we want to stop living like animals said carole deslouis who finally
received the promise of food and shelter in the square thursday after days of
washing her children with filthy water and begging for rice
us forces are also repairing the main port hoping to slowly reopen it from
friday and help receive the massive international aid shipments for the hundreds
of thousands of survivors
us navy and us army divers were to start rebuilding the badly damaged pier to
relieve pressure on the country overburdened main airport
the magnitude quake has killed at least and left million homeless
haiti government said it would try to relocate an estimated left
destitute moving them out of squalid stinking bivouacs into temporary
accommodation outside port au prince
the government has made available to people free transportation large
operation is taking place we re in the process of relocating homeless people
said interior minister paul antoine bien aime
the government will hire about buses to take quake victims to the south and
north of the caribbean nation to hastily set up villages designed to hold
people each and work with local mayors to identify sites
rescue teams from around the world still combed the debris for survivors in and
around port au prince after two children were rescued alive on wednesday but
thursday brought no new signs of life from beneath the silent debris
those pulled from the rubble still face desperate fight for survival
group of children who have been adopted by french families were expected to
arrive in paris on friday evening after flying from port au prince french
consul jean pierre gueguan told afp
several of the children had been living in nursery that was severely damaged
in the quake but not single child was injured and not single adoption file
was lost gueguan said
tens of thousands of seriously injured haitians remain in makeshift field
hospitals set up in tents on the ruins of the ravaged capital
international doctors working in miserable conditions lacking supplies and
modern equipment have carried out scores of amputations to save victims with
serious crush wounds or to repair internal injuries
bed capacity us naval hospital ship is moored off haiti with about
medical personnel and has begun taking the worst of the injured
the international organisation for migration estimated that at least half
million people are now living outdoors in improvised camps and warned the
number was climbing as people flood in from damaged villages
thousands of us troops have poured into haiti with expected on the ground
or offshore by sunday other nations have pledged security forces to help
distribute aid provide medical treatment and keep the streets secure from
looters
general douglas fraser the head of us southern command said the extra us
troops would give us an increased capacity to move humanitarian supplies
throughout the country
three amphibious ships will support the deployment along with helicopter
squadron tilt rotor squadron and medical personnel and facilities the us
military said
the world bank said it would waive haiti debt payments for the next five
years and study efforts to cancel the nation remaining debt of about
million dollars
prices have soared on the streets amid general shortages anyone who managed to
stash extra food petrol or cigarettes can now get rich quick
had several cans of gasoline at home for factory on my property and have
been selling them little by little said ludovic it haitian gourdes
around dollars no haggling he said pricing can at twice what it
fetched before the quake
world powers will discuss plans to rebuild the country at major donor
conference on monday in montreal
urgent armenia warns of breakdown in turkey reconciliation
yerevan jan afp
armenia foreign minister on friday warned that historic efforts to establish
ties with turkey may break down blaming ankara for obstructing the process
turkish police target al qaeda in fresh raids report
ankara jan afp
turkish police friday rounded up at least suspects in simultaneous dawn raids
across the country targeting the al qaeda network following similar operation
earlier this week anatolia news agency reported
among five suspects detained in the eastern city of van was an academic who
allegedly sought to lure militants for al qaeda camps in afghanistan on the
local university campus and on the internet the report said
another five people believed to be linked to the extremist network among them
suspect who had allegedly received training in afghanistan were detained in the
southern gaziantep province anatolia said
anti terror police carried out raids in other provinces including istanbul
but the number of the suspects detained was not immediately known
on monday police arrested suspects and seized weapons and ammunition in
raids in ankara and the southern city of adana the courts later charged
people who were remanded in custody pending trial
media reports have said the suspects are believed to have been involved in plots
to carry out suicide attack on turkish soldiers serving in afghanistan and on
police in turkey
turkish cell of al qaeda was held responsible for four truck bomb attacks on
two synagogues the british consulate and british bank in istanbul in
the attacks killed people including the british consul and left hundreds
injured
seven men were jailed for life in over the bombings among them syrian
national who masterminded and financed the attacks
tennis del potro passes another test to reach last
melbourne jan afp
us open champion juan martin del potro survived another searching examination to
make his way into the last at the australian open on friday
the argentine fourth seed emerged from two hour minute dogfight with
florian mayer to down the th ranked german on rod laver
arena
del potro will play either th seeded croat marin cilic or th swiss seed
