russian policeman who accused his superiors of corruption and appealed to
prime minister vladimir putin for help has been arrested for abuse of office
investigators said friday
the former employee of the directorate of internal affairs with the city of
novorosiisk in the krasnodar region alexei dymovsky has been detained for abuse
of office the investigative committee of the russian prosecutor office said
in statement
dymovsky became an internet sensation in november when in highly unusual move
for member of the security forces he posted video alleging chronic
corruption in his force
he issued litany of complaints about the conditions of work and said officers
were treated like cattle he also demanded meeting with putin that was never
granted
authorities announced in december that they were investigating dymovsky for
fraud linked to abuse of office
dymovsky said in messages posted friday on website set up by supporters that
an investigator summoned him to novorossiisk primorsky district court and that
he was being sent to krasnodar penal detention centre
the reason as the investigator explained is that yesterday he received
information that put pressure on participants of the investigation and
witnesses he said
the case is political and made to order
eight killed missing in indonesian flash floods
jakarta jan afp
eight people were killed and missing after flash floods smashed through
villages in indonesia southeast sulawesi province officials said friday
the powerful waters were unleashed after the rante limbong river overflowed and
rushed through five villages in kolaka utara district late thursday health
ministry crisis centre chief rustam pakaya told afp
our latest data from local officials is that eight bodies have been found and
people went missing he told afp adding that at least houses were swept
away
spokesman for the national disaster management centre priyadi kardono said
that rescuers were struggling to get to the villages
it hard to reach the affected area roads are cut off and the communication
access is so difficult he told afp
he said the floods had displaced people who were now sheltering in local
administration office buildings
floods and landslides are common in indonesia which is densely populated and
prone to frequent heavy rain
urgent ebrd raises growth forecast for ex soviet bloc
london jan afp
the european bank for reconstruction and development on friday raised its
forecast for growth in the ex soviet bloc one of the areas worst affected by
the global economic crisis
football former hull chairman denies kickbacks charge
london jan afp
former chairman of hull on friday denied charges of spending company money for
his own personal use and receiving kickbacks from agents keen to do business
with the premier league club
in preliminary hearing at england high court paul duffen succeeded in
having an order freezing his assets lifted and substituted with an agreement on
an order for disclosure and charges on property
duffen who was hull chairman from until october last year also agreed
to hand over computer files in move his barrister said should not to be taken
as an admission of any of the allegations against him
the court will examine hull claims against duffen at later date
the club said in statement that the former chairman had breached his duties as
company director through the use of company monies for his own personal
expenditure and other wrongdoings and through the payment of certain monies
by third party football agents to mr duffen services company in return for
which mr duffen procured that hull city contract with the agents for business
duffen left hull in october after accountants warned that the club was in danger
of going out of business particularly if it is relegated from the premier
league hull are currently in the relegation zone along with bolton and
portsmouth
alert
ebrd raises growth forecast for ex soviet bloc
alert
ebrd raises growth forecast for ex soviet bloc
aftershocks rock devastated haiti capital
port au prince jan afp
pair of brief but relatively strong aftershocks rocked the devastated haitian
capital port au prince on friday ten days after catastrophic earthquake
demolished much of the city
some residents ran in panic from concrete buildings fearing repeat of the
collapses that last weekk killed at least people and left more than
million homeless living in streets parks and makeshift tented encampments
others are now accustomed to the tremors which still strike every day and most
residents remained concentrated on the struggle to survive and rebuild
semblance of normal economic and social life amid the ruins
not really used to it yet but starting to be less scared said
year old student naomi renouard ran like usually do think that it
god punishing us for our sins to show us better way
meanwhile international rescue teams remained deployed around the city in the
increasingly faint hope of finding more survivors amid the rubble and us troops
and un agencies distributed humanitarian aid
bomb attack targets sri lanka opposition ahead of vote
colombo jan afp
key opposition activist in sri lanka was targeted at home by bomb attack
blamed on the ruling party on friday as violence escalated ahead of next week
presidential election
the pre dawn blast destroyed car and severely damaged the home of tiran alles
wealthy businessman and key ally of the opposition presidential candidate
sarath fonseka he and his family escaped unhurt
