he says he is motivated by desire to help boost nepal struggling economy
and hopes the initiative will create jobs for marginalised people in one of the
world poorest countries
some of nepal best hairstylists and beauticians are from the lgbt lesbian
gay bisexual and transgender community he said
they have seen all kinds of struggles in the past and have had problems finding
jobs holding gay weddings in nepal is win win situation for them and for the
country
obama debut state of the union moment of truth
washington jan afp
barack obama will seek to corral panicked democrats and win back disaffected
voters this week in the debut state of the union address of presidency dragged
down by crushing economic gloom
suddenly obama is at turning point after republicans snatched away the
democratic super majority in the senate and with his own party now viewing
november mid term congressional elections with sense of doom
the state of the union address beamed simultaneously on us television networks
and cable news stations offers president his best annual chance to bypass the
media and speak directly to americans
with quarter of his term expired obama will step up in the house of
representatives on wednesday night saddled by diminished approval ratings
averaging around percent and with his health reform plan on life support
with unemployment at percent obama bond with the american public is
frayed and he is losing his hold on crucial independent voters
the speech for him is going to have to be reset second chance to make
first impression said kareem crayton political science expert at the
university of southern california
washington is reverberating from the shock republican victory in late liberal
lion edward kennedy senate seat last week which traumatized democrats and is
testing ties between obama and his own party in congress
the defeat took democrats below the magic seat barrier needed to thwart
republican senate blocking tactics in the senate leaving obama chances of
passing his ambitious agenda in deep doubt
republicans have no incentive to cooperate seeing their win in massachusetts as
vindication of their total opposition to obama health care plan and broader
agenda
obama speech will be watched for signs he is trimming his ambitions or tacking
to the political center to chase independent voters dismayed by the slow pace of
the change he promised
he has already said americans are angry and frustrated that though banks and
finance firms are again piling up huge profits the impact of the recovery has
yet to trickle down to the middle class
on friday in possible preview of next week address he posed as champion
of the working man vowing an all out fight to create jobs though his policy
options for doing so seem limited
so long as have the privilege of serving as your president ll never stop
fighting for you he told an ohio town hall meeting
obama feted campaign manager david plouffe meanwhile warned democrats
against bed wetting in washington post article sunday
this will be tough election for our party and for many republican incumbents
as well instead of fearing what may happen let prove that we have more than
just the brains to govern that we have the guts to govern
all of the house of representatives is up for grabs in november along with
third of the senate reports saturday said obama had asked plouffe to return to
his side and plot strategy for the polls
mid term elections usually wound first term presidents but the key to this
cycle may lie in which party best exploits the ugly public mood
so obama is repeatedly slamming wall street and seeking to insulate himself
from popular rage over government bailouts of the finance sector as it wallows
in bloated bonus payments
brookings institution scholar thomas mann said obama must wednesday offer
spirited defense of his health reform plan blame republicans for the economic
blight he inherited and say how he will ease the pain
he needs to be aggressive with the financial community and his unified
ideological republican opposition and indicate clearly what he is prepared to
fight for and lose reelection for
the president also faces pressure to sketch viable way forward for his health
plan with some democrats thinking of splitting the measure up in incremental
chunks world away from the historic triumph obama has in mind
obama gamble on troop surge in afghanistan the renewed threat to the united
states from airborne terror and the nuclear confrontation with iran are also
likely to feature in the showpiece speech
the president must also woo independent swing voters who flocked to his campaign
but now appear disaffected
in obama won percent of independents in massachusetts exit polls
showed but suffolk university survey before last week vote said percent
of independents planned to pick republican scott brown
bloody frontlines of afghanistan arrive in sundance
park city utah jan afp
the bloody frontlines of america war in afghanistan have been transplanted to
the sundance film festival thanks to gripping documentary vying for honors
here
restrepo is visceral account of year spent embedded alongside american
soldiers stationed at remote mountain outpost in the korengal valley where
taliban attacks are almost daily occurrence
sebastian junger and tim hetherington film is an intimate portrait of soldiers
at war capturing the chaos of battle the spartan living conditions and the
boredom of moments when the bullets aren flying
while accounts from journalists embedding with us forces are nothing new few
reporters or film makers have spent an entire year long rotation with unit as
junger and hetherington did between and
actually no journalist has done that not for an entire deployment said
hetherington photographer who won the world press photo competition in
for his picture of an exhausted soldier following battle in korengal
we just did something very obvious and we decided to spend very long time
with them as much as we could he told afp
there are million american families with sons or brothers or husbands that
have served or are serving in the military and they want to know what those
