lawyers and representative of the prosecutor it added
on december eight people were killed after clashes erupted between security
forces and opposition supporters who staged fresh protests during the
commemoration of ashura
security forces arrested hundreds of people during the protests at least of
whom are still being held in tehran police say
the prosecution office said that the indictments were based on explicit
testimony made by the defendants
isna also quoted tehran prosecutor abbas jafari dolatabadi as saying that those
who commit crimes such as arson are considered examples moharebs or
enemies of god whose punishment under islamic sharia law is death
the report did not give more information about the defendants
president mahmoud ahmadinejad whose disputed june re election has triggered
numerous protests has accused iran archfoes the united states and israel of
staging the latest anti government protests
the new wave of arrests came as hardliners stepped up pressure on the
opposition some hardline senior clerics have even gone as far as declaring
protesters as moharebs who deserve to be executed
tennis spain into hopman cup final
perth australia jan afp
spain advanced to the hopman cup final with win over australia in their
group tie on thursday
the host nation needed to win all three rubbers in the tie in straight sets to
snatch spot in saturday final of the mixed teams tournament off the unbeaten
spanish pairing of maria jose martinez sanchez and tommy robredo but the task
proved well beyond them
it took the in form martinez sanchez just minutes to snuff out australian
hopes securing fourth final appearance for spain when she took the first set
off samantha stosur
spain have won here twice in and most recently in when teenage
robredo combined with arantxa sanchez vicario to beat the united states in the
final
they take peak form into the final having not dropped single rubber in their
three group ties
robredo said the spanish had not worried about the permutations heading into the
clash with australia
we were making the numbers in the room and everyone was saying that if we were
winning one set we were in the final he said
we were checking the numbers and everything and we are not so good at maths so
we said maybe it is better if one or both us wins the match
robredo was excited by the chance to add another of the diamond encrusted tennis
balls presented to the winners to the one he collected in and said he had
been inspired by martinez sanchez form this week
maria is playing great tennis this week he said
watching her play so nice serving and volleying with quick hands obviously
have great partner
have to keep going if she is playing that good have to do my best because
we are very close to those diamond balls
perhaps deflated by the knowledge her first set loss had ended australia hopes
in the tournament the th ranked stosur capitulated meekly in the second set
to hand the th ranked martinez sanchez win
it capped an impeccable performance in the round robin group ties for martinez
sanchez who did not drop set in any of her singles matches
the year old unusual game style troubled her opponents and she notched easy
victories over promising duo melanie oudin and sorana cirstea prior to upsetting
stosur
robredo was in sparkling form against lleyton hewitt who appeared to be
slightly troubled by lower back problem and sought treatment at the end of
lopsided first set
although the australian improved in the second set he had no answer to the
robredo forehand and the spaniard won
the spanish then claimed the dead mixed doubles in match tiebreak
the day other tie saw the united states beat romania with melanie oudin
beating sorana cirstea in straight sets and both the men singles
and mixed doubles forfeited by romania due to leg injury to victor hanescu
tennis henin sneaks past tenacious czink
brisbane australia jan afp
justine henin showed she still had some way to go in her comeback to
professional tennis when she sneaked past melinda czink of hungary in the
quarter finals of the brisbane international on thursday
czink saved five match points in the third set but couldn save sixth as
henin won an intriguing contest in two hours minutes
henin playing her first tournament since may seemed on course for her
third straight sets win in row when she raced through the first set in
minutes
but the seventh seed from budapest fought back brilliantly to break henin early
and hold the advantage for the remainder of the set
the belgian former world number one regrouped and broke czink at in the
third but three games later czink attacked again and broke henin to put the set
back on serve
henin then had her first three match point chances with czink serving at
but couldn convert any and the hungarian held on to send the set into tie
break
the belgian opened up lead but the tenacious czink clawed back to
before henin forehand cross court winner proved too good and the belgian was
through to semi final against third seed ana ivanovic
ivanovic earlier survived her own second set meltdown to squeeze past russian
anastasia pavlyuchenkova
the third seed looked set to wrap up the quarter final in under an hour when she
led in the second set only for pavlyuchenkova to come storming back
the russian had set point in the tie break but couldn take advantage and
relieved ivanovic was able to close the match out in two
the second set struggle continued worrying trend for ivanovic who was taken
to three sets in the two earlier rounds after winning the first set in both
matches
played really well from the first game and was obviously couple of breaks
up in the second set and then relaxed little bit she said
my intensity dropped and she good player so she stepped up little more
and started moving lot better
ivanovic said she was confident ahead of her clash with henin
