of course winning the dubai world championship and the race was an
unbelievable moment for me personally and one that will live with me forever
am very excited about starting the new season and seeing what will
bring
russian journalist dies after police beating official
moscow jan afp
russian journalist died wednesday in hospital after being savagely beaten by
police officer in the siberian city of tomsk investigators were cited by news
agencies as saying
the year old journalist had been in coma since january when he was
hospitalized with internal bleeding after being beaten during stay in police
overnight holding centre for drunks
the victim died just moments ago spokesman for the tomsk investigative
committee of prosecutors told interfax the victim has so far not been named
year old policeman at the holding centre alexei mitayev has been arrested
and charged with the beating he could face maximum of years in jail if he
is found guilty
mitayev admitted to the crime saying it was due to accumulated stress in his
personal life tomsk chief investigator andrei gusyev told ria novosti
the holding centres were once widespread across the former soviet union with the
stated aim of allowing people to sober up in safety if their behaviour showed
signs of insobriety
three senior policemen quit in the wake of the incident and the police centre
has been shut in tomsk about kilometres miles east of moscow
the journalist victim of the beating had also been raped with the handle of
broom or shovel local newspaper tomskaya nedelya reported citing doctors who
treated him in intensive care
it said he was dragged to the centre after his neighbours called police to
complain about the loud music from his apartment where he was drinking alone
the latest scandal comes as russia police force grapples with slew of
violent crimes by officers that have badly hurt its reputation
earlier this month police officer in moscow was arrested for shooting snow
plough driver in case of road rage
in december russian police colonel went on trial for killing two and injuring
seven in shooting spree in supermarket in april that sparked widespread
outrage
tennis del potro beats blake in five set classic at open
melbourne jan afp
us open champion juan martin del potro battled for over four hours before
winning titanic five setter against james blake to reach the third round of
the australian open on wednesday
the argentine fourth seed prevailed after an epic struggle
in four hours minutes on hisense arena
del potro will now face german florian mayer in the next round
the argentine giant who beat roger federer in last september us open final to
claim his first grand slam title needed all his fighting qualities to overcome
the gallant th ranked american
only five points separated the pair in del potro favour over the course of the
gripping contest to
blake who was quarter finalist here in fought every bit of the way and
belied his ranking to keep the pressure on the year old rising star
del potro is projected to face american seventh seed andy roddick in the
quarters
he broke blake serve seven times and gave up his serve five times as the match
ebbed and flowed before an enthralled crowd
del potro is bidding to become the first man in the open era to win his first
two grand slam titles back to back
the argentine twice had service breaks in minute long final set with blake
quickly breaking back in the third before he gave up his serve in the th game
blake battled on courageously throughout most of the marathon match limping from
bandaged right knee
del potro became sports hero in argentina when he became the first south
american to win us open since compatriot guillermo vilas in
his accomplishment was all the greater for ending federer five year us open
title run after eclipsing rafael nadal in the semi final
german train crash injures three seriously police
berlin jan afp
train ploughed into lorry stuck on the line in central germany on wednesday
injuring people three of them seriously police said
the year old driver of the truck steered his vehicle metres yards down
the railway line near braunschweig before getting into difficulties getting out
of the cab and calling emergency services
but before the alert could be sounded regional train hurtling along at around
kilometres miles per hour and carrying passengers slammed into the
stranded lorry
the driver who said he was trying to deliver his tonnes of wheat to mill
whose main entrance was shut was currently helping police with their enquiries
he has tested negative for alcohol
the truck carrying tonnes of wheat should not have been on the line
police spokesman told afp
urgent strong quake hits haiti us geologists
washington jan afp
strong earthquake measuring hit haiti early on wednesday the us
geological survey said
cricket bangladesh india first test scoreboard
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
scoreboard at stumps on the fourth day of the first test between india and
bangladesh on wednesday
india st innings tendulkar not out sehwag shahadat hossain
shakib al hasan
bangladesh st innings mohammad mahmudullah zaheer khan mishra
india nd innings overnight
gambhir nafees shafiul
sehwag raqibul shakib
mishra tamim mahmudullah
dravid run out
tendulkar lbw rubel
laxman not out
yuvraj singh ashraful shahadat
karthik rubel mahmudullah
zaheer khan shakib
sharma not out
extras lb nb
total for eight wickets decl overs
fall of wickets sehwag mishra gambhir dravid
tendulkar yuvraj karthik zaheer
bowling shafiul shahadat rubel nb
shakib mahmudullah ashraful
bangladesh nd innings target
tamim iqbal not out
imrul kayes karthik zaheer
shahriar nafees sehwag sharma
mohammad ashraful not out
extras lb nb
total for two wickets overs
fall of wickets kayes nafees
