we are not going to minimise the difficulties that have to be faced but we will
seek to do this job do it as quickly as possibly and do it only once we are
sure we have secure foundation to have this important function
britain northern ireland minister shaun woodward met in dublin to discuss the
situation with irish foreign minister micheal martin late tuesday
after their meeting martin said britain and ireland were very encouraged by
recent progress and urged further steps forward in coming days
irish prime minister brian cowen will travel to london on thursday for talks
with his british counterpart gordon brown on northern ireland political
crisis an irish government spokeswoman told afp
robinson is facing questions over whether he can come back after his wife iris
admitted securing pounds euros dollars from two wealthy
developers to help her former lover kirk mccambley set up cafe
her husband insists he was unaware of her financial dealings he has attacked as
unfounded and mischievous allegations that he did know of them yet failed to
report it to officials
iris robinson also senior politician is currently receiving acute
psychiatric treatment
arlene foster the year old enterprise minister filling in for robinson
insisted he had only stepped aside temporarily
commentators fear the revelations over the robinsons could even trigger fresh
elections which polls show could produce majority for sinn fein
the dup which is protestant and wants northern ireland to remain part of
britain has since shared devolved powers from london in an administration
with socialists sinn fein which is catholic and wants the province to join the
republic of ireland
also weighing on the political crisis are fears of return to more frequent
violence in province where three decades of civil unrest killed at least
people the fighting was largely ended by the good friday agreement
last year two british soldiers and policeman were gunned down in attacks
claimed by dissident republicans in the latest incident friday catholic
police officer was left seriously injured when bomb exploded under his car
world gears up to help quake stricken haiti
port au prince jan afp
the united states france canada and governments across latin america were
gearing up tuesday to help haiti after massive earthquake leveled
buildings and caused an unknown number of casualties
us president barack obama said his government stood ready to assist the people
of haiti as the state department usaid and united states southern command
mobilized the white house said to coordinate an assessment and any such
assistance
in paris foreign minister bernard kouchner said france expresses its complete
solidarity with haiti adding that his ministry crisis center had begun
working to mobilize and dispatch without delay urgent aid to port au prince
canada which hosts an strong haitian community said it was deeply
concerned with events unfolding in haiti
canadian foreign affairs minister lawrence cannon said canadian officials are
making contact with trusted humanitarian partners with presence in the region
to identify humanitarian needs resulting from this earthquake
brazil president luiz inacio lula da silva said he was very concerned with
the situation in haiti including the fate of some brazilian members of
the strong un stabilization mission in haiti known as minustah which
brazil leads
minustah employee in haiti told afp that the force headquarters had been
largely destroyed in the quake
in bogota the president office said colombia was under alert and ready to
respond to the haitian authorities call for help adding that the defense
ministry and emergency management services were coordinating upcoming assistance
efforts
venezuela said it would send member humanitarian assistance team to haiti
in the next few hours foreign minister nicolas maduro said the team would leave
for port au prince early wednesday bearing food and medical supplies for
stricken haitians
maduro also said he has been unable to contact venezuela ambassador to haiti
or haitian authorities since the earthquake struck
in panama the country vice president juan carlos varela pledged that his
government would provide assistance to the united nations office for the
coordination of humanitarian affairs
varela pledged to provide all the infrastructure required for the logistical
coordination of cooperation that should be sent to this brother country
peru said its peacekeeping troops in minustah would help in rescue efforts
in haiti adding that none of the soldiers was injured in the quake
the military personnel has nothing to report and will lend support to the quake
victims to the best of their abilities peru joint chiefs of staff said in
statement
mexico foreign ministry said it was keeping close watch on haiti and had
activated protection plan for mexicans facing an emergency in haiti
in the dominican republic which shares the island of hispaniola with haiti
president leonel fern ndez called on the international community to help haiti
overcome real tragedy he said his government was at the ready to send
assistance
government spokesman said dominican air force plane was ready to pick up
quake victims and that it was sending team of sniffer dogs to search for
victims in the rubble
meanwhile in nearby cuba only kilometers miles from haiti people
in the eastern coastal town of baracoa were evacuated to higher ground as
precaution after the earthquake triggered tsunami alert the civil defense
agency said
the tsunami alert was lifted later but cuba said it remains vigilant for
possible aftershocks and rising sea levels in the eastern provinces an agency
statement said
the initial quake was felt in cuba eastern province of santiago de cuba
tennis results from the kooyong classic
melbourne jan afp
results from the first day of the kooyong classic here wednesday
first round
juan martin del potro arg bt ivan ljubicic cro
