the foundation was set up by former us president bill clinton focusing on
worldwide issues that demand urgent action
this is really when the global community has to step up and recognise that
we re very fortunate and sometimes we have to reach out armstrong said
the year old cancer survivor came back from retirement at the tour down
under and will seek his eighth tour de france title later this year
hong kong gold opens higher
hong kong jan afp
hong kong gold opened higher on thursday at us dollars an
ounce up from wednesday close of dollars
world scrambles to help quake hit haiti
washington jan afp
planeloads of rescuers and relief supplies headed to haiti wednesday as the
world launched massive relief operation after horror earthquake was feared
to have killed more than people
us president barack obama ordered sweeping rescue effort for the millions in
need while an array of other nations also scrambled to respond quickly and aid
groups unlocked emergency funds for the destitute caribbean country
much of the capital port au prince was reduced to rubble by tuesday
magnitude quake but the airport was operational opening the way for
international relief aid to be ferried in by air as well as sea
have directed my administration to respond with swift coordinated and
aggressive effort to save lives obama said as us military and coast guard
vessels made their way to haiti
the people of haiti will have the full support of the united states in the
urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble and to deliver the
humanitarian relief food water and medicine that haitians will need
after haitian prime minister jean max bellerive said the death toll from the
quake may reach well over the initial phase of the international
effort was focused on saving as many lives as possible
the priority is to find survivors said elisabeth byrs spokeswoman for the
un office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs
we are working against the clock she told journalists in geneva as the united
nations mobilised some search and rescue teams
former us president bill clinton now the special envoy for the united nations
in haiti launched quake fund on wednesday saying even dollar or two would
help
pope benedict xvi urged generous response to the tragic situation
appeal to the generosity of all to ensure our concrete solidarity and the
effective support of the international community for these brothers and sisters
who are living time of need and suffering he said
the world bank said it planned to provide an additional million dollars in
emergency aid to haiti which has long been plagued by unrest crime political
tumult and natural disasters
this is shocking event and it is crucial that the international community
supports the haitian people at this critical time said robert zoellick
president of the nation development lender
the international federation of red cross and red crescent societies said it was
gearing up to help maximum of three million people based on the numbers who
live in the affected area
it was drawing on emergency stocks in haiti which is often hit by severe floods
and hurricanes allowing help for families for three to four days
the red cross has also launched million dollar appeal for donations
the un world food programme said it could respond swiftly with tonnes
of food supplies
the world health organisation deployed specialists to help handle mass
casualties and corpses warning that the control of communicable diseases such
as diarrhoea was major concern in the coming days
latin american nations many with experience of devastating earthquakes and with
un peacekeepers in haiti also scrambled to send aid
cuba which felt the quake sent doctors to add to the cuban medical
staff already in haiti according to cuban media and foreign minister bruno
rodriguez
brazil said it was sending million dollars in immediate disaster aid while
peru venezuela mexico colombia guatamala and chile also said they would send
in food medicines rescue workers doctors and nurses
canada readied two warships military helicopters and planes with medical
supplies as well as large relief and rescue force with first aircraft
expected to arrive in port au prince on wednesday
the european commission released three million euros in emergency assistance as
the eu said it had activated all crisis and aid management mechanisms
france sent french rescuers doctors and nurses as well as rescue dogs
while britain spain italy and the netherlands and germany were among the many
european nations to also deploy rescue and aid resources
russian president dmitry medvedev ordered plane to take out field hospital
with doctors the official news agency itar tass reported
from the asia pacific taiwan whose ambassador to haiti was hurt in the quake
pledged dollars in aid while new zealand said it would donate
dollars to the international relief effort
tiananmen tank man pic available on google china
beijing jan afp
the iconic tank man photo taken during the tiananmen crackdown and banned
in china was available on google cn wednesday hours after the online giant
vowed to defy chinese internet censors
the image was available despite word from google that as of late wednesday no
changes had been made to the california search giant self imposed online
search filters in china
spokesman gabriel stricker answered yes when asked by afp on wednesday whether
google is still filtering search results at google cn in accordance with law
there
google announced day earlier that it would no longer censor search engine
results in china and possibly pull out of the world largest online market
citing cyber spy attacks and chinese web censorship
the picture of chinese man who boldly stood in front of line of tanks during
the crackdown on pro democracy protests made headlines around the world it
is banned in china where the event is still hugely sensitive
search for the image on google cn displayed the photo immediately while the
image did not come up on baidu com another popular chinese search engine