she playing really good and she seems to be in good shape so it going to be
good test for me whatever happens just going to try and enjoy it the
serb said
it going to be tough match but obviously feel like have chance
match after match ve been feeling more confident and also my shot selection
is becoming better and better
unseeded german andrea petkovic stunned fourth seed daniela hantuchova in
straight games
petkovic who beat eighth seed iveta benesova in the first round broke her
slovak opponent three times to reach the semi finals where she will play either
kim clijsters or lucie safarova
six egyptian copts killed in christmas eve attack
cairo jan afp
attackers in car raked crowd of shoppers in south egypt town with gunfire
killing policemen and six coptic christians on the eve of their christmas
celebrations security official said thursday
the drive by shooting took place late wednesday in the southern egyptian town of
nagaa hammadi as copts were preparing for christmas which they celebrate on
january along with orthodox communities across the world
three unidentified individuals in car opened fire on christians in shopping
district as they were making purchases for christmas the security official
said as cited by state run mena news agency
the gunmen also opened fire in front of convent located in an rural area
near the town in the province of qana he said
nine other people were wounded in the shooting he added
roughly percent of egypt million strong population are coptic
christians who complain of discrimination and are sometimes the target of
sectarian attacks
in november hundreds of muslim protesters torched christian owned shops in
southern egypt and attacked police station where they believed christian
accused of raping muslim girl was being held
afghan acting governor wounded in explosion police
kabul jan afp
the acting governor of an afghan province plagued by taliban violence has been
wounded in an explosion in his compound senior police official said thursday
total of four people including acting governor of khost province tahir khan
sabari were injured in the explosion said the provincial criminal
investigation chief gul dad mandozai
the explosion took place on thursday as the governor met officials in the
meeting hall of his compound said gul
he was unable to say what caused the explosion or expand on the extent of
sabari injuries
khost is on afghanistan southeastern border with pakistan and sees high rate
of taliban activity that has escalated in recent months as the militants expand
their footprint across the county
afghan government officials are regular targets of attacks by the taliban who
are trying to overthrow the fragile government of president hamid karzai which
is kept in power by more than us and nato troops
that number is set to climb to over the course of the year as the united
states and nato escalate their efforts to dislodge the militants who are
increasingly in league with drug smugglers experts say
the hollywood list behind militant anti whale group
sydney jan afp
militant animal rights group locked in bitter high seas battle with japanese
whalers have the support and funding of hollywood list including sean penn
and french screen siren brigitte bardot
one of the world best known and more extreme marine activist outfits the not
for profit sea shepherd conservation society prides itself on innovative
direct action tactics to confront so called illegal activity on the high
seas
it was established in in canada by environmentalist paul watson who claims
in his biography to have co founded greenpeace but said he parted ways with the
the group over arguments about protest tactics
in its year history the group has used acoustic weapons water cannons and
stink bombs against whalers trailed seal hunters and fought campaigns for
sharks and dolphins as well as regularly patrolling the galapagos islands
longtime patron bardot sits on its board of advisers along with penn and fellow
us actors martin sheen and pierce brosnan
sheen darryl hannah and us soap star richard dean anderson have all accompanied
sea shepherd on protest actions
its diverse and high profile benefactors include rock legend mick jagger red
hot chili peppers frontman anthony kiedis surfing champion kelly slater and
actors christian bale and edward norton
former us talk show host bob barker donated five million us dollars to help sea
shepherd buy and fit out former harpoon ship for its pursuit of japanese
whalers in the southern ocean
hollywood businessman ady gil bankrolled second vessel for the season
two million dollar trimaran superboat originally known as earthrace which
claimed the world record for circumnavigating the globe
the new zealand flagged ady gil was badly damaged and part of it sunk after
colliding with japanese whaling boat wednesday
afghan parliamentary elections will go ahead official
kabul jan afp
afghanistan will hold parliamentary elections on schedule in may despite
international concerns that they could be plagued by corruption and logistical
problems an official said thursday
according to the constitution the election should take place in may said
deputy head of the independent electoral commission iec daud ali najafi
we are determined to hold the elections on time he told reporters
iec officials have said the poll will go ahead on may
but visiting us republican senator john mccain warned earlier thursday that the
parliamentary elections could be delayed by up to three months
western diplomats in kabul have said they doubt afghan authorities can eradicate
the problems that turned last august presidential poll into ballot stuffing
farce
nor are they likely to have the necessary funds to hold nationwide ballot
the united nations which has yet to receive request for funding has said it
