plans to rebuild haiti nearly two weeks after killer earthquake devastated
the impoverished nation
haitian prime minister jean max bellerive canadian prime minister stephen
harper us secretary of state hillary clinton and officials from the united
nations were among those taking part
canada is eager to assert its role in coordinating the emergency response to the
january disaster which left more than dead and hundreds of thousands
others homeless hungry and wounded
together with the government of haiti we need to roll up our sleeves and begin
to lay the groundwork for the enormous task ahead we must and we need to arrive
at common understanding and commitment on certain basic principles of
responsibility accountability and long term engagement canada foreign
minister lawrence cannon said
french foreign minister bernard kouchner founder of the international charity
doctors without borders was also participating in the six hour closed door
talks
the ministers were discussing how to streamline delivery of food water drugs
and medical supplies to the swelling number of people living in makeshift camps
around the shattered capital of port au prince
speaking here sunday bellerive urged haitians living abroad to actively
participate in rebuilding the country
there is no other solution today but the haitian diaspora integration in the
reconstruction effort he said
washington has taken frontline role in the disaster relief effort sending in
tens of thousands of troops and rescue teams and anchoring hospital ship
offshore to treat injured haitians
television and internet images of the destitute and dying as the able bodied
search amid the tangled steel and concrete rubble of the capital have
triggered worldwide outpouring of donations
donor countries are seeking to use the groundswell of support for haiti as an
opportunity to transform country that has historically faced grinding poverty
political corruption and bloodshed
diplomats have raised the possibility of kind of marshall plan for the island
nation similar to the us led postwar reconstruction of europe which would take
decades and require colossal commitment of resources and money
experts have warned that hundreds of thousands of haitians will be living off
foreign aid and in temporary housing for years to come during the slow
reconstruction process thousands have been left disabled
in ottawa cannon spoke of canada intention to fully support prime minister
jean max bellerive commitment to move beyond reconstruction to rebuild new
haiti
the conservative government is keen to shore up political support for canada
role in assisting haiti as it faces growing protests at home for its decision to
prorogue parliament until march while it deals with the haiti crisis
prime minister stephen harper is fully engaged in the humanitarian response to
this devastating earthquake and has set in motion rapid comprehensive and
determined disaster relief effort on behalf of the government of canada cannon
said
foreign ministers and other officials from brazil chile peru uruguay mexico
costa rica the dominican republic japan and spain were also set to participate
in the emergency meeting
they were joined by officials from the european union the organization of
american states the inter american development bank the world bank and the
international monetary fund
japan said it would pledge million dollars in aid to haiti and deploy as many
as peacekeepers to the un mission there
venezuela nicaragua and bolivia leftist regimes that have criticized the
presence us troops on haiti soil did not participate in the conference but
their foreign ministers met in caracas sunday to discuss their own assistance
program
the montreal talks were expected to lay the groundwork for full fledged donors
conference on haiti in the coming weeks
amp assigns dubai holding negative outlook
dubai jan afp
credit rating agency standard and poor assigned state owned dubai holding
negative outlook and withdrew its rating for the group due to lack of
information it said on monday
amp said in statement that it had assigned dubai holding negative
outlook and removed it from creditwatch with negative implications where it
had been placed on april
the agency said it had initially lowered the long term corporate credit rating
of the group to from bb
we subsequently withdrew the rating due to what we consider to be inadequate
timeliness of information and insufficient documentation provided by dubai
holding commercial operations group dhcog to maintain our surveillance it
said
amp credit analyst pierre george said the rating actions reflect our
base case scenario based on the information we currently have which notably
incorporates materially weaker than anticipated cash flow generation by dhcog
the agency said it expected lower sales and lower selling prices of real estate
units and still high cash outflows related to new investments
amp announcement is the latest upset for the debt ridden emirate which
rocked global markets in november when it requested six month freeze on debt
payments by dubai world dubai largest conglomerate in order to restructure
it
state firms in dubai have since fallen from grace with the government also
saying it would not guarantee its corporates debts
in its statement on dubai holding on monday amp said the group ability to
meet its debt maturities could ultimately be weakened
we believe that dhcog exposure to the severe downturn in the dubai real
estate market also constrains its credit quality we understand that free cash
flows are likely to be negative for and
the ratings agency said the lack of information from dhcog has reduced certainty
about ongoing support from the dubai government which it previously factored
into the rating as key credit strength
we now do not factor any ongoing government support into our rating because of
this lack of information
we also see the lack of market transparency and reliable market data and the