bowling zaheer sreesanth nb sharma mishra
toss bangladesh
umpires billy bowden nzl and marais erasmus rsa
tv umpire enamul haque ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
war bhutto films on show at sundance film festival
los angeles jan afp
films about the war in afghanistan and the assassination of former pakistan
prime minister benazir bhutto are among the offerings as the th sundance film
festival gets underway in utah on thursday
the day carnival the world premier festival of independent film will
see more than movies showcased as hollywood descends on the mountain town of
park city utah for the annual extravaganza
founded with the support of movie icon robert redford as counterweight to the
dominance of major hollywood studios sundance aims to be shop window for
independent film makers and up and coming talent
festival director john cooper told afp that this year line up had distinctly
more exotic flavor than in other years noting the presence of films from
greenland estonia and india for the first time
this year we spent great deal of time with international outreach he said
we hoped to discover the most interesting work that takes cinematic risks from
other countries sometimes you have to infiltrate pockets of filmmakers
working outside the system in these regions
while festival chiefs had also considered the commercial viability of films
seeking selection more than applied for inclusion in the festival
the prime criteria had been quality and diversity
we believe good is commercial he said believe there is hunger for work
that is different more personal than what hollywood makes the program this
year is vibrant and diverse
amongst the documentaries vying for honors in the us documentary competition are
bhutto jessica hernandez and johnny hara depiction of the turbulent life
and times of the former pakistani leader murdered in december
bhutto is one of slew of documentaries chronicling unrest in asia where
films about afghanistan feature heavily
certain to attract interest is pat tillman amir bar lev look at the
life of the former arizona cardinals american football player who gave up his
sports career to join the us army after the september attacks
tillman died in friendly fire incident in afghanistan in and lev film
follows the slain soldier family as they seek out the truth surrounding their
son death
other documentary highlights include restrepo award winning journalist
sebastian junger account of year embedded with platoon of us soldiers
defending one of afghanistan most strategically important valleys
the world cinema documentary competition meanwhile features cambodian entry
enemies of the people the story of young journalist who tracks those
responsible for the khmer rouge genocide
the category also features sins of my father gripping account of the life
of colombian cocaine baron pablo escobar as told through the eyes of his son
who fled to argentina to escape his father legacy
in the dramatic feature film competition several hollywood stars are
represented including american actor mark ruffalo in sympathy for delicious
and oscar winner philip seymour hoffman in jack goes boating
football neville fingered by fa over tevez gesture
london jan afp
gary neville could face disciplinary action for directing one fingered gesture
at former team mate carlos tevez after the football association confirmed they
were looking into an incident in tuesday night league cup semi final
neville made the gesture from the touchline as tevez celebrated the first of his
two goals in manchester city first leg win over manchester united at
eastlands
the argentina striker celebrations had included stop talking gesture to
neville and appeared to be response to the united defender pre match comment
that the club had made the right decision in allowing tevez to leave the club at
the end of last season rather than find the million pounds it would have cost
to sign him permanently
neville is effectively on probation with the fa having been warned about his
conduct earlier in the season following provocative celebrations of michael
owen late winner for united in the manchester derby match at old trafford in
september
tevez celebrated his second goal in similar fashion running in front of the
united dugout and cupping his hands behind his ears
but he failed to get reaction from united boss sir alex ferguson who has also
expressed the opinion that the striker is not worth million pounds
it is just the way these things happen ferguson said football can be like
that it can bite you we have had few players leave the club and score
against us there is no issue am happy with the players we have got
tevez has now scored goals for city this season and his team mate pablo
zabaleta believes he was fuelled by desire to make point to ferguson and
neville
one manchester united player talked about carlos before the game so he showed
he is top class top player zabaleta said
he is amazing everyone knows carlos is great player everyone loves him
this was special game for him one he has been dreaming about
am aware of his qualities and think he can give repeat performance against
united next week
united took an early lead on tuesday evening through ryan giggs but tevez
equalised from the spot after rafael pulled back craig bellamy and then headed
in the winner
zabaleta added our reaction was fantastic after we lost the goal it was
good performance from the team we played well and showed strong mentality
it is great result for us and an important one for the next leg it was
unbelievable near the end united kept coming and had many chances but we never
stopped working
we want to please our supporters and get to the final there was lot of
satisfaction after the game but we have to show this commitment again next week
