crackdown on corruption and promised the return of morals into politics after
series of recent scandals has shaken voters confidence in politicians
josipovic won percent of the votes in sunday run off election compared to
percent for his rival populist zagreb mayor milan bandic exit polls by
two private television channels showed
the year old legal expert and classical music composer campaigned under the
slogan justice for croatia insisting on the rule of law and the need to fight
corruption
overcoming corruption is key challenge if croatia which joined nato last
year wants to succeed in its bid to join the european union by and put
the trauma of the balkan wars of the further behind it
with the fight against corruption and organised crime will make croatia
safe country for its citizens josipovic has said
the issue is important as croatia is mired in deep economic crisis and
concerns over high level corruption
early in the presidential race observers predicted that josipovic would have
trouble stirring the popular vote but the bookish intellectual made the most of
his boring image by presenting himself as croatian mister clean untarnished
by political scandal
croatians bombarded by series of high level corruption affairs are longing
for president who brings sense of civil virtue to the table even if it is
sterile one analyst commented
josipovic was born and educated in zagreb where he graduated with law and music
degrees
he specialised in criminal and international criminal law lecturing at zagreb
university law faculty
in josipovic joined the league of croatia communists skh that reformed
ahead of the war which followed zagreb declaration of independence
from yugoslavia the former communist party changed its name to the social
democrats and at the time josipovic wrote its first statutes
josipovic left politics in but returned to parliament in during his
nine year hiatus he worked as an international law expert on issues concerning
zagreb cooperation with the international criminal tribunal for the former
yugoslavia icty in the hague which is prosecuting war crimes from the
balkan conflicts
he was also involved in croatia genocide complaint against serbia for its role
in croatia war which left some people dead before the
international court of justice the un highest court
josipovic would be croatia third president since the country independence
succeeding the popular centrist stipe mesic who steps down on february after
serving his maximum two five year terms in office and guiding the country to
parliamentary democracy after the authoritarian rule of independence leader
franjo tudjman
josipovic is married and has an year old daughter
nba banned arenas gets nod from teammate
washington jan afp
even as the washington wizards went to great lengths to erase all traces of
gilbert arenas from the verizon center one teammate gave nod to his suspended
nba teammate on sunday
deshawn stevenson took the court for pregame warmups with the words agent and
zero written in red on tape wrapped just above his shoes as the wizards
prepared to play the new orleans hornets
agent zero is nickname for washington gregarious playmaker who was
suspended indefinitely by the nba on wednesday in the wake of an incident
involving unloaded guns that he brought to the wizards arena and stored in his
locker
arenas remains under investigation by authorities over the firearms and nba
commissioner david stern was clearly angered that arenas appeared to be taking
the situation lightly
in suspending arenas stern said he was not currently fit to take the court
nba rules forbid players from bringing guns to league facilities or when
travelling on league business
four other wizards players have been fined for making light of the situation
prior to game last week
the wizards have removed all arenas related merchandise from the arena and
edited him out of the pregame video
they also displayed new giant banner on the facade of the arena replacing one
that had featured arenas with one that touts the team community service
football angola lead mali at half time
luanda jan afp
star striker flavio amado scored twice within seven minutes to give hosts angola
half time lead over mali on sunday in the opening africa cup of
nations match
rallying lopez and peterhansel win dakar stages
copiapo chile jan afp
chilean motorcyclist francisco lopez won his second stage of the dakar rally
here on sunday when he took the eighth leg of the race kilometres special
from antofagasta
frenchman cyril despres was fifth in the stage but retained the overall lead
another frenchman stephane peterhansel put aside the disappointment at being out
of contention for the overall victory in the car section to take the eighth
stage
spain two time world rally champion carlos sainz was second on the stage and
retained the overall lead
togo adebayor very sad to leave nations cup
cabinda angola jan afp
togo captain emmanuel adebayor said he was very sad for his team to leave the
african cup of nations on sunday two days after rebel ambush in angola killed
two members of the squad
it very sad it hard for africa and for us these things are part of life
you have to accept it the manchester city striker adebayor said through the
window of bus as the team arrived at the airport in the northern enclave of
