hotels and even the presidential palace
with victims pinned under debris and powerful aftershocks rattling the country
looting broke out soon after the magnitude quake which spared no part of the
capital port au prince which was close to the epicentre
injured residents of the crowded city poured into the streets screaming in panic
with each new tremor many bodies were just left in the streets or crushed under
debris
the quake toppled the cupola on the gleaming white presidential palace major
hotel where tourists were missing and the headquarters of the un mission in
haiti where up to personnel were unaccounted for
the head of the force was among those missing
jordan reported that three of its peacekeepers were killed and wounded in the
quake the most powerful to hit the country in more than century
eight chinese peacekeepers were buried in rubble and were missing china
state media said
estimates of the death toll ranged from hundreds to thousands but with every
hour passing it was becoming clear that the destruction and loss of life was
catastrophic
major international relief operation was set underway with the united states
france britain and other countries promising help
two hundred foreigners were missing at the hotel montana french secretary of
state for cooperation alain joyandet said
we know there were people inside the hotel when it collapsed only around
have got out which greatly concerns us joyandet told french radio
hospital in the suburb of petionville collapsed as did ministries schools
homes in luxury districts and hillside shanties businesses and markets
police un and red cross vehicles tried to ferry the wounded to hospital but
progress was slow as roads were torn up by the powerful ripples from the quake
the us geological survey usgs reported strong aftershocks hit the country
in the hours after the initial gmt quake
usgs geophysicist susan potter said the last earthquake of such magnitude to
strike haiti was in and possibly as far back as
sara fajardo of catholic relief services told afp that buildings across the
street from their headquarters collapsed and that staff were terrified the
aftershocks would topple more buildings
most of the catholic relief services staff is going to be sleeping on the crs
office compound but they re sleeping outside because they re too afraid to sleep
indoors out of safety concerns fajardo said
the center of port au prince has been destroyed it catastrophe wailed
man named pierre so traumatized he could hardly speak as he surveyed the
disaster
haiti ambassador to the united states raymond alcide joseph described the
quake to cnn as catastrophe of major proportions
haiti ambassador to mexico robert manuel told reporters that haitian
president rene preval and his wife are alive and well but did not provide
further information on them
the headquarters of the un mission in haiti minustah which has served as
peacekeeping mission since was destroyed there are numerous people
underneath the rubble both dead and injured local employee said
un chief ban ki moon was to meet top advisors on wednesday to decide how to
respond to the emergency
nations around the world offered aid and the united states france canada and
governments across latin america geared to send help while the international
red cross mobilised relief supplies from panama
us president barack obama said my thoughts and prayers go out to those who have
been affected by this earthquake
pope benedict xvi urged generous response to the catastrophe the pope
lamented haiti tragic situation involving huge loss of human life great
number of homeless and missing and considerable material damage
former haitian president jean bertrand aristide exiled in south africa since
his ouster called it tragedy that defies expression
aid group world vision said it would begin distributing first aid kits blankets
and potable water to survivors on wednesday
this is especially devastating in haiti where people are acutely vulnerable
because of poor infrastructure and extreme poverty edward brown world
vision us relief director said in statement
already the poorest nation in the americas haiti has been hit by series of
recent disasters
three hurricanes and tropical storm pounded haiti in killing people
and leaving more than others missing according to government figures
the country was also gripped by political standoff in amid riots over
skyrocketing food prices un troops are regular sight in the country
seventy percent of haiti population lives on less than two dollars per day
and half of its million people are unemployed
iran speaker accuses obama of state terrorism
tehran jan afp
parliament speaker ali larijani iran former chief nuclear negotiator accused
us president barack obama of state terrorism on wednesday over the killing in
tehran of leading atomic scientist
in an angry address to iran conservative dominated parliament larijani
reiterated iranian charges that the us central intelligence agency and israel
mossad were behind the scientist death in bombing on tuesday
such filthy actions are easy to carry out but such adventurism will do you no
good the isna news agency quoted larijani as saying in reference to obama
you have practically promoted acts of terrorism he said
this black spot will be recorded in the dossier of us crimes against the
iranian nation
massoud ali mohammadi particle physics professor at prestigious tehran
university was killed by bomb strapped to motorcycle in the capital well
to do northern suburbs on tuesday
neither the police nor the intelligence services have yet reported any leads in
their investigation and foreign minister manouchehr mottaki stopped short of
explicitly accusing washington of being behind the bombing
the action taken yesterday by the enemies of logic justice humanity and the
iranian people is being investigated by relevant authorities mottaki told
