interview
there are many more segments which are building up strain where there haven
been earthquakes for hundreds of years
potentially any one of these segments could cause an earthquake similar to that
which happened in haiti
there are thankfully only two major population centers along the fault port
au prince and kingston jamaica
but as demonstrated in the chaos which followed tuesday tremor the impact of
quake of that magnitude can be paralyzing mann said
adding to the danger is the fact that the segment which broke was not among
those closest to port au prince
and there is second fault system in the north of haiti which extends to the
dominican republic which has not ruptured in years and has built up
sufficient pressure for magnitude quake
the question is when are those going to rupture mann said adding that it is
very difficult to predict whether or not that going to happen next week or
years
eric calais french geophysicist who works at purdue university in indiana is
among those trying to assess the danger
he had warned haitian officials years ago of dangerous pressure in the fault
which caused this week devastating quake but little could be done to
reinforce the desperately poor nation weak buildings
the haitian government is not to blame in this calais told afp
they listened to us carefully and they knew what the hazard was they were very
concerned about it and they were taking steps but it just happened too early
calais began researching the fault line in and soon took his initial
findings to the haitian government even meeting with the prime minister
in march he and mann presented paper showing that the fault had built up
sufficient pressure to cause magnitude quake
but they could not pinpoint when the quake might strike and the government was
occupied with recovering from series of four hurricanes which struck that
year
while the government had begun work on an emergency response plan little could
be done to retrofit and strengthen key buildings such as hospitals schools and
government buildings from which rescue operations could be organized
it poor country calais said strengthening building to resist large
earthquake can be as costly as replacing the building
the devastation will allow haiti to rebuild stronger than before calais said
noting that there are relatively cheap engineering solutions that can be applied
to ensure that new buildings will not collapse in the next quake
it very important for port au prince to rebuild properly he added there
are other segments of that fault that could rupture in the future
nexus one stumbles as google joins smartphone race
san francisco jan afp
google is learning that being star contender in the smartphone arena takes
more than big name and well crafted hardware
nexus one has stumbled since its grand launch on january as buyers grumble
that there is nowhere to go but online for answers to complaints or questions
you would have to call their approach either naivete or hubris said interpret
analyst and vice president of strategy michael gartenberg
google has learned number of things most importantly that selling the device
is only part of the equation
the internet giant unveiled its new nexus one smartphone in direct challenge
to heavyweight apple iphone handsets billing it as superphone and the
next step in the evolution of its android software
google worked with taiwanese electronics titan htc to make the nexus one
handsets sold exclusively from the internet company online shop at
google com phone there are no real world stores or service centers for the
devices
the touchscreen devices sell for dollars if bought with service from
mobile while unlocked handsets that can work with any telecom providers
cost dollars each
you have to wonder what google was thinking putting this thing out there with
no place for customers to call for support and automated email support that
takes days to get answers gartenberg said
there is reason that apple invests so much and devotes so much space in their
stores for service and support after sale of an iphone
nexus one hardware stands up to iphone devices but premium smartphones are about
ecosystems that include synching with online services and compatibility with
hip fun or functional apps according to hubert nguyen of popular gadget
website ubergizmo com
the hardware of the nexus one is by and large better but it is only half the
experience nguyen said
the nexus one display is sharper and the processing faster than the iphone
while innovative speech to text software lets people dictate email or text
messages
it even recognized what we were saying and got it down correctly said
ubergizmo eliane fiolet
nexus one batteries do seem short lived running out of power in day even with
minimal use
the main complaints about nexus one are aimed at customers having no recourse
other than to deal with shipping or technical woes over the internet
while signal strength and coverage is in the hands of telecom providers and
hardware gripes might best be aimed at htc it is google phone so the
california firm is the frontline for complaints no matter where problems lie
it good to be bold and it good to be aggressive but the nexus one launch
was aggressive and bold in ways that seemed to more irritate than delight
gartenberg said
google many find they are also challenging their partners to look elsewhere for
an operating system if google is going to create store exclude other vendors
and compete against them
prior to making its own smartphone google open source android operating
system was being hotly adopted by hardware makers such as motorola which used
it in heavily marketed droid model
google has not disclosed sales numbers for nexus one devices but estimates by