stanislas wawrinka in the fourth round
it has been rugged work for the argentine giant at the year opening grand
slam
he needed four sets to get past american michael russell in the first round and
five sets to overcome another american james blake in the second round
del potro who won the us open in his th grand slam last september broke
mayer serve five times twice in the opening set once in the third and twice
in the final set
but he found mayer determined customer and only had one point to spare over
the german at the end to
he beat mayer in straight sets in the second round at last year australian
open
del potro utilising his imposing reach cracked winners and aces but
that was offset by unforced errors
the argentine year old looked to be heading for comfortable afternoon
work on centre court when he twice broke mayer opening three service games
but hit rut when he failed to win game in the second set
del potro gained some measure of control in the third and fourth sets to see off
mayer challenge
del potro became sports hero in argentina when he became the first south
american to win us open since compatriot guillermo vilas in
his accomplishment was all the greater for ending roger federer five year us
open title run after eclipsing rafael nadal in the semi final
vietnam flouts rights commitments watchdog
hanoi jan afp
vietnam is flouting its human rights commitments to its southeast asian
neighbours human rights watch said friday after the controversial conviction of
four democracy activists
the four activists conviction at day long trial in southern ho chi minh city
on wednesday highlighted climate of increasingly harsh political repression
in the communist nation the new york based watchdog said
vietnam antipathy toward free expression and other fundamental rights does
not bode well for the association of southeast asian nations asean which
vietnam now chairs human rights watch said
at the beginning of the year vietnam took over the rotating chairmanship of
asean the regional bloc whose charter commits members to promote and protect
human rights and fundamental freedoms
by locking up peaceful rights defenders democracy activists and cyber
dissidents the vietnamese government is clearly flouting its promises to asean
and the international community human rights watch asia director brad
adams said in statement
all four activists were convicted of trying to overthrow the regime
internet entrepreneur tran huynh duy thuc was sentenced to years in
prison while blogger nguyen tien trung received seven years human rights
lawyer le cong dinh and le thang long were each given five years
the european union delegation to vietnam called the trial and verdicts major
and regrettable step backwards while us ambassador michael michalak expressed
concern about the apparent lack of due process
it is the most high profile among series of cases over the past year
human rights watch said dozens of democracy activists linked to opposition
parties independent bloggers land rights protesters and members of
unsanctioned religious organisations were arrested and imprisoned in
with its treatment of peaceful critics the vietnamese government seems
determined to stand out as one of the most repressive countries in asia adams
said
the eu delegation said conviction of the four along with other recent verdicts
exemplified negative trend
while this particular case will not help vietnam in its leadership of asean
one has to nonetheless note vietnam strengths in other areas said shawn
mchale director of the sigur center for asian studies at washington george
washington university
he told afp that vietnam is one of asean most stable countries and it is in
vietnam strategic interests to make asean work
the group has principle of non interference in the internal affairs of its
members including myanmar which is under us and eu sanctions because of its
human rights record
asean recently inaugurated rights commission which prescribes non
confrontational approach to promote and protect human rights
the government could not immediately respond to the comments by human rights
watch
in an earlier written reply to questions from afp deputy foreign minister dao
viet trung said the bloc would this year build an important foundation for its
rights commission so that it really contributes effectively to the promotion
and protection of human rights
china says us internet criticism harms ties
beijing jan afp
china on friday said us calls for internet freedom were harmful to ties after
secretary of state hillary clinton criticised chinese censorship of the web
we firmly oppose such words and deeds which go against the facts and are
harmful to china us relations foreign ministry spokesman ma zhaoxu said in
statement posted on his ministry website
we urge the united states to respect facts and stop using the so called
internet freedom issue to criticise china unreasonably he said
ma said china hoped both sides would respect each other core interests and
major concerns properly handle differences and sensitive issues to maintain the
healthy and steady development of sino us relations
his comments came after clinton on thursday urged china to conduct thorough
probe into cyberattacks on google and other us companies and said chinese
censorship of the internet was increasing
clinton made the call in speech in which she reiterated us support for
single internet where all of humanity has equal access to knowledge and ideas
china and the united states are locked in row over google threat to leave
china over censorship and recent cyberattacks which the internet giant said
appeared aimed at cracking the email accounts of chinese human rights activists
china says steel output rose percent in
beijing jan afp
china crude steel output rose percent in official data shows which
