haiti quake opportunity to rebuild better aid groups
chicago jan afp
the devastating haitian earthquake will require massive rebuilding effort but
presents the opportunity to tackle deep problems that have plagued port au
prince aid organizations said thursday
you ve got to get the humanitarian relief underway as fast as possible but you
also want to start thinking about how best to build back better said jordan
ryan director of the united nations development programme bureau for crisis
prevention and recovery
in these terrible disasters one can actually find opportunities and little
sense of silver lining ryan said in telephone interview
it an opportunity to help people shape their lives in new way
tuesday powerful magnitude quake caused massive damage in what was already
the poorest country in the western hemisphere battered by four successive
hurricanes in and decades of political turmoil
hundreds of millions of dollars in aid have already been pledged by world
governments and organizations and millions more have been raised from individual
and corporate donations
but relief and reconstruction efforts could be complicated by the dire poverty
and political instability of the caribbean nation
some percent of the government budget comes from international donations
and percent of the population lives on less than two dollars day
key to successful recovery is both coordination of efforts and ensuring that
haitians are engaged at the most local levels in the rebuilding efforts in order
to create jobs and protect against potential corruption ryan said
you ve got very traumatized and potentially volatile population that needs
food and water and health care basic housing said ryan who oversees un
efforts in rebuilding countries affected by natural and man made catastrophes
the more we can get cash in the hands of people who are really on the outs and
quite desperate help them feel life is getting better it will help with
stability it will certainly will help with law and order so that we can turn
this disaster into something we can build upon for the better of all the
residents of all the communities
the exact number of non governmental groups working in the country is unknown
but former us president bill clinton the un special representative to haiti
has criticized the crush of projects many of which overlap
and the already weak government has seen many of its offices including the
presidential palace destroyed in the quake
the government never really had much of power it sets back the country
progress substantially said peter deshazo former senior state department
official who is an expert at the center for strategic and international studies
the world bank is providing million dollars in immediate aid and will help
the government of haiti assess the damage and develop rapid response budget
it is too early to get the full picture of what the true economic damage is
yvonne tsikata world bank country director for the caribbean told reporters
it is clear however that massive effort will be required
schools hospitals hotels ministries and the presidential palace lie in ruins
and people caked in blood and dust pleaded for help next to the bodies of the
dead dumped in the grounds of the damaged main hospital
there is long road ahead in haiti said mike delany director of
humanitarian response at the aid organization oxfam
you re starting really with development deficit both in terms of very weak
government few resources environmental degradation and the highest level of
poverty in the hemisphere
but the success of efforts in indonesia following the tsunami and other
developing countries struck by both natural and human disasters shows that the
right response to disaster can build stronger communities delany said
if you get good participation happening on the local level that can help
build stronger democracy in haiti he told afp
but that going to take time starting with small successes that going to
be vital
rugbyu monye says england can end six nations title wait
london jan afp
ugo monye believes england can ease the pressure mounting on manager martin
johnson and his staff by winning their first six nations title in seven years
this week saw johnson unveil his squad for this season tournament and the man
who captained england to their last six nations title grand slam success in
was confident his side bolstered by the return of several injured
players could finish top of the table once again
england were runners up last season to grand slam winners ireland but endured
miserable november losing to australia and new zealand while just scraping
win over argentina
harlequins wing monye however said england can forget that trio of poor
performances against those southern hemisphere nations when they take on
europe finest starting with their tournament opener at home to wales at
twickenham on february
we definitely should go into it thinking that we can win it monye said
thursday it will be difficult but think it is definitely possible that we
can win it all we have to do is have the belief that we can do it
we have very high expectations of ourselves and just have to have the
confidence to win it
we have very good coaching staff and have to have belief within the playing
staff that we can win it
we have players who are playing well for their teams domestically and we just
need them to transfer that form onto the international stage