reporters when asked about the accusations of us and israeli involvement
but larijani was explicit in blaming the cia and mossad
we had received clear information few days before the assassination that
the intelligence service of the zionist regime with the cooperation of the
cia were seeking to carry out terrorist act in tehran he said
similar allegations by other iranian officials of us involvement in the attack
have been dismissed out of hand by washington
charges of us involvement are absurd state department spokesman mark toner
told reporters on tuesday
islamist students and the volunteer basij militia condemned the killing of ali
mohammadi whom they described as basiji professor
but his name appeared on list of academics backing opposition leader mir
hossein mousavi in disputed june presidential election which gave hardline
president mahmoud ahmadinejad second term
the rare assassination came as the government faced the most sustained period of
protest since the revolution of with hundreds of thousands taking to the
streets of tehran after the election
the opposition charges the vote was massively rigged in ahmadinejad favour
for the past six months it has been holding anti government protests at every
opportunity many of which have been broken up by police who have arrested
hundreds of demonstrators
the daylight killing also came amid an increasingly bitter standoff between iran
and world powers over tehran controversial nuclear programme which the west
suspects is cover for weapons drive
larijani slammed obama for rashly resorting to monarchist group which has no
credibility to cover such an operation
it seems you are entertained by this group statement how come you have
made your country den for terrorists
he was alluding to group called takavaran tondar which claimed responsibility
for the bombing on its website
but according to the rahesabz net opposition website the group later disavowed
the claim and accused iranian intelligence agents of plotting hoax
tehran officials have repeatedly accused the united states and israel of seeking
to foment unrest in iran the two countries have never ruled out military
strike to thwart iran nuclear programme
larijani insisted that the scientist murder would have no impact on iran
programme
now they seek to eliminate nuclear scientists you will see that these
terrorist actions will achieve nothing and the iranian nation will safeguard its
nuclear success
last month iran accused the united states of seizing an iranian scientist while
he was on pilgrimage in saudi arabia claim washington refused to comment on
and that riyadh denied
iran has ignored repeated un security council ultimatums to suspend uranium
enrichment the sensitive process which makes nuclear fuel but in highly
extended form can also produce the fissile core of an atomic bomb
it is already under three sets of un sanctions major powers are to meet in new
york on saturday to discuss proposals for fourth
urgent no news of un peacekeeper chief after haiti quake french fm
paris jan afp
there has been no news of the tunisian head of the un peacekeepers in haiti
since their headquarters was badly damaged by the huge earthquake there
france foreign minister said wednesday
japan govt funds scandal widens with new raid
tokyo jan afp
japanese prosecutors on wednesday raided the fund raising office of ruling party
kingpin ichiro ozawa over widening money scandal dealing fresh blow to the
troubled government
the raid came weeks after authorities indicted also over alleged funding
irregularities an aide to prime minister yukio hatoyama whose centre left
government took power four months ago in landslide win masterminded by ozawa
tokyo prosecutors searched the offices of the fund raising body of year old
ozawa veteran backroom fixer nicknamed the shadow shogun and secretary
general of the ruling democratic party of japan dpj
prosecutors who declined to comment also searched offices linked to tomohiro
ishikawa dpj lawmaker who was in charge of accounting at ozawa political
fund management body called rikuzankai
another raid was launched on the offices of kajima corp company that has
built dam in the north of japan honshu island region where ozawa
electoral district is located
hatoyama was ozawa right hand man before taking over the party leadership last
year when ozawa stepped down over separate fund raising scandal also
involving rikuzankai while professing his innocence
hatoyama on wednesday said only prosecutors have made their decisions and
taken action am not in position to comment
media reports said tokyo prosecutors are probing whether ishikawa handled
rikuzankai land purchase using an unregistered million yen million
dollars
they have also asked to question ozawa on voluntary basis reports said
ozawa told dpj regional gathering after the raids it has never crossed my
mind that we would do anything that violates the law
ozawa was credited with engineering the devastating poll defeat inflicted last
summer on the conservative liberal democratic party ldp which had ruled japan
with only one interruption for more than five decades
but ozawa money troubles have raised pressure on hatoyama who had seen his
public support plunge to just above percent in the latest polls
tennis players to discuss world cup proposal djokovic
melbourne jan afp
revolutionary plan for world cup of tennis will be discussed among the
players during this month australian open novak djokovic said here on
wednesday
djokovic member of the atp player council headed by roger federer said the
idea floating around for world cup nations playing once every two years
to replace the annual davis cup was idea from the council
reports said it was envisaged to have biennial day tournament involving
teams which would feature shorter matches in which players have to watch the