analysts say could weaken the position of the nation steel mills in this
year iron ore contract price negotiations
production reached million tonnes last year according to figures released
by the national bureau of statistics on thursday due to massive public spending
on infrastructure projects
fitch ratings analyst lim su aik said the figure was record and may increase
pressure on beijing to accept higher prices for iron ore the key ingredient
used to make steel during talks with the world major miners
in situation where the industry is expected to increase output and its demand
for iron ore this impacts the iron ore price talks lim told afp
lim said steel output could reach million tonnes this year
the fiscal stimulus policy is still in place and the infrastructure projects
are very much driven by government spending and that is one key driver for steel
demand lim said
china relations with the world biggest miners bhp billiton rio tinto and
vale remain tainted by the arrest in july of four rio employees in shanghai
for alleged industrial espionage
the four australian passport holder stern hu and three chinese workers are
still in detention pending trial
australian media reported this week that substantive talks between the miners
and china were yet to take place
china iron ore imports surged percent to million tonnes in
with the value falling percent as prices were hit by the global downturn
customs data shows
lim said he expected iron ore prices to rise to percent in from the
previous year due to stronger demand in china and the rest of the world
hopes rise as damaged port reopens in haiti
port au prince jan afp
thousands of haitians waited by the sea on earthquake cracked mud surrounded by
bags and babies hoping the imminent reopening of the capital port would allow
them to flee
the main port potential hub for the international campaign to feed this
quake devastated nation was to open partially friday despite strong signs of
damage including buckled wharves leaning telephone poles and slanting cranes
with port au prince airport overloaded with aid and military flights many
hoped the harbor would help receive massive international aid shipments for
hundreds of thousands of desperate survivors of the january earthquake
but gaping fissures still slice through the pier where ships unload and it
wobbles during each of the terrifying aftershocks that have succeeded the
original temblor
it not good it very unstable platform at this point us coast guard
lieutenant commander mike pierno told afp
us navy and us army divers were due to start repairing the pier friday work
that was expected to last at least several weeks while us coast guard and
haitian officials will ensure it is not overused
right now it in state where it can be repaired and we don want to do any
more damage pierno said
since the earthquake couple of aid ships from france and the netherlands have
unloaded supplies on the unsteady pier while around more are anchored
offshore
on the other side of the port thousands of haitians wait to board boats out of
the capital
many observers have warned of rush by desperate survivors to reach the united
states by boat but those at the port said they were heading for the town of
jeremie where their families live in the far west of the island
coast guard officials said that although there were no signs of mass
migration it was to be expected
everything points to it but it not happening now said pierno adding that
people would probably set off from the north of the island
the un refugee agency estimates that haitains are already refugees
abroad many of whom fled to the united states well before the quake
roger rouzier shipping company general director who has been using the port
for years said us naval forces were patrolling cordon off port au prince
to prevent the departure of boats full of refugees
us officials are taking measures against it rouzier said
the shipping company owner now controlled the immediate future of those camped
out at the port
his ferry the only boat to jeremie carried some survivors away from the
capital for free on friday three days after the quake but then hesitated to
pick up more due to shortage of fuel
the government has now given him gallons liters of fuel to help
move people out alongside private contributions of gallons liters
he said adding that he planned to give two more free passages
broad patchwork of colorful clothes and bags still filled all visible space on
land where some families had waited for days while hundreds of others crowded
on several large wrecked ships nearby
have nothing to do here just want to leave said year old pierre
louia sitting in the mud surrounded by his family
when there something to do ll return
brigadier general mike dana in charge of the logistics of the us operation in
haiti has said fuel would be shipped to the port at the weekend
the port is probably at percent of its capacity right now said dana this
week but after days it will be at full capacity
sitting in small fishing boat with his wife and nine year old son jean moise
said he hoped to take boat out of the capital very soon
lost two cousins and nephew and niece in the earthquake we re the
survivors but we have nothing moise said
maybe in or years we ll manage to rebuild the country with international
aid but for now we re in desperate situation
tennis australian open results day five th update
melbourne jan afp
results from day five of the australian open at melbourne park here friday
denotes seeding
men singles
rd round
andy roddick usa bt feliciano lopez esp
fernando gonzalez chi bt evgeny korolev kaz
andy murray gbr bt florent serra fra
john isner usa bt gael monfils fra
juan martin del potro arg bt florian mayer ger
women singles
rd round
dinara safina rus bt elena baltacha gbr
alona bondarenko ukr bt jelena jankovic srb
justin henin bel bt alisa kleybanova rus
