window of jesus collapsed
despite the series of big aftershocks rescuers have kept up their grim search
through the rubble elated by successes in finding survivors who have defied the
odds international rescue teams have so far rescued people
hoteline losana was found in the wreckage of supermarket late tuesday
only hours after anna zizi who is about sang as she was carried out of the
ruins of port au prince cathedral three week old baby girl was dug out of
rubble in the city of jacmel
losana was said to be conscious and in good form by thiery cerdan of the
french group rescuers without borders which carried out the nine hour operation
with haitian firemen and american experts
we pulled someone out seven days after an earthquake that is quite
extraordinary said bruno besson another member of the french team
french rescuers also found tiny day old elisabeth on tuesday in hollow
beneath the ruins of the house in southern jacmel after spending five hours
trying to get through to her
we handed her to her mother who put her to the breast it was real joy said
philippe besson head of the organization emergency firefighters international
the massive us relief operation with some us forces due to be deployed
in or around the country ramped up several gears tuesday when us troops fanned
out across the ruined capital
but international efforts are also focusing on rebuilding the country with
major donor conference set for monday in montreal
imf chief dominique strauss kahn on wednesday called for multilateral aid plan
for haiti on the scale of the us marshall plan that rebuilt europe after world
war ii
in huge global effort more than billion dollars has been pledged in aid
funding for haiti according to un data
but strauss kahn said he believed haiti needs something that is big as the
impoverished caribbean nation one of the poorest countries in the world
looks to the future
not only piecemeal approach but something which is much bigger to deal with
the reconstruction of the country some kind of marshall plan that we need
now to implement for haiti he said in statement
haiti ambassador to spain yolette azor charles said the reconstruction could
take years and warned the death toll could exceed as help has yet to
reach many villages
at the beginning said reconstruction would take years but when
realized the magnitude of the quake thought it better to say then
and now she told afp
un aid workers meanwhile were also searching port au prince for any more
damage or potential new victims after the new aftershock in the south
bed capacity us naval hospital ship arrived off haiti wednesday with
about medical personnel and was ready to start taking on board the worst of
the injured
the ship is now set up to do immediate life saving surgery colonel richard
ellison told reporters
the usns comfort tonne mercy class hospital ship will treat to
patients at time chosen by haitian officials from the thousands thronging
hospitals and make shift clinics
but major general daniel allyn deputy commander of the us military operation in
haiti said tuesday that us forces would soon switch the focus of the operation
to recovering bodies rather than looking for survivors
tens of thousands of survivors remain camped out under makeshift tents among the
rubble and for many looting was the only way to survive
look when you are hungry and poor nobody helps you have to steal one
defiant young man named vincent said as people plunged into the ruins of
flattened supermarket
football juve fans hit with new sanction for balotelli abuse
rome jan afp
juventus were on wednesday hit with fourth sanction after fans once again
targetted inter milan mario balotelli with series of racist chants
juve already have been punished three times this season for their abuse of
balotelli an italian of ghanaian origin
one of those sanctions was the closure of the turin olympic stadium south
stand for saturday visit of as roma
however fans chanted anti balotelli slogans during last weekend away match
against chievo in verona and juve have been punished again
following meeting by the italian observatory the body charged with handing
out sporting punishments juve have also been barred from selling tickets in the
north stand for the roma match to anyone other than season ticket holders
roma fans will only be allowed to buy single tickets
juve fans have also been barred from attending their coppa italia match away
to inter milan on january while they can buy only one ticket each for their
next away match in serie against lazio
there will also be an increase in police and stewards at juve matches to try to
put stop to the chants
it decision that we accept and we sympathise with said juve commercial
director marco fassone
the observatory management wants to isolate this racist phenomenon by improving
the external and internal services with police and stewards
our case can used as laboratory given that these things could also happen at
other clubs
italian football federation general manager antonello valentini exonerated juve
of all blame in the behaviour of minority of supporters
it has been noted that juve are the victims of these episodes there is great
recognition of the efforts juve have made to combat racism
because of this juventus will be helped and supported by everyone to protect
the club
when juve were first punished for racial chants by their fans against balotelli
last season they had to play match behind closed doors they were told it
was for not having done enough to discourage those chants
support slips for obama in california stronghold
los angeles jan afp
president barack obama popularity has plunged in democrat dominated
california poll reported wednesday giving the us leader another gloomy
bulletin to digest following stunning republican upset in massachusetts
senate election
the field poll of registered voters in california found that obama
overall approval rating had fallen from percent last march to percent
with percent disapproving of his performance