you can see we have great players and strong character
tennis feisty henin outlasts dementieva in epic
melbourne jan afp
justine henin kept her fairytale comeback on track when she beat fifth seeded
russian elena dementieva in marathon second round match at the
australian open on wednesday
playing just her second tournament since returning from an month retirement
henin outlasted dementieva in two hour minute classic on the rod laver
arena
at the end the nerves got to me relieved henin said it was really
difficult to close the match out
in brisbane when she lost in the final to kim clijsters got the
opportunities and didn take them and thought here it would be the same so
am very happy
couldn believe could live the emotions like that
both women played some spectacular attacking tennis over the two sets with the
quality of the match more suited to final than the second round
either would have made worthy winner but henin just managed to keep her
composure on the big points to eke out the narrowest of victories despite her
first serve falling away badly as the match wore on
dementieva who has never won grand slam will be cursing the vagaries of the
draw that saw her matched against the seven time grand slam winner so early in
the tournament
despite her time away from the tour henin showed she has lost none of her shot
making ability or her legendary tenacity but she was matched almost point for
point by the russian world number five
dementieva had her opportunities with three set points in the first set and
another in the second but henin managed to save them all and then convert her
chances when they came
both henin and dementieva attacked from the outset with service breaks coming
thick and fast in both sets
there was no indication as to the likely winner when dementieva who saved
match point while trailing in the second set forced tiebreak and
skipped away to lead
but henin was not to be denied and she came storming back to level the scores
saving set point at in the tiebreak then winning the next two points to
take the match
at the end the nerves got to me relieved henin said it was really
difficult to close the match out
in brisbane when she lost in the final to kim clijsters got the
opportunities and didn take them and thought here it would be the same so
am very happy
couldn believe could live the emotions like that
alert
magnitude quake hits haiti us monitors
cricket bangladesh in second innings
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
bangladesh needing to win were in their second innings at stumps on
the penultimate day of the opening test against india here on wednesday
brief scores
india and decl bangladesh and
lindsay lohan to be star guest at vienna opera ball
vienna jan afp
hollywood actress lindsay lohan will be austrian businessman richard lugner
star guest at this year vienna opera ball on february he announced
wednesday
the year old has starred in the parent trap mean girls and bobby
entrepreneur lugner invites celebrity every year as his guest to the
sumptuous opera ball the highlight of the viennese social calendar
sophia loren andie macdowell pamela anderson and carmen electra are among
those who have accompanied him to the event in the past
last year desperate housewives star nicollette sheridan brought touch of
hollywood glamour to what is by far the most opulent of the nearly balls
held in the austrian capital during carnival season
british jobless claims in biggest drop since april data
london jan afp
british jobless claims fell again in december at the fastest pace for two and
half years data showed wednesday fuelling hopes that the economy emerged from
recession in the fourth quarter of
the number of people claiming benefits dropped last month to
million which was the sharpest monthly drop since april the office for
national statistics ons said in statement
the figure for november was revised to show fall of people which was
larger drop than the reported last month
the latest set of labour market data were surprisingly strong said credit
suisse economist neville hill
the claimant count measure of unemployment fell for the second consecutive
month in december down after fall in november
this is compelling sign that the labour market has turned and the economy has
pulled out of recession
the ons also revealed on wednesday that the number of people unemployed fell
to million people while the jobless rate was unchanged at
percent
britain remains the last major world power mired in recession after the
eurozone france germany japan and the united states all emerged from deep
downturn that was sparked by the global financial crisis
but economists expect that data due next week will show that the british economy
escaped from recession in the three months to december
today labour market statistics point towards strong economic growth in the
final quarter of said economists benjamin williamson at the centre for
economics and business research an independent consultancy
retailer hugo boss bets on china to ramp up revenue report
frankfurt jan afp
the german clothing group hugo boss is betting on china to improve its prospects
as it leaves difficult year behind its boss said in an interview to appear on
thursday
boss currently has stores in china and plans to open to new stores
each year there claus dietrich lahrs told the business magazine capital
in october lahrs said hugo boss would have to make percent of its sales
outside europe in the coming three to four years compared with percent at
present
china baidu sues us web firm over hacker attack
beijing jan afp
china top internet search engine baidu said wednesday it had sued us web
firm after its site was hacked new salvo in growing spat after google
threat to quit the country because of cyberattacks
