How Far Will Sarah Palin Go?

Of all the torn scraps of conventional wisdom being swept up and thrown away after the election, here’s one that may be the most discredited of all: Americans don’t vote based on the vice-presidential nominee. From the moment Sarah Palin finished her incandescent speech at the Republican National Convention to the late-October New York Times/CBS News poll in which a third of respondents said the choice of Vice President would have a “great deal of influence” on their vote, it was clear that Palin was a transformative figure. In short, she single-handedly changed the race–only not in the way John McCain’s campaign had hoped.

In fact, she cost the GOP ticket more than she helped it. In that poll, 59% said they didn’t think she was qualified to be Vice President–a view shared by many mandarins of the GOP. But the enthusiasm she briefly generated made gaming Palin’s next move a popular sport. Will she join the big-money speaker’s circuit? Become, as Tina Fey joked, the “white Oprah”? Run for Senate? Run for President in 2012 as the new face of a reinvented Republican Party?

First she’s going to have to survive the next few weeks. Anonymous sources from within the McCain campaign are popping up everywhere in the media, accusing Palin of throwing tantrums, of not knowing that Africa was a continent, of being a profligate spender. There’s always a circular firing squad after a losing election, and Palin is standing right in the middle of this one. RNC lawyers are coming to Alaska to hold her to account for some of the more than $150,000 spent on clothing and luggage. The first step in plotting her future is finding a way to live down a lot of these latest headlines.

Then she’ll have to wait out the two years she still has left as Alaska governor. And they could be difficult ones. Her aggressive posture toward the state legislature’s Troopergate investigation and her emergence as a GOP leader have frayed relationships crucial to Palin’s success. Her major accomplishments in Alaska–laying the groundwork for a natural-gas pipeline, reforming oil taxes–relied on support from Democratic lawmakers, who will now be less inclined to cross the aisle for her.

Alaska will also be staring down a budget crisis: crude oil slipped below $60 a barrel just before the election, and Alaska’s budget balances only if oil is in the mid-$70 range or higher. The days of Palin’s $1,200 bonus check to every Alaskan may be over, and if her popularity at home suffers, so does her national profile.

Once her term ends, her options open up. She could try to capitalize on her fame with a cable TV show or, more likely, a lucrative speaking career. Matthew Jones, senior vice president of Leading Authorities Inc., a speakers bureau that represents top political figures like Trent Lott and Terry McAuliffe, says Palin could be a big hit if she were willing to work hard. “A paid speech is different than a campaign speech,” he says. Corporations and groups would book her initially just because of who she is, says Jones, but to have staying power, she’d need a compelling speech, one building on her life story or talking about what it means to be an American. If Palin did apply herself, the rewards would be rich: Jones says she could make $30,000 to $45,000 for an hour-long keynote speech.

If Palin wants to stay in Alaska politics, however, there’s only one good job other than governor: U.S. Senator. It seems unlikely that she would run this quickly for Ted Stevens’ seat if he wins his tight election and subsequently is forced out of the Senate. She needs time to recuperate and, frankly, to study up on the issues. But in 2010, Republican Lisa Murkowski will be up for re-election. Palin’s broad popularity in Alaska (her approval rating at home is still in the 60s despite her turbulent autumn) wouldn’t change the fact that Murkowski, whose approval rating was 63% in a March survey, would be a formidable opponent. “Palin would have a hard time winning” the GOP primary, says Gregg Erickson, editor at large for the Alaska Budget Report. Don Mitchell, a Democratic attorney and historian, calls Palin an instinctive politician whose talents rival Ronald Reagan’s, and he thinks she could beat Murkowski–but he predicts that Palin would find the Senate a poor fit for her disposition. “She’d have to come in like Hillary Clinton, put her celebrity aside and work hard at getting respected,” he says. “I can’t see her doing that.”

Huskers still smarting from last meeting

There is something oddly fascinating about a team scoring 70 points in a single college football game. Something intriguing.

A 40- or 50-point performance, especially in the world of today’s high powered offenses, can be explained away as a sign of the times. Even the occasional 60-point performance, in most cases, will go laregly overlooked by the majority of the population.

But 70 points — a total reached just twice during Big 12 conference games last season? That’s something else altogether.

When a team reaches the 70-point mark, as Kansas University did against Nebraska in a 76-39 victory in Lawrence last season, people are going to hear about it. And if you are a member of the team that happened to give up said number of points, as Nebraska senior linebacker Cody Glenn is, it is not something that easily can be pushed from memory.