novak djokovic srb bt tommy haas ger
dollar up in asia after china moves to rein in lending
tokyo jan afp
the dollar rose in asian trade wednesday after china moved to rein in the
country credit boom sparking concerns that the pace of recovery in the global
economy could lose steam dealers said
the dollar often seen as safe haven currency in times of economic
uncertainty gained to yen in tokyo morning trade from in new york
late tuesday
the euro slid to dollars from and was stable at yen
risk appetite declined after beijing on tuesday hiked the minimum amount of
money that banks must keep in reserve for the first time in more than year
seeking to prevent the economy overheating after huge stimulus spending
china has been key in helping the rest of the region to get out from last
year recession and quick moderation of chinese demand would withdraw part
of this support calyon analysts wrote in note
the turn in sentiment has hit commodities and commodity currencies particularly
hard they added as would be expected against the background of higher risk
aversion the dollar made up some ground
analysts said they expected beijing to gradually tighten monetary policy further
to fight the risks of excessive liquidity and asset bubbles
sentiment was also dampened by weak earnings report from us aluminium giant
alcoa and as investors waited for the beige book report on economic conditions
in the united states to be released later in the day
market players were also eyeing first estimate of germany gross domestic
product data for the fourth quarter of as well as eurozone industrial
production figures
koreans now prefer daughters over sons survey
seoul jan afp
longstanding preference among south koreans for sons rather than daughters is
changing amid new social trends according to survey cited by experts
wednesday
researchers asked couples expecting child whether they wanted daughter or
son some percent of expectant mothers said they wanted daughter
percent wanted son and the rest had no preference
among fathers to be percent wanted daughter and percent son while the
remainder had no preference
researchers surveyed households before the mothers gave birth from april
to july
they said it marked the first time in south korea formerly strongly
patriarchal society that preference for baby girls over boys was confirmed in
nationwide survey
sons roles as means to continue family bloodlines and to support ageing
parents are considered less and less valuable lee jeong rim researcher with
the korea institute of childcare and education told afp
she said there was growing trend for old people to rely on previously
unavailable social safety networks rather than moving in with son
many parents prefer baby girl to baby boy as they believe daughter will
bring them greater happiness and family unity than son said lee who led the
survey
other statistics also reflect the declining preference for baby boys
the ratio of baby boys to girls peaked at to in apparently
indicating that female foetuses were aborted
the ratio has since been falling steadily to boys for every girls in
which falls within the international average of
vancouver winter games transportation still big issue
vancouver jan afp
come downtown but leave your car at home
that is the mantra organizers of the vancouver winter olympics were reciting
tuesday as transportation particularly the movement of people remained huge
issue one month before the start of the games
in city divided geographically by mountains to the north and east the us
border to the south and water nearly everywhere else vancouverites appear to
be slow or perhaps defiant in getting the message about going without their
vehicles during the winter olympics starting february and the march
paralympics
with the city of vancouver goal of reducing vehicle traffic in the downtown
core by percent come games time the first test of the weekly travelsmart
challenge was held last friday
the bid to encourage people to practice their games time travel plans by using
public transit proved resounding flop
according to city manager penny ballem the estimated vehicle reduction rate
last friday was percent half of the five percent target goal for the first
week the challenge is to continue over the next four fridays in the run up to
the games opening ceremony
vancouverites inevitably will have to go without their vehicles temporarily
during the games as the city announced temporary closures of streets and the
cambie street bridge that connects to the downtown core
the closures are designed to facilitate the movement of athletes performers
spectators and media for the opening and closing ceremonies
in addition starting february the olympic torch will be traveling through
communities around metro vancouver adding to the traffic closures on february
alone the torch will cover about kilometers miles through the city
everyone is part of the solution everyone needs plan ballam said
everyone is starting to understand that if they can leave their vehicle behind
and use sustainable choice for transportation that going to be more
successful
it was also revealed tuesday that only about percent of the tickets for the
olympic bus network had been sold in advance
while there are private carriers transporting spectators to games venues the
network which has been selling tickets for year is the main form of
transport available for cypress mountain venue for the freestyle skiing and the
snowboarding and whistler home to the alpine and nordic events
all private vehicles will be prohibited to traveling to those sites during the
games
terry wright an official with the vancouver olympic organizing committee
vanoc said an early bird pricing promotion that was offered to encourage
the public to book their bus seat would be extended another week
he encouraged ticket holders to book now because if they waited we just
not going to be able to get everyone to the venues on time with the different
