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Michael Phelps to quit Olympic swimming after 2012

2010-02-19T11:52:00.000-08:00

American swimming legend Michael Phelps says the London Olympics in 2012 will be his final Games and that he will quit the sport when he turns 30.

The most prolific Olympic gold medallist of all time, with 14 to his name, will be 27 in 2012.

"I told myself I will not swim over the age of 30 and I will not," he said.

Phelps has not specified how many races he will enter in London but hopes his refusal to wear the now banned high-tech suits will give him an edge.

He said: "Swimming is going to be swimming again, it's not going to be who is wearing what suit."

Phelps was a bitter opponent of the use of high-tech swimsuits at the World Championships in Rome in 2009, where he lost his world 200m freestyle record to Germany's Paul Biedermann.

The sport's world governing body Fina has since banned the suits and Phelps says it will be "interesting" to see how competitions will go.

He added: "You're really going to be able to see who wants to work and who wants to make sure who stays on top."

Phelps, who is in the middle of a flying visit to the Winter Olympics, won six gold medals at Athens in 2004 and a further eight in Beijing in 2008.

He ruled out entering eight races in London but plans to use this year's Pan Pacific Championships in California and the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai to experiment with different combinations of events ahead of the Games.

"I don't even know," he said when asked how many races he would enter in London. "But I will say it's not eight, I'll give you that one."

Haiti capital earthquake death toll 'tops 150,000'

2010-01-24T12:09:00.000-08:00

The confirmed death toll from Haiti's devastating earthquake has risen above 150,000 in the Port-au-Prince area alone, a government minister has said.

Communications minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue said the count was based on bodies collected in and around the capital by state company CNE.

Many more remain uncounted under rubble in the capital and elsewhere, including the towns of Jacmel and Leogane.

The search for survivors has officially ended and the focus has shifted to aid.

As the death toll in Haiti has risen, it has become clear the 12 January quake is one of the worst natural disasters to have struck in recent years.

Some say the 7.0-magnitude quake killed as many as 200,000 people, while an estimated 1.5 million people have been left homeless.

Ms Lassegue said that the authorities were still far from knowing the total number of those killed.

"Nobody knows how many bodies are buried in the rubble - 200,000, 300,000? Who knows the overall death toll?" the Associated Press quotes her as saying on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters a day earlier, she said the general hospital had received about 10,000 corpses, which it had handed over to CNE for burial.

At least 75,000 people have been buried in mass graves since the disaster. Relatives have also burnt the bodies of some of the victims.

'Tremendous need'

Thousands of people joined open-air church services in Port-au-Prince, Leogane - the epicentre of the earthquake - and elsewhere on Sunday.

A day after the funeral of the capital's Roman Catholic archbishop, Father Glanda Toussaint celebrated Mass at an altar improvised on a wooden table by the wrecked cathedral.

He told his congregation: "What we are going through is not finished, we must reconstruct the country and reconstruct our faith. As a Haitian, it hurts."

Haitian-born rapper Wyclef Jean, who set up the charity foundation Yele Haiti, arrived in the capital on Sunday.

He was expected to meet officials and help distribute aid to people left homeless.

He was among a number of high-profile artists to take part in a "Hope for Haiti Now" telephon in the US on Friday which raised more than $57m (£35m) for the aid effort.

Meanwhile, BBC correspondents in Port-au-Prince report a few signs of normal life returning to the city, with street stalls starting to sell fruit and vegetables and some shops and banks re-opening.

Queues to withdraw cash have been long, as prices for what is now on sale have increased dramatically and many Haitians have been without access to money for days.

The UN says more than 130,000 people have now been relocated out of Port-au-Prince by the authorities, easing the pressure on overcrowded camps in the city. Others have left independently.

With the search-and-rescue phase officially over, international groups are focused on humanitarian efforts, with aid workers still struggling to get food, water and other supplies to all those in need.