monye played in all three november tests and had an especially torrid match when
switched to full back against argentina
meanwhile england lack of cutting edge they managed just solitary try
against the pumas in three tests led to fresh questions about the wisdom of
appointing johnson who had no previous coaching experience to the manager
job and the calibre of his backroom staff
there nothing wrong with the coaches at all monye insisted it was
frustrating series for us as team and it was frustrating for me on personal
level in the second game
had to play two games at full back but when was out on the wing was much
more comfortable
the criticism made us stronger as unit and we tried not to get involved he
added
it not nice hearing it but obviously the management are going to be the first
ones in the firing line when things go wrong
japan to end refuelling mission for afghanistan war
tokyo jan afp
japan is set to order on friday an end to naval mission helping the us led
military in afghanistan as the centre left government flexes its muscles in its
relationship with washington
the move fulfils pledge by prime minister yukio hatoyama government since it
took office in september to end the refuelling operation in the indian ocean
that has supported the us led war in afghanistan
defence minister toshimi kitazawa is expected to order two japanese warships and
their personnel to return home after eight years of helping supply oil for
vessels used by international forces in afghanistan
with the end of the refuelling mission hatoyama pledged that japan would
instead step up aid to afghanistan offering five billion dollars over the next
five years to help rebuild the war torn nation
hatoyama also confirmed japan would not deploy troops to afghanistan
under its post war pacifist constitution japan is barred from deploying troops
overseas for combat but tokyo has sent soldiers abroad for peacekeeping and
military support missions
five billion dollars in five years is large scale aid think japan should
be proud of that foreign minister katsuya okada told reporters on thursday
of course it has to be used efficiently to serve to the afghan people as it is
taxpayers money he added
football spanish league table
madrid jan afp
spanish league table ahead of this weekend matches played won drawn lost
goals for goals against points
barcelona
real madrid
valencia
deportivo la coruna
sevilla
real mallorca
getafe
athletic bilbao
sporting gijon
villarreal
atletico madrid
racing santander
espanyol
osasuna
almeria
valladolid
tenerife
malaga
real zaragoza
xerez
football barcelona eye swift revenge against sevilla
madrid jan afp
barcelona have an immediate opportunity to avenge wednesday kings cup loss to
sevilla when the two sides cross swords for the third time in days at camp
nou on saturday
sevilla lost at home to barcelona in the last of the cup but progressed
on away goals thanks to their first leg win and league leaders barcelona
two points ahead of real madrid have chance to set the score straight
barcelona had won all six pieces of silverware available to them in so
remarkably the sevilla defeat was their first cup exit since losing to
manchester united in the champions league semi final back in april
we re not invincible we had to lose some time said coach pep guardiola it
is good sign that team doesn like to lose
let see how we react we re not used to having long weeks suppose we ll be
more rested although tiredness is in the head now won have to rotate the
squad so much we ll focus on the two competitions we can win
barca welcome back swede zlatan ibrahimovic from one game suspension and are
only missing seydou keita and yaya toure who are at the ongoing african cup of
nations
sevilla may have come out on top in the cup but in the league they have lost
their last three league matches sliding to fifth massive points behind the
champions
it would be historic achievement to win at camp nou again said captain
andres palop
the cup win has given us some confidence going into this match but their pride
has been wounded and that could be good or bad for us
real madrid will be hoping for sevilla victory but they have their own
challenge with tough trip to san mames to face athletic bilbao on saturday
real have lost top scorer gonzalo higuain for three weeks due to hamstring
injury opening the door for karim benzema or captain raul to stake claim for
first team place
first it was pepe then rafael van deer vaart and now gonzalo higuain we
are losing important players for crucial games at the moment said goalkeeper
iker casillas
this weekend both barcelona and us have difficult games and anything can
happen
guess we are at slight disadvantage because we ll play away from home but
sevilla may surprise everyone just as they did in the kings cup we just have
to focus on winning our match and wait to see what the leaders barcelona do
valencia are six points behind real in third and host rivals villarreal on
sunday as both sides aim to bounce back from their midweek cup exits to
deportivo la coruna and celta vigo respectively
villarreal have been climbing towards the european spots after horrid start
and valencia will be keen to move further away from side that finished league
runners up two seasons ago
fresh from their thrilling cup win over valencia deportivo travel to real
mallorca on sunday in clash between the two surprise packages of the season
