poorest country in the western hemisphere
the most important thing is that the imf is now working with all donors to try
to delete all the haitian debt including our new loan the former french
socialist finance minister said
strauss kahn recalled that the imf had no immediate way to make grant
if we succeed and sure we will succeed even this loan will turn out
to be finally grant because all the debt will have been deleted and that
the very important thing for haiti now
the imf and the world bank classify haiti among heavily indebted poor
countries eligible for debt forgiveness the caribbean nation was granted
billion dollars in debt relief last june
more than billion dollars has been pledged in aid funding for haiti
according to united nations data and the idea of marshall plan appeared to
be gaining traction
denis brien head of irish telecommunications firm digicel and haiti biggest
foreign investor said recently that he was working alongside former us
president bill clinton on such plan to rebuild quake ravaged haiti
obviously we need foreign direct investment but on wider front we need
marshall plan brien said
canada will host donors conference monday in montreal to discuss haiti
reconstruction efforts and prepare for donors meeting in march
the donors summit to help the former french colony had been proposed by french
president nicolas sarkozy who will also deliver the opening address at the th
annual meeting of the world economic forum wef next week in davos
switzerland
organizers said the haitian crisis would be major theme at the five day
meeting opening wednesday expected to draw leaders from more than
countries including clinton
we want to use davos to solicit commitments of our partners members and
constituents in the form of practical help for relief of the continued pain of
haiti people and particularly for the reconstruction of haiti klaus schwab
wef founder and executive chairman said wednesday
we hope that we can present major common effort to the world community
showing true corporate global citizenship in davos he said
the rebuilding of haiti which already was in dire straits before the horrific
earthquake poses tough challenges not least notoriously weak rule of law
that could result in wasted aid dollars
the caribbean nation ranks among the top most corrupt countries in the world
according to transparency international
asked how resources should be prioritized in order to rebuild the country
strauss kahn said we need to work with the government to see exactly how
from their point of view and from our point of view things can be done
haiti quake rescuers keep hoping against hope
port au prince jan afp
refusing to give up hope as they race against time and terrifying aftershocks
rescue teams scouring haiti earthquake hit capital are rewarded with small
miracles
two children were pulled from the wreckage of collapsed buildings in port au
prince on wednesday eight full days after disaster laid waste to the city with
the loss of at lives
the situation took dramatic new turn before dawn on wednesday when fresh
magnitude tremor shook port au prince making several houses collapse and
shifting the structures on several search sites
the aftershock could have made the structures subside but it might have also
freed people trapped between two pieces of concrete said french firefighter
gilles perroux
to make sure they are not missing anyone the rescuers scan the streets ask
local people if they have heard signs of life and make final checks in the ruins
of popular gathering places schools churches cafes and restaurants
in one college in port au prince french civil security rescuers believe they
have found someone
sniffer dogs and radar have detected something around meters yards down
and they use jackhammer to smash through the concrete and pass through
camera which will confirm if there are any survivors or not
tonight the rescue team has potentially found survival pocket the dogs have
marked it there is something moving though we don know what said french
rescuer fabrice montagne
on the eighth day is anyone alive we believe or else we would not be here
while we are in the country we will stay hopeful
chances of finding survivors so long after an earthquake are small
but victims can still pull through if they are not too badly wounded if they
have found an air pocket and if they have something to eat or drink
five year old boy was pulled alive on wednesday from the wreckage of his home
in port au prince while neighbors dragged out an year old girl from under
rubble in another part of the city
it truly is miracle she came back to life bit by bit she is blessed by the
gods said dominique jean surgeon working at field hospital set up by
french aid groups
on tuesday three survivors were found including year old woman trapped in
supermarket year old woman who sang as she was brought from the wreckage
of port au prince cathedral and three week old baby
un spokeswoman in geneva said earlier wednesday that international teams had
rescued people from the debris of collapsed buildings
in another part of port au prince taiwanese and mexican teams were trying to
extract more survivors discovered by sniffer dogs
yesterday professor who worked here told us that around or people were
buried and that some could still be alive the dogs pointed out two places which
are very deep said taiwanese doctor yaw wen chang
wednesday aftershock shifted the mass of metal and concrete
