on the serve bit today and in the match just couldn hit the
forehand couldn control the ball
it was massively deflating for the capacity home crowd with memories of
hewitt epic third round encounter with baghdatis at the tournament
that game started just before midnight and ran for four hours minutes to be
the latest finish in open history
hewitt prevailed but was spent force for his
next match against eventual champion novak djokovic
the australian was in blinding form in the opening set breaking baghdatis
serve three times hitting five winners while the cypriot made unforced in
muted opening
baghdatis had come into the match on the back of seven match winning streak
after winning this month sydney international and two rounds here including
five setter over spanish th seed david ferrer
thaksin red shirts rally at thai golf club
bangkok jan afp
more than supporters of ousted thai prime minister thaksin shinawatra
rallied saturday at golf course they claim was illegally built and linked to
the king top aide local governor said
the gathering of the so called red shirts is the second this year against
alleged judicial double standards apparently aimed at building support for big
new anti government rallies promised by the movement in coming weeks
manoch osothchareon deputy governor of the southeastern province of chanthaburi
where the rally took place said more than protesters had gathered
peacefully and more than were expected by saturday night
the red shirts accused ex premier general prem tinsulanonda head of the king
privy council of obstructing legal action over the facility that allegedly
encroaches on forest reserve land