level of available financial information which we consider low as other
negative factors
dubai holding has several subsidiaries including three real estate firms dubai
properties tatweer and sama dubai that were supposed to merge with the giant
property developer emaar before the latter pulled out in december describing
the link up as unfeasible
dubai world is currently negotiating with its creditors to restructure some
million dollars of debt owed by its troubled subsidiaries
basque separatist leader to go on trial spanish judge
madrid jan afp
an ex leader of the banned political wing of the armed separatist group eta is
to be tried along with seven other people on charges of seeking to rebuild the
party spanish judge ruled monday
leading anti terrorist judge baltasar garzon ordered arnaldo otegi former
spokesman of the batasuna political wing and the others to be put on trial at
date yet to be announced
they are charged with seeking to rebuild the batasuna under the guise of new
organisation called bateragune
the group wanted bateragune to be coordination wing led and controlled by eta
and manage projects of the terrorist organisation according to copy of
the judge ruling
batasuna was banned in for its links with eta which is held responsible
for deaths in year campaign for independence for the basque country of
northern spain and southwestern france
those to be tried are among nine people arrested last october in spain
northern basque country and in the neighbouring navarra region garzon later
ordered the release of one of them
otegi was last jailed in june after the supreme court upheld month
sentence for glorifying terrorism for praising veteran eta leader jose miguel
benaran ordenana at memorial service in
the eight charged monday also included the secretary general of the lab union
rafael diez usabiaga well known figure in the basque independence movement
hungary cuts interest rate by quarter point to percent
budapest jan afp
the hungarian central bank mnb cut its main interest rate by quarter of
percentage point to percent on monday as expected following quarter
point reduction at the end of december
the monetary council of the magyar nemzeti bank reduced the central bank base
rate by basis points to percent in effect from january the central
bank said in statement
that brings borrowing costs in hungary to their lowest level since september
after they peaked at percent in october
nevertheless hungarian interest rates are still among the highest in the entire
country european union
analysts expect the monetary easing to continue and interest rates to fall to
percent towards the end of this year
the forint which has stabilised recently remained steady on the announcement
changing hands at per euro shortly afterwards compared with
earlier in the day
inflation in hungary slowed to an annual average percent last year from
percent in but in december alone it picked up sharply to percent as
result of rising food and fuel prices
hungary was one of the countries hardest hit by the global financial and
economic crisis only escaping bankruptcy thanks to billion euro
billion dollar bailout by the international monetary fund the world bank and
the eu
according to the latest government forecasts the economy is expected to have
contracted by percent in and is set to shrink again by percent this
year
football gerrard set for liverpool return
liverpool england jan afp
liverpool captain steven gerrard could make an earlier than expected return in
tuesday premier league match away to wolves
the england midfielder was set to be sidelined for at least fortnight after
suffering hamstring injury in liverpool fa cup defeat by reading on january
however he was back in action at liverpool melwood training ground over the
weekend and could now play at molineux
he was training on saturday and then full training session on sunday and
today was the same liverpool manager rafael benitez said monday
normally he someone who if available can play the spaniard added
we ll decide tomorrow tuesday but think he can be available
liverpool are just point outside the top four champions league qualifying
places while goal difference alone is currently keeping wolves out of the
relegation zone
india jet airways swings into profit
mumbai jan afp
india largest private carrier jet airways said monday cost cutting and higher
air traffic growth helped it swing into profit in the three months to december
its first gain in three quarters
the carrier reported net profit for the fiscal third quarter of billion
rupees million dollars compared with net loss of billion rupees in
the same period year earlier
revenue fell four percent to near billion rupees the company said in
statement
jet shares climbed rupees or percent to rupees on the back of
the earnings announcement
the company continues to implement cost control and revenue enhancement
measures which have resulted in improved performance for the quarter it said
new routes and improved traffic growth also boosted performance the company
said
in the quarter domestic air traffic for jet grew percent and international
traffic by percent from the same period year earlier
the trend for the next few months looks healthy and the capacity situation is
under control jet said
passenger traffic has grown by percent in the third quarter from levels
year earlier the airline said
jet like its rival kingfisher airlines posted record seat load factor the
proportions of available seats filled of percent in the third quarter
the indian airline industry is witnessing turnaround passenger traffic has
been improving steadily for the past seven months said mahantesh sabarad
aviation analyst at centrum broking
airlines like jet should show stronger growth in coming quarters as the
business cycle improves and fuel costs remain steady he told afp
last week kingfisher airlines owned by liquor baron vijay mallya also said