but we ll have to see what has happened between yesterday and today said
mexican rescuer arturo acuna
under the ruins of the planet cafe in the haitian capital other french rescuers
were packing up their equipment the radar had detected movement but the
camera did not confirm it
it seems there wasn anyone would prefer to talk conditionally because you
never know for sure said bruno jean elie before climbing into his truck
we ll keep exploring the sites and check any buildings which catch our eye he
said
meanwhile makeshift hospitals were still struggling to treat the tens of
thousands of people who were injured in the quake
we carried out operations on tuesday in the previous six days we have cared
for more than haitians said french doctor thierry allafort duverger in
the upscale suburb of petionville
the clinic normally carries out plastic surgery procedures for the well off
inhabitants of the district but is now one of special public hospitals set
up to care for earthquake victims
three year old schnaidi lies in the clinic with stitches all over her body and
severe head wounds swathed in white bandage that also covers part of her eye
the house fell on her says her mother also seriously injured
tennis impressive radwanksa cruises into open third round
melbourne jan afp
poland th seeded agnieszka radwanska cruised into the third round of the
australian open with thrashing of russian alla kudryavtseva on
thursday
rugbyu european cup tables
paris jan afp
european cup tables ahead of this weekend final round of pool matches played
won drawn lost points for against bonus points points
pool
munster
northampton
perpignan
treviso
pool
biarritz qualified
gloucester
glasgow
dragons
pool
leicester
clermont
ospreys
viadana
pool
stade francais
ulster
edinburgh
bath
pool
toulouse qualified
cardiff
sale
harlequins
pool
leinster
london irish
scarlets
brive
note six pool winners and two best runners up qualify for the quarter finals
rugbyu european cup fixtures
paris jan afp
fixtures for last round of european cup pool matches which begin on friday
kick offs in gmt
friday
pool
munster irl northampton eng perpignan fra treviso ita
saturday
pool
viadana ita clermont fra ospreys wal leicester eng
pool
bath eng ulster irl edinburgh sco stade francais fra
pool
brive fra scarlets wal london irish eng leinster irl
sunday
pool
biarritz fra glasgow sco dragons wal gloucester eng
pool
harlequins eng cardiff wal sale eng toulouse fra
rugbyu saints face munster task to make last eight
paris jan afp
former champions northampton take on two time winners munster on friday at the
irish side thomond park fortress and try to reach the quarter finals of the
european cup
elsewhere france are on the brink of securing four places in the last eight for
the first time since the season campaign which was marred by an
english boycott of the competition
both biarritz and toulouse have already qualified top leaders clermont
should beat italian side viadana and collect bonus point
that would put the pressure on ospreys who were well beaten by clermont last
week and leicester in pool three on saturday
stade francais can keep their hopes alive of taking some silverware this season
needing just point away at improving scottish side edinburgh while closest
pool four rivals ulster travel to bath
stade need filip after seeing two of their key players france scrum half
julien dupuy and prop david attoub suspended in the past days for and
weeks respectively for gouging ulster backrow forward stephen ferris
defending champions leinster lead pool six but cannot quite count themselves
home and hosed yet as they travel to play london irish at twickenham with the
english side needing to beat them but also gain an unlikely bonus point
however it is the mouthwatering clash between munster and northampton that
should get the action off to sparkling start
just once in their proud european record have munster lost at home to english
side leicester but the saints will travel to ireland in buoyant mood having
romped to destruction of french champions perpignan last sunday
they also collected what could prove to be crucial bonus point in the process
scoring their fourth try in the last seconds of the match and now trail munster
by three points
saints can also take heart from the fact they are the only side to have beaten
munster in the tournament this season with victory in the first match of
the pool stage
northampton director of rugby jim mallinder said the win over munster in the
first match was massive and was good for our self belief
we showed we can compete and although we only won narrowly we showed we are
close and we have it all to play for we are really looking forward to this
match
leinster will not be taking their match against london irish lightly and
consultant coach alan gaffney will be determined to gee his players up for
more polished performance than they produced against pointless brive last
weekend
this weekend we are going out to be positive regardless of what london irish
do said gaffney
we can sit back and think we ve gotta deny irish four tries or we need to
get the losing bonus point and then proceed on our merry way into the quarter
finals that not the way we look at it
we ll go out to play rugby
suspect arrested in killings of eight in us police
washington jan afp
police on wednesday arrested man suspected of shooting to death eight people
in the southern state of virginia
the suspect christopher speight surrendered without incident to police
