would have been happy if our cricketers too had shown similar self respect in
the matter he wrote
but cricket has become game of money and self respect and patriotism have
taken back seat
britain flying humanitarian team to haiti
london jan afp
britain is rushing humanitarian assessment team to haiti after the devastating
earthquake there prime minister gordon brown said wednesday while aid agencies
pledged emergency help
we stand ready to provide whatever humanitarian assistance is required he
said adding that he was deeply saddened and worried about the reported scale
of the earthquake in haiti
spokesman for the department for international development dfid said they
were deeply concerned as the death toll mounted on the impoverished caribbean
island state
it appears to have been severe causing considerable damage and harm we do not
yet have clear picture of needs from the haitian authorities or from
humanitarian agencies we are monitoring the situation closely
overnight we have mobilised dfid humanitarian assessment team to fly to haiti
today
aid agency oxfam said it had emergency response teams in the region poised to
respond
at this stage it is too early to tell the severity of the earthquake in haiti
but the early signs are not good with communications down across the country
said jane cocking the charity humanitarian director
oxfam has its emergency response team for latin america based in haiti so we
are well prepared with public health water and sanitation team in port au
prince ready to respond
we also have emergency supplies in panama which we can access should we need
to
kristie van de wetering former oxfam employee still based in port au prince
said in statement on the oxfam website that the haitian capital was very
chaotic with many houses in rubble
there is blanket of dust rising from the valley south of the capital she
said
we can hear people calling for help from every corner the aftershocks are
ongoing and making people very nervous
red cross spokeswoman heron holloway said the charity was preparing to fly in
aid from panama
the strongest earthquake to hit haiti in over century rocked the impoverished
caribbean nation tuesday toppling buildings and triggering fears that hundreds
have been killed in widespread destruction
red cross unlocks emergency aid for haiti
geneva jan afp
the international red cross said wednesday that it had unlocked emergency funds
and was mobilising relief supplies in haiti amid fears of huge devastation
following the earthquake there
emergency stocks are prepositioned in haiti and will allow us to bring aid to
families for three to four days international federation of the red
cross and red crescent societies spokesman jean luc martinage said
but we ll have to swiftly bring relief supplies from our regional disaster
response centre based in panama he told afp
the red cross said the most urgent needs at this time are search and rescue
field hospitals emergency health water purification emergency shelter
logistics and telecommunications
supplies in haiti included kitchen kits personal hygiene kits blankets and
containers for storing drinking water
six federation relief experts were due to fly into haiti from panama on
wednesday to support the haitian red cross and help coordinate international
relief it added
red cross team was also due to lead crucial assessment of the damage in
haiti along with european union experts that will allow relief agencies to gauge
aid needs
the federation said the area most affected by the magnitude quake was the
capital port au prince and the west province with population of million
united nations map placed the epicentre barely kilometres miles from
port au prince
asia markets fall as china moves to curb credit
hong kong jan afp
fears that the global recovery may lose steam weighed on asian shares wednesday
as china moved to curb its credit boom and wall street earnings season got off
to weak start
tokyo closed percent lower as shares in stricken japan airlines tumbled
percent to just seven yen eight us cents on flood of sell orders due to
fears the carrier which faces bankruptcy will be delisted
the nikkei shed points to the selling is unstoppable said
hideaki higashi strategist at smbc friend securities
beijing move to raise the amount of money banks must hold in reserve by
basis points sent hong kong shares tumbling percent and shanghai
percent the heaviest falls so far this year for both bourses
hong kong hang seng index closed down points to while the
shanghai composite index fell points to
all hell broke loose today francis lun general manager at fulbright
securities told dow jones newswires the bottom just fell out of the banks and
properties because confidence is so brittle following the central bank
announcement
beijing decision followed move to raise the yield on one year chinese
government bills for the first time in five months after last week similar
move on another benchmark sale in sign of tighter borrowing costs
citic securities analyst yu jun said concerns over further monetary tightening
will make investors more cautious in the future
sydney lost points or percent to led by resources as
investors took fright at china tightening moves
anything from stocks to currencies exposed to china are being sold said ig
markets research analyst ben potter the market wasn expecting the measures
so soon
engineering and maintenance group worleyparsons dropped percent to
australian dollars us dollars after lowering its full year profit
guidance
seoul kospi closed down points or percent at led by
steelmakers shipbuilders and brokerages on concerns china may soon raise
interest rates
wall street earlier provided weak lead where the dow jones index dropped