heard huge explosion and as came out of my room saw the house on fire
alles told afp pointing the finger at the ruling party for the attempt on his
life they were obviously trying to kill me
the attack came amid tightened security as sri lankans prepare to go to the
polls tuesday to choose between president mahinda rajapakse and his former army
chief fonseka
the government said it was gravely concerned over the violence and said the
authorities had been instructed to step up security
instructions have been given to the authorities to bolster security at
sensitive locations and all political events up to and on polling day to ensure
that all sri lankans can participate safely in the electoral process the
government said in statement
the opposition alleged alles had been targeted because fonseka campaign had
released photograph of rajapakse eldest son namal with tamil rebel leader
at london nightclub
rajapakse reputation as war hero president is staked on his victory over the
tamil tiger rebels last year who were wiped out in huge government offensive
after years of fighting
since the photograph showed some sort of link between the president family
and the tamil tigers alles had been receiving death threats the spokesman
said even yesterday we complained that he could be targeted
alles said forensic experts were going through the wreckage of his car and house
at colombo nawala quarter but he did not expect an impartial inquiry from the
police
charred debris was strewn over the frontyard of the fire damaged house and the
roof had partially collapsed
don expect anything from the investigation alles said they will try to
kill me before the election
alles campaigned for rajapakse victory in the november election but fell
out when few dissidents were sacked from the government
since his fall from grace within the rajapakse administration alles had worked
with the opposition and was partly credited with arranging for fonseka to come
forward as common opposition candidate
fonseka and opposition leader ranil wickremesinghe visited the bombed home
the attackers are believed to have come in van and carried out the attack and
fled police official at the scene said adding that no arrests had been
made
previous elections have been marred by major violence
the tamil tigers assassinated an opposition candidate in and another was
wounded in similar suicide bombing in they also enforced tamil boycott
of the vote
there have been no suicide bombings in the latest campaign but police say at
least four people have been killed and hundreds wounded as supporters of the two
main candidates clash across the country
the police have received more than complaints of election related violence
international concern over escalating election related violence has poured in
with united nations chief ban ki moon on thursday expressing alarm over the
increasing number of violent incidents and killings
rajapakse called the vote two years ahead of schedule to benefit from the
government defeat of the separatist tamil tiger rebels after decades of ethnic
warfare on the island
but he faces surprise rival for power in fonseka the former general who led
the troops to victory in may
alpine skiing vonn snaps up cortina super
cortina ampezzo italy jan afp
favourite lindsey vonn raced home in friday super race at cortina ampezzo
as she pocketed her th world cup win
vonn and streaking towards third consecutive overall world cup title won
in min sec to see off swiss fabienne suter and swede anja paerson by
and sec and make it seven wins this season
the double speed events champion who will be out to flatten the competition at
next month winter games in vancouver moved back to the head of the overall
world cup standings ahead of maria riesch whom she left trailing friday
the german could only manage th fully sec behind her rival
vonn tally for the season now stands at four downhills two super successes
and super combined two weeks ago she joined select band of racers who have
won three races in weekend in bagging two downhills and super at haus im
ennstal austria
today was my first super win here in cortina so it special day for me
said vonn
feel good things are going well right now but lot can change in couple
of weeks she noted as she looked forward to next month winter olympics in
vancouver
hopefully can deal with the pressure in vancouver and hopefully get at least
one medal said the american who in this form seems set to reach that modest
goal with something to spare
she added she would look to improve on slalom relative weak point
but right now my main goal is just to stay focused on the downhill and the
superg speed keeps me happy she chuckled
nigerian cabinet gets days to decide on ailing president
abuja jan afp
nigeria federal high court on friday gave the cabinet days to decide if
ailing president umaru yar adua was fit to stay in office
judge dan abutu directed the cabinet to resolve whether the president in
hospital in saudi arabia since november is incapable of discharging the
function of his office
the ruling came after former lawmaker farouk adamu aliyu petitioned the court to
have the vice president goodluck jonathan sworn in to act for yar adua until
the president is able to return
the yar adua appointed cabinet has resisted opposition demands that it take
action over the president absence insisting that yar adua is in full
possession of his faculties