depor are fourth while mallorca are point behind in sixth going into the game
at the ono stadium
mallorca have perfect eight wins at home which has been the platform for their
impressive season while depor miserly defence has been at the heart of their
success with just goals conceded in matches
relegation battle takes place on sunday when real zaragoza and xerez the
bottom two sides lock horns at the romareda
xerez sacked their manager jose angel ziganda this week after the club won just
one of their first matches and technical secretary antonio poyatos takes
charge of first team affairs on an interim basis
zaragoza new coach jose aurelio gay has only been in charge three games
himself and has collected just one point from nine as he waits for first win
fixtures
saturday
osasuna espanyol gmt athletic bilbao real madrid gmt
barcelona sevilla gmt
sunday all gmt unless stated
malaga getafe racing santander valladolid almeria tenerife real
zaragoza xerez real mallorca deportivo la coruna atletico madrid
sporting gijon gmt valencia villarreal gmt
football italian serie table
rome jan afp
italian serie table ahead of this weekend matches played won drawn lost
goals for against points
inter milan
ac milan
juventus
napoli
as roma
fiorentina
palermo
parma
cagliari
bari
genoa
sampdoria
chievo
livorno
lazio
udinese
bologna
catania
atalanta
siena
football buffon boost as juve seek to salvage season
rome jan afp
juventus have received two important boosts ahead of their tricky trip to chievo
on sunday as they bid to salvage their dismal season
last week juve crashed at home to ac milan to slip points behind leaders
inter milan
the defeat sixth in eight games in all competitions during which time they
also slumped out of the champions league also left juventus embroiled in
tense race for place in europe top competition next season
napoli in fourth are level on points with them as roma are one point behind and
both palermo and fiorentina who have game in hand are within one victory of
the turin giants
on wednesday juventus earned confidence boost in beating napoli in the
coppa italia while italy number one goalkeeper gianluigi buffon has declared
himself fit for sunday trip
but while that may seem like double boost the truth is that buffon only
missed four matches and was between the sticks during most of juve troubles
little should be read into the defeat of napoli either as the southerners rested
all their top players and unlike juve they don have huge squad with bench
full of international players
even so juve coach ciro ferrara has been happy to see little of the pressure
on his position ease
it was very very important match for all of us for me but for everyone else
as well he said after that victory
we played with humility and determination we deserved to win
lots has gone wrong recently but we absolutely must buy someone many players
have gone away and we have some injuries
however buffon was more reserved in his assessment of juve position
the win over napoli in the cup served to restore our morale but we all know
that not enough to bring some consistency to our results he warned
ahead of juve milan are eight points behind inter although they do have game
in hand and the milan derby to come in week time
inter also face tricky clash away to bari on saturday with the southerners
having only lost once at home all season
they also held inter to draw at the san siro on the opening day of the
campaign and are in the mix for top four finish six points behind juve and
napoli but with game in hand
bari captain the belgian goalkeeper jean francois gillet vowed to give jose
mourinho as many problems as they did earlier in the season
against inter in the worst case scenario we hope to repeat the result we
previously got against them when we had the italian champions on the ropes he
said
inter have problems as samuel eto is away on african cup of nations duty while
the likes of esteban cambiasso and dejan stankovic are stuggling to be fit and
cristian chivu is definitely out
if inter do slip up milan will be expecting to capitalise given they are
playing at home to rock bottom siena
alongside napoli milan are probably the form team in serie and combative
midfielder gennaro gattuso says lot of that is down to rookie coach leonardo
he doing great job with the group and manages to get himself understood in
the dressing room he said
it not easy managing such group with many star players but he great at
speaking to everyone individually and making them understand the needs of the
team
it won be all plain sailing for milan though as last week siena were two
minutes away from escaping the san siro with three points until two late inter
goals gave the champions win
fixtures
saturday
bari inter milan cagliari livorno
sunday
ac milan siena atalanta lazio chievo juventus fiorentina bologna
napoli palermo parma udinese as roma genoa sampdoria catania
football scottish premier league table
glasgow jan afp
scottish premier league table ahead of saturday matches played won drawn
lost goals for goals against points
rangers
celtic
hibernian
dundee utd
hearts
aberdeen
st mirren
motherwell
st johnstone
hamilton
kilmarnock
falkirk
football celtic look to reduce rangers lead
glasgow jan afp
celtic manager tony mowbray says he is looking forward to seeing his team back
in action against falkirk on saturday after recent postponements due to the