after he was cornered in woods west of the historic town of appomattox police
statement said
at est gmt this morning christopher speight walked in the
security perimeter and turned himself in without incident charges are pending
he was taken into custody and is being debriefed the statement said
speight was wearing bullet proof vest but was unarmed when he was apprehended
it added
police had launched massive manhunt in central virginia after discovering
seven bodies at rural home and another victim nearby
more than sheriff department deputies police officers and state troopers
worked through the night to find speight cordoning off section of the woods
where he was hiding
the suspect fired at helicopter called in to aid with the search at least
four shots hit the craft forcing it to make an emergency landing officials
said
the incident began unfolding around noon on tuesday when deputy from the
appomattox sheriff office responded to an emergency call about an injured man
lying on country road
when the deputy arrived on scene the deputy heard several gun shots molnar
said
the male subject was transported by med flight state police helicopter to
lynchburg general hospital where the man later died police said
officers who stayed at the scene found four bodies outside nearby home and
three bodies inside the residence
the victims were male and female according to police who did not give motive
for the attack although local media reported the wife and the son of the
suspect were among the dead
police said speight knew his victims and lived in the house where the shooting
took place he was also co owner of the house and its adjacent land
after speight arrest police said they searched the property and found
explosive devices around the house
seven devices have been rendered safe at the scene police sergeant thomas
molnar told afp without indicating why the explosives were placed on the
property
meanwhile the washington post reported wednesday that male teenager was among
the fatalities and said the shootings appeared to have been triggered by
family argument
samuel carter an official on the appomattox county board of supervisors told
the daily that man had shot and killed his wife and his son during
dispute
carter said he was not aware of any history of trouble in the family
the post reported that before daybreak on wednesday police authorities closed
appomattox county four public schools and local christian academy
one nearby resident told the daily that law enforcement officers told us to
stay locked inside and that some houses were evacuated
the shooting came less than two years after virginia was rocked by the fatal
shooting of people at virginia tech by student gunman seung hui cho
appomattox small town in the south of the state is best known as the venue
for the surrender of confederate general robert lee that ended the us civil
war in
new quake triggers panic in haiti
port au prince jan afp
powerful new earthquake rumbled across the ruins of haiti wednesday sending
thousands of already traumatized survivors running through the streets
screaming in terror
the biggest aftershock yet struck as dawn broke eight days after the haitian
capital was leveled by massive magnitude earthquake that killed at least
people and left million homeless
god wants to destroy all haitians because they are bad because they are
cursed eleude joseph shellshocked mother of two told afp at squalid camp
of survivors in the place saint pierre
there were no reports of anyone being killed or wounded by the aftershock
but some severely damaged buildings did come tumbling down including the last
surviving wall of the main cathedral
rescuers kept up their grim search through the rubble elated by finding
survivors who had defied the odds including an year old girl and five
year old boy on wednesday
lying on bed in the corridor of french clinic bone thin after days without
food and haunted by her nightmarish ordeal the unnamed girl cried mama is not
in the hole don leave me mama
other survivors dug out on tuesday included woman found in the ruins of
supermarket year old woman who sang as she left behind the wreckage of the
port au prince cathedral and day old baby girl
but rescue efforts are likely to start being pulled back as massive aid
operation swings into gear to help hundreds of thousands trying to survive with
little water in putrid makeshift camps where diarrhea was already rife
the united states poured in more troops who had been due to deploy to the
middle east and europe while us general said the capital main port vital
to moving in tonnes of aid should be up and running again on friday
backed by three amphibious ships and squadron of helicopters the new troops
should be in place by the weekend as the total us force helping out in haiti
swells above in coming days
brazil was also looking to add troops to its peacekeeping contingent in
haiti boosting its force to at least while france and canada both said
they would send more police
we will be here as long as it takes because now we have even more reason to
stay said colonel joao batista bernardes the officer in charge of brazil
battalion leading the un stabilization force
international efforts are also focusing on rebuilding the country with major
donor conference set for monday in montreal
imf chief dominique strauss kahn called for multilateral aid plan for haiti on
the scale of the us marshall plan that rebuilt europe after world war ii
