it he told reporters
with thousands of people missing dazed survivors in torn clothes wandered
through the rubble as aftershocks continued to rock port au prince
injured survivors were carried on makeshift stretchers past piles of smashed
concrete from which crushed bodies protruded
the earthquake was the latest tragedy to hammer haiti which has been scarred by
years of unrest crime political tumult and natural disaster
former us president bill clinton united nations special envoy to haiti
warned thursday of an unprecedented humanitarian disaster
early estimates indicate that nearly three million people almost third of
haiti population may need aid making this one of the great humanitarian
emergencies in the history of the americas clinton said in the washington
post
these people deserve chance to bury their dead to heal their wounded to
eat to sleep to begin to recover and they can do it with just government
help alone clinton said appealing on cnn for cash to buy aid
un officials said at least of its staffers were dead were injured and
further were missing the head of the mission hedi annabi was thought to
be among the dead
us president barack obama vowed swift and aggressive effort to save lives and
spoke with an array of regional leaders to coordinate the aid operation
this tragedy seems especially cruel and incomprehensible he said
officials said the first us search and rescue teams had arrived and were
deploying into port au prince
the aircraft carrier uss carl vinson was due to arrive later thursday
plane loads of rescue teams and relief supplies were quickly dispatched from
nations including britain canada france germany the netherlands russia and
spain
japan on thursday became the latest country to assist haiti pledging five
million dollars in emergency aid and coordinating with un agencies to help
distribute the aid
the red cross launched million dollar appeal for donations the world food
programme offered tonnes of food and the world bank said it would provide
an extra million dollars in aid
doctors without borders has set up tent clinics in the city to treat the
thousands of wounded
there are hundreds of thousands of people who are sleeping in the streets
because they are homeless msf coordinator hans van dillen said
we see open fractures head injuries the problem is that we can not forward
people to proper surgery at this stage
the quake turned thousands of buildings into rubble among them was the un
mission headquarters and major hotel where tourists were missing
brazil said of its peacekeepers were killed jordan reported that three of
its peacekeepers died while eight chinese soldiers were buried in rubble and
were missing state media said
afghan parliament to vote on cabinet on saturday
kabul jan afp
afghan lawmakers will vote at the weekend on president hamid karzai second
list of cabinet nominees after vetoing most of his first selection
parliamentary officials said thursday
lawmakers rejected of karzai original choices earlier this month
delivering blow to his authority already undermined after he was declared
winner of an august election marred by massive fraud mostly in his favour
last week he ordered parliament to cancel its winter recess and then presented
new list for consideration
parliamentarians have spent this week grilling the new nominees on their
suitability for the nominated positions before voting in secret ballot on the
men and three women karzai has put forward
we agreed today to vote on the new nominees on saturday parliamentarian
shukria barakzai told afp
parliamentary spokesman haseeb noori confirmed the date
the cabinet will be voted on on saturday noori said it will start early in
the morning and results will be announced right after the voting is done
barakzai said she believed more candidates would pass the second round of
voting despite divisions among lawmakers
one group of mps want the government to be formed as soon as possible and
think this group will vote for most candidates she said
the second group who want new faces in the government are likely to vote
against some of the nominees she said adding one thing is sure not all the
nominees will be passed this time either
the rejection of karzai earlier cabinet picks has left the country without
functioning government dragging out political stalemate that has prevailed
since the august election
karzai wants to form government ahead of an international conference due to be
held in london on january at which he is expected to be accompanied by up to
ministers according to diplomats and analysts
the london conference will provide an opportunity for afghanistan and its
western supporters who together have troops fighting taliban led
insurgency under us and nato command to formalise development and security
plan in one european diplomat said
obama to unveil bank fee to cover bailout losses official
washington jan afp
president barack obama will thursday unveil fee on top financial firms
which each hold at least billion dollars in assets to recoup billions of
taxpayer dollars used to bail out the industry
the proposal to be included in obama next budget will be unveiled as many of
the firms rescued by public funds gear up to announce huge bonus payouts to top
executives at time of economic misery and high unemployment
the scheme is designed to raise billion dollars over years for the public
finances senior us official said on condition of anonymity
alert
toll in afghan suicide bomb attack on market rises to army general
alert
toll in afghan suicide bomb attack on market rises to army general
russia to ratify european court reform parliament head
moscow jan afp
russia will ratify key protocol clearing the way for long delayed reform of
the european court of human rights the head of the lower house of parliament
said thursday