security apparatus and what not we don want people to be disappointed
addressing the media following the transport announcements vanoc ceo john
furlong said the games venues were all in good shape but there was still much
work to be done
we moving very fast there lot of positive anxiety inside the
organization right now we very focused on what we have to do he said
britain urgently seeking information after haiti quake
london jan afp
britain said on wednesday it was urgently seeking information after massive
earthquake rocked haiti
we continue to monitor the situation and are urgently seeking information
about the devastation caused by the quake and whether any british nationals have
been affected foreign office spokeswoman said
aid group oxfam said it had emergency response teams in the region poised to
respond
at this stage it is too early to tell the severity of the earthquake in haiti
but the early signs are not good with communications down across the country
said jane cocking the charity humanitarian director
oxfam has its emergency response team for latin america based in haiti so we
are well prepared with public health water and sanitation team in port au
prince ready to respond
we also have emergency supplies in panama which we can access should we need
to
red cross spokeswoman heron holloway said the charity was preparing to fly in
aid from panama
huge quake measuring rocked the impoverished caribbean nation tuesday near
the capital port au prince toppling buildings and triggering fears that
hundreds had been killed in wave of destruction
large number of un staff missing in quake hit haiti un official
united nations jan afp
large number of un staffers are unaccounted for after massive earthquake
caused serious damage to their headquarters in haiti senior un official said
here late tuesday
for the moment large number of personnel remain unaccounted for alain
leroy the head of the un department of peacekeeping operations which oversees
the world body various missions around the world said in statement
he said the headquarters of the united nations stabilization mission in haiti
minustah in the haitian capital has sustained serious damage along with other
un installations
contacts with the un on the ground have been severely hampered as
communications networks in haiti have been disabled by the earthquake he
added
minustah which comprises troops and police has been deployed in
the impoverished caribbean island nation of eight million people since mid
meanwhile un chief ban ki moon issued statement saying my heart goes out to
the people of haiti after this devastating earthquake
at this time of tragedy am very concerned for the people of haiti and also
for the many united nations staff who serve there
abortion doctor slaying trial could justify violence prosecutors
wichita kansas jan afp
judge could create legal justification for politically tinged violence if he
allows man who admits to slaying prominent abortion doctor to argue for
conviction on lesser charge than murder in trial set to begin wednesday
prosecutors said
scott roeder is charged with first degree murder in the may shooting
death of dr george tiller one of handful of doctors in the united states to
perform abortions into the third trimester of pregnancies
he had been lightning rod for anti abortion foes who nicknamed him tiller
the baby killer
roeder has admitted killing tiller in the foyer of tiller church saying he
did so to protect unborn children
prosecutors say roeder should not be able to present evidence that he is guilty
of lesser crime voluntary manslaughter
under kansas law voluntary manslaughter can apply if defendant acts on an
unreasonable but honest belief that he is preventing harm to himself or
others
sedgwick county district court judge warren wilbert said during pretrial
hearing tuesday that he can decide whether to admit such evidence until he
hears it
kim parker the deputy district attorney prosecuting roeder said in motion
that the court should not be the first to enable defendant to justify
premeditated murder because of an emotionally charged belief
such ruling has far reaching consequences he said
taken to its logical extreme this line of thinking would allow anyone to
commit premeditated murder but only be guilty of manslaughter simply because
the victim holds different set of moral and political beliefs than the
attacker parker wrote
the judge decision echoed similar statements he made friday which sparked
strong reactions from people around the country on both sides of the abortion
debate
some abortion rights supporters said abortion providers would be at risk from
anybody who held different beliefs while some abortion opponents applauded
but wilbert said tuesday there is another key criteria for voluntary
manslaughter the defendant must believe such danger is imminent
tiller was shot to death in the foyer of his church where he was serving as
an usher his clinic in wichita had been the target of protests and occasional
violence for decades
jury selection in the trial is set to begin wednesday having been delayed two
days while prosecutors tried to exclude the manslaughter defense from the trial
large number of un staff missing in quake hit haiti un official
united nations jan afp
large number of un staffers are unaccounted for after huge earthquake caused
serious damage to their headquarters in haiti senior un official said here
late tuesday
for the moment large number of personnel remain unaccounted for alain
leroy the head of the un department of peacekeeping operations which oversees
the world body various missions around the world said in statement
he said the headquarters of the united nations stabilization mission in haiti
minustah in the haitian capital has sustained serious damage along with other
un installations
boxing ex pacquiao entourage member sues trainer
los angeles jan afp