cabinda
other players declined to answer questions as they arrived at the airport under
heavy security
at least two people were killed and nine injured when the team convoy was
ambushed friday as they crossed the border into cabinda from neighbouring congo
brazzaville
israel air strike kills three palestinian militants in gaza
jerusalem jan afp
israeli warplanes killed three islamic jihad gunmen in an air strike on sunday
as prime minister benjamin netanyahu warned that the military would respond
harshly to rocket and mortar fire from gaza
the aircraft targeted group of palestinian militants in the central gaza
strip killing the three with an air to ground missile palestinian medics said
the israeli military said the militants were targeted as they were preparing to
fire rockets into israel
the air raid caps week that has seen an upsurge in tit for tat violence along
the gaza israel border following period of relative calm since israel ended
an offensive into gaza year ago in response to rocket fire
netanyahu warned earlier the same day that israel would react harshly to any
renewed rocket and mortar attacks from the enclave ruled by the islamist
movement hamas
he said more than rockets and mortars had been fired into israel in the past
week
view this very seriously he told the weekly cabinet meeting the idf
army responded immediately attacking missile factories in the gaza strip and
tunnels through which iran smuggles missiles and rockets into the strip
three palestinians were killed when israel bombed smuggling tunnels on friday
our government policy is clear netanyahu said we will respond to any
firing into our territory strongly and immediately
militants fired four mortar rounds at southern israel on sunday without causing
casualties the air raid later struck location east of deir el balah in
central gaza
muawiya hassanein head of gaza emergency services said the bodies of three men
were taken to hospital in the town they were all members of the militant
islamic jihad group he said
the israeli military said one of the dead who they identified as awad abu
nasir was senior islamic jihad field commander behind string of attacks on
israel
islamic jihad later issued call for all palestinian resistance factions to
unite against the enemy
it was the latest violence along gaza border which has been mostly quiet
since war which israel launched against hamas on december ended with
mutual ceasefires last january
the ceasefires have largely held despite violations by both sides while hamas
has mostly succeeded in restraining islamic jihad smaller rival islamist
group
angolan president condemns rebel attack on togo team
luanda jan afp
angolan president jose eduardo dos santos on sunday condemned the deadly rebel
attack on togo national football team as he opened the africa cup of nations
in luanda
at least two people were killed and nine wounded friday when separatist rebels
ambushed togo convoy in the restive province of cabinda where they were due
to play their first match on monday
we condemn this act of terror but the competition will continue in cabinda
dos santos said
we are together may the best man win he added
the seats at the new chinese built november stadium were packed with
fans to watch the host nation play mali in the opener
after dos santos speech traditional dancers retraced angola history from
the arrival of portuguese colonisers and christian missionaries years ago
through the liberation struggle and the year civil war
as fireworks and laser lights filled the stadium parts of luanda plunged into
darkness as the power failed for about five minutes
the normally traffic clogged streets were deserted as angolans gathered on
rooftops and huddled around televisions to watch the game the few cars left on
the streets honked their horns while pedestrians blew on traditional trumpets to
celebrate the game
after the opening ceremony and the playing of the national anthems the stadium
fell silent for moment of silence to honour the victims of the attack
meanwhile in cabinda togo team loaded into bus and drove to their airport
where plane waited to return them home said spokesman for the confederation
of african football
rallying lopez wins motorcycling stage
copiapo chile jan afp
chilean motorcyclist francisco lopez won his second stage of the dakar rally
here on sunday when he took the eighth leg of the race kilometres special
from antofagasta
frenchman cyril despres was fifth in the stage but retained the overall lead
social democrat josipovic set to win croatia presidency exit polls
zagreb jan afp
social democrat ivo josipovic pledging to lead croatia into the european union
and crack down on corruption was set for landslide win in sunday
presidential run off election exit polls showed
left wing josipovic won percent of the vote according to exit polls by rtl
and nova private television stations released immediately after voting ended at
pm gmt
partial official results expected to encompass vast percentage of the votes
will be announced by the electoral commission at midnight gmt in recent
elections exit polls closely mirrored the official outcome
josipovic lecturer in criminal law and classical music composer who has
enjoyed an untarnished political career vowed if elected president to wage an