"The aid we have available... is being pushed out," Lt Gen Ken Keen, commander of the US military operation in Haiti, told Reuters news agency.

"But the need is tremendous. Every day is a better day than yesterday. Tomorrow will be a better day than the day before."

Foreign ministers will discuss plans for reconstruction at an international donor conference to take place in the Canadian city of Montreal on Monday.

Hours after Haiti's government declared a formal end to the search for survivors on Saturday, a 24-year-old man was pulled alive from the remains of a hotel in the capital after 11 days under the rubble.

Rescuers described his survival as "a miracle".

Onlookers cheered as Wismond Exantus - smiling and apparently in a good condition - emerged on a stretcher from what remains of the Napoli Inn Hotel.

He later told reporters that soft drinks and snacks had kept him going. A French medic said he could expect to leave hospital within a day or two.

The BBC's Orla Guerin in Port-au-Prince says doctors believe he will make a full recovery.

Speaking to the BBC, he appealed for search and rescue efforts to continue so that others could share his chance of rescue.

US begins airdrops of food and water into Haiti

2010-01-19T03:53:00.000-08:00

The US military has begun airdropping food and water supplies into earthquake-hit Haiti.

Some 14,000 ready-to-eat meals and 15,000 litres of water were dropped north-east of the capital Port-au-Prince, the US said.

It had earlier said airdrops were too risky but congestion at the airport has hampered aid distribution. The US is now considering airdrops across Haiti.

More than 2,000 US Marines are set to join 1,000 US troops in Haiti.

They are equipped with heavy-lifting and earth-moving equipment, a dozen helicopters and medical support facilities.

Their arrival comes amid widespread violence and looting.

However, UN humanitarian chief John Holmes played down worries over security, saying that despite incidents of violence, the overall situation was calm.

And the leading US general in Haiti, Lt Gen Ken Keen, said there was currently less violence in the capital Port-au-Prince - already a troubled city - than there had been before the earthquake.

Earlier, Gen Keen said up to 200,000 people might have died in the disaster, which he said was of "epic proportions".

Aid workers are starting to expand their efforts to earthquake-affected areas outside the capital, including Leogane, Gressier, Petit-Goave and the coastal town of Jacmel.

'Test of resolve'

The US Air Force C-17 dropped the relief supplies on Monday into a secured area five miles (8km) north-east of Port-au-Prince, US Army spokeswoman Maj Tanya Bradsher was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

She said the aircraft had flown out of Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina.

Last week, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said airdrops had been ruled out because they might do more harm than good.

Mr Gates warned that they could trigger riots if there was no proper structure on the ground to distribute supplies.

Delivering aid to the centre of Port-au-Prince is getting much more difficult, as anger fuelled by hunger reaches boiling point, and military escorts are needed for lorries carrying supplies, the BBC's David Loyn reports from the city.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Tuesday that Haiti remained a major test for the international community.

"It is a test of our compassion. It is a test of our resolve. And it is also a test of our ability to co-ordinate our actions together."

Former US President Bill Clinton, who is a UN special envoy for Haiti, said co-operation between American and UN troops was improving the earthquake relief effort.

"The UN provides security and the Americans provide the logistics and distribution. They know how to do it. So we are getting there," Mr Clinton told the BBC during a visit to Port-au-Prince on Monday.

France's co-operation minister, Alain Joyandet, had suggested on Monday that the US was "occupying" Haiti and urged the UN to "clarify" the US role.

However, a statement from President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday said France was "very satisfied" with the cooperation and praised the US for its "exceptional mobilisation".

Port problems

Several agencies complained at the weekend about not being able to get aid through the heavily congested airport, which is being run by the US military.

But Mr Holmes said that initial issues were being resolved, with the introduction through the UN World Food Programme - which is currently feeding 100,000 Haitians - of a system to prioritise humanitarian flights.

There are also major problems at Port-au-Prince's main port, which was badly damaged by last week's earthquake.

