immediate needs for food water shelter and health care
just want to say that the people of haiti will need to be helped to face this
colossal work of reconstruction bellerive told world officials including us
secretary of state hillary clinton
canadian prime minister stephen harper warned of long path ahead to rebuild
haiti and urged the world to hash out coordinated plan for the ill starred
country
it was not an exaggeration to say that at least years of hard work awaits
the world in haiti harper said
donor countries had agreed to hold full conference on aid to haiti at the un
headquarters in new york in march canadian foreign minister lawrence cannon
said
haiti president rene preval in statement from port au prince urged the
world to urgently airlift further tents and million ready to eat
ration packs before the country rainy season starts in may
international rescuers led by us troops have struggled to get enough aid
in the capital and badly hit towns near the epicentre of the magnitude
quake increasing fears about post quake security
group of haitian police trying to keep control among desperate population
after the quake which was also wrecked the city prison opened fire on
warehouse in the capital where many looters were hiding out
an afp photographer inside the building said two men were shot in the head one
of whom received medical attention two others were lying prone on the floor
one lifeless the other was treated for serious head wound
at the presidential palace daily aid hand out turned into chaotic scramble
as small team of uruguayan un peacekeepers faced off against crowd of
desperately hungry haitians
whatever we do it doesn matter they are animals said one un trooper as
others sprayed pepper spray and fired rubber bullets into the air
bulldozers cleared corpse filled houses elsewhere in the city centre as hopes
dimmed of finding more miracle survivors in the rubble the last man who
survived for days by drinking cola was found on saturday
the un said more than haitians have taken advantage of free buses to
flee the filthy conditions in port au prince for more hygienic camps outside the
capital others have used private transport
health minister alex larsen said tents were being readied for quake
victims at mini villages outside the capital that will initially hold
people and in the long term accommodate around one million
but the tide of humanity is putting huge burden on small towns outside the
capital where thousands of desperate people are staying with family friends or
even strangers
the international aid effort came under fire from italy public safety chief
sent to haiti last week who criticized lack of leadership in the response to
the quake
guido bertolaso who led the response to the aquila earthquake in april
said it was terrible situation that could have been managed much better and
said us forces had too many officers to find capable leader
fed chief likely to win second term top democrat
washington jan afp
embattled federal reserve chief ben bernanke will win enough support in the us
senate to secure second term the democrats top vote counter predicted
monday
do believe that we re moving forward and with republican support this
nomination will be approved senator dick durbin told reporters after meeting
with the us central banker who term ends january
but don take anything for granted until the final vote said durbin who
needed votes in first procedural test in the face of stiff opposition to
bernanke from vocal minority of democratic and republican senators
the senator from illinois said he and bernanke would try to soothe worries among
lawmakers and that president barack obama himself was wooing senators by
telephone in bid to secure bernanke confirmation
leading critics of the fed chief say he was asleep at the switch ahead of the
global financial meltdown and turned deaf ear to main street concerns
while promoting massive wall street bailout package
us lawmakers have stepped up populist rhetoric ahead of november mid term
elections looking to harness deep voter anger at double digit unemployment in
the sputtering us economy
there lot of concern among democratic senators and republican senators for
that matter about the state of the economy said durbin who added that
bernanke would naturally face some of the hardest questions about what
happened in the past and where we re going in the future
durbin said bernanke had agreed during their talks to promote transparency and
accountability at the fed and pledge to work with lawmakers on new financial
safeguards safeguards to protect consumers
durbin also said bernanke backed new economic stimulus package and
acknowledged that mistakes were made leading up to the financial crisis
though the seeds of the collapse were sown perhaps decade or more earlier
earlier the white house stood firm on bernanke re nomination saying second
term for the federal reserve chief was vital to demonstrating stability in the
us financial system
chairman bernanke helped the president and the economic team steer through some
very turbulent times and rough waters white house spokesman robert gibbs said
venezuela chavez forgives haiti debt
caracas jan afp
president hugo chavez on monday said that petrocaribe venezuela cut rate
regional energy alliance will forgive quake stricken haiti debt
haiti debt with venezuela is million dollars about one third of its
global foreign debt of one billion dollars according to international monetary
fund figures
haiti has no debt with venezuela on the contrary it is venezuela that has
historic debt with haiti chavez said as he made the announcement
chavez was referring to the support that haiti which obtained its
independence from france in gave venezuelan independence leader simon
bolivar in and in his quest to free his country from spanish colonial
rule
chavez made the announcement at the closing ceremony of meeting of foreign
ministers from leftist countries with the alba trade alliance cuba and