“We understand what happened last year,” said Glenn, whose team no doubt will be looking for revenge when the Jayhawks and Huskers match up at 1:30 p.m. today in Lincoln, Neb. “We’re not going to let it happen again. Coming off a loss like that, we really want to come out and make a statement.”

In surrending their most points in school history, the Huskers allowed Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing to throw for 354 yards and a school-record six touchdowns in 2007, as the Jayhawks rattled off 48 first-half points. After going three-and-out on its first offensive series of the game, Kansas scored on 10 of its next 11 possessions, and, during one second-half stretch, scored 28 consecutive points.

But asked whether last year’s outcome will have any bearing on this year’s game, coaches and players on both teams seem confident that it won’t.

Nebraska coach Bo Pelini, who is in his first season with the Huskers and wasn’t present for last year’s blowout, said earlier this week that while the 2007 game might provide a little motivation heading into this weekend, his players haven’t wasted much time dwelling on it over the past 12 months.

Earlier this week, meanwhile, Huskers defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh told the Omaha World-Herald that any extra motivation for this week’s game stems simply from wanting to beat a fellow Big 12 North team.

“It’s not because of what happened last year, although some people maybe do have some revenge they want to get,” Suh said. “But we play them every single year. If you want to say there’s vengeance, we have vengeance for them every single year.”

Still, it’s hard to imagine that no thought whatsoever has been devoted to the shellacking Nebraska players suffered last season.

And on the eve of today’s encore, at least one person isn’t buying the idea that last year’s game will provide no extra incentive for the Huskers.

“There was a rumor, I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I heard that they got a sign up in the locker room with the score because they felt it was something that they wanted to correct,” Kansas cornerback Justin Thornton said. “So you know they’re going to show up ready to play. A lot of those guys are going to come in with a chip on their shoulder for the simple fact that they came down here and played the way they did.”

Queen of Mean: Leona Helmsley

Leona Mindy Roberts Helmsley (July 4, 1920 – August 20, 2007) was a billionaire New York City hotel operator and real estate investor. She was a flamboyant personality and had a reputation for tyrannical behavior that earned her the nickname “Queen of Mean.” That image of Helmsley was sealed when a former housekeeper testified that she had heard Helmsley say: “We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes …”, a saying that became notorious and identified with her for the rest of her life. She was later convicted of federal income tax evasion and other crimes in 1989 and served 19 months in prison (and two more months under house arrest), after receiving an initial sentence of 16 years.

Early life

Leona Helmsley was born Lena Mindy Rosenthal in Marbletown, New York, to Polish Jewish immigrants, daughter of a hatmaker. Her family moved to Brooklyn while she was still a girl, and moved six more times before settling in Manhattan. She dropped out of high school to seek her fortune. In a short time, she changed her name several times–from Lee Roberts, Mindy Roberts and Leni Roberts. Eventually, she decided on Leona Mindy Roberts.[1] She legally changed her surname to Roberts.[1] She was a chain smoker, using several packs a day. Helmsley would later claim that she appeared in billboard ads for Chesterfield cigarettes, but her claim remains entirely unsubstantiated.

Her first husband was attorney Leo Panzirer, whom she divorced in 1952. Their only son was Jay (1940–1982), who had four children with his wife, Mimi. Leona was twice married to and divorced from her second husband, garment industry executive Joseph Lubin. After a brief stint at a sewing factory, she joined a New York real estate firm, where she eventually became Vice-President.

Hotel career

Leona was a condominium broker in 1968 when she met and began her involvement with the then-married multi-millionaire real estate investor Harry Helmsley. In 1970, she joined one of Harry Helmsley’s brokerage firms — Brown, Harris, Stevens — as a senior vice president. At that time, she was already a millionaire in her own right. Harry Helmsley divorced his wife of 33 years and married Leona on April 8, 1972. Leona’s marriage to Harry may well have saved her career. Late in 1971, several of Leona’s tenants sued her for forcing the tenants of one of the apartments she managed to buy condominiums. They won, and Leona was not only forced to compensate the tenants, but give them a three-year lease. Her real estate license was also suspended, but she focused on running Harry’s growing hotel empire.
Leona and Harry B. Helmsley Medical Building, the main building of Greenwich Hospital in Greenwich, Connecticut

Supposedly under her influence, Harry Helmsley began a program of conversion of apartment buildings into condos. He later concentrated on the hotel industry, building the Helmsley Palace on Madison Avenue. Together the Helmsleys built a real estate empire in New York City including 230 Park Avenue, the Empire State Building, the Tudor City apartment complex on the East Side of Manhattan, and Helmsley-Spear, their management and leasing business. The couple also developed properties that included the Park Lane Hotel, the New York Helmsley Hotel and the Helmsley Palace Hotel, and hotels in Florida and other states.