The port's director told the BBC it could be months before it is fully operational, although one large shallow-draught US barge has been unloaded.

On Monday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he would recommend that the Security Council boost UN troop numbers in Haiti by 2,000 for six months, and UN police numbers by 1,500.

The UN says dozens of search and rescue teams are now on the ground, with 1,700 people involved.

On Tuesday, UN spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said 90 people had been pulled out alive since the earthquake and rescue efforts were now concentrated outside of the capital.

She insisted there was still hope for survivors. "The climate is mild, there are significant air pockets. The problem is dehydration but for the moment there is still a chance," she said.

At least 70,000 people who died in the earthquake have already been buried.

Meanwhile, Haitian President Rene Preval has asked donors also to focus on Haiti's long-term needs.

"We cannot just cure the wounds of the earthquake. We must develop the economy, agriculture, education, health and reinforce democratic institutions," he said.

On Tuesday, the Paris Club of creditor governments, including the US, UK, France and Germany, called on other nations to follow its lead in cancelling debts to Haiti. Venezuela and Taiwan are the biggest other creditors.

Meanwhile, the bodies of eight Chinese nationals killed in the quake have arrived back in Beijing in a high-profile ceremony attended by relatives and top officials.

Security fears in quake-hit Haiti

2010-01-16T03:38:00.000-08:00

There are mounting security concerns in Haiti's earthquake-hit capital as distribution problems continue to hamper getting aid to survivors.

Days after the quake devastated Port-au-Prince, killing tens of thousands, there are some reports of gangs preying on residents and looting.

Officials say thousands of prisoners are unaccounted for after the main prison was destroyed.

Relief has been arriving, but little has moved beyond the jammed airport.

Damage to the seaport, roads and other infrastructure has prevented the speedy distribution of food, water and medical supplies.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she would travel to Haiti on Saturday to assess the damage and convey to the Haitian people "our long term, unwavering support, solidarity and sympathies".

Desperation among survivors of Tuesday's earthquake has led to rising fears over security in Port-au-Prince.

"Men suddenly appeared with machetes to steal money," resident Evelyne Buino told AFP news agency.

Up to 4,000 prisoners are unaccounted for, with many believed to have escaped from the central prison.

A local radio station urged people to "organize neighbourhood committees to avoid chaos".

First shipment

There is little police presence in the capital, although some Brazilian UN peacekeepers are patrolling the streets.

The BBC's Nick Davis in Port-au-Prince says the only convoys he has seen are people leaving the city, in search of food, water and medicine.

The UN is reporting a rise in the number of people trying to cross into the neighbouring Dominican Republic, and an influx into Haiti's northern cities.

Correspondents say that despite increasing anger at the slow pace of the relief effort, the security situation is not out of control.

Overnight the crippled port received its first supply ship since the earthquake, a boat carrying bananas and coal, AFP reports.

Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime said 50,000 bodies had been collected, but the total number of dead could be "between 100,000 and 200,000".

The UN said about 300,000 people had been made homeless.

US authorities have taken temporary control of the airport to help distribute aid more quickly.

Meanwhile the UN has launched an appeal for $562m (£346m). UN humanitarian chief John Holmes said the funds were intended to help three million people for six months.

A total of about $360m has been pledged so far for the relief effort, but only part of this sum will be included in the emergency appeal.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is due to visit Haiti on Sunday, said distribution of food and medicine was under way.

The US has already sent an aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, to Haiti and the USS Bataan, carrying a marine expeditionary unit, is on its way.

A hospital ship and more helicopters are due to be sent in the coming days, carrying more troops and marines, with the total number of US troops to rise to between 9,000 and 10,000.

Aid groups say it is a race against time to find any more trapped survivors.

Plane-loads of rescuers and relief supplies have arrived or are due from the UK, China, the EU, Canada, Russia and Latin American nations.

Clashes at Montazeri ceremony, Iran opposition says

2010-01-11T01:46:00.000-08:00

Iranian security forces have clashed with opposition supporters in the city of Isfahan, opposition websites say.

