W O R L D

Frustrated, Haitians block streets with corpses
Port-au-Prince, January 15
Thousands of people injured in Haiti's massive earthquake spent a third night twisted in pain, lying on sidewalks and waiting for help as their despair turned to anger.

Thousands of bodies lie outside the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince. — Reuters

Celebrities seek funds for victims
London, January 15
Shakira, Oprah Winfrey, Chris Martin and Lance Armstrong are the latest celebrities to plead for help in raising funds for the Haitian earthquake relief effort. The stars have joined Ben Stiller, Jessica Alba, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Wyclef Jean in calling for people to lend their support to those left homeless after the disaster, which rocked the poverty-stricken island nation on Tuesday, Contactmusic reported.

Looters break into UN warehouses
Geneva, January 15
Looters have broken into UN food warehouses in Haiti's crumbled capital, an official said today, as security and logistical challenges mounted for groups trying to feed at least 2 million people reeling from a devastating earthquake. The UN World Food Programme stressed that looting was normal in emergency situations, but spokeswoman Emilia Casella said the agency didn't know how much remained of its pre-quake stockpile of 15,000 tonnes of food aid in Port-au-Prince.

‘Won’t allow anti-India activity on Nepal soil’
SM Krishna in Kathmandu; 4 pacts inked
Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna today gave positive gesture to Nepal to the latter’s longstanding proposal to review the Nepal-India Peace and Friendship Treaty-1950. In return, Nepal today sought to address India's concerns with regard to fake currency being smuggled from here, pledging that it would not allow its territory to be used against its neighbour as the two sides inked four pacts for cooperation in infrastructure, power and science and technology.

China appoints new Guv in restive Tibet
Beijing, January 15
China has picked up a veteran military commander as the Governor of the restive Tibetan region, signalling a continuation of its hardline approach to the province which two years ago witnessed widespread unrest against its rule. Padma Choling, who was in the People's Liberation Army for over 17 years took over as the Governor today from Qiangba Puncog who had stepped down to be named as a head of the Tibetan Parliament, official news agency Xinhua reported.

26/11
LeT sought Kasab’s release in lieu of hostages
Washington, January 15
Pakistani handlers of the LeT men, who attacked Mumbai, wanted to obtain the release of captured gunman Ajmal Amir Kasab in exchange for hostages held by the terrorists, an indictment chargesheet for two suspects has said.A US federal grand jury, in its 12-count indictment against terror suspects Tahawwur Hussein Rana and David Coleman Headley, gave extensive details of the planning of the Mumbai attacks and how Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders guided their men during the four-day siege, beginning November 26, 2008.

Frustrated, Haitians block streets with corpses

Port-au-Prince, January 15
Thousands of people injured in Haiti's massive earthquake spent a third night twisted in pain, lying on sidewalks and waiting for help as their despair turned to anger.

"We've been out here waiting for three days and three nights but nothing has been done for us, not even a word of encouragement from the president," said Pierre Jackson, nursing his mother and sister who lay whimpering with crushed legs. "What should we do?"

Desperate Haitians blocked streets with corpses in one part of Port-au-Prince to demand quicker relief efforts following Tuesday's catastrophic quake, which flattened buildings and killed tens of thousands, leaving countless others homeless. Bodies lay all around the hilly city, and people covered their noses with cloth to block the stench of death. Corpses were piled on pickup trucks and delivered to the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, where hospital director Guy LaRoche estimated the bodies piled outside the morgue numbered 1,500.

Shaul Schwarz, a photographer for TIME magazine, said he saw at least two downtown roadblocks formed with bodies of earthquake victims and rocks. "They are starting to block the roads with bodies. It's getting ugly out there. People are fed up with getting no help," he told Reuters. Angry survivors staged the protest as international aid committed by 30 countries began arriving in Port-au-Prince in dozens of planes that clogged the city's small airport. U.S. forces were continuing trying to step up operations at the airport in order to get more supplies and workers into the country.

The Haitian Red Cross said it believed 45,000 to 50,000 people had died and 3 million more — one third of Haiti's population — were hurt or left homeless by the major 7.0 magnitude quake that hit its impoverished capital on Tuesday. — Reuters

Celebrities seek funds for victims

London, January 15
Shakira, Oprah Winfrey, Chris Martin and Lance Armstrong are the latest celebrities to plead for help in raising funds for the Haitian earthquake relief effort. The stars have joined Ben Stiller, Jessica Alba, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Wyclef Jean in calling for people to lend their support to those left homeless after the disaster, which rocked the poverty-stricken island nation on Tuesday, Contactmusic reported.

Shakira has posted a message on her personal website asking everyone to donate cash to Jean's Yele charity organisation, while other stars, including Mark Hoppus, Yoko Ono, singer Joey MCintyre, and Kim Kardashian, have all taken to their Twitter.com pages to raise awareness of the tragedy.

Jean's campaign has proved so popular, the website crashed as a result of the number of donations being made every minute. A spokesperson revealed the organisation is working on improving the site to allow for more donations.

Meanwhile, Winfrey opened her talk show on Wednesday calling for viewers to donate to the Red Cross, saying, "This is a time where we, as a global nation, should come together and support those who are in need." And Coldplay's Martin is pressing for donations to Oxfam's Haiti appeal.

"I visited Haiti with Oxfam a few years ago. It's a country of extreme poverty and brutal living conditions. Most people in Port-au-Prince live in tin shacks," Martin said.