Leona Helmsley was featured in an advertising campaign portraying her as a demanding “queen” who wanted nothing but the best for her guests. However, in real life she was known for being a tyrannical boss whose petulance seemed ill-suited to the hospitality industry. The slightest mistake was usually grounds for firing, and Helmsley was known to shout insults and obscenities at targeted employees just before they were terminated.

On March 31, 1982, Leona’s only child, Jay Panzirer, died of a heart attack. Leona sued her son’s estate for money and property that she claimed he had borrowed; Mimi, her son’s widow, (who lived in a property Leona owned) received an eviction notice. Mimi later said the legal expenses wiped her out and “to this day I don’t know why they did it.”

Tax evasion conviction

Despite the Helmsleys’ tremendous wealth (between them, they were worth well over a billion dollars), they were known for disputing payments to contractors and vendors. One of these disputes would prove to be their undoing.

In 1983 the Helmsleys bought Dunnellen Hall, a 21-room mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut, to use as a weekend retreat. The property cost $11 million, but the Helmsleys wanted to make it even more luxurious than it had been before. Jeremiah McCarthy, a Helmsley executive engineer was initially put in charge of the operation. McCarthy claims that Leona repeatedly demanded that he sign illegal invoices designed to illegally bill personal expenses to the estate. According to Ransdell Peirson’s “The Queen of Mean,” when McCarthy declined to do so she exploded with tyrannical outbursts claiming, “You’re not my f***ing partner you’ll sign what I tell you to sign.” *New York Times – 08 1989.

The remodeling bill came to $8 million, but the Helmsleys were wary of paying it — or paying the taxes due on the effort. A group of contractors had to go to court to get most of the money; the Helmsleys eventually paid off most of the debt. In 1985, during these proceedings, the contractors revealed that most of their work was being illegally billed to the Helmsleys’ hotels as business expenses. “Among the charges billed to the company were a million-dollar dance floor installed above a swimming pool; a forty-five thousand-dollar silver clock; and a two-hundred-and-ten-thousand-dollar mahogany card table.” (“Rich Bitch,” September 29, 2008 New Yorker magazine). Enraged, the contractors sent a stack of invoices to the New York Post to prove that the Helmsleys were trying to write their work off in this manner. The resulting Post story led to a federal criminal investigation. In 1988, United States Attorney Rudy Giuliani indicted the Helmsleys and two of their associates on several tax-related charges, as well as extortion.

The trial was delayed until the summer of 1989 due to numerous motions by the Helmsleys’ attorneys—most of them related to Harry’s health. He had begun to appear enfeebled shortly after the beginning of his relationship with Leona Helmsley years before, and had recently suffered a stroke on top of a pre-existing heart condition. Ultimately, he was ruled mentally and physically unfit to stand trial, and Leona had to face the charges alone.

At trial, a former Helmsley-Spear executive, Paul Ruffino says that he refused to sign phony invoices illegally billing the company for work done on the Helmsely’s Connecticut mansion. Ruffino, originally engaged to assist Helmsley through the Hospitality Management Services arm, says that Leona fired him on several different occasions for refusing to sign the bills, but Harry would usually tell him to ignore her and to come back to work. Another one of the key witnesses was a former housekeeper at the Helmsley home, Elizabeth Baum, who recounted having the following exchange with Leona Helmsley four to six weeks after being hired in September, 1983 :
“ I said : “You must pay a lot of taxes”. She said : “We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.”

—Elizabeth Baum, former housekeeper to Helmsley (October 1983)

Helmsley denied ever saying this. Helmsley’s former employees testified at trial “about how they feared her, with one recalling how she casually fired him while she was being fitted for a dress.”[3] Most legal observers felt that Mrs. Helmsley’s personality and wealth alienated the jurors.

On August 30, Helmsley was convicted and sentenced of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States,three counts of tax evasion, three counts of filing false personal tax returns,[7] sixteen counts of assisting in the filing of false corporate and partnership tax returns,and ten counts of mail fraud.[8] (See United States v. Helmsley, 941 F.2d 71, 91-2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) paragr. 50,455 (2d Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1091 (1992).)