the vote expected friday would make russia the last country of the council of
europe to approve the protocol aimed at streamlining the work of the
strasbourg based court and reducing its debilitating backlog of cases
duma speaker boris gryzlov senior leader of the ruling united russia party
said the party would vote unanimously to approve protocol to the european
convention on human rights all but assuring its ratification
we will vote tomorrow in favour of the ratification of this protocol said
gryzlov whose party has out of seats in the duma
the protocol can only come into force once ratified by all council of europe
members
the russian parliament rejected the protocol in with some lawmakers
accusing the court of being anti russian
gryzlov said the council of europe had compromised on two of russia key
concerns paving the path for the document to be again put before the
legislature
these two amendments which we believed were necessary prior to any discussion
of the ratification of this protocol allow us to be ready for its ratification
now he said
in key concession the council of europe ministers agreed last month to
clause stating that russian judge would participate in decisions concerning
russia
lawmakers had criticised provision that would have allowed the court to hear
case agreed by committee of three judges even if judge from the country
where the case originated were not present
russia is biggest source of pending cases at the court which has backlog of
more than complaints the current equivalent of about six years work
but the court many rulings against russia involving abuses committed by
government forces in chechnya or conditions in russian prisons have irked
moscow
this week the court delayed hearing billion dollar billion euro case
brought against russia by former oil giant yukos which contends it was unfairly
prosecuted and driven into bankruptcy
in the court ruled russia had violated the rights of yukos co founder
platon lebedev in pre trial detention ex yukos chief mikhail khodorkovsky has
filed similar complaint
the parliamentary vote on protocol comes several weeks after council of
europe secretary general thorbjorn jagland visited moscow for talks with russian
leaders and lawmakers
the duma has also rejected protocol of the european rights convention which
mandates the abolition of the death penalty although russia has moratorium on
carrying out executions
india inflation leaps to more than percent
new delhi jan afp
india wholesale inflation rose sharply in december data showed thursday
bolstering market expectations of monetary tightening by the central bank when
it meets later this month
the wholesale price index india main gauge of inflationary trends jumped to
percent year on year in december due to particularly big rises in the cost
of potatoes and sugar provisional data from the commerce ministry showed
the latest reading follows string of impressive data that has shown the indian
economy bouncing back rapidly from slowdown brought on by the global financial
crisis and recessions in developed countries
the wholesale inflation rate had climbed by larger than expected percent
in november from year earlier after rising by percent in october
analysts say that when the reserve bank of india meets on january it will
likely drain some of the liquidity that was pumped into the financial system
last year to encourage lending
although the key risk to inflation is from shortages of rice sugar and pulses
it the headline rate would feed in to general inflationary expectations sooner
or later said rupa rege nitsure chief economist at bank of baroda
she expects the rbi to raise by basis points the amount of cash banks must
have in reserve way of combating inflation without directly affecting the
rates at which consumers and companies borrow
small number of economists also expect an increase in the rbi key lending
rate the repo rate and its key borrowing rate the reverse repo rate
food inflation is being driven by shortages of key crops after one of the
weakest monsoons in four decades that has hit output in india main food
growing areas
dow jones newswires contributed to this report
adp bgs dan
urgent zionist methods used to kill iran scientist ahmadinejad
tehran jan afp
iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad said on thursday that zionist methods
were used in the attack on leading nuclear scientist who was killed in
bombing outside his tehran home report said
german eu commission hopeful denies anti semitism
brussels jan afp
german eu commissioner designate guenther oettinger on thursday defended himself
against suspicions of anti semitism stressing that he had very strong
relations with the german jewish community
oettinger was responding to questions from members of the european parliament
who are vetting all nominated members of eu commission chief jose manuel
barroso new policy cabinet
asked by one mep about his involvement with one group known for its anti
semitic declarations oettinger responded my predecessor as the head of the
german region of baden wurttemberg was member of foundation and succeeded
him
then refused to take part in meetings of the foundation he said
have very close and very trusting relations with the jewish community he
assured his interlocutors underlining his christian values
in oettinger was at the centre of row over eulogy he made defending
the record of predecessor as minister president of baden wurttemberg ex nazi
hans filbinger
oettinger who has been nominated as eu energy commissioner also stressed on
thursday that he would not represent the interests of germany powerful energy
industry
am not german commissioner am commissioner designate for energy he
asserted while admitting close contacts with national energy leaders