would need to see evidence of significant reform before agreeing to release
money to stage the election
najafi said that any reforms including replacing senior iec officials are
the responsibility of afghan president hamid karzai
we also favour reforms he said it is for the betterment of the process
afghanistan held its first direct parliamentary election in september the
iec has said the next poll must be held no later than days before the end of
the legislative cycle which ends on june
mccain speaking to reporters at the end of brief visit to afghanistan said
the authorities are considering delay
know there are discussions part of it is perhaps two or three months delay
in order to get the mechanisms in place said mccain who met karzai during his
visit
that is an issue that would be decided by the president and parliament as to
when the elections take place mccain said
karzai was sworn into office for second five year term in november following
controversial election steeped in fraud mostly in his favour and marred by low
voter turnout and taliban violence
lankan rebel chief father dies in custody official
colombo jan afp
the elderly father of sri lanka slain tamil rebel chief velupillai prabhakaran
has died in military custody officials said thursday
thiruvenkadam velupillai believed to be in his early died on wednesday at
an army base outside colombo military official said adding that he had been
in protective custody since the tamil tigers defeat in may
he was ailing for some time and died last night at the panagoda camp the
official said
prabhakaran parents were among civilians who escaped the war zone in
northeastern sri lanka early last year as the military finally secured victory
over the separatist rebels after decades of bloody ethnic conflict
two prisoners take guard hostage at french jail
ensisheim france jan afp
two prisoners held guard hostage in northeastern france throughout the night
by handcuffing him to bed but he was released unharmed on thursday morning
officials said
the detainees took the guard hostage late wednesday afternoon prompting
authorities to send negotiators to the prison in ensisheim to attempt to defuse
the situation
one of the prisoners peacefully gave himself up shortly after am but
negotiations dragged on early thursday with the second detainee said bernard
cabon of the prison guard union
union member david daems said early thursday the second prisoner gave up and the
hostage was unharmed
junior justice minister jean marie bockel had earlier confirmed negotiations
were ongoing another union member said the prisoners had previously threatened
to cut off one of the guard fingers
they tackled him to the ground eric gemmerle of the ufap union said before
the prisoners surrendered they are very determined they are armed with razor
blades and forks
cabon said one of the prisoners lured the guard into the cell by saying mobile
found was found there
he said the two prisoners were aged and with one serving an year
sentence for theft with violence leading to death and the other serving years
for kidnapping and holding someone captive
union member eric wiplier said the prisoners had demanded to be transferred
together to another prison
korea ready to improve ties with hostile countries report
seoul jan afp
north korea is ready to improve and normalise relations even with hostile
countries if they change their policies state media said thursday
the apparent overture to the united states was contained in commentary carried
by rodong sinmun the newspaper of the north ruling communist party
it is the unchangeable stand of the dprk north korea to improve and normalise
the relations even with those countries which had been in the hostile
relationship with it in the past if they roll back their hostile policies
towards it and respect it it said
the commentary followed policy setting new year editorial by state newspapers
which called for an end to hostile relations with washington and vowed to work
towards nuclear free peninsula
it is the consistent stand of the dprk to establish lasting peace system on
the korean peninsula and make it nuclear free through dialogue and
negotiations the joint editorial said
north korea left six party nuclear disarmament talks in april last year in
protest at international censure over its launch of long range rocket in may
it staged its second nuclear test
us envoy stephen bosworth visited the communist nation last month the first
direct contact between washington and pyongyang under the tenure of president
barak obama
anti terror chief among seven killed in iraq blasts
ramadi iraq jan afp
co ordinated bombings early thursday shattered the homes of four police officers
in the western iraqi town of heet killing seven people including the town
anti terror chief an official said
six people were wounded in the blasts
attackers planted explosives around the bedrooms of the policemen in the town
kilometres miles west of the anbar provincial capital of ramadi said
lieutenant colonel fadhil nimrawi the head of the town emergency response
unit
at am men planted bombs around the bedrooms of four houses belonging to
members of the police force including major walid al heeti the head of heet
anti terror department he said
the bombs killed seven people including the anti terror chief and wounded six
others including women and children from the four families
the dead also included heeti wife and mother child and three other police
officers nimrawi said
the four houses were in different neighbourhoods across the centre of heet and
no vehicles are being allowed in or out of the town as part of ramped up
security
nimrawi added that several people had been arrested in connection with the
attack but declined to specify how many
heeti was one of the leaders of campaign against al qaeda in mostly sunni