one of manny pacquio former entourage members is accusing the boxer trainer
of striking him in an attempt to get him to leave their hollywood training
facility
gregorio asuncion is suing the filipino champion trainer freddie roach and the
wild card gym boxing club in california court
asuncion alleges that roach knocked him to the ground as asuncion was trying to
clear out the hollywood training facility so pacquio could train in october
somebody hit me from the back it it was so strong immediately knelt down and
it felt like the roof was falling over me asuncion said saw mr freddie
roach behind me he said told you already to leave this gym to get the hell
out of here
asuncion told his lawyer robert mcneill during questioning it had to be
roach who hit him because he was the only one behind me
asuncion said he was notified by another member of pacquio camp to leave the
guy so pacquiao could begin training session
he said freddie did not want me to watch the practice asuncion said
asuncion then said he walked up to roach to ask if he could stay
asked whether could watch the practice of manny because it was my day off
at that time asuncion said he said don want you here there lot of
people here already
asuncion said moments later roach approached him and allegedly hit him on the
shoulders with both fists from behind
asuncion testified he was stunned and then someone else pushed him out of
the gym
according to court documents asuncion was taken to nearby hospital and
treated for neck sprain and contusion to the head
roach denies striking asuncion and says he put his hands on the plaintiff
shoulders in friendly gesture
clinton gets no commitment from japan on ending air base row
honolulu hawaii jan afp
secretary of state hillary clinton pressed her japanese counterpart here tuesday
to stick by deal on moving controversial us air base but got no commitment
from tokyo during the meeting
at hastily arranged talks with foreign minister katsuya okada in honolulu
clinton said she had stressed the need to resolve the fate of the futenma base
on the southern japanese island of okinawa
but she also expressed confidence the row would be resolved saying tokyo
understands that the year old alliance with washington is fundamental to the
future of both japan and the region
the meeting with okada was added to the beginning of an asia tour by clinton
amid growing concerns of rift between washington and the new center left
coalition government in tokyo which includes elements opposed to the presence
of the us base on okinawa
have stressed again today that it is important to move on futenma
clinton said at press conference with okada in the garden of luxury hotel on
the pacific ocean
she reiterated the us view that base deal known as the realignment road
map is the way forward the accord was to move the base from an urban area on
the island of okinawa to coastal region
okada said the government of prime minister yukio hatoyama would decide by may
where to relocate the base even if the decision risks breaking up his
coalition
the government is considering alternative sites for the base with various
options including moving it off okinawa altogether
the accord was part of broader realignment of us forces in japan and
includes the redeployment of around marines from okinawa to guam
soon after coming to power hatoyama center left government announced review
of the agreement provoking irritation in washington which has long guaranteed
security for japan
hatoyama junior partners in government the social democrats have threatened
to quit the coalition if it agrees to the original relocation plan
the united states which defeated japan in world war ii and then occupied the
country now has troops stationed there more than half of them on
okinawa the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the war
clinton said the us view is that agreement offers the best solution for
both the security of japan and the residents of okinawa
we want to get decision by may because much of the rest of the work around
the realignment roadmap has already proceeded the chief us diplomat said
the united states has already made decisions based on that roadmap which was
accepted by prior governments referring to the previous administration of
president george bush and the conservative government in japan
she did not answer question on whether she received an explicit commitment
from okada not to move the base off okinawa altogether
she said she was confident the two sides would find solution that reflects the
very best of our alliance and provides the security guarantees japanese want
okada said we must make the japan us alliance sustainable for the next or
years and further deepen this alliance
the security treaty signed on january has formed the bedrock of the
post war japan us alliance under which pacifist japan relies on massive us
military presence to guarantee its security
the two chief diplomats also discussed problems in afghanistan iran north
korea and myanmar as well as global warming nuclear non proliferation and
disarmament broad range of issues that okada said testify to the importance
of the alliance
clinton will travel wednesday to papua new guinea for talks on climate change
and economic development before heading to new zealand and australia where she
will discuss similar issues as well as international security
making her fourth tour of asia since she became secretary of state year ago
the first stop of her first tour was in japan clinton is due back in
washington on january
in speech at the east west center in honolulu clinton said president barack
obama administration would work more closely with asian countries and regional
organizations than in the past
half of diplomacy is showing up she said in dig at the previous
administration of president george bush which skipped high level meetings of
the association of southeast asian nations asean
dig at the previous