yanina wickmayer bel bt sara errani ita
maria kirilenko rus bt roberta vinci ita
zheng jie chn bt marion bartoli fra
gates regrets past grave mistakes in pakistan
islamabad jan afp
us defence secretary robert gates took on his critics in pakistan on friday
apologising for past grave mistakes as he works to bolster ties with
washington key ally in the fight against al qaeda
in his first visit to the country in three years and first under us president
barack obama gates tried to reassure public and leadership wary of
washington plan to tackle militancy and turn around the war in afghanistan
pakistan has seen security drastically deteriorate since partnering in
washington so called war on terror in and balks at complaints from us
officials that it is not doing enough to tackle militant groups
us drone strikes targeting islamist fighters in pakistan also stir anger in the
muslim nation while many pakistanis feel bitterness over us abandonment of the
region once the soviet union withdrew from afghanistan in
was in government in the early when russia left the region and the
united states largely abandoned afghanistan and cut off defence ties with
pakistan grave strategic mistake driven by some well intentioned but short
sighted us legislative and policy decisions said gates
speaking at the national defense university in islamabad he said us ban on
military contacts in the over pakistan nuclear programme undermined
bond between the armed forces and created trust deficit that lingered
he vowed the united states was prepared to invest whatever time and energy it
takes to forge and sustain genuine lasting partnership with pakistan
rebuilding relationships with generation of pakistani officers who have had
little contact with the us military will take years gates said
but gates appeared to have already rattled pakistan military this trip with
comments thursday warning that taliban sanctuaries must be tackled or pakistan
and afghanistan would suffer more lethal and more brazen attacks
in the 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 counterproductive
while pakistan has launched multiple assaults on local taliban strongholds in
recent months washington is also anxious for islamabad to target the afghan
taliban and al qaeda linked militants within its borders as well
pakistan military spokesman major general athar abbas rejected gates
description and said it was not so black and white
gates also said he would ask pakistani leaders about plans to expand its
campaign to north waziristan bastion of al qaeda and the haqqani network
known for attacking us and nato troops fighting the taliban in afghanistan
but abbas told reporters no new operations would be launched until the current
push into south waziristan was complete which would take between six months to
year to completely stabilise
gates on thursday held talks with pakistani army chief general ashfaq kayani
defence minister ahmed mukhtar intelligence chief lieutenant general ahmed
shuja pasha and president asif ali zardari
the former cia director is also seeking islamabad cooperation on obama new
strategy to turn around the war in afghanistan which involves sending more
troops into afghanistan but drawing down forces in july
officials in islamabad have expressed concern that any troop surge in
afghanistan will send insurgents over the border into pakistan further
destabilising an already lawless border region
the united states also wants to develop broader strategic dialogue with
pakistan on range of issues including the possible role of political
solutions to the insurgency in afghanistan gates told reporters
alert
armenia warns process to establish ties with turkey may break down
corrected india reliance industries profit rises percent
mumbai jan afp
indian refining and energy giant reliance industries reported friday quarterly
net profit rose percent boosted by higher gas production from its oil
fields
reliance india largest private sector company reported net profit rose to
billion rupees million dollars in the fiscal third quarter to
december from billion rupees year earlier
total income for the third quarter jumped percent to billion rupees
the company said in statement
the profit was broadly in line with market expectations
the company said the year ago quarterly results had been restated to include
earnings from subsidiary reliance petroleum which was amalgamated with the
parent firm last year
after the earnings announcement reliance shares recovered to trade up
percent or rupees at after hitting day low of
european stocks fall at open london down percent
london jan afp
europe main stock markets fell at the start of trading on friday with
london benchmark ftse index down percent to points
frankfurt dax dropped percent to points and in paris the cac
shed percent in value to reach
europe top indices had fallen sharply on thursday closing down by almost
percent amid market jitters over the outlook for china economy giant debts
in europe and the effects of increased regulation of the banking sector traders
said
french business confidence strengthens official data
paris jan afp
french business leaders are gaining confidence about their near term prospects
with an index published on friday showing four point rise this month to its
highest level since september
the index hit points the national statistics institute insee reported the
measure had fallen to the lowest reading last march in response to the
global economic crisis
since then it has strengthened each month although never reaching its long term
average of
manufacturers according to the index released on friday viewed the recent
performances of their businesses as positive with inventories of finished
products light and order books starting to fill again albeit at slow pace
hong kong shares lower on obama bank crackdown
