either
on tuesday the rooms cost dollars on wednesday said the manager of
port au prince hotel who asked not to be named
we are not stealing we offer service when there are no services in the city
we try to give journalists who are our only clients right now water
electricity internet that has price
in city where all restaurants and percent of the supermarkets are destroyed
or closed eating one proper meal day is also luxury that comes at steep
price
plate of pasta with tomato costs dollars scrambled eggs dollars prices
in the capital of the poorest country in the region are now comparable to those
in madrid or rome
people have practically nothing to eat on the street humanitarian aid is not
arriving getting this food costs money and time said maurice the head of
hotel kitchen
taxis already luxury in the haitian capital before the quake are now well
beyond the reach of all but the richest
cars are rented for up to dollars per day including driver and full fuel
tank for the same service motorcycle costs dollars or nearly
gourdes in country where the average worker earns gourdes per day
earning lot of money admitted frederic leny taxi driver but this is
not going to last within days the rest of the world will have forgotten haiti
have to save because practically the whole country is without work now he
said expecting fewer fares ahead
tennis workmanlike venus slips into third round
melbourne jan afp
venus williams says she is playing style of attacking tennis that suits her
after powering into the third round of the australian open on thursday
the sixth seed was never really threatened by left handed austrian sybille
bammer as she wrapped up comfortable win in minutes
bammer game plan seemed to be to try and get the ball back into play as much
as possible and wait for her opponent to make mistake and this tactic worked
on occasions as williams hit unforced errors over two sets
but the american sixth seed also blasted winners many of them coming at
the net to bammer four to underline her superiority
playing two lefties in the first two rounds is little unusual said
williams who beat lucie safarova in round one
but was up for the challenge
she really good player and really good athlete her game is little bit
different from most people so you really have to be little more patient
because she hitting kind of moonball almost
it little bit different so just had to just make sure stayed on my
rhythm happy to be through
williams who was bundled out at this stage last year by unheralded spaniard
carla suarez navarro will play either croatia karolina spremm or australian
casey dellacqua in the third round
the seven time grand slam winner has never won the australian open and she would
likely have to get past fourth seed caroline wozniacki in the quarters and
sister serena in the semis to have shot in
but the nature of her wins over safarova and bammer indicate she has as good
chance as anyone of lifting the trophy
don necessarily like to put lot of importance on if played well one day
or not she said
it really about obviously winning the match and then improving for the next
day if have good day or not as good day just put that behind me and
get ready for the next match
so not into oh well in form so ll do well or not in form
she did concede she was playing brand of tennis this week that she enjoys
for the most part enjoying coming in lot she said
mean it feels pretty natural for me to come in like that that good for
me
williams started well against bammer breaking her in the fourth game and again
in the eighth to take the first set in minutes
bammer attacked in the second as williams serve went off the boil and the
austrian opened lead but williams soon recovered and some huge serving
saw her take control breaking bammer twice to open up lead
williams faltered while serving for the match and bammer broke to get back on
terms only to serve nervous game herself at and hand the match to the
american
gates warns of dangers in pakistan militant havens
islamabad jan afp
us defense secretary robert gates warned thursday that taliban safe havens along
the pakistan afghanistan border must be tackled or both nations would suffer
more lethal and more brazen attacks
gates who arrived in islamabad from india for two day visit stressed
washington commitment to pakistan and praised offensives launched against the
pakistani taliban across the lawless northwest tribal belt in recent months
but us officials have made clear that washington is anxious to see islamabad
also target the afghan taliban within its borders and al qaeda linked militants
using the tribal region to plot and launch attacks into afghanistan
in new delhi on wednesday gates warned that south asian militant groups
including al qaeda were seeking to destabilise the entire region and could
trigger war between nuclear armed pakistan and india
gates said thursday he planned to ask pakistani leaders about plans to broaden
their campaign to north waziristan bastion of al qaeda and the haqqani
network known for attacking us and nato troops fighting the taliban in
afghanistan
think the way will approach it is to simply ask them what their plans are
he told reporters on his flight from new delhi adding that he heard about plans
to move into the north waziristan area later this year
in an editorial in english language daily the news gates wrote that making
distinctions between the different extremist groups as pakistan is often
accused of doing was counter productive
it is important to remember that the pakistani taliban operates in collusion
with both the taliban in afghanistan and al qaeda so it is impossible to
separate those groups gates wrote
if history is any indication safe havens for either taliban on either side of
the border will in the long run lead to more lethal and more brazen attacks in
both nations he added
only by pressuring all of these groups on both sides of the border will