people go through this film shows it
junger regular contributor to vanity fair magazine and best selling author of
the perfect storm said the idea of the film was to make movie that was
completely about the soldiers experience
they can ask general why are we in the korengal valley sir so we did
not interview generals they can talk to politicians they can see their
families so we didn do any of that in the movie junger explained
we didn even want an outside narrator
the only voices in the film are those of the soldiers they let us into
their lives and they accepted the fact that we would film everything and they
never hid anything from us hetherington said
nothing was off limits not even the death early in the documentary of soldier
juan restrepo whom the base the troops are defending is named after
despite the extreme danger of the conditions junger and hetherington kept the
cameras rolling at all times
only turned the camera off once in the outpost when guy started crying
talking about friend of his who had been killed junger said
footage from life at their rugged mountain encampment in afghanistan is inter
cut with series of moving interviews conducted with the soldiers near their
base in vicenza italy two months after their deployment ended
we were shocked by the power of the interviews junger said what happened is
that the most emotionally powerful moments that we had with them actually did
not happen in this remote hilltop but in the studio in vicenza
because the deployment was over now they were able to go to places emotionally
they couldn afford to in combat and the result made the movie
the young soldiers at the heart of the film all risk their lives and sometimes
give their lives for other men they love junger explained
that connection you don find in civilian life and it powerful thing
and think some of them actually sort of miss that
many of those guys see the war as some kind of rite of passage added
hetherington but they are not prepared for the loss of innocence
us asked to drag china to wto over google dispute
washington jan afp
some groups are calling on the united states to challenge china firewall
before the world trade organization as bilateral row over cyberattacks on
google adds to trade tensions
as president barack obama awaits answers from beijing on the cyberstrikes
washington is being asked to contest china internet censorship as breach
of global trade rules to which the asian giant as wto member is subject
the us can argue that china great firewall system of filters and
bottlenecks that effectively shutters the country within its own intranet is
an illegal restraint on international trade because it bars foreign companies
from competing via the internet in the vast chinese market argues peter
scheer executive director of the first amendment coalition
the nonprofit us based free speech group has petitioned us trade representative
ustr ron kirk obama top trade official to invoke world trade organization
treaties to curtail china censorship of the internet
china action to halt internet commerce at its borders is akin to
government regulation requiring perishable agricultural exports from the us to
sit for days on china docks prior to transhipment to internal distribution
facilities scheer said
kirk office confirmed that it was discussing the issue with the first
amendment coalition and other groups
this is very complex area that we continue to think through in consultation
with interested groups including the first amendment coalition and have not made
any decisions one way or another ustr spokeswoman debbie mesloh told afp
asked on the prospect of wto action if china for example did not respond to
us request for thorough and transparent probe of google claims mesloh
said this is an issue of broad concern to the administration going far
beyond ustr
the administration awaits china response to our concerns we have no
comment beyond that
china has the highest number of online users at nearly million surpassing
even the united states making it among the most appealing markets for foreign
technology companies
when china acceded to the wto in it agreed to give unlimited access and
equal treatment to foreign based or foreign owned businesses in many categories
of services including online services according to recent report of the
european centre for international political economy in brussels
these services count as imports to which china is supposed to be opening
itself even if they are delivered over wire instead of in shipping crate
it said
the online market in china is simply too big for europe and the us to let
trade distorting regulations pass without action victories at the wto on this
front would be wins both for commerce and for civil rights the report said
the united states and china are also locked in other trade disputes ranging from
tires steel and poultry to patents hollywood films and currency
the wto has ruled against china in several cases that were brought before the
geneva based global trade watchdog
in the latest case the appellate body the final authority of wto dispute
settlement turned down last month an appeal by china in dispute over its
restrictions on the distribution of us printed books films and music
beijing is now forced to either open that market or face retaliatory tariffs
china has also increasingly turned to the wto mounting challenges to an
american ban on chinese poultry imports and us anti dumping policy
scheer underlined the considerable advantages of wto strategy over the
internet censorship issue following the cyberattacks on google
china in other recent trade disputes has shown it will abide by wto rulings it
disagrees with reserving its right to request wto rulings to china
benefit in other matters he said
for the us government playing the wto card also demonstrates seriousness about
curbing chinese censorship while confining the dispute to an international
legal process and avoiding direct confrontation with china
spotlight turns to apple latest creation
san francisco jan afp
the technology rumor mill is busy grinding speculation regarding an apple event
wednesday at which the culture changing firm will unveil its latest creation