wintry weather
the hoops host the scottish premier league bottom side looking to reduce the
gap with league leaders rangers who have seven point cushion although they
have played game more than their rivals
however despite their lowly position the bairns held the glasgow giants to
draw at the falkirk stadium earlier in the season and mowbray knows it will
be tough match
there are no easy games he said it doesn matter who you play you have to
be very respectful of them falkirk try and spread the ball about so it will be
very entertaining game
the game there was tough outing for us we didn play on the day but give
them lot of credit as they played very well however this will be very
different game on saturday
we are at home so we ll try to be positive and put them on the back foot and
win the football match
it always important to get the three points
this will be long season and we have to go on accumulating points and find
the consistency that have talked about in the last month or so
there are plenty of positives to take from our last game against rangers and we
have to set off on similar footing against falkirk and try and try to get the
win
mowbray side will also head into the game light on players due to injuries and
transfers
defender gary caldwell completed his move to wigan while midfielders barry
robson and willo flood joined new zealand striker chris killen in joining former
boss gordon strachan at middlesbrough
scott brown and shaun maloney are still out injured while the hoops were dealt
blow when socceroos striker scott mcdonald joined them after undergoing hernia
operation
however the hoops manager has brought in two new faces with dutch defender jos
hooiveld and south korean midfielder ki sung yueng in line to make their debuts
rivals rangers also have their worries as they visit new douglas park for the
second time in week to face hamilton on league duty following their draw
in the scottish cup
walter smith side has been decimated by injuries and suspensions and will be
without top scorer kris boyd for the next four weeks following hernia
operation
the ibrox side will also be without his strike partner kenny miller through
suspension fellow forward steven naismith remains sidelined while lee
mcculloch is also banned for the trip to hamilton
damarcus beasley and fellow midfielder pedro mendes are also missing through
injury while defender madjid bougherra is on africa cup of nations duty with
algeria
there were some positives for the gers gaffer with the news both nacho novo and
midfielder steven davis have returned to training
elsewhere on saturday dundee united take on hibernian at tannadice hoping to
leapfrog the visitors into third place second bottom kilmarnock host craig
brown motherwell at rugby park with jimmy calderwood in the dug out after the
former aberdeen boss agreed deal to replace jim jefferies
hearts will want to bounce back from their scottish cup defeat with win
against st mirren at tynecastle and st johnstone welcome aberdeen to mcdiarmid
park
fixtures gmt unless otherwise stated
saturday
celtic falkirk dundee united hibernian hamilton rangers hearts
st mirren kilmarnock motherwell st johnstone aberdeen
britain opposition plans immediate cuts if elected
london jan afp
britain main opposition conservatives will start cutting back on state
spending as soon as they take office if they win general election this year
their finance spokesman has said
george osborne said for the first time on thursday that the conservatives who
have large lead over the ruling labour party in polls would cut spending
plans for announced last month by the government
if they took power in elections due by june the party may quickly pass an
emergency budget which would tear up the labour party plans
as the flood of comments from analysts and credit rating agencies shows there
is clear and present danger that the world will lose confidence in britain
economic policy osborne warned
the message could not be clearer if you find yourself on the wrong road you
take the first available exit instead of carrying on he added
the pledge is aimed at tackling enormous debts in recession hit britain and
came as parties begin trying to win over voters ahead of the general election
britain began as the only top economy in recession after the eurozone
france germany japan and the united states last year emerged from the deep
downturn
making the announcement at the london school of economics osborne named several
areas that would face cuts in the coming financial year including advertising
and consultants
yassir arman candidate of south sudan ex rebels in presidentials
juba sudan jan afp
the ex rebels of southern sudan have chosen yassir arman secular muslim from
north sudan to fight omar al beshir in the april presidential election the
first multi party ballot since in sudan
the political bureau have unanimously picked comrade yassir said arman as splm
presidential candidate for the republic of sudan pagan amum the sudan
people liberation movement secretary general told afp early friday morning
following marathon talks that began thursday afternoon
the ex rebel southern group is challenging its former civil war enemies in the
north in the first elections in years
comrade yassir arman has been for long time freedom fighter struggling in
different fields for the splm said amum