percent
traders mulled monday disappointing profit forecast from aluminium giant
alcoa the first of the blue chip us companies to release financial results
possible new us government fee or tax on financial institutions to help recoup
taxpayer bailout funds also weighed on banks
the dollar was mixed in asian trade as china policy moves sparked demand for
the safe haven greenback dealers said
the us unit gained to yen in tokyo afternoon trade from in new york
late tuesday the euro climbed to dollars from dollars and to
yen from
in singapore crude continued to fall from month highs posted earlier this
week on prospects of softening fuel demand in the united states the world
biggest oil consumer
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
fell cents to dollars
brent north sea crude for february delivery was down cents to dollars
hong kong gold ended lower at us dollars an ounce down from
tuesday close of dollars
in other markets
singapore straits times index fell percent or points to
investor sentiment will be influenced by the financial results of major us banks
next week and us retail data expected thursday dealers said
these will determine market movements for the next few weeks if they
disappoint it could trigger the long awaited correction dealer with
foreign brokerage said
taipei closed down points or percent at on concerns
china may take further steps to prevent overheating dealers said
it may take the market day or two to digest the selling pressure said mars
hsu of grand cathay securities
jakarta lost percent or points to
the index was led lower by selloff in most commodity related stocks on lower
oil prices
coal miner bumi resources fell percent to nickel miner inco lost
percent to while telkom closed down percent to rupiah
kuala lumpur fell percent or points to
after strong gains last week the index has entered into consolidation
phase we think this is healthy and remain bullish on the index over the
medium term dealer said
construction firm ijm slid percent to ringgit while semiconductor
company unisem climbed percent to ringgit
in bangkok the thai market gained points or percent to close at
points
energy giant ptt plc lost baht to but coal producer banpu jumped
baht to baht
manila closed percent or points down with the composite index
ending at
top traded philippine long distance telephone shed percent to pesos
wellington nzx index fell percent or points to
weak dollar good for exports us ambassador
brussels jan afp
the united states will not push for stronger dollar despite european demands
as the weakness of the greenback is good for our exports the us ambassador to
the european union said wednesday
there will be natural strengthening of the dollar when our economy goes back
on track william kennard told conference organised by the european policy
centre think tank in brussels
european officials regularly complain the dollar is too low compared to the
euro hitting european exports and therefore the continent economic recovery
europe incoming trade commissioner karel de gucht on tuesday warned that the
problem goes further as china yuan is effectively pegged to the us dollar
magnifying the effect for european exporters
it is obvious that the undervaluation of the chinese currency is major
problem de gucht said
three jordanian peacekeepers killed in haiti quake army
amman jan afp
three jordanian peacekeepers were killed and wounded in the massive
earthquake that rocked haiti the army said on wednesday
major atta manasir major asharf jaiusi and corporal raed khawaldeh of the
jordanian peacekeeping force in haiti died in the earthquake that hit the area
on tuesday night an army spokesman said in statement
twenty one other members of the armed forces were slightly injured in the
quake
the spokesman gave no further details
the strongest earthquake to hit haiti in over century jolted the impoverished
caribbean nation tuesday toppling buildings and triggering fears that hundreds
have been killed in widespread destruction
jordan has soldiers serving under the united nations stabilisation mission
in haiti minustah nearly half them deployed around the crime torn slum of
cite soleil
at least nine jordanian soldiers have been killed in haiti in hostile fire since
the deployment of the un mission there in june
minustah has approximately personnel including soldiers and
policemen
in new york un official said that many employees of the organisation were
missing in haiti following the earthquake that destroyed the minustah
headquarters
the official chinese media reported that eight chinese peacekeepers have been
buried under rubble and others are missing
sri lanka election violence escalates after killing
colombo jan afp
sri lankan police wednesday broke up clashes between political activists as
violence linked to looming presidential polls escalated after gunmen shot dead
an opposition party worker
tear gas was fired to disperse thousands of party workers in the eastern town of
polonnaruwa local officials said by telephone
about opposition supporters destroyed ruling party office in the town
after posters of their favoured presidential candidate sarath fonseka were
destroyed overnight police official said
it was mini war between rival groups said the official who declined to be
named at least five people were seriously wounded in the clashes
the violence came as the government vowed to step up security in the run up to
the january election at which president mahinda rajapakse is seeking re
election
opposition leader ranil wickremesinghe accused rajapakse people alliance of
inciting violence and using intimidation to swing voters
people linked to the government were behind yesterday killing
wickremesinghe told reporters in colombo