expectation that the maker of iphones and ipods is set to wow the world with
tablet computer is so rampant that the california company stock could suffer
if it fails to deliver
this proposed apple tablet will take the app store and iphone operating system
and deliver it in larger form factor instead of starting from scratch said
canada based independent technology analyst carmi levy
apple can take years worth of iphone momentum and drive it right into what is
essentially an iphone on steroids he continued
apple tablet is believed to be notepad shaped device with inch color
screen that lets people browse the web listen to music watch movies or
television shows and also read electronic books and newspapers
tablet would be apple first major product release since it came out with its
winning iphone three years ago
online retail powerhouse amazon com beefed up its market leading kindle
electronic reader devices just days ago in apparent preparation for an apple
onslaught
amazon pumped up royalties it pays to authors or publishers who offer digitized
books for sale to kindle users and invited software savants to craft fun or
functional programs for the readers
amazon may have won the book reader battle but the war is about far bigger
things levy said it is about device that can do many things as you bring
your digital content with you
while the spotlight at the apple event may be on tablet the success of such
device depends more on the ecosystem of applications and services than it does
on how sexy the hardware may be according to the analyst
the irony is that it is no longer about hardware it is about services that
connect to the hardware levy said
the ipod was just media player but what made it special was itunes and the
online app store
an apple tablet would likely synch with itunes and the more than
applications at the app store
despite apple wizardry with creations embraced by mainstream culture as well
as technophiles it could be tilting against windmills by releasing tablet
computer
the real question is what will people do with an apple tablet that they can
do pretty well on some other device said npd group analyst stephen baker
anyone that has tried this has failed
the success of iphones was no brainer because the innovative devices put
telephone and rich internet capabilities in people pockets according to
baker
tablets on the other hand are awkwardly large to be carried as mobile devices
and too small to compete with desktop computers and screens especially for
tasks such as movie viewing
what do do strap it to my dog back baker said facetiously
can sneak peak at it when my kids are in play or at baseball game
hardware guy and this isn going to be game changer
retrevo report release last week concluded that an apple tablet priced at more
than dollars us would stop percent of potential buyers from reaching
for their wallets
apple could launch tablet at steep price but quickly discount it through
subsidy deals with carriers or digital content sellers
initially it will seem like high price but over time ma and pa will be able
to buy it as well as rabid apple fans levy said
google could prove to be formidable rival with the internet giant android
operating system built into host of tablets shown off at major consumer
electronics show ces in las vegas this month
an android market featuring more than applications tailored for devices
running on the operating system is growing competitor to apple market
leading app store
in many ways apple is running away with the prize and google is establishing
itself as strong second levy said
microsoft is also staking out territory in the tablet market with chief
executive steve ballmer using ces as stage to tout hewlett packard slate
tablet built with the firm software
there really isn another compelling device out there levy said as it did
with the iphone apple is competing in category of one at this point
montreal to host talks on rebuilding haiti
montreal jan afp
donor countries hold emergency talks here monday to map out plans to rebuild
haiti and sharpen aid efforts for millions of people in the quake hit country
the united states canada france brazil and other donors with interests in
haiti will attempt to craft long term strategies to lift the crippled caribbean
nation out of disaster and onto path to recovery
haiti prime minister jean max bellerive is also expected to attend the closed
door talks
we are not going to rebuild haiti as it was french official told afp
referring to the country chronic poverty neglected agricultural base and
history of political corruption and upheaval
we need to address structural problems not just financial matters but those of
governance and regional cooperation the official said there is no use at
this point in making five different assessments of the damage
the january earthquake leveled the capital port au prince and destroyed or
disabled haiti government offices roads and communications infrastructure
the devastation killed more than people and left more than half
million others homeless sparking an unprecedented global relief effort led by
the united states
us secretary of state hillary clinton and french foreign minister bernard
kouchner will be in montreal for the talks which are hosted by their canadian
counterpart lawrence cannon
cannon and clinton spoke by phone on friday about how international partners
aid agencies and the united nations could ramp up the delivery of food medical
supplies and other necessities
the montreal meeting is expected to bring together argentina brazil chile
costa rica the dominican republic japan mexico peru spain and uruguay along
with officials from the united nations and the organization of american states
venezuela nicaragua and bolivia countries that have criticized the presence
us troops on haiti soil are not expected to participate
france initially hit out at the united states accusing it of high handedness
when us troops took over control of port au prince damaged airport but
tensions were soon squelched as the rescue and recovery efforts kicked into high
gear