clock between points and compulsory mid match substitutions
djokovic who is playing in the kooyong classic here said players would hold
talks during the australian open starting on monday which would be crucial for
upcoming years
the serbian star said nothing had been settled yet but various options were on
the table
it all fresh and it all ideas we didn decide to put anything on an
official term because we have to consider other sides as well djokovic told
reporters
this is the bottom line without sponsors there wouldn be tournament
without tournaments you know players wouldn exist
but still players are the ones who are making the show and their opinions have
to be greatly considered
this time think that slowly things will get better but these are things
that cannot happen overnight
the times of london said the idea had already been presented to the all england
club the united states tennis association and tennis australia as well
federer
top television executives were also in the loop it added saying that they
believed that men only competition would attract larger audience
australian open tournament director craig tiley was quoted by the paper as
saying the idea was innovative refreshing and thoughtfully put together
any initiative that will further expose our sport and will grow its
participation particularly in australia but also worldwide has to be great for
tennis he said
croatian ivan ljubicic who is also playing in the kooyong classic said the
davis cup format was now outdated
the top guys are not able to play all the matches that they would love to play
for their nation ljubicic told reporters
it because the format is not suited for the players at the moment
our sport is going forward so you have to change something about it
maybe it was perfect or years ago but now it really too much for us
best of five sets three days in row and for sure the week after you can
play the week before you can play
and it shame because percent sure that every player would love to
play for his nation
in fact not going to play davis cup any more for the same reason
italian industrial output edges up in november
milan nov afp
industrial output edged up just percent in italy in november from october
falling short of expectations seasonally adjusted results showed wednesday
economists had forecast rise of percent according to consensus compiled
by dow jones newswires
the result contrasted with month on month output rise of percent in
october following percent drop in september
italy officially emerged from recession in the third quarter last year with
economic growth of just percent result attributed mainly to revived
industrial output
on the year industrial output fell back percent the national statistics
institute istat said in statement
that result was rosier than the forecast percent drop
output in the transport sector including automobile production rose
percent in november over october and that of machine tools rose percent
textiles however fell back percent and wood products output was down
percent
exiled aristide mourns haiti quake victims
johannesburg jan afp
former haitian president jean bertrand aristide exiled in south africa since
his ouster on wednesday mourned the victims of haiti earthquake calling
it tragedy that defies expression
my wife and stand with the people of our country and mourn the death and
destruction that has befallen haiti he said in statement
it is tragedy that defies expression tragedy that compels all people to
the highest levels of human compassion and solidarity
from africa the ancestral home of haiti we send our profoundest condolences
and love to the thousands of children mothers fathers brothers and sisters
worst affected he said
to the entire nation our love and wishes for strength and courage in this most
difficult of times he added
the year old former priest was haiti first democratically elected leader
but failed to win the approval of the caribbean nation middle and upper
classes during his two stints as president
he was ousted in and has long maintained that he was forced to step down
under pressure from the united states and france
the strongest earthquake to hit haiti in over century rocked the impoverished
nation late tuesday afternoon
some of the country oldest buildings including haiti presidential palace
were destroyed by the magnitude quake which was followed by dozens of
strong aftershocks
urgent israel fm calls on turkey to show respect
nicosia jan afp
israeli foreign minister avigdor lieberman said on wednesday that his government
had no desire to fall out with traditional ally turkey but called on ankara to
show reciprocal respect
one child killed in nw pakistan playground blast police
pesawar pakistan jan afp
an explosion killed at least one child at playground near northwest pakistan
taliban stronghold of south waziristan police said but the exact cause of the
blast was not clear
the blast took place in the town of tank which sits about kilometres
miles east of the lawless tribal belt that runs along the afghan border
some children were playing at playground and blast took place in nearby
garbage heap killing one child and wounding five others tank police chief
ejaz abid told afp
local police official mohammad ali khan confirmed the toll and said it was not
clear what caused the explosion
the child who died in the blast is nine years old and the wounded are between
five and twelve years old ali said
the bomb disposal squad has been sent to the blast site only then will we be
able to talk about the nature of the explosion
alert
no news of un peacekeeper chief after haiti quake french fm
argentina death flights pilot drops extradition fight
madrid jan afp
an argentine pilot suspected of having flown death flights under the latin
american country former dictatorship on wednesday dropped his fight against
extradition from spain judicial sources said