searches for other sensitive topics such as the dalai lama and the banned
falungong spiritual group were also returned on google but were also available
on some chinese portals
china blocks web content it deems politically objectionable in vast censorship
system dubbed the great firewall of china
google said it was targeted by china based cyber spies along with at least
other unidentified firms in an apparent bid to hack into the email accounts of
rights activists around the world
several people some bearing flowers turned up wednesday at google china
headquarters in beijing to show their support for the internet giant an afp
journalist witnessed
we are ordinary google users who have come here to say thank you we want to
show our support to google said one woman who would not give her name
on wednesday searches on illegal flowers were reportedly added to china
online censorship list to bar results regarding bouquets being left at google
offices in that country
some internet users expressed dismay at google possible pull out
in an online survey of over people on com popular portal nearly
percent said they did not want to see google leave the chinese market
if google leaves then will not go online one person said on com
google by defending its commercial morals will only receive more of netizens
understanding and support said an online user on sina com another chinese
portal
reaction in china state controlled media was muted
china central television the government main television propaganda arm made
no mention of the story in its midday news broadcast
other major state run outlets ran only brief reports that failed to mention the
allegations of government internet censorship or hacking directed at rights
activists
hong kong shares open percent higher
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares opened percent higher on thursday with the benchmark hang
seng index up points in early trading to
guatemala leader no witch hunt for false accusations
guatemala city jan afp
president alvaro colom wednesday said there will be no witch hunt for those
who wrongly accused him of murdering lawyer who investigators found planned
his own death to blame colom and his wife of the crime
we will conduct very objective investigation but there will be no witch hunt
or anything of the sort just search for the truth about whether or not there
was conspiracy to overthrow an elected official colom told foreign
reporters
the murder last year of rodrigo rosenberg prominent guatemalan lawyer
triggered political crisis when video surfaced with the deceased blaming the
president his aides and his wife of the crime
the scandal even led to street demonstrations and calls for colom impeachment
un committee however on tuesday announced it had determined that rosenberg
had arranged his own murder in an elaborate plan that included the
videotaped accusations day before he was gunned down while riding his bicycle
in may
the investigation was carried out by the international committee against
impunity in guatemala body created by the united nations which looks into
crimes committed during guatemala year civil war that ended in
as citizen would say no don have the least intention of going after
his accusers colom said
it was shocking thing an unforgivable outrage but my heart bears no
resentment or anything of the kind there no spirit of vengeance he said
however he added as president have the duty to uphold the law and the
constitution legal team will launch completely objective investigation with
no omissions
he criticized his political opponents for too eagerly branding him murderer
when an infamy occurs snakes and toads start jumping into the wrong cart
all the vampires got together and then started sucking blood colom said
if anybody on the wrong side of the law is uncovered by investigators the
president added he ll have to pay
china google cyberattack part of spying campaign experts
san francisco jan afp
cyberattacks that prompted google to defy chinese censors appear to have been
part of an ongoing campaign to steal precious source codes and track human
rights activists experts said wednesday
it complete pattern of attacks said jeff moss founder of the black hat
and defcon computer security conferences and member of the us homeland
security advisory council
you can see what is going on china strategy is to suck up all the
information of interest to the country moss said it doesn surprise me they
want to get at people who use google
google vowed tuesday to stop bowing to chinese internet censors and risk
banishment from the lucrative market to protest highly sophisticated
cyberattacks aimed at chinese human rights activists
google has brought to light lot of the stuff security people have been saying
for years behind the scenes moss said these attacks are well written it
not just group of hackers that got together
china based cyber spies struck the internet giant and reportedly more than
other unidentified firms in an apparent bid for computer source codes
intellectual property and information about activists around the world
adobe came forward on wednesday to say that four days earlier it had computer
security incident involving sophisticated coordinated attack against
corporate networks systems managed by them and other firms
we are currently in contact with other companies and are investigating the
incident pooja prasad of adobe said in blog post at this time we have no
evidence to indicate that any sensitive information has been compromised
adobe told afp the attacks could be related to the google incidents given the
timing
adobe and other technology firms that make text video or web surfing software
used in most of the world computers are prime targets for cyber spies who
could turn software secrets to their advantage according to moss
nowadays you go after the browsers flash acrobat office and personal anti
virus software moss said
in the attack on google cyber spies were evidently out to swipe computer code
as well as to mine email messages of china human rights activists who use the