anbar which helped dramatically reduce the terror network presence in the
province iraq biggest
several cities in anbar were used as insurgent bases in the aftermath of the us
led invasion of
but since local sunni tribes have sided with the us military and iraqi
authorities daily violence has dropped dramatically as al qaeda fighters have
been ejected from the region
thursday attacks come month after the head of salaheddin province anti
terror squad and at least three of his bodyguards were among five people killed
by suicide bomber in tikrit the predominantly sunni hometown of executed
iraqi dictator saddam hussein
chinese dairy bosses could face february trial prosecutor
shanghai jan afp
three chinese dairy executives could face trial as early as next month for
selling tainted milk products prosecutors said thursday admitting the case had
been under investigation for months
the case against the general manager of shanghai panda dairy and his two
deputies comes after illegally high levels of melamine were found in powdered
and condensed milk spokesman for shanghai prosecutors told afp
we will file the case with the court in around half month the spokesman
said asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the case
the three who face charges of producing and selling toxic and hazardous food
could face trial before the end of february he added saying the case would
take at least month to reach the courtroom from the time of filing
shanghai panda dairy was shut down and put on black list during tainted
milk scandal in in which at least six infants died and nearly were
made sick by milk products laced with melamine toxic chemical
panda dairy products were found to have the second highest levels of melamine
in the nation behind the now bankrupt sanlu group the shanghai daily reported
last week
authorities had allowed panda dairy to resume production but the latest probe
revealed it had reused tainted condensed milk that had been recalled from the
market the spokesman said
he admitted government inspectors had discovered the products contaminated with
melamine which gives the appearance of higher protein content months before
chinese media first reported the dairy closure last week
the case was uncovered quite early actually the spokesman said
quality supervision authorities found the problem in february april
inspection the case was then handed to the police in april and the related
people were detained by the police in april he said
he did not comment on why authorities waited so long to make the investigation
public but chinese media have suggested the case was concealed out of fear that
the revelations could damage china economic recovery
total of people have been convicted for their roles in that scandal two
were executed and former sanlu boss tian wenhua was given life in prison
one other person was given suspended death sentence punishment that is
routinely commuted to life imprisonment while others were jailed for two to
years
sanlu once one of china largest dairy manufacturers was declared bankrupt in
february after having amassed billion yuan million dollars of
debt xinhua reported at the time
football hirayama hat trick boosts japan world cup hopes
tokyo jan afp
sota hirayama hat trick in his international debut for japan in their
asian cup qualifier win over yemen has raised their world cup hopes with the
team badly in need of frontline firepower
the lanky fc tokyo forward was sent in on minutes when japan were down
and struck three times to ensure the blue samurai spot in the asian cup finals
in qatar next year
must give extremely high marks to hirayama three goals japan coach
takeshi okada told reporters after the victory in sana on wednesday
but whether will immediately make him full member in the national team
it different story he added can say he has played as much to his
potential as we could of hoped
the year old hirayama said felt we must go home with win and wanted
to score one goal after another
rather try to focus on myself this year than looking for place in the
national team
hirayama turned the tide with soaring header in the nd minute and then
trapped the ball and swivelled to score the equaliser on minutes before
slamming the winner with sliding left foot volley
he has been watched since he played in two under world cups and the
athens olympics but his lack of mental toughness and his erratic performances
had denied him spot on the national team
hirayama scored eight goals for his first professional club dutch side heracles
almelo in the season but citing homesickness he moved back to the
league in
okada cautious remark about the centimetre ft striker was slapped
thursday by the tabloid nikkan gendai which has constantly mocked his bold
target of semi final berth at this year world cup in south africa
japan are widely expected to struggle to earn point in group with the
netherlands cameroon and denmark
okada tends to be cautious in testing new weapons but he should continue
calling up hirayama the daily said blaming the coach conservative approach
for japan sagging popularity at home
hirayama debuts with hat trick proves usable at the world cup read
headline in the sports nippon hirayama is likely to cause seismic change in
japan forward line kyodo news commented
okada selected an inexperienced squad against yemen to rest regular players at
the start of the world cup year of the players he took whose age averaged
were newcomers
japan three time asian champions feature well organised midfield led by
shunsuke nakamura who has struggled to earn playing time at espanyol after
moving from celtic
their frontline in south africa is expected to be led by year old catania
striker takayuki morimoto and attacking midfielder keisuke honda who is moving
to cska moscow from vvv venlo