uncompromising fight against corruption and to achieve zagreb goal of
joining the eu in
this was definitely referendum for croatian citizens of what kind of croatia
do we want whether we want european modern croatia or another one
mirando mrsic the head of josipovic campaign team said in reaction to the
exit poll results
the rival candidate populist zagreb mayor milan bandic ran on largely
similar platform but managed to secure only percent of the vote according
to the exit polls
commentators said the race between the bookish law professor and the outspoken
and devout catholic mayor had polarised croatians who felt they had to choose
between civil left or nationalism playing with right wing sentiments
modern or conservative croatia
despite bandic projected loss jelena pavicic vukicevic member of his team
said they were satisfied with the results
when we entered this battle we knew it would be battle between david and
goliath bandic all alone without party support achieved miracle in this
campaign she said
josipovic would be croatia third president since the country independence
from the former yugoslavia in
the next president will be important since he will lead us into the eu so he
should be able to serve as liaison with these countries biserka lucev
year old doctor told afp after casting her ballot in zagreb
overcoming corruption is key challenge if croatia which joined nato last
year wants to succeed in its bid to join the european bloc and put the trauma
of the balkan wars of the further behind it
several investigations are under way into alleged graft at state run firms more
than dozen officials have already been detained
josipovic has also promised to try to help pull the croatian economy out of
recession unemployment here is running at around percent and zagreb is
forecasting contraction of up to percent in its economy for its
external debt is meanwhile nearly percent of gross domestic product
for all his campaign pledges the day to day running of croatia is largely the
preserve of conservative government led by prime minister jadranka kosor as
the president has limited powers observers say the president is unlikely to do
much to boost the economy
snooker ding and fu beaten at masters
london jan afp
china ding junhui and hong kong marco fu both suffered crushing first round
defeats in the masters snooker tournament at the wembley arena here on sunday
ding lost to mark selby and fu went down to former world champion peter
ebdon
ding who last month won the uk championship snooker second most prestigious
tournament by beating world champion john higgins in the final was swept
aside as selby raced into lead
the most successful asian player in professional snooker history ding only
avoided the embarrassment of whitewash when selby failed to pot what would
have been the clinching ball in the sixth frame
that gave ding consolation frame before selby wrapped up the match in the
seventh
both the first two frames were relatively competitive with ding compiling
break of in the second only for mistake on the blue to let selby in
mark played very well ding told worldsnooker com missed some balls and
found it hard
had chances and tried to play better safety but mark was very good
everybody is good player here so you are sure to get tough draw
ding added commitments in china over the holiday period had cut across his
preparations for the masters
was busy in china played in chinese ranking tournament and did some
things for sponsors didn get back until january so only had four days
to practise ll be working hard now to be ready for the welsh open
barry hearn who made his name in the field of sports promotion as snooker great
steve davis manager has recently been installed as the head of the governing
body world snooker with the aim of boosting the sport flagging popularity in
its british heartland and cashing in on its global appeal
this year at the masters the players are walking out to theme tunes as now
happens at many leading events in darts sport where hearn is widely credited
for helping revive spectator and television interest
selby who walked out to underdog song by rock band kasabian who come from
his hometown of leicester central england was envious of ding choice of eye
of the tiger best known as the theme music from the rocky boxing films
starring sylvester stallone
the music was great it pumps you up and gets you involved selby told the
bbc would have liked to have ding tune though as would have come out
with boxing gloves and towel
fu won the first two frames against ebdon and was looking good in the third but
missed brown which let the englishman in for frame winning break of
ebdon renowned for his safety play fought back and following scrappy fifth
frame was in front
from then on ebdon found his touch with succession of fluent breaks and might
have finished the match with century before missing pink
selby will now face either higgins or mark allen in the quarter finals with
ebdon up against the winner of the match between ronnie sullivan and
australia neil robertson
wildcard jimmy white appearing in front of his london home crowd at wembley
plays later on sunday in preliminary round match against mark king with the
whirlwind seeking his first masters title years since he won the