california internet giant free online gmail service
google on wednesday changed the default settings for gmail users to
automatically encrypt messages
security specialists weighing in on the situation noted similarities between the
recent cyber assault and attacks on about us companies in the middle of last
year
we sent information about the source ip addresses to some defense contractors
who see attacks like this all the time from china said eli jellenc manager of
international cyber intelligence at verisign idefense
sure enough the ip and of this set of attacks resemble some we see going
back well into last year this group has been doing this already
the scope of the recent cyberattacks was unprecedented with variants of
malicious software tailored for different victims according to jellenc who
called it significant leap in the amount of planning and strategy
the attackers were after the companies most valuable intellectual property in
one they were after software another after engineering schematics another
after corporate strategy plans jellenc said
tactics included tricking computer users with ruses and ploys referred to as
social engineering
cyber spies apparently selectively targeted workers with emails crafted to
appear as though they came from bosses or colleagues messages included attached
files booby trapped with malicious software according to jellenc
when bogus messages were opened computers were infected with hidden programs
which could swipe information seize control of machines or create back doors
for unauthorized access to files
google said its investigation revealed that accounts of china human rights
activists who use gmail in europe china or the united states have been
routinely accessed using malware sneaked onto their computers
google believes the attack on its network was mostly blocked
the internet giant did not specifically accuse the chinese government of being
behind the cyberattacks
but china is being eyed as the probable culprit due to the sophistication of the
attacks the targets and the fact the assaults originated in that region
it was an attack on the technology infrastructure of major corporations in
sectors as diverse as finance technology media and chemical google
enterprise president dave girouard said in blog post
the route the attackers used was malicious software used to infect personal
computers any computer connected to the internet can fall victim to such
attacks
figure skating abbott defends us title with eye on games
spokane washington jan afp
jeremy abbott will have his sights on more than another us figure skating title
as the national championships begin here friday just weeks before the
vancouver olympics
abbott would be delighted to defend the title he won in but more
importantly he wants to secure his berth on the us team and leave plenty in the
tank for the games
really would like to defend but my goal is to go to the olympics and peak
at the right time he said
the united states will send three men to the vancouver olympics with the top
three finishers at the national championships most likely although not certain
to get the nod from selectors
abbott noted the men field will be strong but said he believes he has what it
takes to compete with world champion evan lysacek and johnny weir
do feel like the underdog evan won worlds and the grand prix final but
don feel like ve got lot of chasing to do feel on par with evan and
johnny and all the other skaters in the us can recapture the title but the
goal is not to recapture the title the goal is the vancouver olympics
abbott who placed fourth in the grand prix final behind lysacek last month is
planning to unleash quadruple jump at nationals something his rivals may
forego
the current scoring system means poorly executed quadruple jump can torpedo
score prompting many men to decide it isn worth the risk
my goal this season was to put the quad it in all my competitions so was
very secure in it for nationals olympics and worlds abbott said it may not
be necessary the last two world champions haven done it but feel very
strongly will need it this season
for just the second time since america will send only two women figure
skaters to the games thanks to the rise of asian women including reigning world
champion and early olympic front runner kim yu na of south korea
sasha cohen the silver medallist at the turin olympics who has since
battled injury said this month she will be ready when women competition gets
underway on january
cohen who last competed when she won bronze at the world championships
will be up against ashley wagner the only us woman to qualify for the grand
prix final this season defending us champion alissa czisny and two time
national runner up rachael flatt
wagner said she thought cohen would find it difficult to have her comeback
competition be such an important one
just think it very very hard to have your first competition be nationals
but you know not counting her out wagner said she still part of the
equation if she there she there if she not she not but
definitely not counting her out
flatt has turned in some solid performances this season that included
silver medal at skate america where she placed ahead of kim in the free skate
two time defending champions keauna mclaughlin and rockne brubaker lead the
chase for two olympic pairs places
mclaughlin and brubaker are favored to win their third us title from field
that also includes caydee denney and jeremy barrett who beat them in the short
programme at last year nationals
veterans rena inoue and john baldwin signalled the seriousness of their
intentions in this olympic season when they landed spectacular throw triple
axel at trophee eric bompard in october and also won bronze at nhk trophy
ice dance with three olympic berths on offer promises showdown between
tanith belbin and ben agosto and maryl davis and charlie white
belbin and agosto the five time national champions and olympic silver
medallists were sidelined by injury when davis and white seized the national
title last year
new zealand air force acrobatic pilot killed in crash