venezuela supported regional common market founded in
petrocaribe provides preferential oil pricing for its caribbean members with
venezuela picking up percent of the cost if oil is selling over dollars
barrel
when oil prices are above dollars member states will have up to years to
pay the bulk of the debt at one percent interest rate with two years grace
haiti struggling to recover from the january devastating earthquake
received in the past days barrels of petrocaribe oil sent through the
neighboring dominican republic
both haiti and the dominican republic are petrocaribe members
other petrocaribe members include antigua and barbuda barbados bahamas
belize cuba dominica el salvador grenada guatemala guyana honduras
jamaica nicaragua st kitts nevis saint lucia st vincent and the grenadines
suriname and trinidad and tobago as well as founding member venezuela
separately alba foreign ministers approved an aid package for haiti that
includes sanitary energy financial and educational assistance
the ministers also expressed their concern over the excessive foreign military
presence in the caribbean nation with no clear parameters over its authority
purpose role and length of stay
their presence threatens to further complicate conditions on the ground and
international cooperation for haitian reconstruction the ministers said
they called on united nations to take central role in coordinating emergency
efforts and emphasized that the haitians must take the lead in their country
reconstruction
korea gdp up percent on quarter percent on year
seoul jan afp
south korea economy grew more slowly in october december than in the previous
quarter but rose sharply from year earlier avoiding contraction in
the central bank said tuesday
asia fourth largest economy grew percent quarter on quarter and rose
percent compared with the fourth quarter of the bank said in statement
for the full year gross domestic product gdp expanded percent compared
with percent rise in
the bank forecasts growth of percent for this year while the government tips
percent
quarter on quarter growth slowed as the effect of fiscal spending diminished and
exports fell the central bank said
the percent quarter on quarter growth was sharply lower than percent
expansion in the third quarter
but the year on year expansion of percent in october december was sharply
higher than the percent year on year growth in the previous quarter
in the fourth quarter exports of goods like ships declined from three months
earlier the bank said
exports fell percent quarter on quarter in october december after jumping
percent in july september government spending fell percent quarter on
quarter compared with percent decline in the third quarter
private spending declined percent compared with percent gain in the
preceding quarter
facility investment climbed percent after rising percent in the third
quarter construction investment remained flat after contracting percent three
months earlier
central bank governor governor lee seong tae said this month the economy would
probably perform better in january march this year after moderate expansion in
october december
the government vows to stick to an expansionary policy for the time being while
the economic recovery becomes firmer it says job creation is its top priority
le guin to submit petition opposing google book settlement
washington jan afp
american fantasy fiction author ursula le guin is to submit petition to
us judge on tuesday signed by other writers opposing the legal settlement
that would allow google to scan and sell millions of books online
le guin petition asks judge denny chin to exempt the united states from the
revised legal settlement reached between google and us authors and publishers
over the internet giant vast digital book scanning project
chin is scheduled to hold hearing on the revised agreement on february
google and the authors guild and the association of american publishers reached
the settlement last year to copyright infringement suit they filed against the
mountain view california company in
under the settlement google agreed to pay million dollars to resolve
outstanding claims and establish an independent book rights registry which
would provide revenue from sales and advertising to authors and publishers who
agree to digitize their books
amid objections from france germany and others the revised deal narrowed the
definition of books covered under the settlement to those registered with the us
copyright office by january or published in australia britain canada
or the united states
exempting the united states from the settlement as demanded by le guin and
the other signatories to her petition would effectively torpedo the
agreement
in her petition which is available on her website ursulakleguin com le guin
said the settlement was negotiated by the authors guild without consultation
with any other group of authors or american authors as whole
the guild cannot and does not speak for all american writers she said its
settlement cannot be seen as reflecting the will or interest of any group but
the guild
she said the national writers union the american society of journalists and
authors and the science fiction and fantasy writers of america were among those
opposed to the settlement
we ask that the united states also be exempted from the settlement she said
we ask that the principle of copyright which is directly threatened by the
settlement be honored and upheld in the united states
we urge our government and our courts to allow no corporation to circumvent
copyright law or dictate the terms of that control le guin said
opponents of the settlement between google and us authors and publishers have
until thursday to lodge objections with chin southern district of new york
court
the us justice department whose copyright and anti trust reservations about the
original agreement forced the parties to go back to the drawing board has until
february to make its views known