afghanistan and pakistan be able to rid themselves of this scourge for good
to destroy those who promote the use of terror here and abroad
the pentagon chief visit comes at time of diplomatic tension as volley of
us drone missile strikes hit militants in the northwest fuelling anti american
sentiment and drawing public condemnation from the government
officials in his delegation said gates hoped to reassure wary pakistan public
and leadership that the united states was not going turn its back on them as
in the past
gates has lamented that washington lost interest in the region after the soviets
withdrew from afghanistan and lost the trust of pakistani armed forces after
us ban on military aid over islamabad nuclear programme in the
in bid to shore up the us image in pakistan the americans have organised an
event with military audience on friday where the pentagon chief will give
speech and take questions from the audience
gates was due to meet pakistan president asif ali zardari army chief general
ashfaq kayani defence minister ahmed mukhtar and intelligence chief lieutenant
general ahmed shuja pasha on thursday
the visit is part of broader effort to overcome what officials on both sides
call the trust deficit between the two countries with the united states
receiving dismal ratings from the pakistani public
us president barack obama administration views pakistan as central part of
its fight against al qaeda and taliban militants operating in the region
asked about possible expansion of pakistan operations against militants
gates said washington stood ready to provide training and equipment but it was
up to islamabad to decide the pace of operations
having them set the pace as to what they think the political situation can
bear is almost certainly the right thing to do he told reporters
png prisons minister loses job over mass jailbreak
port moresby jan afp
papua new guinea jails minister was stripped of his portfolio thursday after
jailbreak of some of the country most notorious criminals just ahead of
visit by the us secretary of state
prime minister michael somare issued statement saying correctional services
minister tony aimo had been stood down from his portfolio australian associated
press aap reported
prime minister had met with minister tony aimo on january and informed him
that he will remain minister but without portfolio the statement said
according to aap
the correctional services portfolio will be vested with the pm until further
notice and after an investigation is carried out
twelve prisoners including three on death row broke out of bomana prison
outside the capital port moresby early on january after woman posing as
lawyer smuggled in gun
the mass escape came just days before us secretary of state hillary clinton was
due to touch down for six hour visit to the impoverished but resource rich
south pacific island nation
according to local press the country correctional services commissioner
richard sikani had also been sidelined as result of the breakout aap said
png most notorious underworld figure william kapris who was awaiting trial
over several high profile bank robberies was among the escapees
kapris also stands accused of rape plane hijacking and police officer
murder and police have offered kina us dollar reward for his
capture the bank south pacific is offering much more significant sum for
information assisting its own investigation
clinton stopover in port moresby was to be the first by us secretary of
state since she cancelled the trip following the devastating earthquake in
haiti
china posts scorching growth but prices heat up
beijing jan afp
china red hot economy expanded by percent in but inflation surged
towards the end of the year new data showed thursday as authorities intervened
to avert the risk of overheating
gross domestic product in the world third largest economy which analysts say
is on track to overtake struggling japan returned to double digit growth in the
fourth quarter the growth of percent was the fastest in two years
and gdp growth surpassed the government target of eight percent for the full
year level that is seen as crucial to foster job creation and stave off
social unrest in china urbanising population of billion people
but china biggest rise in inflation in months underlined the broader
challenges of breakneck growth and came as the world bank and international
monetary fund warned anew that the country could face us style bubble
ma jiantang commissioner of the national bureau of statistics credited
government stimulus package worth four trillion yuan billion dollars with
sustaining growth in year when much of the global economy was in crisis
we need to prevent the overly fast increases in prices and keep close eye on
the trend in prices ma added at news conference but said he believed
inflation in should be mild and controllable
china consumer price index rose percent year on year in december the
index fell percent over after the nation only emerged from an almost
year long bout of deflation in november
after starting trying to prop up economic growth beijing ended it faced
with growing inflationary pressures and the threat of asset bubbles caused by
rampant bank lending which last year nearly doubled from
authorities are already clamping down
on thursday the people bank of china raised the interest rate on its
benchmark three month treasury bills for the second time in two weeks in bid
to deter new lending
chinese banks are also under orders to raise their capital cushions against the
risk of bad debts as the country newly affluent consumers go on binge of
buying property cars and luxury goods
fears of further tightening by beijing weighed on hong kong hang seng share
index which closed down percent although the shanghai market recouped
earlier losses
policymakers will need to move soon to stop the economy from overheating said
brian jackson hong kong based strategist at royal bank of canada