on specific issues majority of californians now disapprove of obama
handling of the us economy only percent approved down from percent in
march last year the survey showed
majority also gave thumbs down to obama performance on the issue of health
care reform his top domestic priority with percent disapproving and
percent approving
the field poll attributed the decline in obama popularity in california to
sharp falls in his approval ratings amongst democrats and non partisans
since march obama approval ratings amongst democrats had dipped from
percent to percent
the poll findings come after republican scott brown pulled off shock victory
in tuesday massachusetts vote capturing the late democratic icon edward
kennedy seat in stern rebuke of obama exactly year after he took office
european stocks fall on chinese credit tightening
london jan afp
european stocks plunged on wednesday as jitters spread through the markets after
disappointing company results credit tightening in china and fears over the
fledgling economic recovery
united nations report found that the world economy would rebound in with
percent growth but it warned that it could slump back into recession if
state stimulus spending is wound up too early
premature removal of state support could trigger the second part of
double dip recession after last year contraction said the preliminary un
report on the world economic situation and prospects
london benchmark ftse index finished percent down at points
the paris cac fell percent to points and the frankfurt dax
dropped percent to points
the dj euro stoxx index of top eurozone shares shed percent to reach
traders also digested us bank results one day after stock markets were boosted
by us food giant kraft billion dollar takeover of british chocolate group
cadbury
earlier on wednesday top us banks morgan stanley bank of america and wells
fargo declared their fourth quarter earnings which provided mixed
picture on the sector so far
bank of america and morgan stanley missed analysts expectations while wells
fargo posted an unexpected profit but its revenues came up short of
expectations
wall street slumped after opening with the dow jones industrial average
shedding percent in early trades to day after the key us
indexes leapt to their best levels in more than months
the nasdaq composite fell percent and the standard amp poor index
lost percent
stocks are under pressure in early action as traders digest key banking
earnings reports and actions from china to stem excess liquidity analysts at
charles schwab amp co said in client note
uncertainty over beijing monetary policy also weighed on shares in shanghai
and hong kong on wednesday overshadowing the strong lead overnight from wall
street
asian equities were lower dragged down by financials on fears of further
chinese tightening hence flat open in europe said altium securities analyst
ian williams
shanghai tumbled percent with banks leading the losses on renewed concerns
over tighter controls on lending dealers said
china will rein in credit after explosive growth last year top regulator said
wednesday as it seeks to prevent the economy from overheating
this year we will continue to control the pace of the credit supply banking
regulator liu minkang told the asian financial forum in hong kong
however he downplayed report by the official china securities journal that
major banks had been told to stop extending new loans for the rest of january
elsewhere in asia on wednesday hong kong stocks fell percent amid renewed
weakness in banks
and tokyo shares ended down percent giving up early gains as investors
turned cautious ahead of more us earnings
investors continued to dump shares in japan airlines day after the debt
ridden carrier filed for bankruptcy and announced it would delist its shares
next month in move expected to wipe out investors
jal ended at record low of two yen two us cents down three yen or
percent
investors were meanwhile awaiting thursday publication of chinese economic
output data for the fourth quarter of
white house vows to press on after vote shock
washington jan afp
the white house wednesday set out to save president barack obama ambitious
agenda and insisted his health reform plan was not dead after massachusetts
voters dealt democrats stinging blow
on the anniversary of obama euphoric inauguration republicans celebrated
their best election showing in years after their stunning capture of the late
edward kennedy seat stripped democrats of vital senate supermajority
top obama aides insisted that though the president would heed the result he
would press on with his now much more complicated bid to pass historic health
care reform and would focus directly on america economic blight
david axelrod obama top political advisor said that the president believed
middle class americans were hobbled by crisis in health care and would not
give up the reform fight
it not an option simply to walk away from problem that only going to get
worse he told msnbc
many observers believe that scott brown the winning republican in
massachusetts tapped into an outburst of anger and frustration especially
among independents over the slow economic rebound and percent unemployment
white house spokesman robert gibbs told msnbc that the administration had to
work harder to convince americans that obama is continually focusing on their
economic situation
he wakes up in the morning and he goes to bed at night thinking about how to
make people lives better how to create that environment for creating jobs
how to get this economy moving again for real working people
republicans however styled their triumph as clear sign that americans wanted
obama to put the brakes on his reform drive and to throw away the now unpopular
bid to remake us health care and begin again
this was in many ways national referendum principally on the major issue
we re wrestling with here in the congress said senate republican minority
leader mitch mcconnell