google which trails baidu in market share in china said last week it may
abandon its chinese search engine and possibly leave the country altogether over
what it called highly sophisticated attack by china based hackers and state
censorship
the announcement has thrown spanner into already frayed sino us ties with
washington calling for an explanation and beijing defending its right to filter
information available on the web and telling foreign firms to obey the law
today baidu filed lawsuit against its domain name registration service
provider register com inc in us court in new york seeking damages over the
incident of baidu service interruption last week the chinese firm said
nasdaq listed baidu said its site went down for hours after the january
attack by group identifying itself as the iranian cyber army the name used
by hackers who briefly shut down the twitter microblogging site last month
baidu spokesman victor tseng said at the time that service had been interrupted
due to external manipulation of its dns domain name server in the united
states
in its statement wednesday baidu said the software behind its domain name was
unlawfully and maliciously altered as result of the gross negligence of
register com
this led to users from many places around the world being unable to access the
baidu website for number of hours and causing serious damages to baidu
register com is leading domain registration service that manages more than
million domain names according to the company website officials there were
not available for immediate comment
baidu spokeswoman said the company would not provide any further information
on the lawsuit
kaiser kuo beijing based internet consultant said the timing of the suit
would fuel speculation that it was in response to the google ultimatum
the suspicion will be that baidu wants it to appear that even as its american
rival was under attack from sophisticated chinese hackers baidu was also
suffering attacks that though perhaps not originating in the us were at least
made possible by the negligence of an american domain name registrar he said
google has said the cyberattacks against it were likely aimed at gaining access
to the gmail accounts of chinese human rights activists but has said it does
not believe that goal was achieved
the company is checking whether any of its china staff helped hackers lead the
attack the wall street journal reported tuesday
google said tuesday it had postponed the launch in china of two mobile phones
featuring its android operating system and developed in conjunction with
motorola and samsung evidence of potential commercial fallout from the row
the phones were to be used on china unicom network
chinese commerce ministry spokesman said last week the row would not affect
overall trade and economic relations between china and the united states
in washington senior us diplomat kurt campbell said tuesday that us and chinese
officials had held multiple meetings over the google case and plan to have
more in the coming days
google china employees are very important to google we are going to have
communication with the government we want to have positive outcome with the
government google spokeswoman marsha wang told afp on wednesday
but some observers have suggested google tough stance may also have some basis
in its difficulties in penetrating the chinese market
if google was making billions and billions of dollars think this would be
different story said jeremy goldkorn editor of danwei org website focused
on china media industry that is itself blocked in the country
baidu had percent of china search engine market in the final quarter of
last year followed by percent for google china according to internet
research firm analysys international
loss in kennedy seat haunts obama agenda
washington jan afp
on the last day of barack obama first year in power republicans cast huge
doubts on his hopes of transformative presidency by capturing the senate seat
once held by his mentor edward kennedy
in stunning upset angry massachusetts voters tuesday chose republican scott
brown who vowed to be the single vote his party needs to block democratic
health care reform the cause of the late kennedy life
the loss snatched away the vote super majority democrats needed to trump
republican blocking maneuvers in the senate calling into question the party
capacity to pass not only health care but other top obama agenda items
of course it is rotten news for the administration of course it is rotten
news for health care reform said barbara kellerman of the center for public
leadership at the harvard kennedy school
the triumph will electrify republicans bent on blocking obama agenda and scare
democrats facing reelection in mid term elections in november
massachusetts democrat martha coakley fell for many reasons complacency poor
campaign public disdain for incumbent leaders in congress and independent
voters making point in vote some saw as referendum on obama
but republicans were already driving simple narrative tuesday night that
voters lashed out against obama and his health care reform plan
the question must also be asked if democrats cannot hold liberal massachusetts
and the dynastic perch of kennedys what other seat is safe
the massachusetts loss follows two stinging democratic defeats in gubernatorial
races in new jersey and virginia where obama won big in and comes as his
personal approval ratings dip below percent
can imagine stronger message that voters are sending but am not sure
that the white house is listening said costas panagopoulos campaigns
specialist at fordham university new york
the white house earlier rejected the idea of the special election as
repudiation of its tactics spokesman robert gibbs said the president knew