we have already seen some initial steps in the direction of tighter policy but
higher rates and stronger currency will also be part of the package
china urban fixed asset investment measure of government spending on
infrastructure and key driver of the economy rose percent in while
overall fixed asset investment rose percent thursday data showed
industrial output from china millions of factories and workshops rose
percent in the fourth quarter and percent for all of
retail sales jumped percent in
this week premier wen jiabao said beijing was carefully monitoring the risks
associated with its hefty pump priming of last year although china top
banking regulator wednesday denied that banks had been ordered to stop lending
wen comments reinforced signs that china could exit its aggressive stimulus
policy and apply the brakes step that would have broader repercussions for
world economy increasingly reliant on chinese growth
the percent growth in the final quarter of was the best result since
the fourth quarter of when it hit percent
the full year figure exceeded analyst expectations but was down from
percent in and was the slowest full year increase in eight years
the latest figures are expected to increase pressure on beijing to let its
currency effectively pegged to the us dollar since mid to appreciate
this year
ihs global insight economist ren xianfang said she expected china to grow by
percent in and overtake japan to become the world second biggest economy
think it will happen this year ren said
oil prices steady before us inventory data
london jan afp
oil prices were little changed on thursday before the release of widely
monitored data on us energy reserves
new york main contract light sweet crude for march delivery rose seven cents
to dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for delivery in march dipped one cent to dollars in
early london trading
the us department of energy was on thursday to publish its weekly report on
energy stockpiles in the united states the world biggest energy consuming
nation
analysts polled by dow jones newswires said they expected us crude reserves to
show rise of million barrels rise to inventory levels is seen as an
indication of weak demand
gasoline stocks are seen increasing by million barrels the poll said the
doe is releasing its report one day later than normal owing to us bank holiday
on monday
cricket india win bangladesh test by runs
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
india beat bangladesh by runs on the fifth and final of the first test on
thursday to gain lead in the two match series
the second test starts in dhaka on sunday
brief scores
india and decl bangladesh and
yemen halts giving entry visas at airports over qaeda threat
sanaa jan afp
yemen stopped granting entry visas to travellers at its airports thursday to
halt terrorist infiltration widening its dragnet against an al qaeda cell
believed behind spate of international attacks
the measure comes as pressure mounts on sanaa to crack down on al qaeda in the
arabian peninsula aqap which is entrenched in mountain redoubts east of the
capital and claimed responsibility for the botched christmas day bid to down
us airliner over detroit
yemen has stopped granting visas at the airport to halt terrorist
infiltration state news agency saba announced
military official said that in light of this decision granting visas to
foreigners will take place only through the embassies of yemen and after
consulting security authorities to verify the identities of travellers
this is to prevent the infiltration of any suspected terrorist elements he
was quoted by the defence ministry newspaper september as saying
six yemeni airports receive international flights
there was no immediate explanation as to is being targetted with the new measure
but until now very few nationalities were required to obtain visas before
travelling
earlier this week the us senate foreign relations committee released report
warning that aqap might be training as many as three dozen americans who
converted to islam in prison
these people travelled to yemen upon their release ostensibly to study arabic
but possibly for al qaeda training the report said
under previous regulations these people would have been allowed to enter the
country without being previously vetted
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 the report added
sanaa has been under intense international pressure to eradicate aqap which has
claimed it was behind number of attacks against saudi korean yemeni and us
targets since it was founded year ago
in late december yemen launched new military campaign against the group
claiming to have killed or arrested dozens of jihadists and their leaders
as recently as wednesday yemeni jets bombed site that was believed to be
hideout for prominent al qaeda members
and last week they said they had killed six aqap leaders in an air strike
claim denied by the group
the most high profile yemeni american in the country is fugitive radical imam
anwar al awlaqi native of new mexico who is now in hiding presumably in
part of eastern yemen where his family tribe holds sway
white house aide has directly accused awlaqi of links with the man suspected
of shooting dead people at texas military base in november major nidal
hasan
us homeland security and counterterrorism adviser john brennan has also said he
might have had contact with the man who allegedly attempted to blow up the us
airliner on december umar farouk abdulmutallab
officials are also worried about non yemeni americans blonde haired
blue eyed types who travelled to yemen converted to islam became
fundamentalists married yemeni women and fit the profile of americans that al
qaeda has sought to recruit
aqap meanwhile has issued statement celebrating the first anniversary of its
founding according to site intelligence group which monitors jihadist
websites
the tuesday statement claimed the botched strike on the detroit bound airliner