he has made tireless work to democratise the country and achieve transition
from totalitarian regime to democratic system of government in our country
arman speaking as he left the meeting told afp he was confident of success
accept this nomination from the leadership from the splm these are colleague
freedom fighters have known for many years he said
was deeply touched by this nomination and know it is serious job and
work and it is part of the struggle that we have been doing for the last
years and will continue with the same spirit of the splm
am confident that the splm can win in the south and at the national level
said arman
the elections were provided for in the comprehensive peace agreement cpa
signed in between north and south sudan to end devastating year civil
war that cost the lives of two million people the cpa is meant also to pave the
way for referendum on southern independence in january
for the presidential election of semi autonomous south sudan the splm chose the
current president of the salva kiir region former rebel commander who is also
first vice president of all sudan
we have for the presidency of the government of southern sudan sole candidate
comrade salva kiir mayardit the chairman of the splm said amum
the splm would contest elections at all levels but was also considering
alliances with other political parties amum said
the splm confirmed its readiness to contest the elections at all levels from
the presidential candidacy for presidential elections down to all levels at
state levels said amum
the splm is looking into possible alliances in these elections and will be
discussing those with all the political parties said amum without giving
further details speaking as he left the meeting in the southern capital juba
amum said selections of the candidates had been supported by all the top leaders
of the splm
sudanese president omar al beshir was officially nominated by his party on
tuesday to stand for reelection in april in the first multi party elections in
years
the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for beshir in march
for war crimes and crimes against humanity in sudan strife wracked darfur
region
the united nations says up to people have died since from the
combined effects of war famine and disease in darfur and that another
million have fled their homes the sudanese government puts the darfur death
toll at people
football fireworks forecast as bordeaux om resume battle
paris jan afp
bordeaux resume the defence of their french crown after the winter break with
home game against title challengers marseille on sunday looking to open up
point lead over their rivals
laurent blanc all conquering side are on run of nine straight wins in all
competitions and begin with nine point advantage over second placed lille
in the french top flight
former france defender marius tresor who represented both bordeaux and
marseille during his year playing career and is currently member of the
champions backroom staff says the game is of pivotal significance
think that given the stakes it will be tough game for both sides he
said but despite everything the pressure is more on the shoulders of
marseille for the very simple reason that bordeaux are points ahead of
marseille it hugely important match especially for om
marseille warmed up for the table topping encounter with victory at saint
etienne on wednesday that took them into the quarter finals of the league cup
bordeaux corresponding tie with le mans was postponed due to heavy snow and
marseille coach didier deschamps concedes that sunday opponents are likely to
be much fresher
we ll have one more game in our legs than bordeaux said deschamps who saw
his side hold bordeaux to draw when the teams last met in august
we re going to bordeaux with real ambition to obtain positive result but
we ll have to do things much better because games against bordeaux are never
straightforward
bordeaux can call on top scorer marouane chamakh and france international
midfielders yoann gourcuff and alou diarra after all three were rested for the
fruitless trip to le mans
marseille have been boosted by the return from injury of senegalese
international striker and club captain mamadou niang who scored the injury time
winner against saint etienne
lyon like marseille began the year with back to back victories in the two cup
competitions but they are points off the pace in sixth place in the league
prior to their trip to nancy on saturday
we ve started the year well thanks to the two cup matches but the priority is
still the league said lyon midfielder miralem pjanic whose side this week
signed croatian centre back dejan lovren from dynamo zagreb for eight million
euros
lille who roared into second place on the back of six game winning streak at
the end of host paris saint germain on saturday
the capital side go into the game in eighth place in the league standings five
points beyond their opponents and smarting after disastrous own goal by
defender mamadou sakho saw them sink to defeat to second tier guingamp in
the league cup on wednesday
we ll have to respond at lille on saturday said paris forward loris arnaud
it won be easy because lille are in good form but we ll do everything to
achieve good result
third placed montpellier who went down at monaco in rearranged league
fixture on wednesday take on nice while fifth placed auxerre welcome boulogne