industry trackers place the first week figures at around units
if they had sold million devices they would have shouted it from the
rooftops gartenberg said of google it is clear to me they haven taken the
world by storm here
google this week cut dollars from the price charged to existing mobile
customers and promised refunds to those who paid an original dollars to
upgrade to nexus one from other devices
it shows details were not well thought out in advance gartenberg said
ban ki moon to visit haiti un seeks million dollar aid
united nations jan afp
un chief ban ki moon was to visit devastated haiti sunday as the world body on
friday appealed for million dollars from donors to assist victims of the
earthquake thought to have killed more than people
ban was to make lightning one day visit to the battered haitian capital port
au prince to show solidarity with the haitian people and local un staff
more than people were killed and injured by tuesday quake
which also left nearly million homeless haitian public health minister alex
larsen said
according to un officials an estimated people have been left homeless
with one in homes in the capital destroyed
the un mission in haiti minustah has also been hit hard by the quake with
of its employees confirmed dead and unaccounted for
among those listed as still missing are minustah civilian head hedi annabi of
tunisia and his brazilian deputy luiz carlos da costa
haitian president rene preval said wednesday that annabi was killed but the un
said it could not confirm this
ban trip was announced shortly after un humanitarian chief john holmes
formally launched flash appeal for million dollars in emergency funds for
period of six months during meeting with member states
holmes said the appeal was based on the assumption that three million people
are badly affected enough to need immediate aid and to need aid for period of
six months
holmes head of the un office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs
ocha said the biggest chunk of the request million dollars would go
for food aid
an estimated two million people in haiti the western hemisphere poorest
country need immediate food aid and initial assessments show there are no food
supplies at present and normal distribution mechanisms are paralyzed un
officials said
some million dollars are to be earmarked for badly needed water and
sanitation holmes noted with the rest to be allocated for health and medical
supplies tents and blankets logistics and education
ban said major humanitarian effort was now under way with the un system
mobilizing all its resources as fast as we possibly can
ban said the un has set up an operations center at port au prince airport that
despite damage to the control tower coordinates the search and rescue
efforts of teams arriving from countries around the world
he said priority was still being given to search and rescue with an urgent need
for heavy lifting equipment
preliminary estimates from our un emergency teams show widespread damage to
infrastructure in port au prince and other affected areas with as many as
percent of buildings in the worst hit areas damaged or destroyed the un boss
said
he said high proportion of the haitian capital three million people were
without access to food water shelter and electricity
un officials said the world food program was now feeding around people
several times day and hopes to feed roughly one million people within days
and two million people within month
edmond mulet top un peacekeeping official sent to haiti to take charge of the
decapitated un mission in haiti minustah in an interim capacity met with
haitian president rene preval and his prime minister thursday to discuss
priority needs
ban said he was sending another senior un official tony banbury to serve as
mulet main deputy
football australia indonesia commit to closer ties
sydney jan afp
football federation australia and the football association of indonesia pssi
have signed an agreement committing to closer football ties ffa said here on
saturday
the agreement covers raft of exchange programs and an increased number of
internationals between the two countries ffa said
under the five year agreement ffa will assist the pssi in the development of
coaches players referees grassroots football and women football and host
training visits for indonesian players coaches and officials statement said
as key part of the agreement the pssi will assist the ffa to fully integrate
into south east asian football and the asean football federation and provide
competition for australian teams at range of age levels and formats
ffa and pssi have also agreed to encourage their respective national governments
to consider football as way to increase cooperation at political social
economic and environmental levels the statement said
the memorandum was signed by ffa chairman frank lowy and pssi president nurdin
halid
this is landmark agreement with one of our closest neighbours that will see
the game in both countries benefit enormously by the sharing of technical
knowledge and experience lowy said
we also believe that football and our federations can be important vehicles to
assist in the development of relations between our two countries and their
governments
halid said in the statement that the agreement would be major boost for the
game in both countries and relations at all levels
we enjoy close relationship with australia and we are proud to be involved in
this agreement which will bring us even closer together halid said
australia will host indonesia in crucial afc asian cup qualification
match in brisbane on march
football campbell takes back seat as arsenal face bolton
bolton england jan afp
sol campbell may have captured the headlines with his shock return to arsenal