have no shares in eon rwe or any other energy group but must have contact
with these companies he said
have always been independent have always tried to be fair he added
urgent obama to announce post crisis fee on finance firms
washington jan afp
president barack obama will thursday unveil fee on top financial firms
which each hold at least billion dollars in assets to recoup billions of
taxpayer dollars used to bail out the industry
hong kong shares fall percent
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares closed percent lower thursday falling back from earlier
gains amid lingering concerns over china monetary policy after beijing moved
to tighten liquidity
the benchmark hang seng index ended points lower at turnover
was billion hong kong dollars billion us
however chinese shares were led up by telecom stocks after beijing announced
plans to encourage consolidation between telecom broadcast television and
internet network firms dealers said
china banks and developers may still witness some selling pressure ahead as
china policy risks still prevail said linus yip strategist at first
shanghai securities told dow jones newswires
financials extended losses after the announcement of china monetary moves
tuesday
china construction bank slid percent to hong kong dollars after falling
percent in the previous session and icbc dropped percent to after
dropping percent
zte corp fell percent to after the telecommunications equipment vendor
said it planned to raise billion hong kong dollars from share sale
air china bucked the trend adding percent to after it said wednesday
it carried million passengers in december up percent year on year
in shanghai the composite index which covers both and shares rose
percent or points to on turnover of billion yuan
billion dollars
guangdong china sunshine media surged by the percent daily limit to
yuan and shaanxi broadcast and tv network intermediary rose percent to
yuan
heavyweight banks stabilised after recent sharp falls but they still lagged the
overall market
banks were still weighed down by concerns over monetary tightening and by fears
that their upcoming fundraising plans will dilute the value of existing
holdings orient securities analyst shen yang said
industrial and commercial bank of china ended flat at yuan after tumbling
percent in the previous three sessions and china construction bank rose
percent to yuan after ending five percent lower wednesday
world biggest agricultural fair opens with protests
berlin jan afp
the world largest agricultural fair berlin green week kicked off
thursday with greenpeace activists heckling the german agriculture minister
calling for ban on genetically modified potatoes
the fair now in its th year is expected to attract some visitors
over the next days as well as exhibitors from countries with
hungary this year guest of honour
the two female activists dressed in traditional bavarian garb were escorted
out by security personnel before they could unfurl banner
the minister ilse aigner refused to halt her speech and continued through the
protest
the fair opens to the public on friday and runs until january
hong kong shares fall percent
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares closed percent lower thursday falling back from earlier
gains amid lingering concerns over china monetary policy after beijing moved
to tighten liquidity
the benchmark hang seng index ended points lower at turnover
was billion hong kong dollars billion us
however chinese shares were led up by telecom stocks after beijing announced
plans to encourage consolidation between telecom broadcast television and
internet network firms dealers said
china banks and developers may still witness some selling pressure ahead as
china policy risks still prevail said linus yip strategist at first
shanghai securities told dow jones newswires
financials extended losses after the announcement of china monetary moves
tuesday
china construction bank slid percent to hong kong dollars after falling
percent in the previous session and icbc dropped percent to after
dropping percent
zte corp fell percent to after the telecommunications equipment vendor
said it planned to raise billion hong kong dollars from share sale
air china bucked the trend adding percent to after it said wednesday
it carried million passengers in december up percent year on year
in shanghai the composite index which covers both and shares rose
percent or points to on turnover of billion yuan
billion dollars
guangdong china sunshine media surged by the percent daily limit to
yuan and shaanxi broadcast and tv network intermediary rose percent to
yuan
heavyweight banks stabilised after recent sharp falls but they still lagged the
overall market
banks were still weighed down by concerns over monetary tightening and by fears
that their upcoming fundraising plans will dilute the value of existing
holdings orient securities analyst shen yang said
industrial and commercial bank of china ended flat at yuan after tumbling
percent in the previous three sessions and china construction bank rose
percent to yuan after ending five percent lower wednesday
european stocks advance before ecb decision
london jan afp
europe main stock markets crept higher on thursday on renewed optimism over
the global economic outlook as investors awaited an interest rate decision from
the european central bank
most asian markets rose in earlier deals amid growing investor enthusiasm and
after strong lead from wall street but fears lingered over china monetary
policy
in late morning european trade london benchmark ftse index of leading
shares gained percent to points
the paris cac added percent to and frankfurt dax won
percent to points
the dj euro stoxx index of top eurozone shares increased by percent to
points
the european central bank ecb was due at gmt to announce the outcome of