with the search and rescue phase of the relief effort now all but over
attention is focused on how to keep up global humanitarian momentum aimed at
reviving the battered nation
we are not going to take haiti place we will not bypass it but at the
same time it needs help the french official said
the european union the inter american development bank the world bank the
international monetary fund and several non governmental organizations will also
be at the montreal gathering
the talks are expected to lay the groundwork for full fledged donors
conference on haiti in the coming weeks
monday event will give washington the chance to reaffirm its role as haiti
leading financial and humanitarian benefactor
the canadian government currently unpopular in the polls over its decision to
prorogue parliament is keen to demonstrate its heightened role in helping to
coordinate the global response
many scholars and artists from haiti live in canada and the country governor
general michaelle jean was born in the island nation
the city of montreal is affectionately described as haiti second capital
having haitian diaspora of more than
lent before carnival in quake stricken haiti
port au prince jan afp
there will be no carnival celebration this year in the quake ravaged haitian
capital and perhaps never again for people like hored stanley who lost
fellow musicians the day the earthquake struck
stanley was at carnival planning event at downtown school when the
massive quake struck on january he was initially trapped when the building
collapsed but rescued by neighbors screamed and cried out until they pulled
me out he told afp
stanley spoke near the pile of rubble where the school once stood located on
center street in the heart of downtown port au prince
at least three blackened skulls and human bones could be seen amid the debris
rotting corpse stuck out of the debris in the school courtyard now filled with
rubble with pictures and flyers of school notices fluttering around it
garbage set ablaze because no one was available to clean it up smoldered in
the background
the same neighbors that saved stanley pulled out bodies using only their bare
hands over the next days there are at least people trapped in there one
of the neighbors said
whole families were wiped out when the magnitude quake struck razing much
of the haitian capital and killed more than people with relatives dead
or unable to claim bodies center street neighbors reached an agonizing
collective decision on the fate of the corpses
we decided to burn them stanley said nobody came to pick them up and the
stench was terrible
stanley reluctantly helped set the bodies on fire and said he will have the
event etched in his memory forever
we are alive but it as if we were dead he said his bright eyes set in
fixed stare
we were holding meeting to prepare for carnival when the quake struck he
said he then mutters for me carnival is over forever
carnival held mainly in catholic countries and characterized by dancing music
and colorful street parades is usually celebrated in january and february the
event precedes lent period of prayer and abstinence ahead of easter when
christians celebrate the resurrection of jesus
easter this year is april the government however has decreed days of
mourning which ends around the time lent begins
hertha bien aime lost year old son who was at the carnival planning event
as well as two granddaughters and an aunt however she hopes to celebrate
carnival next year
and why not what else do we have left here she asked shrugging
center street neighbors cannot recall any similar disaster since the music group
was formed years ago
the names of people who died and whose bodies were recovered from the school are
scrawled on nearby wall farewell maxo tiflanne edna beatrice jocelyn
tipapy thomas richmon jean eli sampase taina alvin it reads
refugees are now squatting inside the buses and vehicles parked outside the
national stadium that were going to join the carnival parade the new occupants
hang their clothes cook on the ground and wait for someone to tell them what is
going to happen with their lives
one of the colorful cars is emblazoned with the name of its owner dj cash cash
dj cash cash is my friend said haitian woman named valerie jeanlouis as
she washed her clothes asked him if could move here and he agreed
jeanlouis lives in santo domingo with her family but was visiting port au
prince when the quake struck her year old daughter has cracked skull and
is in the hospital
now have to stay here can move she said she isn even sure that she
can find work as maid again once she returns to the dominican republic
creole speaking haiti and the spanish speaking dominican republic share the
island of hispaniola
carnival would have been fun yes she smiles nostalgically carnival in my
country is the best in the world but now we ll have to wait
battered haitian media remains vital lifeline
port au prince jan afp
haitian journalists have never missed step since the devastating quake
working hard to keep their countrymen informed of the latest frontline news in
their daily battle to survive
it our duty as citizens we must continue to serve our people said kepler
hyacinthe head of production at haiti national radio and television
the station gardens have become makeshift camp for some people since
the january quake struck
we are acting as point of reference for disorientated people as refuge for
those who have nothing and even as hospital he said explaining that woman
had given birth in the gardens early saturday
reporters without borders which has set up free internet access for haitian
journalists says about dozen reporters cameramen and technicians were among
the more than people killed in the quake
one of the heaviest blows was dealt to radio magik among the radios which
usually flourish in the capital port au prince and whose headquarters were
flattened in the quake
it tough we lost all our material but we hope to get back on our feet
said the station director frantz duval
another popular radio station signal fm had more luck as their studios
survived intact we never went off the air said michel soukar head of
