quake mobile relief effort but it also gave new impetus to phenomenon manis
calls grassroots philanthropy
these are emotional events and people want to reach out and help but sometimes
they can they don have credit card or they forget to write check or
go online to make donation he said
the immediate nature of mobile allows for that impulse action to occur that
what we re seeing with haiti and we re seeing it translate into new demographics
and new people who are supporting emergency relief efforts
in theory text messages only represent pledge and don become cash
donation until mobile phone customers pay their monthly bill
but mobile phone companies began stepping up to the plate friday when verizon
wireless said it was not waiting for the billing cycle to run its course and had
transferred nearly three million dollars in funds to the american red cross
time is of the essence and it makes sense for us to toss aside our normal
financial processes to get money where it can do the most good in the fastest
way possible verizon president lowell mcadam said in statement
verizon noted that it can take between and days for charity to receive
donation from the time wireless user texts donation
the three million dollars represents text messages sent by verizon
customers to the red cross special phone number in just two days the company
said
the influx of text messages is showing no signs of slowing said manis
the yele foundation is getting contributors an hour he said
every time someone like wyclef jean or bill clinton appears and talks about
haiti there huge increase in giving and with the addition of new
charities my guess is you ll continue to see donations rise
hillary clinton meanwhile thanked americans for their generosity and asked
them to please keep texting
the devastation is far greater than we could have imagined she said
alert
un chief to travel to quake hit haiti sunday official
france offers two million euros in haiti food aid
paris jan afp
france will give two million euros worth of food aid to earthquake stricken
haiti foreign ministry spokesman bernard valero announced saturday
france remains fully mobilized to come to the aid of the haitian people and
authorities so cruelly hit by the earthquake of january valero said in
statement as the united nations planned an appeal for hundreds of millions of
dollars for the former french colony
the two million euros million dollars would back the efforts of the un
world food programme and provide high protein biscuits for more than
children under five years old the spokesman said
france offers two million euros in haiti food aid
paris jan afp
france will give two million euros worth of food aid to earthquake stricken
haiti foreign ministry spokesman bernard valero announced saturday
france remains fully mobilized to come to the aid of the haitian people and
authorities so cruelly hit by the earthquake of january valero said in
statement as the united nations planned an appeal for hundreds of millions of
dollars for the former french colony
the two million euros dollars would back the efforts of the un world food
programme and provide high protein biscuits for more than children under
five years old the spokesman said
hershey to bid at least billion dollars for cadbury report
washington jan afp
us chocolate maker hershey plans to bid at least billion dollars next week
for british confectioner cadbury after concluding it can top us food giant
kraft offer the wall street journal reported friday
hershey was finalizing financing package that now includes loan of at least
billion dollars from banks five billion in new hershey shares and at least
three billion from private investors and the hershey trust the journal said
citing people familiar with the matter
the move would be the latest twist in an international chocolate bidding war
that has seen the cadbury board repeatedly reject kraft cash and shares
hostile offer the hershey bid is seen as likely to garner more favor with the
british company chiefs
in its current form hershey bid would be equivalent to at least pence
dollars to pence dollars per cadbury share while kraft is offering
pence dollars share
that bid was approved by special three way transaction committee of hershey
board members that includes former pennsylvania governor tom ridge the journal
said
hershey chief executive david west who has fought against the plan for months
has now accepted such bid will happen the newspaper cited one of its
sources as saying
hershey board members have also promised him the plum post of chief executive of
combined company of the chocolate giants person familiar with the
deliberations told the journal which quoted another source as saying the offer
was now percent to percent likely
cadbury board members have indicated they would not recommend price below
pence dollars share to their shareholders according to the newspaper
which noted that the british company would likely not accept bid from kraft
even if it upped its offer to pence or more
it also reported that concerns over keeping an investment grade credit rating
would likely prevent hershey from going as high as pence
the pennsylvania based company already has relationship with cadbury that
includes the rights to make and distribute some of the british company
products in the united states and other countries according to hershey
website
we continue to believe that our offer presents the best immediate value and
attractive upside potential for cadbury shareholders kraft spokesman told
the journal
but peter langerman chief executive of mutual series subsidiary of franklin
resources that owns more than million cadbury shares said kraft offer
materially undervalues cadbury in our view and think just about everyone
if there no deal there no deal
kraft the world second biggest snacks group after nestle has until tuesday