She was, however, acquitted of extortion — a charge that could have sent her to prison for the rest of her life. She was sentenced to 16 years in prison, but eventually had that sentence significantly reduced when all but eight of the charges were dropped.[1] Nonetheless, when it was clear she was going to jail, she collapsed outside of the courthouse, later diagnosed with a heart irregularity and hypertension.

She was ordered to report to prison on tax day, April 15th, though she had been convicted the previous August.

Although Helmsley’s reputation as the “Queen of Mean” is sealed, Helmsley was generous in her charitable contributions after her prison term. After September 11, 2001, she donated $5 million to help families of New York firefighters. Among other contributions, she also gave $25 million to New York’s Presbyterian Hospital for medical research.

After prison

Helmsley served 18 months in federal prison. Her later years were apparently spent in isolation, especially after Harry died in 1997, leaving Leona his entire fortune (including the Helmsley hotels, the Helmsley Palace and the Empire State Building), estimated to be worth well in excess of $5 billion. She had almost no friends but Dr. Patrick Ward, Rodrigo Handall from Mexico, and Kathy and Rick Hilton.A 2001 Chicago Sun-Times article depicted her as estranged from her grandchildren and with few friends, living alone in a lavish apartment with her dog.In 2002, Helmsley was sued by Charles Bell, a former employee who alleged that he was discharged solely for being homosexual. A jury agreed and ordered Mrs. Helmsley to pay Bell $11,200,000 in damages. A judge subsequently reduced this amount to $554,000.

She was forced to give up control of her hotel empire since New York does not allow convicted felons to have alcohol licenses; nearly all of her hotels sold alcohol at their bars. Mrs. Helmsley lived her final year at her luxurious penthouse atop the Park Lane hotel, with magnificent views of Central Park.

Death

Leona Helmsley died from congestive heart failure at the age of 87, on August 20, 2007, at Dunnellen Hall, her summer home in Greenwich, Connecticut.[12] Cardiovascular disease ran in her family, claiming the lives of her father, son and a sister.After a week at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel, she was entombed next to Harry Helmsley in a mausoleum constructed for $1.4 million and set on ¾-acres in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Westchester County, New York.
The mausoleum of Harry Helmsley in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

Helmsley left the bulk of her estate — estimated at more than $4 billion — to the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.She also left her Maltese, Trouble, a $12 million trust fund.[18] This sum was subsequently reduced to $2 million less than a year later. She left $15 million for her brother Alvin Rosenthal. Helmsley had four grandchildren. Two of them each will receive $5 million in trust and $5 million outright, under the condition that they visit their father’s grave site once each calendar year. Her other two grandchildren, Craig and Meegan Panzirer, received nothing.

It has been alleged that they were omitted from the will because they failed to name any of their children after her late husband. Her choice to leave $12m to her white Maltese, Trouble, was branded 3rd in Fortune’s “101 Dumbest Moments in Business” of 2007.[19] In an April 30, 2008 court ruling Manhattan Surrogate Judge Renee Roth reduced the trust fund for Trouble from $12 million to $2 million with the $10 million going to Helmsley’s charitable foundation.[20] She also left her chauffeur, Nicholas Celea, $100,000.

However, in the April 30 judgment (published only on June 16, 2008), Manhattan Surrogate Court Judge Reena Roth further ruled Helmsley was mentally unfit when she executed her will. Hence, the Court, amid settlement, awarded $4 million to the charity, and $6 million to Craig and Meegan Panzirer, who were disinherited by the will (if they would keep silent about their complaint with their grandmother and deliver to her any documents). 9-year-old Trouble lives in Florida with the Carl Lekic, general manager of the Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel amid receiving several death threats.[23][24] Lekic, Trouble’s caretaker, stated that $2 million would pay for the dog’s maintenance for more than 10 years – the annual $100,000 for full-time security, $8,000 for grooming and $1,200 for food. Lekic is paid a $60,000 annual guardian fee.”

In addition to $12 million Leona Helmsley left to her pet Maltese, Trouble, she left instructions that a trust valued at $5 billion to $8 billion be used to benefit dogs.

Michelle Obama’s Winning Style

First Lady of fashion Michelle Obama has been setting trends in colorful shift dresses punched up with chunky costume jewelry. “I’ve learned to go with colors and cuts that look good on me, that I’m comfortable in,” Obama has said. And, although she wears the cream of American designers including Narciso Rodriguez, Isabel Toledo and Thakoon Panichgul, she’s just as comfortable — and stylish! — in budget buys from J. Crew and Gap. Should be a very fashionable four years!

Obama celebrated her husband’s election win in a Narciso Rodriguez design.