opposition activist kusuma kuruppuarachchi was gunned down tuesday as she
was travelling in bus to attend fonseka election rally in the southern town
of hungama
local politician mangala samaraweera said the victim had been warned several
times by ruling party activists against campaigning for fonseka in an area which
is considered rajapakse home constituency
statement from rajapakse office condemned the shooting in which several
other people were wounded and pledged the attackers would be brought to
justice
the government of sri lanka is appalled at this tragedy vehemently condemns
it and will not tolerate any such acts of violence in the midst of this
democratic electoral process the statement said
the us embassy in colombo said it was deeply concerned over the killing and
escalating violence
fonseka quit the army and entered politics in november over differences with
rajapakse who accused him of trying to seize power after crushing the
separatist tamil tiger rebels
sri lankan elections have been marred in the past by violence but tuesday
shooting was the first fatality in the current campaign
china seeking more info on google threat state media
beijing jan afp
china said wednesday it was seeking more information on google announcement
that it might pull out of the asian giant in retaliation at cyber spy attacks
and censorship state media reported
the state run xinhua news agency quoted an anonymous official at the press
office of the state council the nation cabinet as saying that internet
authorities were looking for clarification of google statement
it is still hard to say whether google will quit china or not nobody knows
the official was quoted as saying
google announced tuesday it would no longer filter search engine results in
china and possibly pull out of the world largest online market citing spate
of hacking attacks and chinese web censorship
killer quake struck just below the surface
paris jan afp
the quake that struck haiti on tuesday erupted just below the surface on
notorious fault where two plates of the earth crust jostle and grind
scientists said on wednesday
it was very shallow earthquake occurring at depth of around kilometers
miles seismologist yann kinger of the institute of the physics of the
globe ipg in paris told afp
because the shock was so big and occurred at such shallow depth just below
the city of port au prince the haitian capital the damage is bound to be
very extensive he said
the us geological survey usgs said on its website that the quake which
measured very powerful magnitude occurred at gmt on tuesday kms
miles southwest of port au prince at depth of around kms
miles
the movement was horizontal occurring on the northern rim of the caribbean
plate where it rubs with the north american plate the usgs and kinger said
this fault is well known it had been mapped and researchers have been
following it said kinger
he added that the death toll in haiti the poorest nation in the western
hemisphere would most probably be amplified by shoddy buildings and poorly
equipped emergency services
the buildings are likely to be very flimsy and not necessary of very high
quality in addition first responders may not be as effective as they are in
western europe for instance he said
many of haiti oldest buildings including the presidential palace were
destroyed in the quake amid fears that hundreds of people may have been killed
sources in port au prince said early wednesday
french official inflation is percent
paris jan afp
french consumer prices rose by percent in december from the price level in
november to show sharply increased month inflation of percent the insee
statistics institute said on wednesday
in november prices had risen by percent in the month and showed an increase
of percent over months
however private economist nicolas bouzou at analysts asteres said that average
inflation for the whole of year when the spectre of deflation hung over
many countries in the midst of the economic crisis was percent
germany suffers worst post war recession in
wiesbaden germany jan afp
germany suffered its worst recession since world war ii last year when europe
largest economy contracted by five percent provisional official figures
released on wednesday showed
the economy shrank in for the first time in six years as its key export
sector declined by percent and business investment plunged by percent
the destatis national data service said in statement
economic activity had expanded in by percent and the central bank has
estimated it should grow again by percent this year
the economic slump occured essentially during the winter period of late
and early destatis president roderich egeler told press conference
business activity then stabilised at low level
the government also posted public deficit of billion euros billion
dollars last year around percent of output after managing to balance its
accounts in the data showed
the deterioration of public finances has been much more limited than in most
other eurozone countries ing senior economist carsten brzeski noted
the european union stability and growth pact holds eu members to public
deficits of no more than percent of gross domestic product gdp and it was
the first time in four years that berlin exceeded the limit destatis said
it is to release final growth figures on february
this year the finance ministry has estimated the deficit will exceed
percent of gdp as the government seeks to boost the economy with strong
stimulus measures that include tax cuts
government spending jumped by percent in destatis said while
household consumption gained slight percent
german authorities have approved stimulus package worth up to billion euros