he has been receiving treatment for an acute heart condition in jeddah
hospital
we will abide by the judgement of the court justice minister michael
aondoaaka told reporters after the ruling
the executive council of the federation will within days as directed by the
court consider and pass resolution on the state of the president health
said aondoaaka key yar adua ally
opposition parties have called for yar adua to step down or failing that for
the cabinet to replace him on the grounds that his lengthy absence from the helm
of africa second biggest oil exporter demonstrates an incapacity to perform
his functions
we filed this case so that we can save our country from anarchy chaos and from
constitutional crisis said bamidele aturu lawyer for aliyu
he said the cabinet had no choice but to comply with the ruling
duty calls upon them that they must tow the path of rectitude the path of rule
of law and the path of constitutionalism said aturu
under the constitution the cabinet can discharge the president with two
thirds majority vote however medical team of five doctors appointed by
nigeria senate speaker will have the final say on the head of state fitness
calls for yar adua northern muslim to step down or transfer power to
jonathan southern christian have mounted in recent weeks
on thursday former president olusegun obasanjo his long time ally suggested
yar adua step aside because of failing health
the ruling people democratic party pdp is deeply divided over who should
succeed yar adua if he resigns given the delicate balance of power in africa
most populous state almost equally divided between muslims and christians
under an unwritten agreement the presidency should rotate every eight years
between the country mainly muslim north and christian south
friday case was one of three separate legal challenges to force the year
old president to swear in jonathan without delay the two other cases are yet to
be decided
france talks tough with drug firms on flu vaccines
paris jan afp
france is in tough talks with drug companies to cancel orders for millions of
swine flu vaccines and insists on scratching the deals instead of renegotiating
them its health minister said on friday
france earlier this month moved to cancel purchases of million swine flu
vaccines after ordering far more than needed but was confident at the time that
it would not have to compensate the big companies that provide them
but the negotiations with the british drug firm glaxosmithkline sanofi of
france and novartis of switzerland are extraordinarily tough the minister
roselyne bachelot told europe radio station on friday
there is no question of transforming the cancellation of the orders into future
orders she added despite reports that the government might sweeten the
cancellation deal by committing to purchases for future epidemics
france spent million euros billion dollars on million vaccines for
the virus but like some other european countries it has witnessed less
demand than expected
it had also planned for two doses of the vaccine per person but medical
authorities have since said single dose was sufficient
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 jailing of
four democracy activists
their 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 and british minister said it
harmed vietnam international standing
but vietnam late friday responded that the arrest investigation trial and
convictions of the accused was in accordance with vietnamese and international
laws
vietnam is law governed state said ministry of foreign affairs spokeswoman
nguyen phuong nga
it is pity that representatives of britain the us and eu made comments with
lack of goodwill on this issue intervening into vietnam internal affairs
the case is the most high profile among series 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
youngsters jailed in britain for shock attack
london jan afp
two young brothers were jailed for at least five years on friday for
sadistic attack on pair of fellow youngsters which shocked britain and
fuelled political row
the brothers aged and were convicted of torturing and assaulting nine
year old and an year old boy in the south yorkshire town of edlington in
northern england last april
the court heard harrowing details of how the pair lured their victims to
secluded spot before forcing them to strip and sexually abuse each other
attacking them with bricks strangling them and making them eat nettles
the fact is this was prolonged sadistic violence for no reason other than that
you got real kick out of hurting and humiliating them said the judge
sentencing them to an indeterminate jail term but of at least five years
your crimes are truly exceptional he said at sheffield crown court adding
the bottom line for the two of you is that sure you both pose very high
risk of serious harm to others
neither the attackers nor their victims can be named
the case which been compared to the murder of two year old jamie bulger
by two year old boys in liverpool northwest england has fueled debate
about youth crime and social policy in britain
the court heard how the brothers watched ultra violent movies as part of
toxic home life of routine aggression violence and chaos while one of them
smoked cannabis from the age of nine and drank cider
opposition conservative leader david cameron raised the case with prime minister
gordon brown in the house of commons earlier this week calling for serious