Manchester United not taking wounded Arsenal for granted

The past few weeks have not been kind to Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal side, with the Gunners losing to promoted Stoke City and being held to draws against Tottenham and Fenerbahce.

To make matter worse, the London side will be entering Saturday’s contest against Manchester United without the services of Emmanuel Adebayor (ankle) and Emmanuel Eboue (knee), while Robin van Persie is out through suspension and Mikael Silvestre (nose), William Gallas (hamstring), Bacary Sagna (ankle) and Theo Walcott (shoulder) are each struggling with injuries and will be late fitness checks.

Wenger has started to feel a little bit of heat around the Emirates Stadium with his team’s recent lack of form, but the boss does not believe that his team enters Saturday’s encounter as underdogs.

“I don’t feel we are underdogs at all,” Wenger said at a pre-match press conference on Friday. “I go into this game with the desire to win it and that’s all the belief I have.”

The Gunners currently sit six points behind joint-leaders Chelsea and Liverpool, and one point back of United, but Wenger refuses to label the game as a “must-win” and thinks that his club has the potential to climb right back into the race.

“It depends how many games the other contenders lose,” said Wenger. “I believe in my team and I’m very proud of the job I’m doing as well even if at the moment we are not as good as I want them to be. There is no alarming sign of the team not having the potential.”

United will be without defender Wes Brown (ankle), but Gary Neville is expected to take his place, while midfielder Darren Fletcher (knee) is doubtful to take part in the game.

However, the team is more focused on leaving the Emirates with three points after conceding late goals to Arsenal in the past two years.

The Red Devils yielded two goals in the final 10 minutes two years ago to lose 2-1, while they conceded a goal to William Gallas in the dying seconds last year that forced the team to settle for a 2-2 draw.

“We’ve thrown away some points there in the last two seasons, despite them being really good games,” United striker Wayne Rooney told the club’s official website. “I think we should have maybe won at least one of them.”

Manager Sir Alex Ferguson is also a bit irritated at the two late goals in the team’s loss two years ago.

“We’ve thrown points away,” Ferguson said. “We were 1-0 up with six minutes to go and ended up losing it two years ago. That’s crazy.”

Ferguson is fully aware of Arsenal’s struggles in recent matches, but he has seen too many United-Arsenal games to think this one will be easy.

“If you think we’re going there thinking it will be easy because they have players out, you’re wrong,” said Ferguson. “This will be as tough as it always is. Look at United-Arsenal games, they’re always very competitive, played at great speed and high on emotion.”

Chelsea leads the league on goal difference ahead of Liverpool and the Blues travel to Ewood Park to meet Blackburn on Sunday, while Rafael Benitez and his Liverpool side host relegation-battling West Bromwich.

Stoke City has moved two points clear of the drop zone after their win over Arsenal, and they meet a Wigan side that is clear of relegation on just goal difference.

Bolton is third from the bottom and travels to surprising Hull City, Sunderland hosts Portsmouth, Everton invades West Ham, Aston Villa tries to rebound from a defeat to Newcastle when the Villains host Middlesbrough, Tottenham sits on the bottom of the table but the team has earned seven points from its last three games and visits Manchester City, while Newcastle travels to Fulham having won two straight.

Palin calls attacks ‘cruel’ and ‘cowardly’

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin called former aides of Sen. John McCain “jerks” for circulating unflattering stories about her since the Republican ticket lost its bid for the White House Tuesday.

The stories, which have been attributed to unnamed sources within the McCain campaign, include claims that Palin did not know Africa was a continent instead of a country, or which countries are part of the North American Free Trade Agreement, despite touting her familiarity with neighboring Canada.

Speaking with CNN’s Gary Tuchman after returning to Alaska, Palin speculated those stories may have originated with campaign staffers who helped her prepare for her debate with Democratic Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

Rihanna did not faint on stage

SYDNEY, Australia – Rihanna may have had a rough night Down Under on Thursday, but contrary to other online reports, she didn’t faint on stage, Access Hollywood has learned.

The pop star clutched her stomach while running off stage during a performance of “Umbrella” in Australia in footage posted on YouTube, and was rumored to have passed out shortly after.

“It was very hot at the venue, so after Rihanna’s set was over, she went off stage and needed to sit down, catch her breath and have some water,” a rep for the star said in a statement to Access. “She is perfectly healthy and will be at her show tomorrow.”

The star was joined on “Umbrella” by boyfriend Chris Brown, who finished the song solo after Rihanna left the stage.

