Alonso quickest in Canada ahead of Vettel

 Formula One leader Sebastian Vettel smashed into the 'Wall of Champions' while Ferrari's Fernando Alonso set the practice pace on a crash-filled Canadian Grand Prix Friday.
Double world champion Alonso roared around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in a best time of one minute 15.107 seconds offering hope that Ferrari, without a pole since Singapore last September, might be able to take the fight to Red Bull.
The sunny afternoon session was interrupted by several crashes with Sauber's Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi, Belgian Jerome D'Ambrosio for Virgin and Force India's Adrian Sutil all causing delays when they skidded off the track into the wall.
World champion Vettel, winner of five of the season's first six races and sure to be the man to reckon with again on Sunday, did his damage in the morning.
With 34 minutes remaining in the opening session, Vettel drifted wide coming out of the chicane into the home straight and joined a list of illustrious names to have hit the notorious wall over the years.
While the 23-year-old German was unhurt, the right side of his Red Bull suffered heavy damage.
Vettel was one of the first on track in the afternoon and set a time that immediately sent him to the top of the timing screens, remaining there until finally being nudged into second by Alonso.
The champion ended up with the day's second best time of 1:15.476.
Brazilian Filipe Massa was third quickest in the afternoon followed by the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton, a double winner in Canada, and fellow Briton Jenson Button.

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Death toll in Haiti's floods, mudslides rises to 23

Overturned furniture covered in mud is seen in a home damaged by severe rainstorms the night before in Port-au-Prince, June 7, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Swoan Parker

The death toll from days of heavy rains that triggered flooding and mudslides in earthquake-ravaged Haiti has climbed to 23.
 The deaths and damage caused by the first major rainfall of the Atlantic hurricane season have raised concerns about the ability of Haiti, the Western Hemisphere's poorest country, to respond to a major storm as it works to stem an eight-month-old cholera outbreak that has killed about 5,400 people.
Emergency crews cleared rocks, trees and downed power lines from roads in the Haitian capital on Wednesday and aid groups fanned out to further assess the damage.
The rains turned dirt roads in Port-au-Prince into muddy streams, flattened ramshackle homes and flooded tent encampments where hundreds of thousands of homeless survivors of Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake still live.
At least six people were reported missing, said Nadia Louchard, a coordinator with Haiti's Civil Protection Department.
"We are asking the population to be vigilant and to leave areas at risk when it is raining," she added.
The rains eased in Port-au-Prince but weather forecasts showed more precipitation was likely in coming days. Torrential rains also set off flooding in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.
Some Haitians wondered whether the government was adequately prepared to deal with a more powerful storm if one were to hit the impoverished country.

"If these rains can cause so much damage, what would happen if there was a real disaster?" asked Angeline Mauger, 38.

Last year, Haiti escaped a potential disaster when Hurricane Tomas skirted the country, flooding some coastal towns but largely sparing the crowded camps in Port-au-Prince.

Flooding set off by Tomas, however, is believed to have worsened Haiti's cholera outbreak, which started 10 months after the January 2010 earthquake killed more than 300,000 people.

A huge U.N.-led humanitarian operation has helped reduce the fatality rate from the cholera epidemic from peaks last year when dozens of victims were dying every day.
Still, humanitarian workers say flooding is causing fresh outbreaks of the deadly diarrheal disease spread by contaminated water and food.
"We can never say we are fully prepared," said Louchard. "The country has its structural problems. We are just trying to do our best."

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