americans were upset and angry but dismissed he had lost touch
coakley loss gives democrats an immediate problem passing healthcare the
cause of kennedy life until he died in august and set of long term
political headaches
house speaker nancy pelosi was adamant on tuesday that health care would pass
into law but democrats will need to use political sleight of hand to do so
we will have quality affordable health care for all americans and it will be
soon she said
longer term republicans will relish the chance to gum up the senate frustrate
democrats and possibly spark political stalemate in the run up to november
elections
obama has packed agenda and had signaled attempts to pass huge climate bill
financial regulatory packages and even to the hot button issue of immigration
reform next year
but can such transformative goals be reconciled with an angry populace skittish
lawmakers and obama diminished political standing
the agenda is going to slow somewhat just by virtue of the political
climate said bruce buchanan political science professor at the university
of texas at austin
obama took office at time of deep national economic peril and on the
rationale that huge crisis requires fundamental change pursued an ambitious
domestic political agenda
but will he now simplify his agenda and downplay expectations in bid to head
off an electoral calamity in november and can he avoid repeat in those polls
stripped down version on which he could focus more personally and carefully
would be my recommendation said kellerman
but it would be mistake to write off obama given that ex presidents bill
clinton and ronald reagan also rebuilt their presidencies on economic recovery
the economy and the state of unemployment have huge impact on how people view
the political debate buchanan said
democratic house majority leader steny hoyer argued the massachusetts race
revealed deep anxiety among americans
people are angry people are fearful people are very concerned about where the
economy is he said
we re all pretty unpopular why because people don feel good and we re the
leaders and we re in office and they expect us to do something about it
rescuers tears as haiti miracle survivors are freed
port au prince jan afp
rescuers hauled woman out of the haiti earthquake rubble after she survived
for week without food or water and barely able to move
another elderly woman started singing when she was pulled out of the wreckage of
port au prince cathedral hours before hoteline losana became the latest of
haiti miracle survivors
despite us military warnings that the operation would soon switch to the
recovery of thousands of bodies rescuers kept up the search into wednesday for
survivors like hoteline losana who defied the deadly odds
losana was pulled from the ruins of port au prince shopping center
she is conscious and in good form thiery cerdan of the french group rescuers
without borders which carried out the nine hour operation with haitian firemen
and american experts
losana had been in an apartment over supermarket when the magnitude quake
struck on january the rescuers said she had no food or water could barely
move and owed her survival to the position in which she was stuck
we pulled someone out seven days after an earthquake that is quite
extraordinary said bruno besson another member of the french team
hours earlier mexican firefighters rescued anna zizi from beneath the ruins of
the roman catholic cathedral zizi aged about was pulled from rubble two
hours short of full week after the quake struck
it seems rescuers were communicating with her and managing to get water to her
through tube she was singing when she emerged said sarah wilson of british
charity christian aid
some of the rescuers were so overcome that they started crying
the united nations said that people had now been rescued by international
teams in the past week and that there were still hopes of finding more
but major general daniel allyn deputy commander of the military operation in
haiti said us forces would soon switch the focus of the operation to recovering
bodies rather than looking for survivors
the haitian government gave latest toll of dead with another
injured and more than million left homeless
us troops fanned out across the ruined capital where the pace of the relief
operation has heightened street tensions
camped out under makeshift tents among the rubble survivors faced desperate
hunt for food and water for many looting is the only way
look when you are hungry and poor nobody helps you have to steal defiant
young man named vincent said as people plunged into the ruins of flattened
supermarket in the hope of finding food or something to sell
on tuesday us paratroopers secured the ruined presidential palace which is now
surrounded by squalid refugee camp
from there strong squad of soldiers marched to the city general
hospital which is swamped with injured people
we are here to provide security to the hospital we work with the government of
haiti we have rules of engagement but we are on humanitarian mission
sergeant bill smith told afp
us marines also landed southwest of port au prince to link up with un
peacekeepers before more troops and equipment arrives
state department spokesman gordon duguid said there were troops in or
around haiti with about marines and sailors also expected to take part in
the relief operation
the un security council voted unanimously to send extra un troops and
police to haiti to help maintain order and protect aid convoys
relatives told afp that haitian police killed year old girl fabienne
cherisma while firing warning shots over looters in the capital
some witnesses in the angry crowd including the girl father said policeman
had aimed deliberately at the girl while others spoke of warning shot that
went astray