last week the heirs of american author john steinbeck and folk singer woody
guthrie dropped their opposition to the settlement which google says would make
millions of books including many which are now out of print available online
golf bill haas joins father jay as winners on pga tour
la quinta california jan afp
bill haas two putted the th hole at the bob hope classic on monday to shoot
closing eight under and capture his first win on the pga tour
haas joined his father jay as winner of the event jay haas beat david
edwards by two strokes for the title
it feels unbelievable bill haas said still don know how hit the shot
on my hands were shaking
didn feel composed told my caddie on the last hole that was nervous as
heck this is totally awesome
haas finished with under to beat three others by one stroke in the
five million dollar hole event
south africa tim clark and americans matt kuchar and bubba watson
finished in tie for second at under all three had chance to putt for
victory on the final hole
watson missed an eagle chip that would have gotten him to under
the tournament finished on monday after rain washed out play on thursday
the haas duo are the eighth father and son pair to have won on the pga
unknown to bill on monday was that his father was in the gallery watching the
dramatic finish
didn know he was here bill said this win adds confidence am
thankful
it marks haas first victory on us pga tour and the third time in four years
that someone has made the bob hope classic their opening pga title
it is definitely relief it is pretty special bill said
jay haas said he watched the final hole from distance and was just thinking
his son would get into playoff
know how hard it is to win out here jay said you have to be little bit
lucky things fell into place for him
thought he would get four on the last hole was very emotional when he
tapped in couldn see it too well because was pretty far down the
fairway
bill hit brilliant three iron into the th green and two putted for birdie
for his first career title in pga tour starts
donors vow to help rebuild haiti
montreal jan afp
donor nations rallied behind haiti monday promising to pour energy and
resources into the quake hit nation as it seeks to rebuild but stressing relief
operations remained the top priority
foreign ministers and international officials attending emergency talks in
montreal made no concrete pledges as they heard the reconstruction could take
years but agreed to hold donors conference in march at the un headquarters in
new york
you re asking how much money europe will give lot french foreign minister
bernard kouchner snapped during press conference after the talks
between four and five hundred million but to what projects work must be
done but we are still in state of emergency he added
kouchner said agencies were still trying to find tents for people left
homeless by the january magnitude quake that destroyed large areas of the
capital port au prince and killed an estimated people
us secretary of state hillary clinton agreed it was too early for pledges of
money stressing we re trying to do this in the correct order
we are still in an emergency there is terrible humanitarian crisis that we
are dealing with we don yet feed all of the people we don yet have water
for them she said
we have so many who have been grievously injured those who have received
medical care many of them have amputated limbs and there are no prosthetics
there are no places to sleep clinton said
sometimes people have pledging conferences and pledge money and they don have
any idea what they re going to do with it we actually think it novel idea
to do the needs assessment first and then the planning and then the pledging
she added
haitian prime minister jean max bellerive denied report that his government
had asked donors on monday for three billion us dollars to rebuild the capital
nonetheless bellerive said haiti needed help for what he called this colossal
work of reconstruction
in seconds we lost nearly percent of our gross domestic product because
all of haiti resources were concentrated in small area around our seat of
government he said
we have to decentralize it the only way to be efficient it also the only
way to avoid the same problems happening in haiti again
canadian prime minister stephen harper warned rebuilding haiti would take at
least decade we must work to ensure that every resource committed every
relief worker every vehicle every dollar is used as effectively as possible
clinton also sought to address concerns over the us role in supervising the
effort after the us sent in troops as well as rescue teams and anchored
hospital ship offshore to treat injured haitians
the international community must ensure we are working in sync aid
coordination has long been challenge in haiti even before the earthquake
clinton said
we must find better mechanisms for coordination oversight and accountability
to ensure that aid and investments are used effectively
in the immediate aftermath of the quake france charged that us troops were
heavy handed at the port au prince airport delaying humanitarian operations on
sunday italy public safety chief criticized the lack of leadership saying
the situation could have been managed much better
the united nations which is coordinating aid for haiti estimated it needed to
assist three million people badly affected and literally reeling from the
earthquake
sir john holmes the un under secretary general for humanitarian affairs and
emergency relief coordinator also stressed the need for haiti to take the lead
in moving forward with reconstruction and redevelopment
we need involve the haitians themselves at every possible stage the government
needs to be in the lead and the people of haiti need to be consulted
foreign ministers and other officials from brazil chile peru uruguay mexico
costa rica the dominican republic japan and spain also attended the talks
they were joined by officials from the european union the organization of