this week but the former england man will not be making an immediate comeback
when his side face bolton on sunday
campbell has rejoined the club he left in on six month contract
having been free agent since cutting short spell at league two notts county
earlier in the season
arsene wenger the arsenal manager regards him as cover for first choice
centre backs william gallas and thomas vermaelen however and it is they who
will play at the reebok stadium this weekend in fixture that also doubles as
first game in charge for new bolton coach owen coyle
wenger did not rule out the possibility that campbell might force his way into
the england world cup party but argued that the veteran still had it all to
prove
have seen him in training and he is very sharp he said his attitude is
good his talent is good but it is the game which decides sol will give us
experience good advice and physically he has worked very hard
it is an opportunity for him to re launch his career and for us it is good
help for the rest of the season he is dedicated motivated and looks happy to
be back
campbell arrival has pushed philippe senderos further down the defensive
pecking order and the switzerland international is expected to leave during the
current transfer window
the return of captain cesc fabregas and defender gael clichy from injury are
likely to be far more significant for the gunners who are currently in third
place behind chelsea and manchester united in the premier league
especially so wenger argued because he believes the current season has been
the most competitive in recent memory
there has been general lift in the level of the teams wenger said in
january no team is completely out of anything
there are teams who play for the title and the champions league and teams who
play not to go down usually you have six or seven teams not concerned at either
end this year that is not the case there is life in every game
bolton used to be arsenal least favourite away venue when sam allardyce was in
charge of the trotters but arsenal have won each of their last six meetings
any team is awkward in the league at the moment for everybody wenger said
every team is highly motivated against us we are used to that if we play at
our best we can win whatever happens to bolton owen coyle has done extremely
well and expect him to do well
coyle took gamble in leaving burnley for bolton who will kick off in the
relegation zone but the scot was confident his new charges would acquit
themselves well
arsenal are the role models for anyone wanting to play good passing football
at the highest level he said
they are so pleasing on the eye when they are in full flow and we know we are
in for tough challenge because arsenal have some top quality players
but we ve got to go toe to toe with them if we can and make sure anybody who
comes here is in for an uncomfortable afternoon there should be tremendous
atmosphere but we need to give the fans something to shout about
ve inherited some very good players and it up to me to get the best out of
them
hesitant wall street looks for more recovery evidence
new york jan afp
wall street hesitant about the pace of recovery gets fresh batch of
corporate earnings and economic data in the coming week that may help set the
tone for skittish market
the choppy trade of the past week highlights lack of confidence in the
economic recovery and mixed signals from earnings and economic data analysts
said
the market opens holiday shortened week tuesday after the martin luther king
observance with handful of economic reports expected including on housing
starts and wholesale prices
that will leave the focus squarely on corporate earnings results said avery
shenfeld at cibc world markets
over the week to friday the dow jones industrial average lost modest
percent to after hitting fresh month highs earlier in the week
the technology heavy nasdaq composite dropped percent to and the
broad standard amp poor index shed percent to
the market saw roller coaster action over the past week with disappointment
over weak results from aluminum giant alcoa on monday souring the mood at the
start of the corporate earnings season
this was offset in part by robust profits reported by chipmaker intel corp and
banking giant jpmorgan chase which should help revive investor confidence that
the global economy is turning around according to fred dickson market
strategist at da davidson amp co
yet some analysts say it will be harder to push the market higher in the wake of
the stunning percent gains since last march in anticipation of recovery in
economic and profit growth
kent engelke chief economic strategist at capitol securities management said
he sees doubts about whether the economy can stand on its own when stimulus from
government spending and ultra low interest rates ends
think equities will experience period of tough sledding as it will take
time for investors to gain confidence the world will not come to an end as the
economy begins to be weaned off of its high octane energy he said
but stephen auth at federated investors said many market players are too
pessimistic
our positive economic outlook continues to proceed virtually on schedule he
said
the all important housing market bottomed four to five months ago and
somewhere in the future we expect dramatic improvements in home construction to
try to catch up with nearly four years of pent up demand
auth said the labor market is close to job creation and consumer spending has
begun to rebound
given all this we remain above consensus for economic growth this year
importantly evidence suggests that this strong cyclical growth could last well
into he added
robert kavcic at bmo capital markets said traders may have pushed the stock