Activists said police used tear gas and batons to disperse people gathering to commemorate Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri, who died at the weekend.

Security forces reportedly surrounded the home of an ayatollah who organised the memorial service.

On Monday, tens of thousands of mourners attended Montazeri's funeral in the holy city of Qom.

Many of them shouted anti-government slogans.

The US has accused Iran of behaving like a "police state".

'Fiercely confronted'

The funeral saw reports of clashes between security forces and mourners - with confrontations continuing in Qom on Tuesday.

State television reported that government supporters staged counter-demonstrations on Tuesday and Wednesday in Qom.

Reformists say there has also been unrest in Montazeri's home city of Najafabad over the past two days.

Footage sent to the BBC from Najafabad shows crowds chanting "Criminals, rapists, death to the leadership" and "We're not afraid, we're not afraid" as security men watch from the rooftops.

The sender says the footage, which has not been independently verified, was shot in the main mosque.

BBC Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne says the confrontations are all part of a build-up to a big series of demonstrations expected at the weekend.

He says that Isfahan and Najafabad are known as quite religiously conservative cities, which shows the breadth of the opposition to the government.

The authorities have not yet confirmed the unrest in Isfahan, but the country's police chief warned on Wednesday that opposition protests would not be tolerated.

"We advise this movement to end their activities," the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam as saying.

"Otherwise those who violate the order will be fiercely confronted, based on the law."

However, our correspondent says that these threats do not seem to have much effect, because when people get beaten up it just angers them more and they still come out on the streets.

White House spokesman Philip Crowley said on Wednesday that Iran was "increasingly showing itself to be a police state".

He added: "It is using all of its levers, all of its various security elements to try to stamp out clearly the aspirations of the Iranian people.

"And yet the people keep on finding a way to exercise their universal rights of freedom of assembly, freedom of speech."

Beaten savagely

In Isfahan, witnesses told the BBC that people had gathered at the main mosque for the memorial service, but when they arrived the doors were closed and security forces told them to leave.

"Little by little some clashes broke out and security used tear gas and pepper gas," one witness said.

"They took people in the shops and beat them up mostly out of public vision although some beatings happened outside on the streets."

Another witness, who gave his name as Soheil, said security officers "beat people savagely" and did not care if the people were "women, men, old or young".

It had taken about two hours to disperse the crowd, he said.

The Rahesabz website said hundreds of police and plain-clothes security officers were involved.

Another reformist website, Parlemannews, said more than 50 people had been detained.

It said the home of Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri, who organised the memorial, had been surrounded by plainclothes security agents.

"I tried six different ways to get to the mosque but they were all blocked," Parlemannews quoted him as saying.

Reports are difficult to verify independently as foreign journalists have been restricted since the unrest that followed June's disputed presidential election.

The grand ayatollah's funeral in Qom was attended by several leading opposition figures, including Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Mr Mousavi, who came second in the presidential election, has been an outspoken critic of the current government and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

On Tuesday, Mr Mousavi was dismissed as head of the Council for Cultural Revolution, an arts institution affiliated to the president's office.

In recent days, hardliners have urged Iran's judiciary to put Mr Mousavi on trial for instigating unrest.

Iran reformist Mehdi Karroubi's car 'fired on'

2010-01-08T08:14:00.000-08:00

Iran opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi's car has been fired on in the northern city of Qazvin, his website reports.

Mr Karroubi, who was in the city for a religious ceremony, was in the car at the time but was not said to be hurt.

The incident happened shortly after he left a house that had been surrounded by what the site called a well-organised group throwing stones.

Mr Karroubi was a reformist candidate in June's election, and has protested strongly against alleged voting fraud.

Along with the main opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, he has organised a series of mass protests in the months since.

They have grown into the biggest challenge to the government since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

'Stone-throwing'

The semi-official Fars news agency, apparently reporting the same incident, said that Mr Karroubi was forced to leave Qazvin on Thursday after a group staged a rally outside the place he was staying.