educational programming
we have seen lots of solidarity from the gas stations which have been giving us
fuel for our generator as well as from the local restaurants which have been
bringing us hot meals soukar said
other stations are now only able to broadcast for few hours from temporary
studios set up under tents many sending out messages from people looking for
their loved ones or appeals for help
at radio metropole the offices are still standing but most of the reporters no
long have homes and are sleeping at the station said reporter gaby saget
former prize winner with reporters without borders
one cameraman from the national television channel was killed and journalists
remain very frightened said hyacinthe
we ve set up small studio closer to the exit he added showing off the
presenter table adorned with the red and blue colors of the haitian flag
the station mainly broadcasts its own news but also takes feeds from french
broadcasters such as tv and euro news
but the quake could mark turning point for the written press in this
impoverished caribbean nation said max chauvet editor of the main haitian
newspaper nouvelliste
before the quake it had subscribers and readership of
he hopes the paper will be back on the streets in the next two months but in
the meantime his dedicated small team has taken to the internet
before we only used to post the contents of the paper on the site in the
evening now we are putting out the news only on the site said chauvet
although he acknowledged it was mainly haitians overseas who could read it
where our subscribers where can we distribute the paper we will have to go
back to selling our papers by hand on the street he said of the paper which
relied on advertising for percent of its budget
the other haitian daily au matin had circulation of but its
underground newsroom has been abandoned by its journalists terrified by the
aftershocks still rattling the country
we mustn give up hope we can just stand by we have to fight said the
editor in chief clarens fortune
the journal lost its layout artist yveno formilus killed with his wife and
three children when his house came tumbling down on the day of his birthday
january
koreans barter amid currency change chaos
seoul jan afp
north korea politically motivated currency revaluation is forcing its people
to barter for food to survive even though the regime promised new year drive
to raise living standards experts say
in an policy setting editorial on january the rulers of the impoverished
communist nation stressed efforts to bring about radical turn in the people
standard of living
but analysts say the shock revaluation of the won last november is
intensifying the already severe hardships of ordinary people
inflation is widespread despite the regime desperate efforts to stabilise
prices said lee seung yong director of the south korean good friends welfare
group which has extensive cross border contacts
lee told afp new state prices have yet to be announced following the revaluation
due to surge in food prices and chaos in the markets which paralysed daily
distribution of commodities and forced some people to rely on bartering
this prompted authorities to further strengthen control of market activities
however the situation is getting worse he said
without outside help especially from china north koreans will suffer from
shortages and high prices for while maybe throughout this year
authorities restricted the amount of old banknotes which could be changed at
rate of for one for new currency wiping out savings and sparking widespread
anger
the revaluation was widely seen as an attempt to reassert control over the
economy and clamp down on growing free market activities private markets
emerged after the state food distribution system collapsed during famines in the
pyongyang central bank official himself called it an attempt to strengthen
socialist principles and order in economic management
seoul based internet newspaper dailynk also reported last week that bartering
has made comeback
for now state designated prices are still not public so people think that
selling goods for cash now would mean making loss it quoted defector who
talked to his family in the north as saying
therefore bartering has become the main method of trading for the people
the defector said the barter value of products is decided according to their
value in old money with trade carried out privately to avoid detection
before the redenomination one fish was worth won and kilogram of corn
was won so people barter one fish for little less than two kilograms of
corn dailynk said
the economy worsened due to the currency change where markets were closed and
the public needed necessities which were not provided by the state cho bong
hyun of the industrial bank of korea economic research centre told seminar
friday
united nations special envoy also said the revaluation was partly to blame for
worsening living conditions marked by very serious food shortages political
repression and now icy weather
the situation is grave for various reasons vitit muntarbhorn the un
rapporteur on north korean human rights said in tokyo
the food situation and the clampdown on people ability to trade the
revaluation of the won as well as the persecution and the punishments against
refugees and their families all these got worse in the past year
stephan haggard and marcus noland in paper published this month said the
currency change would reduce people well being at time when the country is
already struggling with economic stagnation spiralling prices and return of
chronic food shortages
the us experts from the peterson institute for international economics said
that in the long run it was unlikely even to contribute significantly to the
goal of rebuilding socialism
such an effort is doomed to failure as long as the state lacks the resources
and capacity to put goods on the shelves they wrote
despite the regime sheer ruthlessness including reported executions there
was little evidence it had succeeded in stamping out the market entirely they
said
in haiti moment for prayer forgetting and dancing
port au prince jan afp