market up too far in anticipation of the earnings recovery
earnings expectations have continued to rise and sentiment has made
significant move into the bullish camp he said
while stocks still have strong profit recovery to feast on they might just
need little time to digest
hugh johnson at johnson illington advisors said too much cannot be read into the
past week action
what seems to be happening is that the stock market this year continues to
advance but the gusto has been taken out of the market he said
it too early in the earnings season to reach any conclusion about earnings
and as result the investors have paused until they have better idea
participants are looking for signs of sustainable growth going forward it is
not enough anymore to beat forecasts on the bottom line
bonds rallied in the week the yield on the year treasury bond fell to
percent from percent week earlier and that on the year bond dropped
to percent against percent bond yields and prices move in opposite
directions
obama democrats risk disaster in senate election
new york jan afp
president barack obama flies to boston sunday to try to avert defeat for the
democrats in senate by election that threatens to end up killing his biggest
domestic initiative
victory for democrat martha coakley seemed foregone conclusion in state
where her party outnumbers republicans three to one the seat she seeks was
occupied by liberal grandee edward kennedy for almost five decades until his
death in august
but in breathtaking reversal republican candidate scott brown is now shown by
some polls to be running even or even ahead
the decision by obama to campaign for coakley breaking from dealing with the
haitian earthquake and overwhelming national issues underlines the democrats
desperation
it really is just remarkable said columbia university political science
professor robert shapiro it reflects the demobilizing almost demoralizing
state of democratic voters
the fallout of brown win would be huge
first democrats would lose their th vote in the senate stripping them of
their current power to override republican delaying tactics on contentious
legislation particularly health care reform
obama allies are racing to push through the health care package and on friday
claimed to be close to final deal
brown says he will vote against the reform package although in another twist
to the cliffhanger he would not be immediately able to vote if elected tuesday
since the special election would first have to be certified
the broader aftershock of republican upset would be the energizing effect for
the opposition as it campaigns to regain control of congress in nationwide mid
term elections in november
the fact that much of brown success appears to be based on the support of
independent voters is an ominous sign for democratic strategists
big guns from both sides have joined the fray in the final days
friday saw vice president joe biden emailing supporters to rally around coakley
former president and democratic heavyweight bill clinton visited massachusetts
while the republicans rolled out former new york mayor rudy giuliani
obama who took office year ago amid surging personal popularity will put his
increasingly tattered prestige on the line with sunday appearance
the stakes are so high he told supporters in video message earlier this
week everything from health care to wall street regulation and clean energy
initiatives probably rest on one vote in the united states senate
polling is mixed some put coakley well ahead but suffolk university poll
released late thursday had brown ahead with
given the margin of error this is statistical dead heat but that alone is
astonishing
leading pollster scott rasmussen said turnout will be the key and democrats will
need to get out the vote to be sure of winning
as always turnout in special elections is very difficult to project so all
projections must be made with caution rasmussen said
he called brown victory long shot low turnout scenario
however the dynamics of the race still make it likely that massachusetts
voters on january will send another democrat to washington
obama also referred to the turnout issue saying in his taped message lot of
people don even realize there is an election on tuesday to fill the unexpired
term of ted kennedy so please come out and vote
coakley is widely seen as having run lackluster campaign and shown little sign
of urgency
meanwhile brown state legislator has become republican pin up
an advocate of waterboarding terrorist suspects practice banned by the
obama white house as form of torture brown has also garnered fame as
winner of cosmopolitan magazine sexiest man competition
brown then student posed naked in the glossy magazine centerfold with
only carefully placed hand protecting his modesty
germany singapore top world bank trade logistics survey
washington jan afp
germany emerged top and singapore second friday in new world bank logistics
survey that measures how efficiently countries trade their goods around the
world
sweden was adjudged the next most trade friendly nation in the study hailed by
the washington based institution as the most comprehensive world survey of
international freight forwarders and express carriers
economic competitiveness is relentlessly driving countries to strengthen
performance and improving trade logistics is smart way to deliver more
efficiencies lower costs and added economic growth said bank chief robert
zoellick
high income economies dominated the top logistics rankings with most of them
occupying important places in global and regional supply chains the nation
logistics performance indicators study showed
by contrast the worst performing countries were all from the low and lower
income groups