case review into the attacks to be published in full
brown fighting to avoid ouster in elections due by june insisted that
authorities would learn the lessons from the case
while calling the attacks one of the most tragic cases we could see he said
do not want britain to be defined by the appalling violence and
irresponsibility that been shown to the youngsters by two other youngsters
war battered tamils lukewarm on sri lanka vote
colombo jan afp
less than sixth of sri lanka war displaced civilians have applied to vote in
next week presidential elections the top election official said on friday
elections commissioner dayananda dissanayake said only displaced people
had registered to vote in tuesday polls although official figures show more
than people were driven out of their homes during fighting last year
if you are an idp internally displaced person your priority may not be
voting but getting back to your own home dissanayake said can understand
their plight after facing many difficulties and hardships in recent months
however he said he was arranging free transport for any war displaced persons
wanting to return to their original homes and vote
most of the displaced people are from the minority ethnic tamil community whose
vote is seen as decisive in the event that the majority sinhalese electorate is
split down the middle between the two main contenders
the government held the ethnic tamils in internment camps and did not
allow them freedom of movement until last month saying they needed time to weed
out remnants of the tamil tiger rebels who were defeated in may
president mahinda rajapakse faces tough challenge in his bid for re election
from his former army chief sarath fonseka
both men are from the sinhalese community and have been trying to woo the tamil
vote to tip the scales in their favour
dissanayake said he had arranged security for tuesday vote with the help of
the police and the military and was not too concerned about escalating violence
in the run up to the election
violence is not new thing in sri lankan elections he said am not
concerned about the violence but the contestants are concerned
bomb ripped through the home of key opposition activist in colombo on friday
in the latest incidence of violence at least four people have died and hundreds
have been wounded in the past four weeks in election related clashes
some public servants will be deployed to conduct the vote in which
million men and women are eligible to choose president from among
candidates
british pm to appear at iraq probe before poll
london jan afp
prime minister gordon brown will appear at britain iraq war inquiry before
this year general election its chairman said friday forcing the divisive
conflict right up the campaign agenda
brown was initially told by the chilcot inquiry he could not give evidence
before voters go to the polls expected to be on may to keep party politics
out of it
that has changed after brown faced intense pressure to reveal whether his
spending decisions as finance minister in tony blair labour government before
the invasion affected the military strength
his inquiry appearance plus blair due next friday risks reviving
memories of deeply divisive war which britain was led into by labour
government
chairman john chilcot told the inquiry that after receiving letter from
brown he had decided to give him the chance to appear ahead of the election as
matter of fairness if he wished to take it up
the prime minister replied to me this morning to say that he will be happy to
agree dates from range we have proposed over the next two months he added
chilcot also voiced concern about the mounting risk of his probe being
hijacked for political ends in separate letter to brown dated thursday and
released by the inquiry
in response the prime minister wrote offered to give my evidence at any
time you have proposed range of dates in the next two months
will be happy to agree date that is to the convenience of the inquiry
although the conservatives also backed the conflict brown could face attacks
after ex defence secretary geoff hoon accused him of depriving the armed forces
of funds in the run up to the invasion during his evidence to the probe tuesday
blair former communications chief alastair campbell told the probe last week
that brown was one of the key ministers his boss consulted in the run up to
war
brown could be questioned in late february or early march just weeks away from
the election the poll must be held by june and although no date has officially
been confirmed all indications point to may
he has previously insisted he has nothing to hide on iraq
conservative foreign affairs spokesman william hague praised the decision to
call brown to give evidence
the inquiry and the british public need to hear the full facts from everyone
involved and as finance minister at the time he clearly has questions to
answer he said
commentators said the appearance could prove tricky for brown and labour in the
run up to the election
on the one hand this could damage brown reminding voters that this was
labour war wrote james macintyre of the centre left new statesman magazine
friday
on the other hand brown strategists believe this could be chance for
brown to level with the british people and even thrive under pressure
current foreign secretary david miliband and international development secretary
douglas alexander are also being given the opportunity to give evidence before