Cycling ace Lance Armstrong's foundation has also pledged $ 250,000 to support relief charities working to rebuild earthquake-devastated Haiti.

Hollywood supercouple Pitt and Jolie have also extended their efforts by donating $ 1 million to help Doctors Without Borders in the earthquake-ravaged zone. — PTI

Looters break into UN warehouses

Geneva, January 15
Looters have broken into UN food warehouses in Haiti's crumbled capital, an official said today, as security and logistical challenges mounted for groups trying to feed at least 2 million people reeling from a devastating earthquake. The UN World Food Programme stressed that looting was normal in emergency situations, but spokeswoman Emilia Casella said the agency didn't know how much remained of its pre-quake stockpile of 15,000 tonnes of food aid in Port-au-Prince.

She noted that regular food stores in the capital also “have been cleaned out'' by desperate Haitians since Tuesday's 7.0-magnitude earthquake killed thousands and left countless more buried under the rubble.

Distributing food and clean water to hungry and thirsty quake survivors is the top challenge of the early relief effort. Looting, bad roads, a ruined port, an overwhelmed Port-au-Prince airport and fears of violence meant most Haitians have received no help three days after the quake.

The UN was planning to ask governments later today for $550 million in humanitarian pledges for the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation. “The physical destruction is so great that physically getting from point A to B with the supplies is not an easy task,'' Casella told a news conference. — AP

‘Won’t allow anti-India activity on Nepal soil’
SM Krishna in Kathmandu; 4 pacts inked
Bishnu Budhathoki writes from Kathmandu

Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna today gave positive gesture to Nepal to the latter’s longstanding proposal to review the Nepal-India Peace and Friendship Treaty-1950.

In return, Nepal today sought to address India's concerns with regard to fake currency being smuggled from here, pledging that it would not allow its territory to be used against its neighbour as the two sides inked four pacts for cooperation in infrastructure, power and science and technology.

At a time when the main opposition party, Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists, has been carrying out nationwide campaign against India demanding the abrogation of all “unequal treaties” signed between the two countries, the Indian Foreign Minister expressed readiness to review it in accordance with the convenient for Nepal.

Immediately after he arrived in Kathmandu this afternoon along with his foreign secretary for his three-day official visit, Krishna expressed positive response in this regard while holding bilateral talks with Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sujata Koirala. “We proposed to review the old treaty and update it in accordance with the changed political context,” told Koirala to mediapersons. “India is positive to our proposal,” she said. Koirala also said they had directed the foreign secretaries from the two countries to work out in this regard.

She also said they held extensive discussions on strengthening of bilateral relations and curbing cross-border criminal activities, human trafficking and drugs smuggling.

During the meeting, Nepal raised serious concerns over the highly controversial issues on border encroachment from the Indian side whereas the Indian officials urged Nepal to cooperate with India by signing the much-awaited Extradition Treaty that Nepal had been dilly dallying to sign. The two foreign ministers also signed an MoU regarding the strengthening of road infrastructure in the southern plain of Nepal.

Thereafter, Krishna called on Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal at latter’s official residence in Baluwatar this evening and exchanged views on matters of further enhancing bilateral relations between the two countries. Earlier, briefly talking to journalists at Tribhuvan International Airport upon his arrival, Krishna had said Indian foreign policy´s topmost priority was the relations with Nepal. "I am here to further our cordial relations," Krishna said, adding that "India and Nepal have civilisation link, traditional relationships, we are good neighbours and we have learnt from each other."

On Saturday, he will meet President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoists chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda, who has already announced campaign against Indian border encroachment and intervention in Nepal’s internal affairs to safeguard what his party called for safeguarding national independence and civilian supremacy.

China appoints new Guv in restive Tibet

Beijing, January 15
China has picked up a veteran military commander as the Governor of the restive Tibetan region, signalling a continuation of its hardline approach to the province which two years ago witnessed widespread unrest against its rule. Padma Choling, who was in the People's Liberation Army for over 17 years took over as the Governor today from Qiangba Puncog who had stepped down to be named as a head of the Tibetan Parliament, official news agency Xinhua reported.

As Chairman Qiangba Puncog was the public face of the ongoing crackdown or the unrest in Tibet since March 2008. China said 21 persons had been killed in the rioting, but Tibetan sources put the figure at more than 200. Thousands of people were arrested during the unrest, which peaked before China hosted the Olympic Games last year. Many Buddhist monks were sentenced to long prison terms.

Though both Padma Choling and Qiangba Puncog are ethnic Tibetans, the real power in the region rests with the powerful provincial secretary of the Communist Party, whose current chief is Zhang Qingli, who is a han Chinese. In the wake of the riots in which Chinese owned shops and government offices were attacked, the region was sealed off by the crack troops of the Red Army. Tibet policy is formulated at the highest level in China by the Communist Party leader and President Hu Jintao. — PTI

26/11
LeT sought Kasab’s release in lieu of hostages

Washington, January 15
Pakistani handlers of the LeT men, who attacked Mumbai, wanted to obtain the release of captured gunman Ajmal Amir Kasab in exchange for hostages held by the terrorists, an indictment chargesheet for two suspects has said.A US federal grand jury, in its 12-count indictment against terror suspects Tahawwur Hussein Rana and David Coleman Headley, gave extensive details of the planning of the Mumbai attacks and how Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders guided their men during the four-day siege, beginning November 26, 2008.

Pakistani-origin Chicago resident Rana was indicted by the jury here along with American citizen Headley. — PTI