to make its final offer british takeover panel would then set deadline for
hershey to make its bid to take over cadbury the second largest confectionery
company behind mars
leading chocolate manufacturer in the united states hershey was founded over
century ago by milton hershey
us unemployment hits blacks hispanics worst study
washington jan afp
unemployment rates in the united states are expected to remain high in but
new study says black and hispanic workers will suffer significantly more than
their white counterparts
the gap between white and minority unemployment rates has already grown
dramatically during this recession and it is expected to continue growing said
kai filion author of the study produced by the economic policy institute
the study predicts the unemployment rate in the third quarter of will be
percent for white americans up from percent at present and compared to
percent across the board
but for black workers the rate will be as high as percent and for
hispanics up to percent the study said
in five us states among the worst affected by the recession alabama
illinois michigan ohio and south carolina the unemployment rate for black
workers is forecast to exceed percent
the study predicts that the unemployment rate for white workers will have grown
by percentage points from the beginning of the us recession in december
to the third quarter of
for black workers total increase of percent is forecast and for
hispanics rise of percentage points
despite the economic downturn separate study by the pew research center found
that black americans are more optimistic about the state of black progress than
at anytime in last years
year after president barack obama election percent of black americans
said they were better off now than five years earlier point increase since
the survey which questioned people of them black at the end of
also found percent thought the standard of living gap between blacks
and white had narrowed over the last decade
another percent said they thought the future for black americans will be
better nine point increase from
obama allies see health care deal within reach
washington jan afp
president barack obama and his democratic allies in the us congress spurred on
by bill clinton and worries about key election fought friday to reach final
deal to overhaul us health care
they reported no breakthroughs but democratic source said they aimed to
submit key pieces of the historic legislation this weekend to the non partisan
congressional budget office for formal estimate of its cost and effect
negotiators may send some different alternatives to cbo this weekend not
today said democratic source
obama some of his top aides and senior lawmakers held roughly two hours of
talks at the white house as they strove to meld rival senate and house of
representatives versions of the legislation into one historic compromise
we ve worked through the gamut of issues in great depth but there are no final
agreements and no overall package white house spokesman reid cherlin said
after the negotiations broke for the weekend
the next step in the process is to evaluate the costs and savings associated
with the various proposals for each tenet of the legislation obama top
domestic goal said cherlin
ahead of the talks democratic house speaker nancy pelosi told reporters
pressing for information on the pending deal hopefully when we get together
next week we ll have lot more information to share with you
and democratic house majority leader steny hoyer told cnbc television we are
getting very close would certainly hope that within the next hours
that we have general agreement
democrats worried about public opinion polls showing deep skepticism about the
overhaul and other surveys forecasting they could lose special election to
replace the late senator ted kennedy defeat that would cost them the vote
majority with which they can overrun any republican delaying tactics
obama will travel to boston on an th hour political rescue mission for
massachusetts attorney general martha coakley white house spokesman robert
gibbs said
recent polls showed coakley locked in desperate fight with republican scott
brown ahead of the special election on tuesday for seat democrats have held
for over half century
pelosi insisted that renewed democratic urgency had nothing to do with the
election and praised clinton efforts in speech behind closed doors to
motivate wary house democrats to vote for the overhaul
it was really master class as he connected health care to jobs and then to
the green jobs which are the jobs of the future she said
the president allies drew optimism from breakthrough deal between the white
house and labor unions announced thursday to clear major obstacle blocking
the plan
but more disputes remained including over abortion restrictions and whether
health care exchanges marketplaces where consumers could comparison shop
for coverage would be national or state by state
democrats working on the final compromise had next to no margin for error the
senate passed its bill on christmas eve by exactly the votes needed and the
house got just two more than the needed seven weeks earlier
but they took critical step forward when labor unions announced deal in
which they accepted watered down version of the senate bill new taxes on
generous health plans like those their members have to fund the overhaul
looters roam haiti streets as us troops pour in
port au prince jan afp
machete wielding looters brought more terror to haiti streets friday as us
troops poured into the quake ravaged nation to start streaming tons of aid to
traumatized and destitute people
three days after tuesday earthquake anger and frustration mounted in the
ruined capital city of two million people desperate for food and water supplies
amid the stench of corpses left rotting in the tropical sun
vanguard of the us troops being deployed to haiti took control of the