The report said the protesters chanted, "God damn Karroubi" and other insults and demanded he leave town.

According to his website, Sahamnews.org, Mr Karroubi was visiting the town to attend a mourning ceremony for opposition supporters killed in protests.

"Around 500 basiji [militia] and residents of nearby villages surrounded the place where he was and attacked the building with stones, breaking windows," it said.

After several hours Mr Karroubi was able to leave with the help of police, but his car was attacked with gunfire as it pulled away.

As it was an armoured car, only the windows were damaged, the site said.

Obama 'bomb plot' rebuke prompts intelligence pledge

2010-01-06T08:26:00.000-08:00

A top US intelligence official has promised action after sharp criticism from President Barack Obama over a failed airliner bomb plot.

Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said the intelligence community had to boost efforts to prevent new types of attacks.

Mr Obama had earlier told senior officials that the failure to anticipate the attack was a "screw-up".

The alleged bomber is accused of trying to bring down an airliner over Detroit.

Mr Obama said US intelligence officials had known that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which claimed responsibility for the plot, had been planning an attack against America.

He also said they knew the group had been working with an individual - now known to be Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian charged over the plot.

The intelligence community had failed to "connect the dots", Mr Obama said in a statement, adding: "That's not acceptable, and I will not tolerate it."

'We got it'

Mr Abdulmutallab's name was on a US database of about 550,000 suspected terrorists, but not on a list that would have subjected him to additional security screening or kept him from boarding the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

Mr Blair reacted by acknowledging the failure of the intelligence community to catch the suspect.

"The intelligence community received the president's message today - we got it, and we are moving forward to meet the new challenges," he said.

He added that intelligence officials had made "considerable progress" in collection and analysis of information and in improving collaboration, although they needed to strengthen their ability to stop "new tactics".

Mr Blair's position was created in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US, amid efforts to improve intelligence co-ordination.

The White House said before Tuesday's security meeting that Mr Obama was standing by three of his top security officials, including Mr Blair.

But the BBC's Richard Lister in Washington says that given Mr Obama's comments, it seems likely that there will be some kind of shake-up and that heads will roll.

Mr Obama spoke on Tuesday after being briefed on security reviews ordered after Mr Abdulmutallab's arrest.

According to the White House, he used stronger language in the closed-door meeting with top security officials.

"This was a screw-up that could have been disastrous," it quoted the president as telling them. "We dodged a bullet but just barely."

Those who attended the meeting included Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defence Secretary Robert Gates, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, CIA Director Leon Panetta and FBI Director Robert Mueller.

Yemen 'training'

Enhanced airport screening and a review of the US watch-list system were ordered after the 25 December attempted attack.

Since the incident, officials have moved dozens of names on to "watch" and "no-fly" lists, as they seek to overhaul security.

Those on the watch-list are subject to extra security checks, while those on the no-fly list are not allowed to board flights to the US.

The suspect began his journey in Lagos, Nigeria, and changed planes at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.

Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen were among the 14 countries singled out by Washington for enhanced security measures for travellers, introduced on Monday.

Countries considered by the US to be sponsors of terrorism - Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria - were also included.

The move sparked objections by some of the states. Cuba and Nigeria said they had protested to US diplomats.

Mr Abdulmutallab was allegedly trained in Yemen - a country that has come under increased scrutiny from the US since his arrest.

The US suspended the repatriation of Yemeni prisoners from its Guantanamo Bay detention centre in the wake of the plot, though Mr Obama reiterated that he would push on with his plan eventually to close the prison.

The US re-opened its embassy in Yemen on Tuesday, following what it called successful counter-terrorism operations by government security forces on Monday north of the capital.

Yemeni authorities have tightened security measures at Sanaa's airport, as well as around several other embassies.

Clashes at Montazeri ceremony, Iran opposition says

2009-12-28T00:12:00.000-08:00