the election miliband has indicated he would be willing to
the chilcot inquiry was announced by brown in june honouring pledge that the
run up to and conduct of the conflict would be examined once british troops
withdrew from iraq
brown predecessor blair faced intense public hostility after backing then us
president george bush in the war during which british soldiers died
his popularity plummeted and he stepped down in after ten years in office
handing over to brown
major demonstrations are expected in london when blair appears before the probe
the chilcot inquiry has heard that part of blair argument for war was that
iraqi ruler saddam hussein had weapons of mass destruction which could be
deployed within minutes but these were never found
tennis nadal digs deep to beat kohlschreiber
melbourne jan afp
defending champion rafael nadal needed hard fought four set win over german
th seed philipp kohlschreiber before reaching the last at the australian
open on friday
the spanish second seed was kept on the rod laver arena centre court for three
and half hours before completing victory
nadal will have just day to recover from the long draining match before taking
on his fourth round opponent unseeded croatian ivo karlovic
well the most important thing is won so happy for that nadal said
am less happy about my game what was practising but yeah everybody has
not very good days
think played much better the fourth set the second set for few moments
played well too
but the first set and the third played bad and need to play little bit
more aggressive for my next match
nadal stretched his record over kohlschreiber to but it was his toughest
encounter against the determined german who slugged it out all the way with the
world number two
in the end only eight points separated them over the games
if your opponent has confidence and the ball goes in like few moments today
for phillipp it difficult to stop nadal said
nadal broke kohlschreiber serve five times from break point opportunities
while the german cracked the spaniard serve three times from break point
chances
the spaniard was made to fight for every set and he capitalised on service
break in the fifth game to take the opening set
he stretched his lead by taking the second set after service breaks in the first
and seventh games but kohlschreiber proved resilient and hit back taking the
third set with two service breaks
nadal gained an edge with break in the seventh game of the fourth set but
kohlschreiber broke back straight away when the spaniard was serving for the
match
kohlschreiber was broken second time in the set when he sent forehand wide
and this time nadal successfully served out for the match
nadal who conquered roger federer over five sets in last year final is
bidding for his seventh grand slam title
the win friday improved his australian open record to
nadal is expecting tough time against the big serving karlovic in his next
match
he always really difficult opponent because the match is decided on few
points he said
so the thing is to be very concentrated with my serve all the time and try to
convert the small opportunities that have on the return that it
nadal has won both the two matches he has played against karlovic
karlovic won the all croat encounter with th seed ivan ljubicic
one killed as police clash with kashmir protesters
srinagar india jan afp
protester was killed and people hurt on friday when police opened fire and
used batons to disperse hundreds of demonstrators throwing stones in revolt hit
indian kashmir police said
the protesters were demonstrating against the setting up of police camp at
parihaspora village kilometres miles north of muslim majority kashmir
summer capital srinagar
the protesters say the camp obstructs the way to muslim shrine
the clashes erupted when hundreds of people held demonstration outside the
camp witness abdul aziz told afp by telephone
police officer who declined to be named said police opened fire in self
defence after villagers attacked them with stones and bricks
three of the injured had bullet wounds
the situation in the village is tense but under control the police officer
said as witnesses reported more protests following the villager death
kashmir is in the grip of year insurgency against indian rule that has
left more than people dead by official count
anti india feelings run deep in the muslim majority kashmir valley the main
centre of the insurgency
football zidane expresses faith in juve recovery
rome jan afp
former france captain zinedine zidane has given his backing to under fire
juventus coach ciro ferrara telling him to keep calm
zidane graced the black and white shirt of the old lady of turin for five years
from winning two serie titles and appearing in two champions league
finals before moving on to real madrid
he enjoyed even more success in spain finally winning the champions league in
scoring the winning goal with stunning left foot volley and landing
la liga title year later
and the french icon has told his former employers to keep their cool amidst
their current on field crisis in which they have lost seven of their last
matches and crashed out of the champions league group stages
of course they re not going through an easy time and very sad about that
there strong bond between me and the club he told the gazzetta dello
sport
they made me great and taught me to win juve will always be juve and everyone
would want to go there