the outlook for the industry was improving even though the airline posted
wider loss
the forecast came after kingfisher notched up record seat load factor of
percent in the third quarter
kingfisher third quarter net loss increased to billion rupees million
dollars from net loss of billion rupees in the same period the year
before
jet owned by businessman naresh goyal is india largest private airline with
percent market share followed by kingfisher with percent
jet flies to destinations in india and abroad operating aircraft
last month the singapore based centre for asia pacific aviation said in
report that india private airlines should return to profit in the next
financial year after period of bruising losses
with india economy rebounding private carriers are expected to post total
profit of million dollars to million dollars in the fiscal year which
starts in april the report said
sal pmc bsk
football brown says debt mountain should concern clubs
london jan afp
british prime minister gordon brown said monday the rising amount of debt being
carried by several english premier league clubs was concern but government
intervention was out of the question
this month saw the parent company of english champions manchester united
announce debts of million pounds billion dollars million euros
while at the other end of the table basement club portsmouth face winding up
order over unpaid tax bills
brown responding to question at his monthly press conference said over the
last few years number of football clubs have become highly leveraged and
therefore they have far higher levels of debt than the income they are able to
generate from their footballing activities and their television activities
it is matter that the clubs themselves have got to be concerned about
it is worry to supporters and think the management of football clubs have
got to look very seriously at their responsibilities
but brown scot who supports scottish first division second tier side raith
rovers made it clear that football teams could expect no government support if
they got into financial difficulties
it is an issue for the clubs themselves they have got to deal with this
issue
commissions negotiate guinea government
conakry jan afp
guinea junta and the opposition have each set up commissions to negotiate the
membership of transitional government source close to incoming prime
minister jean marie dore said monday
talks were under way between the interim president general sekouba konate and
the prime minister in order to form government team that could run the west
african country for six months and organise elections the source said
two commissions have been set up one by the forum of active forces
coalition of opposition parties trade unions and civil society organisations
and the other by the junta in order to come up with consensual governmental
structure added the source close to dore who asked not to be named
guinea has been under military rule since december and crisis
erupted last september when troops massacred more than people during an
opposition rally in conakry stadium hundreds of others were injured and many
women and young girls were raped according to united nations investigation
and human rights groups
the un has blamed junta leader captain moussa dadis camara among others for
the killing but camara has been sidelined in guinea politics after being shot
and seriously wounded by his aide de camp in an apparent assassination bid on
december he is currently convalescing in burkina faso
in the past few weeks president blaise compaore of burkina faso has been
mediating way out of the crisis and military rule and the rival parties have
agreed to share power in transitional government that will hold elections
within six months
the make up of the government could be known before the end of the week the
source said though with what we re currently seeing on the sidelines there
risk it will take some time
other sources said that the transitional government would not be formed until
the middle of next week
the formal transfer of power from outgoing prime minister kanibe komara and the
year old dore is due on tuesday said the source close to the incoming
leader who was appointed on january
according to members of both commissions the government should consist of
members of them chosen by the active forces and other political parties and
the other chosen by the national council for democracy and development as
the junta calls itself
sources said monday that opinions varied about the creation of two posts of
deputy prime minister one for union leader rabiatou serah diallo and the other
for the first vice president of the junta general mamadouba toto camara
within the commission formed by konate some were favourable to the deputy prime
ministers jobs the sources said while others argued that it would be
preferable to set up two ministries responsible respectively for security and
for territorial administration
yemen shiite rebels announce withdrawing from saudi land
sanaa jan afp
the leader of yemeni shiite rebels announced on monday the withdrawal of zaidi
fighters from positions they had been occupying inside saudi arabia since
fighting broke out in november
we announce our full withdrawal from all saudi territory said abdul malak al
huthi in an audio message received by afp describing his offer as an
initiative
he warned however that the huthi rebels accused by the yemeni regime of being
backed by iran would launch an open war if the saudi forces attack them
saudi arabia had on january announced that shiite rebels were ousted from
their last foothold within the kingdom but the rebels swiftly denied the report
saying they were still in control of al jabiri border village
the initiative comes because we are keen on stopping the bloodshed and bring to
an end the aggression against civilians in villages in north yemen huthi said
if the saudi regime maintains its aggression after this initiative it would be