strauss kahn said he believed haiti needs something that is big as the
caribbean nation already one of the poorest and insecure countries in the
world before the quake looks to the future
haiti ambassador to spain yolette azor charles said reconstruction could
take years and warned the death toll could top as help has yet to
reach many villages
bed capacity us naval hospital ship meanwhile arrived off haiti
wednesday with about medical personnel and was ready to start taking on
board the worst of the injured
the tonne usns comfort will treat to patients at time chosen by
haitian officials from the thousands thronging hospitals and makeshift clinics
after marines dramatically dropped in from helicopters above the presidential
palace on tuesday troops were out in force early wednesday patrolling streets
in the business district of haiti quake ravaged capital
they ignored the looters picking through the debris for many scavenging from
the collapsed buildings was the logical way to survive but ensured the
situation did not degenerate into riots
look when you are hungry and poor nobody helps you have to steal said one
defiant young man named vincent as looters plunged into the ruins of
flattened supermarket
aid was still in short supply for tens of thousands of survivors haunted by
despair and the fear of more aftershocks as they inhabited the squalor of the
rubble where countless bodies still lie buried
the catholic relief services aid group was forced to pull trucks full of flour
wheat sugar and beans out of leogane flattened town west of port au prince
on wednesday because of scuffles as they tried to hand it out
us secretary of state hillary clinton meanwhile said washington was working to
slash through the red tape needed to adopt children from haiti amid fears that
thousands may have been orphaned by the tragedy
suspect arrested in killings of eight in us police
washington jan afp
police on wednesday arrested man suspected of shooting to death eight people
in the southern state of virginia
the suspect christopher speight surrendered without incident to police
after he was cornered in woods west of the historic town of appomattox police
statement said
at est gmt this morning christopher speight walked in the
security perimeter and turned himself in without incident charges are pending
he was taken into custody and is being debriefed the statement said
speight was wearing bullet proof vest but was unarmed when he was apprehended
it added
police had launched massive manhunt in central virginia after discovering
seven bodies at rural home and another victim nearby
more than sheriff department deputies police officers and state troopers
worked through the night to find speight cordoning off section of the woods
where he was hiding
the suspect fired at helicopter called in to aid with the search at least
four shots hit the craft forcing it to make an emergency landing officials
said
the incident began unfolding around noon on tuesday when deputy from the
appomattox sheriff office responded to an emergency call about an injured man
lying on country road
when the deputy arrived on scene the deputy heard several gun shots molnar
said
the male subject was transported by med flight state police helicopter to
lynchburg general hospital where the man later died police said
officers who stayed at the scene found four bodies outside nearby home and
three bodies inside the residence
the victims were male and female according to police who did not give motive
for the attack although local media reported the wife and the son of the
suspect were among the dead
police said speight knew his victims and lived in the house where the shooting
took place he was also co owner of the house and its adjacent land
after speight arrest police said they searched the property and found
explosive devices around the house
seven devices have been rendered safe at the scene police sergeant thomas
molnar told afp without indicating why the explosives were placed on the
property
meanwhile the washington post reported wednesday that male teenager was among
the fatalities and said the shootings appeared to have been triggered by
family argument
samuel carter an official on the appomattox county board of supervisors told
the daily that man had shot and killed his wife and his son during
dispute
carter said he was not aware of any history of trouble in the family
the post reported that before daybreak on wednesday police authorities closed
appomattox county four public schools and local christian academy
one nearby resident told the daily that law enforcement officers told us to
stay locked inside and that some houses were evacuated
the shooting came less than two years after virginia was rocked by the fatal
shooting of people at virginia tech by student gunman seung hui cho
appomattox small town in the south of the state is best known as the venue
for the surrender of confederate general robert lee that ended the us civil
war in
football wenger arsenal fighters ready for title battle
london jan afp
arsene wenger has warned arsenal title rivals that his side have the physical
strength and will power to win the premier league
wenger team moved into first place in the table with win over bolton at
the emirates stadium on wednesday that underlined new found ability to flex
their muscles
while arsenal have always had an impressive creative streak they have often
crumbled under pressure from opponents intent on kicking them into submission