its latest monetary policy meeting most economists expect the bank main rate
will stay unchanged at record low of percent
european markets edged higher on thursday after positive close for wall
street last night said analyst nick serff at spread betting firm city index
mining and bank stocks were amongst the early gainers after rio tinto said
overnight that it had seen percent jump in fourth quarter iron ore
production added serff
equities won boost after wall street leapt higher overnight as optimism about
corporate earnings was revived following disappointing start of the results
season
in london on thursday rio tinto shares rallied percent to pence as
the miner beat annual forecasts with record breaking fourth quarter of iron
ore production boosted by strong chinese demand
rio said global iron ore production was up percent year on year at
million tonnes bringing the total for to million tonnes
the figure is an increase of percent on the previous year and ahead of
guidance given in october of between and million tonnes
global iron ore sales set new quarterly record of million tonnes with
full year sales record also set by rio pilbara operations in western
australia
this was another very strong quarter for iron ore driven by continuing high
demand from china rio chief tom albanese said in statement
in asian trade on thursday sentiment was boosted by strong australian jobs data
and wall street more positive earnings outlook
after broad sell off in the previous session was sparked by beijing move to
hike the amount banks must hold in reserves the chinese stock market gained
percent
shares were also lifted by plans to encourage consolidation between telecom
broadcast and internet firms
however hong kong reversed earlier gains to end percent lower as some
policy sensitive banks and property developers fell
sydney closed percent higher with sentiment buoyed by rio tinto and the
stronger than expected jobs data
tokyo won percent as troubled carrier japan airlines jal pulled out of
tailspin after several days of heavy losses
in new york on wednesday the dow jones industrial average gained percent
to close at points
the federal reserve beige book report which said the economy is seeing
broader improvement in activity boosted sentiment the us market shook off
disappointing earnings report from aluminium giant alcoa earlier this week
alert
obama to unveil post crisis fee on top finance firms official
tennis gasquet benneteau guarantee french finalist
sydney australia jan afp
richard gasquet and julien benneteau will bid to become the first french
finalist at the sydney international for almost two decades when they play each
other in semi final on friday
former world top player gasquet back after being cleared of doping last
year beat italian potito starace while benneteau downed
argentine leonardo mayer in thursday quarters
it means french finalist is guaranteed for saturday tournament decider for
the first time since guy forget played in the sydney final
three frenchmen have won the sydney international in the post open era
forget yannick noah and henri leconte
it has been an encouraging week for the rd ranked gasquet who has beaten
spanish davis cup winner feliciano lopez german eighth seed benjamin becker and
now the nd ranked starace to reach the semis
this will be the third time am in semi final in sydney gasquet said
ve lost two times in semis so hope this year will be able to go in the
final will try my best
think playing good and serving well and most important am happy to
play and to be here
gasquet won his only meeting with compatriot benneteau in straight sets in this
tournament three years ago
the australian open finalist marcos baghdatis of cyprus eliminated
australian four time tournament winner lleyton hewitt in another quarter final
it was the first time they had met since their epic third round encounter at the
australian open which started just before midnight and ran for four hours
minutes and hewitt won in five sets
baghdatis ranked will face american mardy fish who won the night quarter
final against australian davis cup member peter luczak
feeling fit no injuries no pain so guess will need some more matches
like this to start feeling my game coming slowly back baghdatis said
hewitt said he was not totally disappointed in bowing out of the tournament
early
was trying few different things out there today and mixing up the game
little bit he said
and hopefully it ll hold me in good stead for next week at the australian
open
didn quite hit the spots when need to do especially trying to
consolidate that break early in today second set which would have been good
to try and to keep that momentum
greece to present crisis plan to eu on friday
athens jan afp
greece will present to the european commission on friday its blueprint for
emerging from financial crisis that has shaken the eurozone the socialist
government said on thursday
the plan aims to rein in the country runaway public deficit and bring it under
the limits imposed for countries sharing the euro currency by prime
minister george papandreou said
our three year effort will be decisive for the future of the country
papandreou told cabinet meeting on the crisis programme which european
authorities have requested we want to turn the page as fast as possible
we have defied predictions in the past we will do it again today he said
am sure that our european partners will appreciate our efforts not only from
government but from an entire population
finance minister george papaconstantinou described the greek plan as roadmap
to overcome great obstacles and reverse the huge credibility gap that greece
is facing in the financial markets
the crisis plan aims to reduce the public deficit to percent of gross