showing that its intention is not to defend its territory but to invade our
areas in north yemen huthi said
this would give us the right to open many fronts and launch an open war he
warned
saudi arabia launched operations against the rebels already locked in battle
with yemen military after accusing them of killing saudi border guard and
occupying two border villages on november
the sanaa government has been engaged in sporadic fighting with the rebels since
the latest round of clashes erupted on august when government forces
launched operation scorched earth an all out offensive to stamp out the
uprising among the zaidi shiites minority in mainly sunni yemen but the
majority in the northern mountains
whitacre to be confirmed as gm chief
washington jan afp
general motors interim chief executive ed whitacre is to be named permanent ceo
and chairman the cnbc business news network said monday quoting company
sources
whitacre stepped in as the temporary ceo after fritz henderson stepped down from
the position last december as the number one us auto company reeled from the
financial crisis
gm said on its website that whitacre who was installed as chairman when the
auto giant emerged from bankruptcy last year with us government support was to
host press conference on monday to provide updates on gm business
activities
yemen shiite rebels announce withdrawing from saudi land
sanaa jan afp
the leader of yemeni shiite rebels announced on monday the withdrawal of zaidi
fighters from positions they had been occupying inside saudi arabia since
fighting broke out in november
we announce our full withdrawal from all saudi territory said abdul malak al
huthi in an audio message received by afp describing his offer as an
initiative
he warned however that the huthi rebels accused by the yemeni regime of being
backed by iran would launch an open war if the saudi forces attack them
saudi arabia had on january announced that shiite rebels were ousted from
their last foothold within the kingdom but the rebels swiftly denied the report
saying they were still in control of al jabiri border village
the initiative comes because we are keen on stopping the bloodshed and bring to
an end the aggression against civilians in villages in north yemen huthi said
if the saudi regime maintains its aggression after this initiative it would be
showing that its intention is not to defend its territory but to invade our
areas in north yemen huthi said
this would give us the right to open many fronts and launch an open war he
warned
saudi arabia launched operations against the rebels already locked in battle
with yemen military after accusing them of killing saudi border guard and
occupying two border villages on november
the sanaa government has been engaged in sporadic fighting with the rebels since
the latest round of clashes erupted on august when government forces
launched operation scorched earth an all out offensive to stamp out the
uprising among the zaidi shiites minority in mainly sunni yemen but the
majority in the northern mountains
haiti emergency aid conference opens in montreal
montreal jan afp
top world officials gathered in montreal monday for emergency talks to hash out
plans to rebuild haiti nearly two weeks after killer earthquake devastated
the impoverished nation
haitian prime minister jean max bellerive canadian prime minister stephen
harper us secretary of state hillary clinton and officials from the united
nations were among those taking part
karroubi recognises ahmadinejad as iran president son
tehran jan afp
iran opposition leader mehdi karroubi who had refused to accept mahmoud
ahmadinejad re election revealed on monday in major position shift that he
now recognised the hardliner as president
karroubi son hossein told afp about his father new stance making him the
first opposition leader to explicitly accept ahmadinejad victory in the june
poll which returned him to office for second term
am still of the same belief that the election was unhealthy and massively
rigged but since the supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei endorsed
ahmadinejad victory believe that he is the head of the government
meaning he is the president hossein quoted his father as saying
hossein spoke to afp when asked to confirm an earlier report by fars news agency
quoting his father as acknowledging ahmadinejad to be the president
fars asked karroubi whether he now recognises ahmadinejad as president
the ex speaker of parliament who won the fewest number of votes in the june
election replied still maintain that there were problems in the poll but
with regard to your question should say that recognise the president
karroubi along with main opposition leader mir hossein mousavi had earned the
wrath of the islamic republic hardliners over the past eight months for
vociferously campaigning against ahmadinejad re election
he was heavily criticised for alleging that several protesters who had
demonstrated against ahmadinejad were raped while in prison
karroubi new stance comes day after his political party etemad melli said
the cleric would back all the anti government remarks he has been making since
the election dispute erupted
it is necessary for you to know that mr karroubi is standing firm and tall and
has evidence for all his comments the party said on its website sahamnews org
and had even called for permission to stage demonstrations
karroubi and mousavi led the opposition movement despite khamenei endorsing
ahmadinejad victory at key friday prayer sermon on june just week
after polling day
on july reacting to the confirmation of the election result by the guardians
council which rules on election results karroubi called ahmadinejad victory
illegitimate
do not consider the government coming from this election as legitimate and
will not participate in the endorsement ceremony he had said ahead of the
official ceremony to endorse ahmadinejad as president for second term