american states the inter american development bank the world bank and the
international monetary fund
japan said it would pledge million dollars in aid to haiti and deploy as many
as peacekeepers to the un mission there
wfp makes fresh appeal for spare ready to eat meals for haiti
united nations jan afp
the head of the un food agency on monday made fresh appeal to the world
military forces to provide spare ready to eat meals for haitians left homeless
and without food by the devastating earthquake
one of the big challenges is that the cooking facilities for people have been
pretty much destroyed as result of the january quake josette sheeran
executive director of the un world food program told press conference here
she said wfp has been pretty much drawing down all supplies of ready to use
food and was therefore calling upon all of the world militaries to give us
any spare meals ready to eat mres that they have for their own troops
she said the mres would be distributed to the estimated one million people left
homeless by the quake in the haitian capital port au prince alone
sheeran who recently visited port au prince last week appealed for million
ready to eat meals for haiti quake victims
she also underscored the need for military escorts for food delivery across the
haitian capital and praised the role of un and us troops in that regard
every time we have not had adequate security escorts we have had riots at food
sites she said stressing that wfp wanted to make sure that women and
children the most vulnerable get access to food
it is our methodology to distribute only to women to ensure that food gets to
women and children in haiti she added
haiti magnitude quake killed at least people according to
authorities
two jailed by us court for aiding tamil tigers
washington jan afp
us court on monday sentenced two canadian men of sri lankan origin to years
in prison each for trying to sell arms to tiger tamil separatist rebels the us
justice department said
thiruthanikan thanigasalam and sahilal sabaratnam both pleaded guilty
in january to providing support to the liberation tigers of tamil eelam
designated terrorist group by the united states it said
on friday two other men received jail terms for providing support to the tamil
tigers sathajhan sarachandran was sentenced to years in prison while
nadarasa yogarasa got years
all four men were arrested in august after negotiating with an undercover
fbi agent to buy and export heat seeking missiles ten missile launchers
ak and other military equipment the department said
the justice department said they were trying to shoot down sri lankan military
aircraft and that the total arms involved were worth almost one million dollars
the defendants were acting at the direction of senior ltte leadership in sri
lanka the statement said
the tamil tigers have fought for an independent homeland in sri lanka since
but were dealt deathblow in war last year in which thousands of
civilians were killed according to united nations estimates
government troops killed the ltte leadership and declared the total annihilation
of the separatist guerrillas on may ending asia longest running ethnic
conflict
obama one good term better than two bad ones
washington jan afp
us president barack obama said in an interview monday that he would rather be
good one term president than mediocre leader who served full eight years
as he navigates his latest political storm obama told abc news ahead of his
state of the union address on wednesday that he wanted to look back in future at
his time in office and say he had tackled the most challenging issues not
just what was popular
rather be really good one term president than mediocre two term
president obama said in the interview excerpts of which were released on the
abc news website
the president who last week saw his democratic party lose its supermajority in
congress when republicans snatched senate seat in massachusetts said he would
not shirk from tackling big issues
you know there is tendency in washington to believe our job description of
elected officials is to get reelected
that not our job description our job description is to solve problems and to
help people
don want to look back on my time here and say to myself all was
interested in was nurturing my own popularity
obama goes into the state of the union address with his ambitious health care
reform plan in limbo doubts clouding his wider agenda and his poll numbers
hovering around the critical percent level
but in the interview he dismissed the idea of using opinion poll performance as
barometer of his presidency
went through this in the election campaign
when your poll numbers drop you are an idiot when your poll numbers are high
you are genius if my poll numbers are low then am cool and cerebral and
cool and detached
if my poll numbers are high people say boy he calm and reasoned all
right
nba hornets deal top guard to bulls for big man
chicago jan afp
shooting guard devin brown was traded from the new orleans hornets to the
chicago bulls on monday for foot reserve center aaron gray in an nba trade
brown has averaged points game in appearances for the hornets
hitting percent of point attempts and joins bulls squad that has
missed the production of former guard ben gordon now with the detroit pistons
we re excited to add devin brown to our team bulls general manager gar forman
said his toughness defensive versatility and shooting will be excellent
additions to our perimeter rotation
gray averaged points and two rebounds in eight games for chicago this
season his third in the nba
the hornets figure to move rookie marcus thornton who is averaging points
game off the bench into starting role
new orleans is only one game behind houston for the final playoff spot
in the western conference the bulls are eighth in the eastern
conference
jaguar land rover announces ceo stepping down
london jan afp
struggling carmaker jaguar land rover chief executive david smith stepped down