wellington jan afp
new zealand air force pilot in the elite display team was killed thursday when
his plane crashed as he practised acrobatic manoeuvres officials said
the pilot who has not been named was member of the red checkers display team
and was on solo run in an air force ct airtrainer when he crashed near the
ohakea air force base in the south of north island
the air force was to release more information on the crash later thursday but
prime minister john key described the accident as tragedy
the royal new zealand air force safety record is excellent but there are
always dangers when flying and regrettably they can claim the lives of even
the very best of our pilots key said
haiti quake shatters country fragile recovery
washington jan afp
the massive earthquake that hit haiti causing massive destruction and loss of
life may also have shattered the country fragile recovery experts have
warned
it not only unprecedented damage and destruction but it has abruptly stopped
what seemed to be lot of momentum said bob perito an expert on post
conflict peace at the us institute for peace
the earthquake the worst to hit the area in over century may have killed as
many as people according to haitian prime minister jean max bellerive
it has also left the capital port au prince in ruins with some of the city
sturdiest buildings including the presidential palace damaged beyond repair
despite history scarred by political violence and natural disasters including
hurricanes and severe flooding haiti future had started to look more hopeful
there was so much hope about haiti future hope that had not been present for
years and along comes mother nature and just flattens it said secretary of
state hillary clinton
the top us diplomat knows haiti well and her husband former president bill
clinton serves as special united nations envoy to the caribbean
perito said before the disaster people could feel that things were getting
better
the economy had begun to show some positive growth or percent
there were some new investments coming in hotel chain had announced that
they would build new hotel new investments in the textile industry he told
afp
in september haiti suffered through string of four massive storms that
killed people and caused billion of dollars of damage
in response to that the un had led the international community to provide
lot of money and rather enthusiastic response to rebuild haiti perito said
he warned that the psychological impact of the quake is going to be very
severe
in the short term he added the disaster would likely render it impossible to
hold legislative elections planned for february or presidential elections
scheduled for
phil nieburg an expert on natural disasters at the center for strategic
international studies in washington dc said the long term consequences for haiti
would depend in large part on the damage done to the country critical
infrastructure
noting that haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere he warned
that if the port is destroyed as someone told me there won be elevators to
unload ships for weeks or months
in the next six months serious challenge will be dealing with the displaced
people of the disaster added robert maguire haiti specialist at trinity
university in washington
he noted that the catastrophic scenes emerging from the haitian capital were
partly the result of dangerous overcrowding in port au prince
this tragedy illustrates the need to decentralize more the investment and
people in haiti he told afp
the concentration of people in port au prince which became an unsustainable
ecosystem with people piling on top of each other is because there has been
little investment in the rural areas
to change that would have cost lot of money yesterday he said now the
cost will be much worse
maguire who has worked on haiti related issues since the held out hope
nonetheless that international aid flooding to the caribbean nation would be
allocated to tackle the overcrowding
you need to help people if they want to leave port au prince and rebuild their
lives he said
haiti has population of over nine million people and some two million people
live in port au prince
eurozone crisis brews as ecb governors gather in frankfurt
frankfurt jan afp
the eurozone is facing one of its most serious internal crises ever as european
central bank governors meet on thursday with fiscal problems in greece and
other members of the bloc pushing interest rate issues to the background
since markets are certain the bank main rate will remain unchanged at record
low of percent arguably the most eagerly awaited aspect of the january
press conference is what ecb president jean claude trichet says about greece
deutsche bank economist mark wall said
athens is not the only eurozone capital causing alarm in frankfurt however
the credit ratings agency moody has warned that portugal economy also faced
slow death unless it becomes more competitive and officials collected more
tax revenues
international monetary fund imf experts have begun week long mission at
greece invitation to mentor the government on how to plug huge hole in its
public finances
although the nation eurozone is no longer in recession the financial crisis
exacerbated fiscal disparities among its members presenting the ecb with
patchwork quilt of problems that is fraying at the seams
germany should manage to hammer its bloated deficit back into shape while
peripheral members like greece ireland portugal and spain must step up
budget consolidation far more than the core countries commerzbank chief
economist joerg kraemer warned
the situation is such that wall expected trichet to be asked whether and under
what conditions greece could be put under pressure to voluntarily choose to
exit the eurozone
an ecb paper published last month concluded there was little chance of member
leaving or being forced out but the fact the bank produced such document at
all raised eyebrows in financial markets
greek prime minister george papandreou said wednesday there was no way the
