BBC News with Gaenor Howells
The United States has defended plans for a six-billion-dollar arms deal with Taiwan despite a warning from China of serious consequences if the sales go ahead. China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province and says it will impose sanctions on American companies that sell weapons to the island. However, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip Crowley said the deal would contribute to maintaining stability across the Taiwan Strait.
"This is a clear demonstration of the commitment that this administration has to provide Taiwan the defensive weapons it needs and as provided for in the Taiwan Relations Act. And we think that this action is consistent with the US One-China policy, and contributes to maintaining security and stability across the Taiwan Strait."
The United Nations World Food Program says it has established fixed sites for food distribution in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, where only women will be allowed in to collect earthquake relief supplies. More from Hugh Williams in Haiti.
Over the past two weeks, the World Food Program has distributed millions of meals to hundreds of thousands of people in Port-au-Prince. But it says setting up a network of 16 distribution points and inviting eligible families to cash in vouchers to collect food should almost quadruple the number of people it can help. There has been criticism of the speed and limited scale of aid efforts so far, but the WFP denies it's changing strategy to answer those complaints. The vouchers and the food will only be given to women because the WFP says they are more likely than men to make sure supplies get to those who really need them.