in including billion euros in tax relief for private households that
should underpin consumer spending
the country export oriented economy took hit from the global economic
slowdown but is also set to benefit from fresh emerging market demand for
capital goods such as machine tools and chemicals used to produce finished
products
brzeski commented on five percent contraction by saying this was
hopefully the last reminder of the severity of the recession
the economy ministry was upbeat regarding the data saying the worst had passed
it is particularly welcome that the labour market has remained surprisingly
resistent economy minister rainer bruederle said in statement
unemployment has been limited by germany short time work scheme under which
the state subsidises shorter hours for workers to avoid widespread layoffs
the number of jobless is nonetheless expected to reach more than million
people this year after averaging million or percent of the workforce
in
brzeski warned the economy had to be rebalanced from dependency on exports
towards more domestic driven growth and concluded not everything is hunky
dory
afp world news agenda
paris jan afp
what coming up around the world
rescuers hunt for haiti quake survivors
imf begins mission to debt stricken greece
fed reserve unveils key us economy snapshot
port au prince rescuers search for survivors of massive earthquake in haiti
which is feared to have killed hundreds haiti quake
athens international monetary fund delegation starts week long mission to
help debt stricken greece overcome its financial crisis greece economy imf
washington the federal reserve releases its beige book giving snapshot of the
us economy gmt us economy fed
berlin german chancellor angela merkel meets herman van rompuy the eu new
permanent president press conference at gmt germany eu diplomacy
blantyre trial resumes of gay couple arrested on indecency charges after
holding traditional wedding ceremony malawi gay justice
brussels representatives of the middle east diplomatic quartet meet with us
middle east envoy george mitchell to discuss washington bid to restart peace
talks between israel and the palestinians mideast eu us diplomacy
moscow us undersecretary of state william burns begins two days of talks on
agreeing successor to key us russia disarmament treaty and iran and north
korea nuclear programmes russia us diplomacy nuclear defence
turkish prime minister recep tayyip erdogan meets russian counterpart
vladimir putin and president dmitry medvedev for talks on energy issues from
gmt russia turkey diplomacy energy picture
riyadh syrian president bashar al assad visits saudi arabia for talks with king
abdullah saudi syria diplomacy
ouagadougou conakry guinea junta chief moussa dadis camara injured in an
assassination attempt last month recuperates in burkina faso after unexpectedly
leaving hospital in morocco guinea unrest
washington heads of major us banks testify at the start of hearings before
specially created senate committee on the causes of the global financial crisis
from gmt us finance banks congress politics
house of representatives intelligence committee opens hearings into the
foiled christmas day jet bomb plot as state department counter terrorism
coordinator gives press conference at gmt attacks us nigeria
germany suffers worst post war recession in
wiesbaden germany jan afp
germany suffered its worst recession since world war ii last year when europe
largest economy contracted by five percent provisional official figures
released on wednesday showed
the economy shrank in for the first time in six years as its key export
sector declined by percent and business investment plunged by percent
the destatis national data service said in statement
economic activity had expanded in by percent and the central bank has
estimated it should grow again by percent this year
the economic slump occured essentially during the winter period of late
and early destatis president roderich egeler told press conference
business activity then stabilised at low level
the government also posted public deficit of billion euros billion
dollars last year around percent of output after managing to balance its
accounts in the data showed
the deterioration of public finances has been much more limited than in most
other eurozone countries ing senior economist carsten brzeski noted
the european union stability and growth pact holds eu members to public
deficits of no more than percent of gross domestic product gdp and it was
the first time in four years that berlin exceeded the limit destatis said
it is to release final growth figures on february
this year the finance ministry has estimated the deficit will exceed
percent of gdp as the government seeks to boost the economy with strong
stimulus measures that include tax cuts
government spending jumped by percent in destatis said while
household consumption gained slight percent
german authorities have approved stimulus package worth up to billion euros
in including billion euros in tax relief for private households that
should underpin consumer spending
the country export oriented economy took hit from the global economic
slowdown but is also set to benefit from fresh emerging market demand for
capital goods such as machine tools and chemicals used to produce finished
products
brzeski commented on five percent contraction by saying this was
hopefully the last reminder of the severity of the recession
the economy ministry was upbeat regarding the data saying the worst had passed
it is particularly welcome that the labour market has remained surprisingly
resistent economy minister rainer bruederle said in statement
unemployment has been limited by germany short time work scheme under which