although the study shows substantial logistics gap between rich countries and
most developing countries it finds positive trends in some areas essential to
logistics performance and trade the world bank said
some of them include the modernization of customs use of information
technology and development of private logistics services it said in
statement
among the most significant over performers among developing countries were
china which emerged th in ranking india uganda vietnam
thailand the philippines and south africa
afp sports schedule for saturday january
paris jan afp
afp sports schedule for saturday january
football
in the africa cup of nations egypt face mozambique while nigeria tackle benin
coverage by nick reeves david legge and samm addu
see separate advisory
masterslug fbl afr
action in england germany france italy scotland and spain
slugs fbl eng pr fbl fra fbl ger fbl ita fbl sco pr fbl esp
cricket
south africa resume on in reply to england first innings total of on
the third day of the rain affected fourth and final test at the wanderers with
the tourists holding lead in the series
coverage by colin bryden
slug cricket rsa eng
rugby union
european cup fifth round of group games
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tennis
build up to the australian open which begins in melbourne on monday
finals of the atp events in syndey and auckland and wta in hobart
kooyong classic in melbourne
slugs tennis open aus tennis atp aus tennis atp nzl tennis wta aus tennis
aus kooyong
rallying
th and final stage of the dakar rally is km km special run from
santa rosa to buenos aires with carlos sainz holding min sec lead over
volkswagen teammate nasser al attiyah
france cyril despres is poised to win the motrcycle stage
coverage by joris fioriti
slug auto moto rally dakar
alpine skiing
world cup men downhill in wengen switzerland women world cup slalom in
maribor slovenia
slugs ski world men ski world women
american football
nfl divisional playoffs with baltimore indianapolis and arizona at new orleans
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ski jumping
world cup at sapporo japan
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golf
epga at joburg open uspga at honolulu hawaii and asian tour qualifying school
at hua hin thailand
slugs golf epga rsa golf uspga golf asia
snooker
the masters continues at wembley
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figure skating
us national championships in spokane which is also qualifier for next month
winter olympics canadian championships in london
slugs fskate oly usa fskate oly can
un chief to travel to quake hit haiti sunday statement
united nations jan afp
un chief ban ki moon will travel to quake hit haiti sunday to show solidarity
with the haitian people and the local un staff and assess humanitarian needs
un statement said friday
the statement said ban met with haitian staff at un headquarters friday and told
them he would make the visit sunday to show his solidarity with the people of
haiti and un staff
he also plans to assess the humanitarian assistance effort and the scale of the
disaster for himself the statement added
urgent un chief to travel to quake hit haiti sunday statement
united nations jan afp
un chief ban ki moon will travel to quake hit haiti sunday to show solidarity
with the haitian people and the local un staff and assess humanitarian needs
un statement said friday
mobile relief americans text aid to haiti
washington jan afp
they were asked to text haiti to or yele to and in three days
million americans pledged millions of dollars in aid to quake stricken haiti
using their mobile phones
donations of dollars time began streaming in by text message to the special
number set up by the american red cross within hours of the powerful
earthquake rattling haiti and by friday evening the pledges exceeded
million dollars
we ve raised more than million dollars from more than one million donors
through the sms haiti relief campaign secretary of state hillary clinton said
it has become the single largest mobile donation campaign ever said the chief
us diplomat who will travel to haiti on saturday
american red cross spokeswoman abi weaver told afp that americans have tapped
out rapid fire donation messages to the relief agency at the rate of about
dollars an hour
her colleague christi harlan called the flood of us donations to help victims of
tuesday powerful earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people and left
many trapped under the rubble amazing gratifying and very very needed
text message campaign run by yele haiti group founded by former fugees
singer wyclef jean who has haitian roots raised more than two million dollars
by friday
somewhere in the vicinity of dollars came in the first evening roughly
million dollars on the second day and another million on thursday said
albert angel head of give on the go the company running the group
fundraising effort
by texting yele to americans can donate five dollars to help desperate
quake survivors in haiti and the message can be resent up to six times
money can also be delivered to the clinton foundation text number the
international medical corps the international rescue committee
and the salvation army by simply texting haiti to their special phone
numbers
more aid groups are joining the mobile relief effort by the day save the
children unicef and world vision were poised to enlist friday and on monday
another group of very large charities will be added said jim manis head of
the mobile giving foundation
manis who has been credited with starting mobile giving and whose group
coordinates the us text to give campaign first tested texting for cause after
the asian tsunami in
that effort raised dollars sum long since exceeded by the haiti