tournament
senate leader must go following negro remark republicans
washington jan afp
republicans on sunday demanded senate democratic leader harry reid resign for
racially tinged remarks made during the presidential campaign while fellow
democrats closed ranks around the beleaguered lawmaker
calls for reid to resign his post followed revelations of his remarks in soon
to be released book in which he says that the united states is ready to embrace
black presidential candidate like obama because he is light skinned
african american with no negro dialect unless he wanted to have one
since the excerpt of his remarks was disclosed the top senate democrat has
shown public contrition reportedly making phone calls to dozens of black
lawmakers in congress and expressing his personal regret to president obama who
accepted his apology
but republicans decrying the remark as indicative of closet liberal racism
among democrats called on the democratic leader to step down
it reflection of an attitude said michael steele head of the republican
national committee and himself african american speaking on fox news sunday
television program
steele answered decisive yes when asked if reid should resign following his
remarks published in game change the upcoming book on the presidential
campaign
clearly he is out of touch not only with where america and his district are
but where how african americans generally feel about these issues said
steele who called the comments inappropriate absolutely
steele seemed to take particular umbrage over the use of the word negro word
that has been retired from every day usage in describing people of african
american descent
it an old mindset when you re using language in that harkens back to the
and he told the fox news sunday television program
democrats meanwhile described the remarks as an unfortunate choice of
language and brushed aside calls for their leader to step aside
think senator reid did very big thing yesterday by saying you know used
language that looking back on it wasn the right language said tim kaine
the democratic governor of virginia and head of the democratic national
committee tasked with fundraising and providing electoral support to party
members also speaking to fox news sunday
obama kaine said made very plain in his discussions that he considers senator
reid great battler for equality and social justice and considers the book
closed
reid has been in republican sights for long time and his downfall would be
considered major gop coup
he was already in political trouble in his home state nevada where he is to
stand for reelection later this year
republicans also see the imbroglio as chance to equal the score after their
senate leader several years ago trent lott was made to resign for comments
deemed racially insensitive
there double standard if trent lott should resign then harry reid
should said conservative jon kyl the senate republican whip speaking to fox
news sunday
like to see the same standard applied to both he said
reid in his statement on saturday apologized not only to obama but to all
african americans
deeply regret using such poor choice of words sincerely apologize for
offending any and all americans especially african americans for my improper
comments reid said highlighting that throughout my career have worked
hard to advance issues important to the african american community
obama later issued statement of his own accepting reid apology without
question
accepted harry apology without question because ve known him for years
ve seen the passionate leadership he shown on issues of social justice and
know what in his heart the president said
the gmt news advisory
washington jan afp
duty editor michael langan
news desk
top stories
africa cup opens under pall cast by rebel attack
obama under pressure to act against intelligence officials
arctic freeze winds grips to europe
violence angola togo fbl afr lead wrap
luanda
togo withdraws from the africa cup of nations after two of their squad were
killed in rebel attack but angolan president jose eduardo dos santos insists
the games will go on as he opens the tournament
words gmt by nick reeves picture graphic
we have also moved violence angola togo fbl afr cabinda flec facts
violence angola togo fbl afr rebels interview
attacks us politics lead
washington
president barack obama comes under pressure from conservative members of
congress to hold intelligence officials responsible for the botched christmas
day attack on us bound passenger jet
words gmt by stephanie griffith
europe weather thlead wrap
berlin
the arctic freeze gripping europe leaves hundreds of people stuck in vehicles in
deep snow or stranded at airports with scores of flights cancelled and power
cuts to thousands of homes
words gmt by simon sturdee picture
americas
us politics racism obama
washington
republicans demand senate democratic leader harry reid resignation for
racially tinged remarks made during the presidential campaign while fellow
democrats close ranks around the beleaguered lawmaker
words gmt by stephanie griffith
argentina economy bank politics debt
buenos aires
argentine president cristina kirchner is putting her political standing on the
line in showdown between her government and opposition lawmakers backing the