the state subsidises shorter hours for workers to avoid widespread layoffs
the number of jobless is nonetheless expected to reach more than million
people this year after averaging million or percent of the workforce
in
brzeski warned the economy had to be rebalanced from dependency on exports
towards more domestic driven growth and concluded not everything is hunky
dory
iran speaker accuses obama of state terrorism
tehran jan afp
parliament speaker ali larijani iran former chief nuclear negotiator accused
us president barack obama of state terrorism on wednesday over the killing in
tehran of leading atomic scientist
in an angry address to iran conservative dominated parliament larijani
reiterated iranian charges that the us central intelligence agency and israel
mossad were behind the scientist death in bombing on tuesday
such filthy actions are easy to carry out but such adventurism will do you no
good the isna news agency quoted larijani as saying in reference to obama
you have practically promoted acts of terrorism he said
this black spot will be recorded in the dossier of us crimes against the
iranian nation
massoud ali mohammadi particle physics professor at prestigious tehran
university was killed by bomb strapped to motorcycle in the capital well
to do northern suburbs
neither the police nor the intelligence services have yet reported any leads in
their investigation into the murder but larijani blamed the cia and mossad
we had received clear information few days before the assassination that
the intelligence service of the zionist regime with the cooperation of the
cia were seeking to carry out terrorist act in tehran larijani said
they the israeli and us intelligence agencies might have thought that in the
face of certain internal disputes there was an opportunity to take this action
and that they could cause friction among academics and harm the country
nuclear research work larijani added
similar allegations by other iranian officials of us involvement in the attack
have been dismissed out of hand by washington
charges of us involvement are absurd state department spokesman mark toner
told reporters on tuesday
islamist students and the volunteer basij militia condemned the killing of ali
mohammadi whom they described as basiji professor
but his name appeared on list of academics backing opposition leader mir
hossein mousavi in disputed june presidential election which gave hardline
president mahmoud ahmadinejad second term
the rare assassination came as the government faced the most sustained period of
protest since the revolution of with hundreds of thousands taking to the
streets of tehran after the election
the opposition charges the vote was massively rigged in ahmadinejad favour
for the past six months it has been holding anti government protests at every
opportunity many of which have been broken up by police who have arrested
hundreds of demonstrators
the daylight killing also came amid an increasingly bitter standoff between iran
and world powers over tehran controversial nuclear programme which the west
suspects is cover for weapons drive
larijani slammed obama for rashly resorting to monarchist group which has no
credibility to cover such an operation
this is new disgrace for mr obama he said
it seems you are entertained by this group statement how come you have
made your country den for terrorists
larijani was alluding to group called takavaran tondar which claimed
responsibility for the bombing on its website
but according to the rahesabz net opposition website the group later disavowed
the claim and accused iranian intelligence agents of plotting hoax
tehran officials have repeatedly accused the united states and israel of seeking
to foment unrest in iran the two countries have never ruled out military
strike to thwart iran nuclear programme
you are very pitiful mr obama larijani said
after all those claims of humanitarianism and change of policy today all
that is left standing is the same old war mongering and acts of terrorism
he was alluding to obama pledge on taking office last year to adopt new
policy of engagement with iran in contrast with the axis of evil rhetoric of
his predecessor george bush
larijani insisted that the scientist murder would have no impact on iran
nuclear programme
now they seek to eliminate nuclear scientists you will see that these
terrorist actions will achieve nothing and the iranian nation will safeguard its
nuclear success
iran has ignored repeated un security council ultimatums to suspend uranium
enrichment the sensitive process which makes nuclear fuel but in highly
extended form can also produce the fissile core of an atomic bomb
it is already under three sets of un sanctions major powers are to meet in new
york on saturday to discuss proposals for fourth
hong kong and china shares tumble
hong kong jan afp
hong kong and china stocks suffered their heaviest losses of wednesday
after beijing said it was going to raise the amount of money banks must have in
reserve as it tries to tighten liquidity
hong kong benchmark hang seng index shed percent or points to
with turnover reaching billion hong kong dollars billion
us
and in shanghai shares dived percent with the composite index which
covers both and shares down points at on turnover of
billion yuan billion dollars
all hell broke loose today francis lun general manager at fulbright
securities told dow jones newswires the bottom just fell out of the banks and
properties because confidence is so brittle following the central bank
announcement
china central bank said tuesday it will raise by basis points the amount
banks have to park with the central bank signalling the government is seeking
to guard against possible economic overheating