and failed attempt to assassinate saudi arabia deputy interior minister
it claimed aqap was an inspiration to muslims the world over and nightmare
from which the zionist crusaders and the arab apostates cannot seem to awaken
on wednesday the us state department top counter terrorism official daniel
benjamin praised decisive turn by the yemeni government and decisive
interest by the international community to help the sanaa government battle
extremism
austrian economy recovering only gradually institute
vienna jan afp
austria economy is recovering only gradually from its deepest recession since
the and will notch up average annual growth of just percent until
leading institute forecast thursday
presenting its mid term economic forecast for austria the wifo think tank
predicted that average annual growth rate would be percentage points lower
than in the years prior to the economic crisis
austria economic performance was traditionally better than the eurozone
average but that advantage is likely to narrow given the anticipated
sluggishness of exports to eastern europe one of the driving forces behind
growth in the past wifo said in statement
the international financial and economic crisis pushed austria into its deepest
recession since the the institute said
the economy is recovering only very slowly with an average annual growth rate
of percent between and the economy will grow around three
quarters of percentage point slower than in the years preceding the
crisis it said
even in the period from when growth would be the strongest gross
domestic product gdp growth would be able to match the robust momentum seen
before the crisis wifo predicted
japan ntt docomo to launch xperia smart phone
tokyo jan afp
japan top mobile phone operator ntt docomo inc thursday said it will launch
sony ericsson xperia smart phone in april in direct challenge to
heavyweight apple iphone handsets
with the touchscreen xperia model that the japanese swedish enterprise will
introduce globally in the first quarter ntt docomo hopes to catch up with its
smart phone rivals in japan already saturated market
the company will further strengthen its promotion of smart phones as we launch
xperia in april ntt docomo president ryuji yamada said this is model that
we can call the nouvelle entertainment machine with this handset you can
handle such data as music pictures and movies as you like
xperia based on google backed android operating systems has four inch wide
touchscreen display and comes with applications for seamless data control
including face recognition function which enables users to search for
contact by simply tapping on the person face in group photo
the japanese mobile company will also set up docomo market webstore similar
to the apple itunes store from which users can purchase android based
applications selected for japanese consumers
ntt docomo pioneered third generation cellphones but has seen rivals chip away
at its lead through aggressive promotions notably of the iphone carried by
japan number three cellphone operator softbank
ntt docomo has launched the country first android based smart phone the ht
made by taiwanese electronics maker htc from which users will also be able
to access docomo market to download applications
most japanese already own mobile phone and operators are facing growing
challenges to boost revenue particularly in tough economic times
japanese mobile phones have developed independently to meet the hi tech demands
of the country discerning users for years boasting applications such as
digital credit train passes and terrestrial tv connections
xperia is late starter in the global smart phone market currently dominated
by apple iphone and the blackberry by research in motion
tennis hewitt sets up enticing baghdatis rematch at open
melbourne jan afp
australia lleyton hewitt set up an enticing third round rematch with marcos
baghdatis at the australian open after straight sets win over american
qualifier donald young on thursday
the two time grand slam champion bidding to become the first home player to win
the australian open since overcame the th ranked young
in two hours on rod laver arena
hewitt playing in his th consecutive australian open will now take on
baghdatis with memories resonant of their epic third round encounter at the
tournament
that game started just before midnight and ran for four hours minutes to be
the latest finish in open history
hewitt prevailed but was spent force for his
next match against eventual champion novak djokovic
we ve only played three times it not quite like the nadal federer thing just
yet hewitt quipped
for some reason some guys you play more at grand slams than you do on tour
events marcos and have been one of those matches
baghdatis ranked leads head to head after winning their last encounter
in the quarter finals of last week sydney international
the cypriot who made his name with his euphoric run to the australian open
final where he lost to roger federer stayed in the hunt with battling
win over spanish th seed david ferrer
think there are certain areas can mix up pretty well against him hewitt
said
he obviously great ball striker very clean off both sides going to
have to serve well against him yeah that going to be big key
he always played well in australia you look back to the year he made good
run and made the final here and surprised everyone
last year was tough for him in patches he went back to the challengers and
you ve got to take your hat off to that
he class player and he lot better than challenger player
baghdatis was not keen to talk about the rematch preferring to focus of his
victory over ferrer
don want to talk about that he said
very happy won today don want to think about lleyton today ll
start thinking about him tomorrow and the day after
hewitt who is playing in his th grand slam event lost to russian marat safin