airport clogged with tons of relief supplies and began the first mass
distributions of aid seeking to quell any threat of violence
as long as the people are hungry and thirsty as long as we haven fixed the
problem of shelter we run the risk of riots warned brazilian defense minister
nelson jobim after visit to the capital port au prince
haitian officials said at least people had been killed and million
left homeless in the caribbean nation one of the poorest countries in the
world which has long witnessed violence and bloodshed
the bodies of more than people have already been collected and buried
haitian prime minister jean max bellerive said we simply settled with picking
up the dead who were in the main streets
as un officials on the ground pleaded for more medical and food aid for
survivors looting became widespread and there were angry scuffles at the few
distribution points
the fourth night after the quake brought fresh fears for many families already
terrorized by armed gangs
men suddenly appeared with machetes to steal money said evelyne buino
young beautician after long night in neighborhood not far from the ruined
city center this is just the beginning
we need to protect and guard our home there are many armed men lot of
looting eglide victor whose shabbily built house was the only one left
standing on his street in the heart of the haitian capital told afp
officials have estimated that some three million people third of the
population were affected by the magnitude quake
we really need to focus on the living and what we can do for them nicholas
reader spokesman for the united nations office for the coordination of
humanitarian affairs ocha told afp
there were angry chaotic scenes at the airport and in hospitals there were
harrowing tales of amputations and operations without anesthetics
the us military was gearing up to deliver packages of basic food rations
and ten liter containers of water
some million dollars worth of food aid was arriving with navy vessels such as
the aircraft carrier uss carl vinson which arrived friday in port au prince
equipped with helicopters water purification plant and carrying tons of
medicines
people had reserves for few days but now they are dwindling they are afraid
to go downtown in search of food because it has become too dangerous said
haiti resident patricia etique swiss citizen
with thousands of bodies still piled up on the streets of the capital there was
also race against time to reach any survivors still in the ruins and treat
those who were badly injured
after three days of being left to fend mostly for themselves foreign relief
teams were increasingly seen on the streets some backed by vital heavy lifting
equipment
scores more survivors were pulled alive from the rubble belgian rescue team
extracted year old haitian woman from one building after first amputating
her leg above her right knee
we along with spanish rescue team also rescued baby yesterday evening
and now this woman said sergeant major edouard dekoster part of specialized
search and rescue team
we re very happy it what we re here for and after this amount of time and
the heat it great to still find people alive he told afp
us president barack obama finally reached haiti president rene preval by
telephone friday and offered full support in earthquake relief aid and long
term rebuilding
he warned difficult days lay ahead noting the nation main port was closed
roads were damaged and severe logistical problems loomed
so many people are in need of assistance the port continues to be closed and
the roads are damaged food is scarce and so is water he said in brief
white house statement
donors ranging from the world richest countries to individuals sending text
messages have contributed massive aid for quake stricken haiti but officials
warned much more was needed
according to the united nations which is redeploying some peacekeepers
soldiers and police officers from across haiti to port au prince some
million dollars has already been pledged by countries organizations and
private companies
after pressure from rights groups and lawmakers the us government granted
temporary asylum friday to haitians already living illegally in the united
states before the quake
afp
afp world news service no unauthorized reproduction
israel collectively punishing gaza amnesty
jerusalem jan afp
amnesty international on monday accused israel of collectively punishing the
population of the gaza strip with border closures tightened after the islamist
hamas movement bloody takeover
the british based rights group said the firing of rockets by palestinian
militants which the israeli military says has dropped by about percent
since its offensive in gaza last year did not justify the sanctions
the blockade does not target armed groups but rather punishes gaza entire
population by restricting the entry of food medical supplies educational
equipment and building materials said malcolm smart the group middle east
and north africa director in statement
the blockade constitutes collective punishment under international law and must
be lifted immediately
amnesty said egypt was partly to blame because it only occasionally opens its
rafah crossing with gaza the only terminal bypassing israel
it also faulted cairo for starting work on an underground border wall in bid
to halt the smuggling tunnels that have become an economic lifeline to the
territory but are also used by hamas to smuggle in weapons and money
however as the occupying power it is israel that bears the foremost
responsibility for ensuring the welfare of the inhabitants of gaza amnesty
said
monday is the one year anniversary of the mutual ceasefires that ended the
day gaza war which killed some palestinians and flattened entire
neighbourhoods thirteen israelis were killed during the fighting