julio alberto poch had been fighting extradition since he was arrested in
spain in september but agreed during madrid court appearance to face trial in
argentina to be able to defend himself the sources said
the former argentine navy lieutenant is wanted for allegedly piloting death
flights in which more than drugged and blindfolded prisoners were thrown
alive out of planes during argentina dirty war in the and
as many as people including students intellectuals and labour leaders
disappeared or were held in secret jails and torture centres during argentina
right wing dictatorship because of their political views
police arrested poch pilot for dutch airline transavia at valencia airport
in eastern spain as he was preparing to take off for the netherlands
madrid then approved his extradition to argentina on october
argentine authorities allege he was pilot for the naval mechanics school
esma one of the biggest torture and detention centres of the argentine
military regime
but poch lawyer has argued that his name was not on list of officers who
belonged to esma
exiled aristide mourns haiti quake victims
johannesburg jan afp
former haitian president jean bertrand aristide exiled in south africa since
his ouster on wednesday mourned the victims of haiti earthquake calling
it tragedy that defies expression
my wife and stand with the people of our country and mourn the death and
destruction that has befallen haiti he said in statement
it is tragedy that defies expression tragedy that compels all people to
the highest levels of human compassion and solidarity
from africa the ancestral home of haiti we send our profoundest condolences
and love to the thousands of children mothers fathers brothers and sisters
worst affected he said
alert
israel fm calls on turkey to show respect
us dollar to stay world currency of choice imf
hong kong jan afp
the head of the international monetary fund said wednesday the us dollar will
remain the de facto world currency despite predictions that the euro or chinese
yuan will soon overtake it
the us currency is going to remain the main currency in my opinion for long
period of time even if it challenged by some others dominique strauss kahn
said
he added that china should move toward bumping up the value of its currency
strauss kahn said after critics accused beijing of keeping its unit
artificially low
the imf managing director also ruled out so called double dip recession for
the global economy but said the pace of recovery has been sluggish
our view is not one of double dip strauss kahn said
it doesn mean the probability is zero or that it cannot happen but it not
our preferred scenario and don believe that will be the case
he made the comments in an interview with the hong kong trade development
council ahead of keynote address at the asian financial forum next week
the transition is difficult one and it takes time he added
higher value of the currency especially for china and other countries
which are related to the yuan goes in the right direction
asian countries will play key role in helping the global economy get back on
its feet he said
the more you become big player and now you have in asia lot of big
players including china the more you have responsibility on the way the
whole system is working
india takes steps to curb soaring food prices
new delhi jan afp
india on wednesday announced slew of measures to ease mounting pressure over
spiralling food prices including the release of millions of tonnes of rice and
wheat reserves
after special meeting chaired by prime minister manmohan singh agriculture
minister sharad pawar told reporters between two and three million tonnes of
wheat and rice will be put on the open market over the next two months
he also announced that duty on imports of refined sugar would be reduced to zero
percent for the whole of
the impact of these decisions will be seen in seven to days pawar
predicted
weak monsoon pushed up food prices by percent in putting household
budgets under strain
sugar prices have almost doubled since january last year and are still rising
because of production shortfall according to government data
potato prices rose percent in january year on year followed by pulses
crucial source of protein for low income indians which jumped percent
finance minister pranab mukherjee at separate meeting with state finance
ministers in new delhi voiced concern over the price rises but added that india
had enough food stocks to tide it over difficult times
the finance minister highlighted the need to address the problem of
distribution to arrest the price rise government statement said
he said that there is need to properly monitor not only the release of food
stocks but also the sale of such food stocks in open markets the statement
added
urgent one child killed in pakistan playground blast police
pesawar pakistan jan afp
an explosion killed at least one child at playground near northwest pakistan
taliban stronghold of south waziristan police said but the exact cause of the
blast was not clear
taiwanese ambassador hurt in haiti quake
taipei jan afp
taiwan ambassador to haiti has been injured in the powerful earthquake in the
impoverished caribbean nation where hundreds of people are feared dead the
foreign ministry said on wednesday
the initial information we obtained showed that ambassador hsu mien sheng was
injured in the earthquake ministry official told afp he suffered
fracture and has been treated in hospital
the official gave no further details but added that other embassy staff had
escaped unhurt after tuesday earthquake
taiwan state central news agency said in dispatch from panama that the
embassy building in the capital port au prince had been destroyed
haiti is one of countries that recognise taipei rather than beijing
taiwan national fire agency said it plans to send member rescue and