country would abandon the euro or seek imf aid
there is no way we will leave the euro or seek recourse to the imf we do not
need to papandreou told nationally televised news conference
the greek public deficit rose to percent of output last year far above the
percent ceiling permitted to countries that share the single currency
greek debt was estimated at percent of the nation total output meanwhile
and will likely climb to more than double the european union limit of
percent
next generation autos go for global connectivity
detroit michigan jan afp
touch navigational screens internet communications systems automakers are
ramping up an array of connectivity gizmos to lure consumers into buying next
generation vehicles
some of the whistles and bells on display at the annual north american
internation auto show underway in detroit were purely cosmetic
gm cadillac presented prototype of its new xts sedan that sported
dashboard minus buttons or dials the black screen illuminates once the engine
starts and the door handles light up for few seconds when the car stops
but most of the innovations put premium on connectivity
paul haelterman vice president of research firm csm worldwide predicted that
five years from now percent of the new vehicles sold in north america would
be connected to the internet and nearly all of the luxury models
having the car connected with the exterior world is necessity said henning
schlieker technology marketing executive at bmw north america told afp
the german luxury car maker already has begun to equip all its bmw series
series and series cars sold in the united states with bmw assist feature
launched year and half ago
the bmw assist allows drivers to locate gasoline stations and their current
prices check weather forecasts and traffic conditions access navigational
tools such as google maps and mapquest and keep tabs on financial data
the cadillac xts offers two separate back seat screens each outfitted with its
own internet connection and dvd reader
ford is launching its myford touch system which will be introduced first in the
upscale lincoln nameplate under the name mylincoln touch and then integrated
into the ford focus in
with the ford system drivers will be able to listen to their favorite websites
including an audio version of the fast streaming twitter microblogs and music
from the pandora radio
the screens on next generation vehicles function with touch commands when the
vehicle is stopped allowing drivers to change their selections without
interfering with their driving
automakers assure that these new functions and web access in vehicles pose no
danger
we re in the business of safe transportation allan mulally the chief
executive of ford said tuesday at the detroit show
you re best driving if you keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the
wheel he added
to avoid distracting the driver the interactive functions are all operated by
voice or by buttons located at the steering wheel
at bmw the screens close to the driver only change when they are changed
intentionally and there are no animated graphics or advertising windows that
could divert attention schlieker said
but in case of an accident bmw also offers emergency system acn or automatic
collision notification which alerts authorities and emergency aid workers
pinpoints the location of the vehicle and provides an assessment of the gravity
of the incident
the auto show which opened monday in detroit the home of the big three us
automakers general motors ford and chrysler is scheduled to close january
new york embraces california unwanted chihuahuas
new york jan afp
new york is like totally awesome especially if you re chihuahua abandoned
in california
fifteen of these goggle eyed living toys best known for inhabiting the handbags
of paris hilton and other hollywood listers became new yorkers wednesday
after being rescued from the west coast
the evacuation was in response to what the american society for the prevention
of cruelty to animals aspca calls the massive overpopulation of chihuahuas in
california
diane wilkerson director of the aspca volunteer program blamed change in
hollywood trends and the sour economy for the increase in homeless chihuahuas
but small dogs are very very popular here in new york so there seemed to be
really nice way new york could work with this she said
the rescue operation maintained the luxurious standards to which the breed is
famously accustomed
all flew in the cabin of virgin america jet from san francisco last week
and took up residence at the shiny aspca headquarters in manhattan
by wednesday of them bebop honey hancock annie jeb colette tina
orlando bella holly and nalla were ready to choose new owners
more than new yorkers lined up in icy temperatures to get their chance some
waited from am to midday to be sure
they got famous watched them on channel channel channel said oleg
russian immigrant at the front of the line
the dog take will be really lucky he said in his still pronounced accent
he going to live with me and sleep next to my bed
amoura leigh planned even greater delights for her dream chihuahua
leigh sporting pink hair pink eyebrows and studs through her bottom lip said
chihuahuas are perfect pets because they like to be held and like to hold
them
and dress them up she added pink rhinestone collar oh yes
chihuahua in pet store can cost anything from to dollars dog
lovers in the queue said so free animal is big attraction
but while chihuahuas are small they require looking after realization that
may have led fashion crazed californians to dump their pets in shelters
they re not accessories wilkerson said the novelty wears off they think
this isn fun anymore
also the little beasts have real attitude
they re aggressive and very protective of owners they love to snap said mari
anna ficco as she waited in line they also like to dress up they know
they re cute they re drama queens
the aspca required would be owners to answer an point questionnaire on what
they expected from dog play with children catch balls guard the house
relax and so on