israel imposed strict sanctions on gaza in following the capture of an
israeli soldier by hamas and other militants in deadly cross border raid
it tightened the blockade when hamas which is pledged to israel destruction
seized power in june after week of bloody street battles with forces
loyal to the western backed palestinian president mahmud abbas
figure skating abbott defends us men title
spokane washington jan afp
jeremy abbott defended his men title at the us figure skating championships
and clinched berth in the upcoming vancouver olympics by winning the free
skate sunday
abbott breezed to victory with overall score of points to finish well
ahead of world champion evan lysacek lysacek was second after the short
programme but finished third in the free skate
johnny weir placed third overall he was third after the short programme then
dropped to fifth in the free skate
ryan bradley placed fourth overall and adam rippon who was fourth in the short
programme rounded out the top five
the united states will send three men to next month winter olympics
haiti donors summit january in montreal canada
ottawa jan afp
donor countries will meet january in montreal to discuss haiti
reconstruction efforts after the massive earthquake there canada foreign
affairs minister lawrence cannon said sunday
the montreal meeting will provide an opportunity to reassess the situation in
haiti and ensure that the united nations can focus international efforts to
better help the haitian people meet the challenges and prepare for long term
stabilization and reconstruction cannon said
haitian prime minister jean max bellerive and us secretary of state hillary
clinton will attend the summit
the donors summit to help the former french colony was earlier proposed by
french president nicolas sarkozy
haiti has buried in mass graves minister
port au prince jan afp
some bodies have been buried in mass graves in haiti and state of
emergency has been declared until the end of january haitian minister said
sunday
there would also be month long period of national mourning the minister carol
joseph said
ban vows to speed up haiti aid
port au prince jan afp
un secretary general ban ki moon vowed to speed up aid efforts to help stricken
haitians as with heavy heart he toured the devastated capital and prepared to
fly home bearing the un dead
am here to say we are with you you are not alone this is tsunami like
disaster ban told press conference after flying over the ruined city
he vowed to speed up the rescue operations and improve coordination and delivery
of the massive humanitarian aid pouring into the impoverished country which is
so far only trickling down to people in the street
the un chief also met with president rene preval and had an emotional reunion in
port au prince with michele montas haitian who until late last year was his
spokeswoman
later sunday ban was to fly back to new york bearing the bodies of some of the
un staffers killed when the un mission in port au prince collapsed in the
quake in what has become the global body worst tragedy ever
am going to haiti with very heavy heart to express solidarity and full
support of the un to the people of haiti ban told journalists at the start of
his day long trip
some un workers are still missing in the rubble of the un mission
but in what ban called small miracle danish un worker was pulled from the
ruins just after the un chief had toured the site struck by tuesday
magnitude quake
we have to prepare for the worst ban said as he flew out of newark referring
to un employees still missing after the disaster that flattened much of port au
prince and nearby towns in western haiti
ban said the three top priorities were to save as many people as possible to
bring emergency humanitarian aid in the form of water food and medication and
to coordinate the massive aid effort
the un has noted that at least local government structures remained after the
tsunami hit indonesia aceh province but in the haiti town of leogane
for example all public services were lost in the earthquake
between and people are thought to have died in that town alone an
indication of the horrific scale of the catastrophe beyond port au prince
the haitian government said sunday that it had already buried some bodies
in mass graves and was declaring state of emergency until the end of the
month
ban came face to face with the human toll when he toured makeshift tent city
of people which has sprung up on the open air champs de mars square next
to the collapsed presidential palace
we need food we need shelter we need work angry and frustrated haitians
shouted out
ban urged them to be patient saying help was coming and warned against
rioting
the fact finding mission was aimed at assessing the caribbean nation needs and
attempting to boost the shattered morale of the brazilian led united nations
stabilization mission in haiti minustah
among the dead being mourned by the un is the head of the mission civilian chief
hedi annabi his brazilian deputy luiz carlos da costa and acting police
commissioner doug coates of the royal canadian mounted police
ban has sent edmond mulet top un peacekeeping official and annabi
predecessor to port au prince to take charge of minustah in an interim
capacity
later he and mulet took part in ceremony to remember the un dead and in
sad symbolic move the un chief was handed the flag from the un headquarters to
take back to new york with him
the united nations on friday appealed for million dollars from the world
community to help three million quake victims in the western hemisphere
poorest country for the next six months
the money is to be used for urgently needed food water and sanitation medical
supplies tents and blankets logistics and education
ban last toured haiti with former us president bill clinton in march to
urge the international community to aid the island nation after it was battered