search team and two sniffer dogs to haiti later wednesday while foreign
ministry group was meeting to discuss how to provide furether assistance
alert
explosion kills at least one child at playground in nw pakistan police
urgent exiled aristide mourns haiti quake victims
johannesburg jan afp
former haitian president jean bertrand aristide exiled in south africa since
his ouster on wednesday mourned the victims of haiti earthquake calling
it tragedy that defies expression
china mobile users risk sms ban in porn crackdown report
beijing jan afp
mobile users in china will be banned from sending short messages if they are
found to have distributed pornography or other illegal content by phone state
media said wednesday
china mobile the world biggest cell phone operator is helping chinese police
in campaign to crack down on illegal short messages the nanfang daily
newspaper reported
subscribers will have their text messaging services cut if they are found by the
company checking system or reported by other users to have distributed
obscene violent or other unhealthy messages it said
they will also be required to promise in writing not to distribute such content
in future if they want their services to be restored the report added
china mobile had million subscribers at the end of november according to
the latest company figures more than percent of the country mobile phone
users
china strictly censors the internet and other media saying it is aimed at
curbing pornographic or violent content
but critics allege the so called great firewall of china is used to curb the
spread of political content deemed threat to communist party rule and strangle
dissent
more than pornographic websites including over mobile wap sites
websites that users can access via cell phones have been shut down or
blocked in the official xinhua news agency said tuesday
beijing has vowed tougher online policing in as key element of state
security
internet giant google said tuesday it would no longer comply with chinese rules
requiring that it scrub its china search results of information deemed by
beijing to be unacceptable
it said the decision was made after china based cyber spies recently tried to
hack the internet giant and at least other unidentified firms in an apparent
bid to breach the email accounts of rights activists around the world
google also cited what it called growing censorship of the internet in china for
its decision and threatened to pull out of the chinese market entirely
alert
aristide mourns victims in haiti quake tragedy that defies expression
jal shares dive percent on bankruptcy fears
tokyo jan afp
japan airlines shares dived percent wednesday to just eight us cents as
investors rushed for the exit ahead of an expected bankruptcy filing by the
once mighty carrier crippled by huge debts
jal asia biggest airline is believed to be on the verge of seeking court
protection from creditors and delisting its shares from the tokyo stock exchange
to make it easier to restructure its debt and slash costs
the airline market value now stands at just million dollars having
plummeted by about billion dollars in just two days
while the government has pledged to do its utmost to ensure the airline keeps
flying during restructuring equity investors are expected to lose most or all
of their money if the company files for bankruptcy
jal share price dived by the daily limit of yen for second straight day
falling percent to hit record low of seven yen eight us cents after
percent drop on tuesday
the selling is unstoppable said hideaki higashi market strategist at smbc
friend securities
the market is driving the company to go under he said adding that the share
price could fall to just one yen
in fresh blow to jal credit rating agencies scrambled to downgrade the
carrier putting it deeper into junk bond territory
moody cut jal long term debt to ca from caa while standard amp poor
lowered its rating to cc from ccc meaning the airline is seen as highly
vulnerable to default
if the company files legal proceedings it will show greater likelihood of
defaulting on its bonds in addition to securing debt forgiveness from its
relational banks moody warned in statement
jal stock has plunged percent over the past three months its highest share
price since it began merging operations with small domestic carrier japan air
systems was yen seen in
the government is said to have tapped kazuo inamori the year old founder and
honorary chairman of high tech maker kyocera corp to become chief executive of
jal during the restructuring process
inamori was reported by kyodo news later wednesday to have accepted the offer to
take over the airline
the carrier current president and chief executive haruka nishimatsu is
expected to step down after the carrier files for bankruptcy proceedings
jal which lost about billion dollars in the six months to september is
seeking public aid in the face of mounting debts
according to japanese media the company is set to receive an injection of
government funds worth several hundred billion yen several billion dollars
under restructuring package that would see it file for bankruptcy
at the same time jal creditor banks are expected to be asked to forgive loans
worth several hundred billion yen
the airline is reportedly set to slash more than jobs and sell non core
assets such as hotels to stem massive losses
us carriers american airlines and delta air lines are in bidding war for
slice of the airline
american airlines its oneworld alliance partners and private equity company tpg
on tuesday lifted their proposed investment in jal to billion dollars from
previous offer of billion dollars
delta has offered jal one billion dollar financial package including
million dollar equity injection as the two airlines seek to increase their
share of the lucrative asian market