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares dropped percent friday after us president barack obama
said he would crack down on the excesses of wall street big banks
the benchmark hang seng index gave up points to finish at
turnover was billion hong kong dollars billion us
chinese shares fell percent as bargain hunting in banks helped trim early
losses dealers said
the shanghai composite index which covers both and shares was down
points at on turnover of billion yuan billion dollars
us internet criticism harms ties china
beijing jan afp
china on friday said us calls for internet freedom were harmful to bilateral
ties after secretary of state hillary clinton criticised chinese censorship of
the web
we firmly oppose such words and deeds which go against the facts and are
harmful to china us relations foreign ministry spokesman ma zhaoxu said in
statement posted on his ministry website
india bharti quarterly profit rises percent
new delhi jan afp
top indian mobile phone firm bharti airtel squeezed out two percent rise in
quarterly profit on friday as fierce price war in the explosively growing
cellular market cut into the company revenues
bharti reported net profit totalled billion rupees million dollars
under us accounting standards in the fiscal third quarter to december as
revenues rose one percent to billion rupees
bharti percent owned by singapore telecommunications notched up the profit
despite the hyper competition in the world fastest expanding mobile market
which has drawn slew of new entrants chairman sunil bharti mittal said
the small profit increase helped by the rupee rise against the dollar
surprised analysts who had expected slight earnings dip and pushed up the
company shares by rupees or percent to in early afternoon
but bharti shares are still down sharply from their week high of rupees
hit last may reflecting growing analyst concern about heightening competition
average revenue per user or arpu common measure of industry profitability
stood at rupees in the december quarter down nearly nine percent from
the september quarter
the arpu decline reflected rock bottom tariffs of below cent minute as
rivals battle for customers and companies growing reliance on lower spending
rural clients as they push deeper into india hinterland to grow revenues
it clear there significant price pressure and there will be no let up in
the fourth quarter harit shah telecoms analyst at karvy stock broking told
afp
after resisting pressure to join its rivals bharti recently launched per
second billing plan to retain customers
the results announcement came nearly two weeks after bharti said it would take
percent controlling stake in bangladesh based warid telecom as the company
moves to expand its global footprint
bharti denied media speculation it was looking at acquiring us telecom carrier
sprint nextel corp
the answer to this specific question is big no group chief executive
officer manoj kohli told reporters
he said bharti would continue to focus on emerging markets because our business
model can be implanted well in these economies
bharti has been looking abroad to grow subscribers as competition heats up on
its home turf india now has total of cellular operators compared with just
two state owned telecom players at the turn of the century
the company subscriber base climbed by million mobile users during the
december quarter to hit million by end december
india now has total of million mobile users according to latest
government figures
but although over half of india nearly billion population still have no
phones industry leaders say the market is getting too congested and forecast
bruising shakeout
weightlifting india woman gets life ban for doping
new delhi jan afp
indian woman weightlifter shailaja pujari has been banned for life and five
others suspended for four years for doping offences an indian official said on
friday
pujari who won three gold medals at the commonwealth games in manchester
failed an out of competition test conducted by india national anti doping
agency last september
she had earlier tested positive for banned steroid and was dropped from the
squad for the next commonwealth games in melbourne in
can confirm that the international weightlifting federation has given life
ban and also fined her dollars indian weightlifting official sahdev
yadav told reporters
five other weightlifters including commonwealth games silver medallist
vicky batta have been banned for four years and fined dollars each for
failing dope tests yadav added
batta harbhajan singh rajesh kumar vijaya devi and sunita kumari will miss
the commonwealth games later this year which india will host in new delhi
indian lifters missed the asian games in doha in following month ban
imposed on the national federation after four athletes tested positive within
year
india lone lifter at the beijing olympics monika devi was withdrawn over an
alleged doping offence devi denied the charge and is fighting the allegation in
court
it was not immediately clear if suspension would also be served on the indian
weightlifting federation which would keep the host nation weightlifters out
of their own commonwealth games this year
korea says it hopes for korea nuke talks next month
seoul jan afp
south korea foreign minister said friday he hopes talks on north korea
nuclear disarmament can resume next month but reaffirmed that sanctions will
remain in force until progress is made
yu myung hwan said china and other participants were making efforts to restart
the six nation talks last held in december
hope the six party talks may resume before or after the lunar new year
february yu told journalists
the five other countries the united states china south korea japan and
russia agree the talks must not be allowed to drift on without progress yu
said
but he added there is no immediate agreement on restarting the talks