iranian political analyst mohammad saleh sedghian told afp on monday that
karroubi latest stance was an indication of moves towards reconciliation
between hardliners and reformists
we find that they opposition groups are leaning towards recognising the
ahmadinejad government but they keep objecting to the mechanism in which the
election was held sedghian said
the trend is towards reconciliation which the reformists and several moderates
have called for
the post election unrest against ahmadinejad led by karroubi and mousavi saw
hundreds of thousands of demonstrators take to the streets in protest against
the president and sometimes even khamenei
the demonstrations which erupted soon after the election shook the very
pillars of the islamic regime and split the nation clergy
protesters have taken every opportunity since to stage anti government
demonstrations the latest on december as the nation commemorated the shiite
ritual of ashura
dozens of iranians have been killed and wounded in such protests since june and
hundreds have also been put on trial accused of attempting to revolt against the
regime
formula one interest in return thrills schumacher
stuttgart germany jan afp
seven times world champion michael schumacher admitted monday he has been
thrilled by the amount of interest from his fans in his return to formula one
racing
having retired in the year old has broken his three year hiatus to sign
three year contract to race for mercedes gp and reunite with ross brawn the
man who orchestrated all of his world drivers championship titles
schumacher was at the launch of mercedes formula one car in stuttgart and said
he is looking forward to his first grand prix for three years in bahrain on
march which is eagerly anticipated by his fans here
have been taken aback bit by the interest he said standing next to
mercedes silver arrow formula one car
was both surprised and thrilled to see the reaction
it great thrill to be back and to be part of the silver arrow team it
great emotion and feeling am getting from people outside
like to thank the fans it gives me extra push to do well
am fit and am looking forward to testing the new car next month
and schumacher repeated his desire to claim an eighth world title with the
german team
we have everything it takes to succeed but it is one thing to have the correct
ingredient and another to manage it he said
with the experience of ross and with all the know how of mercedes am sorry
but there can only be one target for us to achieve
having won five consecutive world titles with ferrari schumacher says there
will be no divided loyalties
there is quite lot of my history and part of my heart is ferrari red and
you can forget all the good moments we have had together he said
am really looking forward to seeing some of my friends who worked with for
so long
am still friends with them we can compete but it doesn mean we have to
forget what has happened in the past it is still deep in my heart
and in terms of his advancing years schumacher says he has nothing to prove
just want to prove to myself that am still able to do it said the german
the main reason am doing it is because of the thrill
feel huge sense of excitement just to drive and compete at the highest
level
it was great to have three year break but now see no reason why can do
it again at the highest level
brawn who masterminded all of schumacher seven world titles in the pits
first at benetton and then at ferrari said he was delighted to resume their
partnership on the track
working with michael again is treat it is something didn think would
happen again and it is something am excited about said brawn
nico is an exciting prospect and think he will be good for michael it will
also help him to see how world champion operates
schumacher team mate nico rosberg the son of finland formula one world
champion keke rosberg admitted he was excited to be working with both
schumacher and brawn having raced for williams in
it very special said the german
it dream come true to be able to drive the first silver arrow since
it fantastic look forward to it
having michael as team mate is great it is going to be great season
there aren many german stars in the world but two of them have joined
together in michael schumacher and mercedes said dieter zetsche the chairman
of the daimler group and the head of mercedes benz
and there is no reason why nico rosberg can become world star
there is obvious pride at mercedes in having schumacher racing for the german
team next season
we are the germany team of formula one said zetsche
we want to be world champions to have the best car but that is not to say it
will happen in the first year
we are new team and we will need time
at least killed as three blasts target baghdad hotels
baghdad jan afp
at least people were killed and wounded in three massive car bombings that
targeted hotels in baghdad on monday in an apparently co ordinated attack less
than six weeks from general election
iraqi and us forces have warned of rising violence in the lead up to the march
vote the second parliamentary ballot since the us led invasion ousted
saddam hussein but ushered in deadly and long lasting insurgency
the first bomb struck near the palestine and sheraton hotels in abu nawaz close
to where giant statue of saddam was symbolically toppled almost seven years
ago at around pm gmt an interior ministry official said
the second and third blasts just minutes later targeted the babylon hotel in the
central district of karrada and the hamra hotel in jadriyah in the south of the
capital he added
iraqi military spokesman in baghdad major general qassim atta said all three car
bombs were suicide attacks
an interior ministry official told afp that people had been killed and
were wounded
the first explosion which shook ground miles away from the site of the blast
sent plumes of smoke rising hundreds of metres yards into the air