domestic product by under the percent limit for countries sharing the
euro currency he said the deficit reached percent of gdp last year
the programme seeks to stabilise greece debt burden and reduce it to
percent of gdp by
the programme also forecasts an economic contraction of percent in it
foresees return to growth of percent in and percent in
across europe there is concern that serious fiscal problems in greece and
elsewhere threaten the credibility of the eurozone and could be precursor to
similar debt crises in other european economies
cricket england lose four on first morning of th testi
johannesburg jan afp
england lost four wickets in the first hour before fighting back on the first
day of the fourth and final test against south africa at the wanderers stadium
on thursday
england leading the series were for four at lunch with paul
collingwood and ian bell putting on an unbeaten for the fifth wicket
morne morkel was the main wrecker taking three for in fiery opening spell
after dale steyn struck the first blow having england captain andrew strauss
caught at backward short leg off the first ball of the match
strauss chose to bat first in conditions which offered swing and seam movement
he turned lifting delivery on leg stump firmly behind square leg but hashim
amla dived to his right to hold an excellent catch
morkel followed up in the second over when jonathan trott played across full
delivery and was leg before wicket
kevin pietersen run of poor scores continued when he pulled morkel straight to
new cap wayne parnell at mid on after making seven
alastair cook went back on his stumps and was second leg before victim he
asked for review but umpire tony hill decision was upheld
collingwood looked in good form as he went to not out as he and bell not
out staged recovery with south african new caps ryan mclaren and wayne
parnell unable to apply as much pressure as the opening bowlers
england surprisingly left out fast bowler graham onions bringing in left arm
swing bowler ryan sidebottom
onions was one of england most impressive bowlers despite taking only eight
wickets at an average of in the first three tests and as number eleven
batsman twice played out the last over to secure draw for his team in the
first and third tests
ukraine economic misery weighs on elections
mariupol ukraine jan afp
from the windows of his tiny bungalow olexander fyodorov surveys the smokestacks
of the mammoth steelworks where he has just been sacked another victim of
ukraine economic misery
was fired on january all my department was laid off said fyodorov
year old father of two who worked for the azovstal steel works in the city of
mariupol deep in the country heavily industrial southeast
ukraine economy contracted percent in and industrial output slumped
even more making it the european country worst hit by the global economic
crisis
its soviet era heavy industry hugely dependent on foreign exports found itself
crippled when the crisis struck in late and only now are economists
detecting the slightest signs of recovery
the slump is expected to have profound impact on sunday presidential
elections boosting the chances of opposition candidate viktor yanukovich of
defeating his rival prime minister yulia tymoshenko
fyodorov looks out at the grim industrial scene from his window where dozens of
chimneys spit out plumes of smoke into the grey sky from the giant factory
we will not be able to live on my wife salary of hryvnia dollars
month this will barely last for week he said
life for mariupol half million inhabitants is inextricably linked to industry
with the main employers being the azovstal and ilyich steelworks as well the
azovmash machine builders
it very difficult to find work in mariupol we are offered work like being
street sweeper for just hryvnia dollars month said olexy
kostyliov who worked in construction and has been unemployed since august
before the crisis there were dozens of construction sites in mariupol but now
there are only two and the people who work there are earning much less he
added
the director of the city job centre yuri chuprin said that before the crisis
there were offers of employment for registered unemployed per month
now there are just offers for jobseekers
the downturn plays into the hands of yanukovich who has promoted himself as the
champion of ukraine industrial east where russian rather than ukrainian is
the language of daily life
tymoshenko prime minister since meanwhile has to defend her government
handling of the crisis in her political broadcasts she has told ukrainians they
have managed to combat the worst of the crisis together
crucial element of preventing meltdown has been billion dollar standby
credit from the international monetary fund
but the imf and independent economists were exasperated by populist wage and
pension hikes agreed by parliament ahead of the election
the fund withheld the latest tranche of the loan and the head of its mission to
ukraine stepped down amid rumours she had grown frustratated with the
government policies
the world bank forecast that the ukrainian economy will see percent growth
this year hardly impressive given the low comparative base
but analysts are hoping for an improvement in investment once the elections are
over unlike the industrialized east the agriculture sector that is
concentrated in the west enjoyed bumper harvest in
the government settled its december gas bill with russia ahead of time staving
off fears another gas standoff between the two countries could leave europe
freezing
the economy is emerging from the crisis said the economist olexander
paskhaver president of kiev centre of economic development
investment bank renaissance capital said in new year report on the ukrainian
economy that despite the grim data there was no longer risk of government