mcconnell also saw the election as vindication for his party strategy of
branding obama as traditional big spending liberal who wants to expand the
size of government
the american people have made it abundantly clear that they more
interested in shrinking unemployment than expanding government
they tired of bailouts they tired of the government spending more
than ever at time when most people are spending less and they don want
the government taking over health care
the massachusetts result made for dismaying first anniversary of obama first
year in office
it followed two stinging democratic defeats in gubernatorial races in new jersey
and virginia where obama won big in and comes as his personal approval
ratings dip below percent
the result and the shifting congressional mathematics cast doubt over whether
obama will be able to enact big ticket items like global warming legislation
financial regulatory reform and immigration reform this year
the most immediate problem for the white house is how to pass healthcare now
that republicans can thwart final vote in the senate
house and senate negotiators have been working with the white house on final
version that must be passed through both chambers before it is sent to obama
desk
one option may be for the house of representatives to swallow its massive
objections and endorse the senate version of the bill but it is far from
clear democrats have the votes for that option
new york democratic congressman anthony weiner meanwhile said democrats had no
choice but to heed the message delivered by voters in massachusetts and called
on obama to do more to convince americans to support his health reform plan
if we re having problem in massachusetts we re going to have problems
all over the country weiner said on fox business channel
think the president has to come down off the mountain bit and help us sell
to the american people these changes we re trying to make
it was bad day for health care yesterday no doubt about it he said
world economy could see double dip recession un
geneva jan afp
the world economy will bounce back in with growth of percent but could
slump back into recession if state stimulus spending is wound up too early the
united nations said wednesday
the un preliminary report on the world economic situation and prospects
cautioned that premature removal of state support could trigger the second
part of double dip recession after last year contraction
world gross product fell by an estimated percent in un economic bodies
estimated in the report
premised on continued supportive policy stance worldwide mild growth of
percent is forecast for the report added
mild growth of five percent in world trade volume was forecast for this year
after falling by record percent last year
the un warned that the recovery was uneven and conditions for sustained growth
were fragile with consumer demand and investment remaining weak as unemployment
continued to rise especially in wealthy nations
it cautioned against any early move by governments to unwind total of about
trillion dollars of economic stimulus measures for in the wake of
the financial and economic crises
the rebound in domestic demand remains tentative at best in many economies and
is far from self sustaining the report said
much of the rebound in the real economy is due to the strong fiscal stimulus
provided by governments in large number of developed and developing
countries
industry was also restocking inventories it had run down during the crisis
reviving production the report added
an additional trillion dollars of taxpayers money was set aside to rescue
the financial sector after the credit crunch toppled major banks the un noted
it also tempered optimism about the resurgence in stock markets
the stronger than expected rebound in equity prices worldwide may belie the
fact that there are still problems remaining in financial sectors in major
economies which continue to constrain credit availability and could lead to more
failures of financial institutions in the near future the report said
the report indicated that developing and least developed countries had managed
to sustain growth through the crisis albeit at low levels allowing them to
recover much faster this year
the outlook for developed economies was more subdued with average growth of
about percent forecast for after decline of percent last year
the un predicted that china output would grow by percent in just
of percentage point up on last year and still short of the double digit rates
recorded in the years up to
it also forecast growth of percent in us output this year after drop of
percent in
at least dead in prison riot in mexico
mexico city jan afp
rival gangs clashed inside prison in the mexican state of durango on
wednesday leaving at least people dead prosecutors there said
we have confirmed that people died in the fighting at the jail in the
northwestern state spokesman for the prosecutor office told afp by phone
army and federal troops as well as police were sent in to quell fighting between
gangs which the spokesman said broke out at about gmt they brought the
situation under control about minutes later the spokesman said
us not naive about yemen top officials
washington jan afp
top us officials told worried lawmakers on wednesday that yemen leaders had
made decisive turn against al qaeda but insisted washington was not naive
about the sanaa government as an ally
the government of yemen is beset by many challenges jeffrey feltman
assistance us secretary of state for near eastern affairs told the senate
foreign relations committee we are not naive about our yemeni partner
he cited violent unrest in the country north and south an inconsistent
ability to deliver services to much of its people and said sanaa record on
human rights good governance and anti corruption had been wanting
but in terms of the government of yemen determination and willingness to
confront threat of al qaeda militants in the country we should be and we are
encouraged by recent steps the government has taken said feltman