want to underscore we are back to stay she said
urgent large number of un staff missing in quake hit haiti un official
united nations jan afp
large number of un staffers are unaccounted for after huge earthquake caused
serious damage to their headquarters in haiti senior un official said here
late tuesday
urgent large number of un staff missing in quake hit haiti un official
united nations jan afp
large number of un staffers are unaccounted for after huge earthquake caused
serious damage to their headquarters in haiti senior un official said here
late tuesday
japanese stocks down percent at break
tokyo jan afp
japanese stocks fell percent in morning trade on wednesday depressed by
overnight losses on wall street and another plunge in the shares of japan
airlines facing likely bankruptcy
the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index dropped points to
day after its best finish since early october
the broader topix index of all first section shares declined points or
percent to
japan airlines shares plunged percent to seven yen eight us cents hit by
flood of sell orders on fears the ailing carrier will be delisted from the
bourse and file for bankruptcy to aid its restructuring
the selling is unstoppable said hideaki higashi strategist at smbc friend
securities
event driven market players are hammering down jal it money game the
market is driving the company to go under he said adding that the share price
could technically fall to one yen
alert
large number of un staff missing in quake hit haiti un official
hundreds feared dead as quake strikes haiti
port au prince jan afp
devastating earthquake measuring rocked the impoverished caribbean nation
of haiti tuesday toppling buildings and triggering fears that hundreds had been
killed in wave of destruction
when we get an idea of the toll it will be measured in the hundreds local
doctor who was bloodied and nursing injured left arm told afp
rescue efforts were hampered when communications were snapped in the minutes
after the earthquake struck at gmt
but early pictures sent on the micro internet network site twitter showed scenes
of devastation with crumbled walls and crushed cars pall of grey smoke hung
over part of one city as dazed residents stared around them
think it really catastrophe of major proportions haiti ambassador to
the united states raymond alcide joseph told cnn television
the us state department said it also feared there had been casualties but as
they desperately tried to reach embassy staff and aid workers could only provide
sketchy details
quoting an embassy worker state department spokesman crowley said
number of structures have collapsed he has seen walls down number of people
injured and killed can put magnitude on it at this point
he added there had been significant damage
an afp correspondent said the ground shook for more than minute later three
aftershocks measuring and on the moment magnitude scale hit us
officials said
rachel wolff international director for world vision said when the quake first
struck she managed to speak to their national director in port au prince but
since then they had had no word
he said he heard quite bit of screaming the capital where he works people
seemed very frightened people were out in the streets there was bit of
panicked situation she told afp
he also said just outside world vision headquarters that roads were blocked by
buildings residences that had fallen into the street and traffic was piling
up
in port au prince local media reported that the presidential palace
parliament cathedral and several ministries were badly damaged
the headquarters of the un mission in haiti minustah which has served as
peacekeeping mission there since was also destroyed by the temblor
according to local employee
un chief ban ki moon late tuesday said he was very concerned over the plight
of haitians and of the un staff serving in the nation
an afp correspondent in petionville suburb east of the capital said one
three story building was toppled by the quake and tractor was already at the
scene trying to dig out victims as people fled onto the streets in panic
the up scale area is home to many foreign diplomats and members of the un
mission to the country
the us geological survey usgs said the powerful quake was initially measured
at and struck kilometers ten miles from the capital port au prince and
kilometers miles from petionville
tsunami alert for the caribbean region was immediately issued but swiftly
lifted again
in washington president barack obama said the united states stood ready to
help my thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been affected by this
earthquake obama said
us southern command spokesman in miami said the agency was monitoring the
situation and coordinating everything to respond rapidly
we ll work very closely with the pentagon in terms of flowing significant
assistance and manpower to haiti in the coming days crowley said
already the poorest nation in the americas haiti has been hit by series of
disasters recently and was battered by hurricanes in
four big storms tropical storm fay and hurricanes gustav hanna and ike
pounded haiti in august and september killing total of people and
leaving more than others missing according to government figures
the country was also gripped by tense political standoff in april amid
riots over skyrocketing food prices un troops are regular sight throughout
much of the country
the inter american development bank said it was immediately approving
dollars in emergency assistance in the wake of the quake
seventy percent of haiti population lives on less than two dollars per day
and half of its million people are unemployed
according to official figures food insecurity already affects more than
quarter of haiti population
guinea interim junta chief urges move to democracy
conakry jan afp
the interim head of guinea military junta called tuesday for the west african