ousted central bank chief
words gmt
europe
italy immigration labour violence vatican rdlead
rosarno italy
more than africans flee southern italian town over the weekend after
wave of violence against migrant farm workers as pope benedict xvi condemns the
assaults
words gmt by anne sophie legge
britain afghanistan us military thlead
london
newspaper journalist becomes the first british correspondent to die covering
the war in afghanistan when he is killed in an explosion while embedded with us
marines officials say
words gmt by katherine haddon graphic picture
croatia vote thlead
zagreb
ivo josipovic is set to win croatia presidential run off election by wide
margin exit polls show with the social democrat vowing to crack down on
corruption and lead the recession hit nation into the european union
words gmt by lajla veselica picture
we will also move croatia vote josipovic profile
middle east
mideast conflict gaza thlead
jerusalem
israeli warplanes kill three islamic jihad gunmen as prime minister benjamin
netanyahu warns the military will use maximum force in the face of rocket and
mortar fire by palestinian militants inside the islamist ruled gaza strip
words gmt by gavin rabinowitz picture
asia
malaysia religion catholic church attack rdlead
kuala lumpur
thousands of malaysian christians come out for weekly services despite new
attacks in an arson campaign that has sent tensions soaring in the muslim
majority nation
words moved by beh lih yi picture
china economy exports rdlead
beijing
china exports surged percent in december to snap month falling
streak the government says cementing the asian power new status as the
world biggest exporter
words moved by dan martin
the gmt news advisory
washington jan afp
duty editor michael langan
news desk
top stories
africa cup opens under pall cast by rebel attack
obama under pressure to act against intelligence officials
arctic freeze winds grips to europe
violence angola togo fbl afr lead wrap
luanda
togo withdraws from the africa cup of nations after two of their squad were
killed in rebel attack but angolan president jose eduardo dos santos insists
the games will go on as he opens the tournament
words gmt by nick reeves picture graphic
we have also moved violence angola togo fbl afr cabinda flec facts
violence angola togo fbl afr rebels interview
attacks us politics lead
washington
president barack obama comes under pressure from conservative members of
congress to hold intelligence officials responsible for the botched christmas
day attack on us bound passenger jet
words gmt by stephanie griffith
europe weather thlead wrap
berlin
the arctic freeze gripping europe leaves hundreds of people stuck in vehicles in
deep snow or stranded at airports with scores of flights cancelled and power
cuts to thousands of homes
words gmt by simon sturdee picture
americas
us politics racism obama
washington
republicans demand senate democratic leader harry reid resignation for
racially tinged remarks made during the presidential campaign while fellow
democrats close ranks around the beleaguered lawmaker
words gmt by stephanie griffith
argentina economy bank politics debt
buenos aires
argentine president cristina kirchner is putting her political standing on the
line in showdown between her government and opposition lawmakers backing the
ousted central bank chief
words gmt
europe
italy immigration labour violence vatican rdlead
rosarno italy
more than africans flee southern italian town over the weekend after
wave of violence against migrant farm workers as pope benedict xvi condemns the
assaults
words gmt by anne sophie legge
britain afghanistan us military thlead
london
newspaper journalist becomes the first british correspondent to die covering
the war in afghanistan when he is killed in an explosion while embedded with us
marines officials say
words gmt by katherine haddon graphic picture
croatia vote thlead
zagreb
ivo josipovic is set to win croatia presidential run off election by wide
margin exit polls show with the social democrat vowing to crack down on
corruption and lead the recession hit nation into the european union
words gmt by lajla veselica picture
we will also move croatia vote josipovic profile
middle east
mideast conflict gaza thlead
jerusalem
israeli warplanes kill three islamic jihad gunmen as prime minister benjamin
netanyahu warns the military will use maximum force in the face of rocket and
mortar fire by palestinian militants inside the islamist ruled gaza strip
words gmt by gavin rabinowitz picture
asia
malaysia religion catholic church attack rdlead
kuala lumpur
thousands of malaysian christians come out for weekly services despite new
attacks in an arson campaign that has sent tensions soaring in the muslim
majority nation
words moved by beh lih yi picture
china economy exports rdlead
beijing
china exports surged percent in december to snap month falling
streak the government says cementing the asian power new status as the
world biggest exporter
words moved by dan martin
football leicester fight back to force draw
london jan afp
leicester conceded goal after just seconds but still managed to draw
with ipswich on sunday as they maintained their push for playoff place in
english football second division championship