in the final of the australian open after winning the us open and
wimbledon
lanka opposition alleges post poll coup plan
colombo jan afp
sri lanka main opposition said thursday it feared president mahinda rajapakse
would use the military to remain in power if he was defeated in next week
elections
opposition candidate sarath fonseka accused the government of pushing senior
army commanders to appear on state run television to express their public
support for rajapakse
by getting very senior officers to side with the president the government is
preparing the ground to hold on to power by using the army to suppress the
people will fonseka spokesman anura kumara dissanayake told reporters
rajapakse called tuesday vote two years ahead of schedule to benefit from the
government defeat of the separatist tamil tiger rebels after decades of ethnic
warfare on the island
but he faces surprise rival to power in fonseka the former general who led
the troops to victory in may
the two fell out over who deserved credit for crushing the rebels and
allegations that fonseka was himself planning coup after being sidelined
military spokesman udaya nanayakkara denied that senior officers were being
dragged into the election battle
zimbabwe suspends constitution making project
harare jan afp
zimbabwe has suspended its public outreach efforts to gather views on new
constitution throwing another obstacle on the path toward fresh elections
state media said thursday
funding problems caused the latest hitch in the process which began in july but
has been repeatedly delayed said the state run herald newspaper
all constitutional programmes have been suspended by the management committee
munyaradzi paul mangwana chairman of the committee said in the herald
teams of rapporteurs were meant to travel around the country to collect opinions
on the charter
there are still disagreements on the composition of the rapporteurs but there
are are other more pressing issues which have to be addressed like financial
constraints mangwana said
recording equipment is yet to be bought cars haven been mobilised and
rapporteurs are yet to be trained
therefore we cannot give timetable of when the actual outreach will start
because some of the issues are beyond our control as the select committee
mangwana said the committee would approach the un development programme and
other financiers who had pledged to sponsor the campaign
under the pact which led to the formation of power sharing government in
zimbabwe nearly one year ago the country three main political rivals agreed
to launch an month long effort to gather the views of the people and draft
new constitution which would be put to referendum
adoption of new charter would pave way for new elections following disputed
presidential polls in when president robert mugabe won after his main
rival morgan tsvangirai pulled out citing violence against his supporters
tsvangirai became prime minister in national unity government in february but
the administration remains beset by disputes over key appointments and the
prosecution of tsvangirai top allies
hiv infections emerge long after china blood scandal report
beijing jan afp
at least hospital patients in central china were infected with hiv through
contaminated blood according to state media report that highlighted the
continuing impact of blood selling scandal
the patients at the no hospital in hubei province daye city were infected
after receiving transfusions of blood sold by several local residents who were
later found to have hiv the wuhan morning post said on wednesday
it said the blood sellers were believed to have been infected earlier in
neighbouring henan province the area worst affected by huge aids scandal in
the that saw entire villages devastated by the disease
many people in central china were infected after repeatedly selling their blood
to collection stations that pooled it into tub and then injected it back into
them after taking the plasma
the infections in daye have received attention recently after one patient tested
positive for hiv in september and contested the amount of compensation offered
by the hospital the report said
doctors at the daye hospital were unaware that the blood was contaminated when
it was given to patients it said
some of the victims then passed the virus on to their wives or children
which brought the total number of infected to around according to the
report
xu chunyang the hospital deputy director who was quoted by the paper as the
source of the report would not confirm the figures when contacted by afp
we can still not determine how many were infected he said refusing further
comment
the blood selling scandal was initially covered up by local officials some of
whom were actively involved in it
but the government revealed in that to people may have been
infected with hiv through the scheme
experts however put the number at while the true figure may be far
higher
an official from the hubei health department told afp in that more than
people sold blood in the province in the
china estimates that up to people in china live with hiv but independent
experts say the true number could be far higher
thousands of troops in nigeria riot city
kaduna nigeria jan afp
thousands of troops remained on the streets of the nigerian city of jos on
thursday to quell clashes between christian and muslim mobs that has left about
dead
residents said the troubles eased during the night and authorities relaxed
permanent curfew letting people leave their homes for seven hours to get food
and water
the government ordered in troops after gun and machete wielding gangs rampaged
across the city tolls given by christian and muslim leaders and paramedics
indicated about dead and hundreds wounded since sunday
tens of thousands of people have taken refuge in military barracks churches and
mosques around the plateau state capital
the situation is calm fighting has ceased said david maiyaki resident of