on monday the company said after breakdown in negotiations on workers pay
and conditions
the automaker gave no explanation why smith was resigning after years
with the firm but it came after unions and company chiefs failed to reach
agreement in talks last week
jaguar land rover wants to make changes to pay and pensions for new employees
but has come up against union resistance
the company however insisted the negotiations were not linked to smith
resignation
we are disappointed the discussions ended without agreement but his departure
is not linked to the talks said spokesman
the firm also pointed out smith had been in charge in june when the group
was acquired by india tata motors for billion dollars billion euros
billion pounds
the company would like to thank david for his efforts in the role and for his
service to jaguar and land rover over many years said the firm
the group said its director ravi kant would temporarily take over smith duties
until permanent replacement is found
korea gdp up percent on quarter percent on year
seoul jan afp
south korea economy grew percent quarter on quarter last october december
and was up percent compared with the same period in the central bank
announced tuesday
for the full year asia fourth largest economy expanded percent compared
with percent rise in gross domestic product gdp in the bank
forecasts growth of percent for this year
top us senator health overhaul still critical
washington jan afp
the us congress has not placed president barack obama health care overhaul on
the back burner in order to address election year voter anger at the sour
economy top lawmaker said monday
we have more than one front burner democrat dick durbin assistant senate
majority leader told reporters and we understand as the president does
health care is critical part of our agenda
but durbin acknowledged shock election defeat last week that cost obama
allies their vote supermajority meant republicans now had the power to block
historic legislation that had advanced thus far solely with democratic support
now with votes we have to find different path durbin said
we ve put so much effort in this so much hard work and we are so close to
doing some significant things now we have to find the political path that
brings us out and it not easy he said
durbin had tough words for senators including some swing vote democrats who
concluded that surprise republican victory in massachusetts last week meant us
voters wanted lawmakers to slow down the overhaul
he noted that the medicare health care program for the elderly was due to go
bankrupt in seven years and that over the next decade the number of uninsured
in the united states would climb from million to million people while the
cost of an average health insurance plan for family of our would double
those are the realities the harsh realities and those who say go slow do
just little bit maybe do nothing come back to this later ignore the fact
that those problems will just get worse and not better said durbin
durbin played down the prospects that democratic senate majority leader harry
reid and democratic house speaker nancy pelosi would have settled on way
forward by obama marquee state of the union speech on wednesday
we don like deadlines around here because we usually don meet them and
think in this instance both the speaker and the majority leader need little
time to talk to their members he said
matter of days won make the difference if we can find our way through
this said durbin
more than attend portuguese fundraiser for haiti
lisbon jan afp
more than people turned out at lisbon stadium of light on monday for
gala fundraiser for victims of the haiti earthquake as stars such as zinedine
zidane and kaka donned their boots to do their bit
the massive magnitude earthquake on january killed around and has
left around million people homeless and the football match seventh annual
gala game to aid poverty stricken nations was designed as charity fundraiser
the most important thing is to raise as much money as possible to help haiti
said former french world cup winner zidane ahead of kickoff which was preceded
by minute silence
know there are many problems in the world but haiti is the most urgent
situation said brazilian kaka who plays for real madrid
the match between two all stars sides ended
urgent korea gdp up percent on quarter percent on year
seoul jan afp
south korea economy grew percent quarter on quarter last october december
and was up percent compared with the same period in the central bank
announced tuesday
alert
korea gdp up percent on quarter up percent on year central bank
sri lanka heads to polls for tense election
colombo jan afp
sri lanka goes to the polls tuesday in its first post war presidential election
contested by the men who ended the island nation year conflict but whose
bitter clash threatens more instability
last may president mahinda rajapakse and his army chief sarath fonseka wiped
out sri lanka tamil tiger rebels who had fought for tamil homeland since
in military campaign since dogged by allegations of war crimes
but from close allies on the battlefield they have turned into irreconcilable
enemies after fonseka year old political novice decided to challenge his
former boss at the ballot box on an anti corruption platform
whoever wins the race the country has already lost said gunasekera
political analyst and senior lawyer who also said that weeks of mud slinging had
further damaged the image of the indian ocean nation
in the acrimonious run up to the vote the opposition and government have made
claim and counter claim about each other malevolent intentions raising
tension across the country and the prospect of contested result
fonseka has hardened his rhetoric in recent days pointing to alleged troop
movements plans to disrupt the media and instructions to the police as evidence
that the government will use the army to stay in power if necessary
these are the indications of military coup he told reporters on monday in