his comments came in the wake of foiled christmas day plot to blow up us
airliner carried out by nigerian allegedly trained in yemen by al qaeda in
the arabian peninsula aqap
they also came day after the senate committee released report warning that
aqap may also be training as many as three dozen us citizens who converted to
islam in prison
the americans traveled to yemen upon their release ostensibly to study arabic
but possibly for al qaeda training the report said citing us law enforcement
sources
while there is no public evidence of any terrorist action by the former
convicts who may have been radicalized in prison several have dropped off
the radar for weeks at time according to the report
us officials are on heightened alert because of the potential threat from
extremists carrying american passports and the related challenges involved in
detecting and stopping homegrown operatives it said
us officials are also worried about non yemeni americans blonde haired
blue eyed types who traveled to yemen converted to islam became
fundamentalists married yemeni women and fit the profile of americans that al
qaeda has sought to recruit
the us state department top counter terrorism official daniel benjamin told
the committee he had no reason to contradict the report and that some yemeni
institutions had proved effective incubators of radicalization
but benjamin praised decisive turn by the yemeni government and decisive
interest by the international community to help the sanaa government battle
extremism
israel deports us journalist palestinian media
jerusalem jan afp
israel on wednesday deported us journalist working for palestinian news agency
maan the agency reported but the jewish state denied he was being expelled
maan said its english language editor jared malsin who had been held at tel
aviv ben gurion airport for the past week called to say he was being placed
on flight to new york
he sounded shaken and confused said george hale journalist with maan
israel interior ministry confirmed that malsin had been put on flight
saying it was done once he withdrew an appeal to the order barring his entry
into the country
malsin was not expelled but was refused entry into israel after he refused to
cooperate with security officials at the airport said ministry spokesman sabin
hadad
every country has the right to deny entry to those who won cooperate with
border security she told afp
malsin had apparently dropped the challenge on tuesday without the knowledge of
his lawyer maan said in statement
maan is deeply concerned that there was no lawyer present when malsin
apparently filed this independent motion the private news agency said
without jumping to conclusions maan wants to be sure these events did not take
place under duress it said adding that malsin lawyer and relatives had been
unable to reach him in the hours before the deportation
rights group reporters without borders joined the call for an investigation into
the incident
did the journalist come under pressure the paris based watchdog said in
statement
it is reasonable to question the legality of this expulsion in the absence of
transparency on the part of the israeli authorities it added
malsin was detained on january on returning from vacation in prague and told
he would be deported on security grounds hale said
bur gr bpz
rugbyu venter escapes with suspended ban
london jan afp
saracens director of rugby brendan venter escaped with suspended touchline ban
on wednesday after publicly criticising referee david rose
the former springbok centre was found guilty of conduct prejudicial to the
interests of the union by rugby football union rfu disciplinary panel which
met on tuesday but published its findings on wednesday
venter who could have been hit with an immediate touchline ban was suspended
from matchday coaching for four weeks but the ban was itself suspended until
december
he was also ordered to publicly apologise to rose and pay pounds
dollars in costs
after saracens english premiership defeat by leicester at welford road on
january venter appeared to question rose integrity by saying the official
had been different referee in the second half
the south african then broadened his remarks to slam the standard of officiating
in the premiership in general which he blamed for lack of tries this season
however he was charged specifically over the contents of bbc radio interview
in which he said think the referee was influenced at half time and that
all can think
all know is something happened at half time the game changed
the panel accepted venter was responding to question from the bbc about
inconsistency in refereeing and that did not mean to attack rose integrity
but the panel chaired by judge jeff blackett the rfu disciplinary officer
said there was an implication in the bbc question that the referee had been
improperly influenced at half time and the way in which venter answered that
question was likely to have left the listener with the impression that this was
the case
its judgment added we accept that venter is man of integrity who is
passionate about rugby who wants to improve areas which he considers in need of
improvement and speaks his mind
he also is aware his passion could get him into trouble and we advised him to
be careful in future about the way he espouses his theories in public
venter in an apology issued via the saracens website www saracens com said
wednesday apologise unreservedly for making statement which caused offence
to david rose during my post match comments to the media after our game against
leicester at vicarage road on january
firmly believe that did not question or intend to question david
integrity and any criticism which has been implied was not meant
when said that believed he had been influenced at half time did not
intend that to mean that he was improperly influenced
as said in the interview have no doubt that all referees operating in the
guinness english premiership including david are honest and operate without