by hurricanes the previous year
urgent haiti donors summit set for january in montreal canada
ottawa jan afp
donor countries to haiti reconstruction efforts after tuesday massive quake
will meet january in montreal canada foreign affairs minister lawrence
cannon said sunday
urgent haiti has buried in mass graves minister
port au prince jan afp
some bodies have been buried in mass graves in haiti and state of
emergency has been declared until the end of january haitian minister said
sunday
cre eg jkb arb
alert
donor countries to meet january in canada on haiti reconstruction
chile very wealthy president elect sebastian pinera
santiago jan afp
sebastian pinera chile president elect after winning runoff election
sunday is very wealthy tycoon with his fingers in many pies in one of south
america most prosperous nations
the owner of one of chile four television networks and football club
pinera also has significant holdings in the flagship airline lan chile and
several other businesses
in the lead up to sunday poll he was not shy in employing his fortune
estimated by forbes magazine at billion dollars to court votes piloting
his own private helicopter around the country to meet supporters
his victory came after failed tilt four years ago at the presidency when he
was beaten by current president michelle bachelet who was barred
constitutionally from seeking reelection
considered gifted businessman by his allies he successfully deflected
bachelet suggestions this time around that potential conflicts of interest
existed between his political ambitions and his corporate empire
the message he sent to the electorate was that far from being the chilean
version of italian prime minister silvio berlusconi his adversaries portrayed
him as his negotiating acumen was now at the service of the nation
not all were convinced though
there are concerns about the relationship between politics and business he has
interests in sectors regulated by the chilean government and also companies in
other countries this could influence his decisions said senator jorge
pizarro who led the campaign in favor of pinera defeated rival eduardo frei
in an effort to mitigate those sorts of criticisms pinera in april handed
management of big portion of his fortune over to blind trust in which he
had no say over day to day decisions
but he has kept his stake in lan although he has promised to sell it before
taking office on march
obviously the issue of business and politics affected frei voters more than
those backing pinera pinera voters don see it as problem the head of
encuestadora mori survey firm marta lagos told afp
indeed many people thought that if pinera is able to create wealth for
himself he can do it for everybody she said
seen by some as cold pinera went to great efforts during his campaign to
present new image he was seen in public with his wife and four children and
even went through the dance moves of michael jackson thriller on television
it hard for me to express my feelings but the campaign made me seem closer
he admitted
even friend of pinera who was involved in his campaign jose miguel
izquierdo recognized that the billionaire has difficult personality
but he said his business personality definitely puts him close to the
issues held by the people
pinera has voiced opinions counter to the positions of part of his conservative
base for instance supporting civil unions for homosexual couples
he also successfully put distance between himself and the dictatorship of
general august pinochet which enjoyed the backing of several of the right wing
parties now supporting him
to have worked for government even the military government is not sin or
crime he said
figure skating united states championships results
spokane washington jan afp
selected results here on sunday from the united states figure skating
championships qualifier for the vancouver winter olympics
men
final standings jeremy abbott evan lysacek johnny weir
ryan bradley adam rippon brandon mroz
broadmoor
free skate
jeremy abbott ryan bradley evan lysacek adam
rippon johnny weir brandon mroz
alert
state of emergency declared in haiti til end of month minister
albania airlines plane makes emergency landing in bratislava
bratislava jan afp
an albania airlines plane flying from albania to italy made an emergency landing
in bratislava after experiencing technical problem on sunday evening an air
slovakia source told afp
he added the albanian carrier had hired the plane from air slovakia
some time after takeoff they had technical problem so they decided to land
in bratislava because we have maintenance here said the source refusing to
give his name
he added technicians in bratislava were still looking for solution shortly
before midnight gmt on sunday
albanian media and an albania airlines spokesman said on sunday the pilots of
boeing with passengers on board flying from tirana to bologna in italy
diverted the plane towards bratislava in protest against delayed salaries
according to the bratislava airport website flight lv landed at local
time gmt
the flightstats com website said the plane was scheduled to land in bologna at
gmt
chavez seizes french colombian supermarkets for price gouging
caracas jan afp
president hugo chavez on sunday said the government would expropriate the
franco colombian supermarket chain exito for price speculation in the wake of
the devaluation of the national currency the bolivar last week
the exito chain on grounds of numerous violations of venezuelan laws will
belong to the republic chavez said on his weekly radio and television show
alo presidente
he said he had ordered congress to quickly pass new law for the
nationalization of exito which he hoped would become sword against any
retailer who raises his prices to speculative levels
the exito chain is majority owned by french group casino and has branches in