Father ‘murdered’ by son, aged 8

An eight-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of his father and another man in the US state of Arizona.

Police in St Johns, a small community north-east of Phoenix, said the child had confessed to shooting the two men with a .22-calibre rifle on Wednesday.

“Who would think an eight-year-old kid could kill two adults?” said St Johns Police Chief Roy Melnick on Friday.

A judge has ordered a psychological evaluation of the boy, who is being held at a juvenile detention centre.

He did not have a record of bad behaviour at school, and there had been no indication of any problems at home, prosecutors said.

Mr Melnick said police officers had arrived at the child’s home within minutes of the shooting on Wednesday evening.

They found one victim just outside the front door and the other dead in an upstairs room, he added.

The second man is believed to have been lodging in the house.

The boy had gone to a neighbour’s house and said he “believed that his father was dead”, Apache County prosecutor Brad Carlyon said. Police later obtained a confession from the boy for the two killings.

His defence lawyer, Benjamin Brewer, said police had overreached in questioning him without representation from a parent or a lawyer, and that they had not advised him of his rights.

Haiti school collapse toll rises

The number of people who died from the collapse of a school in Haiti has risen to 75, after 17 bodies were found inside a classroom, officials say.

Rescuers worked through the night under floodlights to find survivors in the remains of the three-storey La Promesse College in a suburb of Port-au-Prince.

About 500 children and teachers were inside the building when it collapsed on Friday. At least 107 were injured.

President Rene Preval said it was “devastating to see such a disaster”.

“It really breaks your heart to see those children under the debris without being able to help them,” he said while visiting the scene early on Saturday.

Mr Preval said rescue crews had dropped water and biscuits through holes in the rubble to a group of children and focused their efforts on reaching them.

“Last night, we were sure there were still seven children alive. We got one of them but we have lost all signs of the other six being alive,” he added.

“Some say they might be sleeping. Others believe they have died.”

President Preval later told the Associated Press news agency that he believed poor construction methods, including a failure to use reinforced steel, had been to blame for the building’s collapse.

Other buildings throughout Haiti were at a similar risk because of such poor methods and a lack of government oversight, he warned.

“It’s not just schools, it’s where people live, it’s churches,” he said.

Relatives’ anguish

As Mr Preval was inspecting the remains of the church-run school in the suburb of Petionville on Saturday, rescue workers told him that they had found the bodies of 16 students and a teacher inside a classroom.

The site contains a kindergarten as well as a primary and secondary school and it is thought there about 500 children inside the building when the first floor caved in. As many as 700 children were enrolled at the school.

Engineers from the UN mission in Haiti, Minustah, and members of the Haitian Red Cross are also at the scene, helping the local teams remove heavy pieces of concrete. Some rescuers have been digging with their bare hands.

Relatives gathered around the school, crying and screaming and searching for their children.

“I have four kids in this school and I have not found any of them,” said one woman.

One man, Nicholas, said he heard a crash and thought it could be the school.

“When I got there I saw all the kids getting pulled out. But I didn’t see mine,” he said.

UN peacekeepers and local police have meanwhile been deployed to hold back the crowds of onlookers and the desperate relatives of those missing, who have hampered the arrival of heavy machinery and extra rescuers.

A spokesperson for the UN in Haiti, Sophie de la Combe, told the BBC that the UN and other agencies were trying to save as many people as they could.

Miss de la Combe said the remains of the building also had to be reinforced to ensure the rescue effort was effective and safe.

“It was continuing to collapse,” she said.

Earlier, the commander of the UN mission, Brazilian Maj Gen Carlos dos Santos Cruz, said it appeared as if the school had been hit by an earthquake.

Specialist rescue teams from the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, and the US are on their way to Haiti to help. Neighbouring Dominican Republic has meanwhile promised to send two helicopters.

Correspondents say Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere where mudslides and poor construction are commonplace.

Obama offers no commitment on missile plan

An aide says President-elect Obama has spoken to the president of Poland about relations between the two countries but did not make any commitment on the multibillion-dollar missile defense program the Bush administration has been pursuing.

That contrasts with a statement by Polish President Lech Kaczynski, who says Obama told him the missile defense project would continue.

The U.S. and Poland signed an agreement in August to base American missiles in Poland as part of a shield against possible missile attacks from Iran.

The agreement has been a sore point with Russia, unsettled at plans to put the missile shield close to its borders.

Earlier this year, Obama said that the system would require much more vigorous testing to ensure it would work and justify the billions of dollars it would cost.