intentionally favouring one side over another added venter whose side are
currently second in the table point behind leaders leicester
hope that we can put this matter behind us and look forward to welcoming
david rose back to vicarage road in the near future
french government steps in to calm energy firm row
paris jan afp
the french government on wednesday gave energy firms areva and edf two weeks to
settle row over nuclear fuel treatment that had turned into an ugly public
spat between france two showcase companies
prime minister francois fillon called in edf boss henri proglio and areva
chief executive anne lauvergeon for meeting at his matignon office to tell
them that they must act as partners not competitors an aide said
the two companies have argued over the pricing of areva services to treat
uranium waste treatment at electricity firm edf nuclear power stations
tensions had also risen after french companies lost out last month to south
korean led consortium for billion dollar contract to build four nuclear
power plants in the united arab emirates
the loss was humiliating for areva champion of the new generation epr nuclear
reactor and critics cited lack of coordination between the different french
bodies involved in the bid
the chief executives agreed during the meeting to outline within two weeks the
terms for applying accord on long term cooperation in the treatment
recycling and production of fuel waste said statement from fillon office
the two company bosses made no comment following the meeting that lasted about
minutes and was also attended by finance minister christine lagarde and
environment minister jean louis borloo
edf had accused areva on monday of halting fuel supplies to the electricity
giant nuclear reactors in contract dispute but areva denied the claim
saying it had stopped treatment of the waste
president nicolas sarkozy chief of staff claude gueant complained that
france world heavyweight nuclear sector was lacking leadership
this is pathetic said senator ladislas poniatowksi from sarkzoy ump party
we have nuclear industry in france that is pretty much first rate but they
are killing it with this kind of behaviour
the government has also defended proglio in controversy over his earnings as
head of edf while he is also earning money from position at the french
international utility group veolia
wall street slumps on bank results china credit squeeze
new york jan afp
wall street stocks slumped wednesday amid mixed earnings results from key banks
and credit tightening by global economic growth driver china
the dow jones industrial average plunged points percent at
gmt to day after the key us indexes leapt to their best levels in
more than months
the nasdaq composite sank points percent to and the
standard amp poor index lost points percent to
the market opened after top banks morgan stanley bank of america and wells
fargo declared their fourth quarter earnings which provided mixed
picture on the key sector so far as the economy recovers from recession
bank of america and morgan stanley missed analysts expectations while wells
fargo posted an unexpected profit but its revenues came up short of
expectations
traders are digesting key banking earnings reports and expressing some concerns
regarding the global economic impact of actions from china to stem excess
liquidity analysts at charles schwab amp co said in clients note
adding to the uneasy backdrop they said were us housing starts that fell more
than anticipated which flared up concerns about the housing recovery and
overshadowed surprising jump in building permits
china top beijing regulator said china would rein in credit after explosive
growth last year as the nation vies to cool its red hot economy
this year we will continue to control the pace of the credit supply banking
regulator liu minkang told the asian financial forum in hong kong
however he downplayed report by the official china securities journal that
major banks had been told to stop extending new loans for the rest of january
joseph hargett of schaeffer investment research said news of the chinese
clampdown on lending is helping to exacerbate confidence issues for wall
street
in signs of the struggling us housing sector the epicenter of the financial
crisis the commerce department said construction starts on privately owned
housing fell to seasonally adjusted annual rate of in december from
the revised november estimate of
most analysts had forecast starts at
among banking stocks bank of america rose percent to dollars while
morgan stanley fell percent to dollars and wells fargo was down
percent to dollars
ibm the world largest computer services provider slumped percent to
dollars even after reporting fourth quarter profit of billion
dollars after the close of trading tuesday
kraft foods lost percent to dollars after its proposed billion
dollar acquisition of cadbury came under fire from billionaire investor warren
buffett whose berkshire hathaway is kraft largest shareholder
the bond market rose the yield on the year us treasury bond fell to
percent from percent tuesday and that on the year bond dipped to
percent from percent
urgent at least dead in prison riot in mexico
mexico city jan afp
rival gangs clashed inside prison in the mexican state of durango on
wednesday leaving at least people dead prosecutors there said
egypt rights groups dispute govt theory on copt killings
cairo jan afp
two leading egyptian rights groups on wednesday criticised authorities for
refusing to acknowledge the sectarian dimension in the recent killing of six
coptic christians in southern egypt
what happened in nagaa hammadi was sectarian killing hafez abou seada
secretary general of the egyptian organisation for human rights eohr said in
statement
on january the eve of the coptic orthodox christmas three gunmen raked
worshippers emerging from mass in nagaa hammadi with bullets the deadliest
attack since when copts were killed in sectarian clashes