judging by the way they stood up to bolton aggressive gameplan twice in four
days to overhaul previous leaders chelsea on goals scored that is no longer the
case
they refused to buckle after bolton stormed into two goal lead and mixed brain
with brawn to romp home thanks to goals from tomas rosicky cesc fabregas
thomas vermaelen and andrey arshavin
william gallas undoubtedly went too far with nasty stamp on bolton midfielder
mark davies that went unpunished in the build up to fabregas equaliser and the
visitors were rightly infuriated by referee alan wiley decision to not even
award foul
wenger apologised for gallas tackle but he admitted he was delighted with
arsenal resilience
we had two difficult games against team with new manager and our mental and
physical strength was tested in both games he said
think we can mix it we are certainly much more physical they marked us man
for man and didn give us an inch of space you are never better tested
physically than when you face bolton
am sorry if the tackle was not good and apologise for that however to
complain that we went on to play think that is unfair the players did not
even know what was happening behind them
wenger men will need that extra fortitude in the coming weeks
after defeat against chelsea left them points behind in november
arsenal have reeled off seven wins from nine matches to overhaul the blues and
manchester united
but now they face defining period in the space of days the gunners travel
to aston villa then host united make the short journey to chelsea and then
entertain liverpool
wenger said the next four games are very important for us it shows it can
change quickly when you keep believing no matter what people say this is big
boost to our belief am very proud of what they have achieved
we are in fight where we are top of the league and have good number of
points but the real difference is made when you play the teams around you
mathematically it has big impact on all the teams we believe we have real
chance and am convinced we will have real go
bolton boss owen coyle whose side had gone ahead through gary cahill and
increased their lead thanks to matthew taylor penalty was left to bemoan
wiley refusal to punish gallas foul
the scot beaten by the gunners in his first two matches in charge also aimed
dig at arsenal players for refusing to stop play as davies lay prone with
severe ankle ligament damage
the second goal there is no doubt was big turning point in the game coyle
said it is clearly not even just foul suggest it closer to red
card
the referee hasn seen the lad is lying prostrate on the ground and arsenal
being full of fair play as we keep hearing have played on and scored an
equaliser so it hard to take
if you see it again it was terrible challenge the lad was clearly in agony
can accept it if william gallas got bit of the ball and carried through
that is the game we play but he got absolutely none of it
the referee said he never saw it but was yards away and saw it he was
five yards away maybe he had bad angle ve seen red cards given for less
that all can say
nba lakers launch road trip with grudge game against cavs
cleveland ohio jan afp
the los angeles lakers launch demanding eight game road trip on thursday with
grudge match against the cleveland cavaliers
kobe bryant and the lakers will be trying to erase the memory of an embarrassing
home loss to the cavs on christmas day
they ll also be trying to get off to quick start on tough day trip that
includes three sets of back to back games meeting not only with the cavaliers
the eastern conference leaders but also with the boston celtics and
detour to the white house
that christmas game was tough and then that whole day wasn too good for me
anyway said lakers forward ron artest who suffered concussion in fall at
home hours after the loss to the cavaliers we feel like we re better team
now than when we played them before
added center pau gasol we didn like that christmas game
it was very disappointing on our part we ve got to try to get that ballgame
when we play them again
we need to do that gasol said you never want team to get the confidence
they can beat you especially when it somebody you might see down the road in
the playoffs
and the potential playoff picture will be the big motivating force as the lakers
hit the road
they own the league best record but their road games are fewer
than cleveland
while the lakers have opened five game lead over dallas in the western
conference they are only on the road
at similar point last season they turned in perfect road trip to kick
start campaign that ended with th nba title
think it ll tell us where we re at artest said we feel like we can come
out perfect don think anybody will doubt us even though we haven been out
on the road yet
but lakers coach phil jackson wants his team to keep sense of perspective
last year road trip jump started our season jackson said setting
low bar for this team though we don need to put too much emphasis on the
entire trip as whole we just need to play good solid games and avoid
injuries starting in cleveland
we don assign whole lot extra importance to that game even though it is an
interesting game
in addition to matching up bryant and cleveland superstar lebron james the
contest in cleveland sees the lakers again taking on former los angeles star
shaquille neal
neal made his presence felt on both ends tuesday in victory over toronto
he guy from the old school cavaliers coach mike brown said of neal