astrazeneca says settles drug patent row with teva
london jan afp
anglo swedish pharmaceuticals giant astrazeneca said thursday it had settled
legal row with israeli rival teva pharmaceutical industries over planned
generic version of astrazeneca heartburn treatment nexium
astrazeneca announced today that it has entered into an agreement with teva
pharmaceutical industries ltd and affiliates to settle patent litigation
regarding teva proposed generic version of astrazeneca nexium delayed
release capsules esomeprazole magnesium statement said
astrazeneca added that it had granted teva license to enter the us market with
its generic esomeprazole on may subject to regulatory approval
tennis brisbane international results st update
brisbane australia jan afp
results from the fifth day of the brisbane international tennis tournament on
thursday denotes seed
quarter finals
men
radek stepanek cze bt wayne odesnik usa
women
ana ivanovic srb bt anastasia pavlyuchenkova rus
andrea petkovic ger bt daniela hantuchova svk
justine henin bel bt melinda czink hun
six egyptian copts killed in christmas eve attack
cairo egypt jan afp
gunmen opened fire on shoppers in south egypt town killing policemen and six
coptic christians on the eve of their christmas celebrations security
official said thursday
the drive by shooting took place late wednesday in the southern egyptian town of
nagaa hammadi as copts were preparing for christmas which they celebrate on
january along with orthodox communities across the world
three unidentified individuals in car opened fire on christians in shopping
district as they were making purchases for christmas one security official
said according to state run mena news agency
the gunmen also opened fire in front of convent located in an rural area
near the town in the province of qana he added
troops storm hotel end siege in indian kashmir
srinagar india jan afp
commandoes stormed hotel in indian kashmir on thursday where two militants had
been holed up for nearly hours killing the gunmen and bringing an end to the
siege
the four storey hotel in srinagar the summer capital of the volatile himalayan
region was on fire before police announced both the pro pakistan extremists had
been killed in morning assault by security forces
the gunmen had taken refuge in the hotel on wednesday after throwing grenades
and opening fire in srinagar main market area one police officer was killed
in the attack and one bystander succumbed to his injuries thursday the
operation as far as we are concerned is over kuldeep khuda the state police
chief told reporters at the scene
the indian administered section of muslim majority kashmir has been wracked by
separatist insurgency for two decades though violence had fallen in recent
years
divided into indian and pakistani controlled zones it has been the trigger for
two wars between the south asian rivals since their independence from britain in
pro pakistan militant group jamiat ul mujahedin said it was behind the
assault
overnight police fired teargas to disperse scores of pro militant kashmiri
youths who threw stones at security forces chanting kashmiri mujahedeen we
are with you and we want freedom
khuda said the police had cleared the building from top floor before
encountering and killing the first militant early thursday
the other terrorist tried to set the building on fire and he tried to make
his escape but he was shot down khuda said
wednesday assault came as indian kashmir chief minister marked his first
year in office by pledging to slash the security force presence in the region if
violence continued to decline
incidents of unrest in kashmir were down by about percent last year
according to police figures and india responded last year by pulling out some
troops from the region
in the mid part of lal chowk the main city square that was under siege
was destroyed in fire that erupted during gunbattle between rebels and
security forces
the last such attack in the city was staged by two militants on paramilitary
camp in october the two gunmen were eventually killed while three soldiers
were wounded
unrest in indian kashmir has so far left more than people dead according
to official figures
death toll from us missiles rises to pakistani officials
islamabad jan afp
us missile attacks have killed at least militants four of them foreigners
in pakistan most notorious extremist bastion hugging the afghan border
officials said thursday
us missiles flattened fort used as taliban training centre in sanzali
village of north waziristan on wednesday in the fourth suspected us drone attack
in the tribal district in week
just over an hour later suspected drone slammed another missile into group
of militants sifting through the wreckage searching for survivors and picking
out the dead bodies
we can now confirm that militants were killed in the two strikes senior
security official told afp
another official said four of the dead were foreigners their nationalities are
not yet known arab uzbek and afghan militants are present in the area
suspected us drones have increasingly hit north waziristan bastion of al
qaeda fighters the taliban and the haqqani network that attacks the us
and nato troops fighting in neighbouring afghanistan
the district neighbours south waziristan where pakistan has been focusing its
most ambitious offensive yet against homegrown taliban militants it sent about
troops into the region on october
at least us drone missile strikes have killed more than people in
pakistan since august
the united states does not confirm drone attacks but its military is the only
force that deploys combat drones in the region
japan new finance minister says wants yen to weaken
tokyo japan jan afp
japan new finance minister naoto kan said thursday that he wanted the yen to
weaken causing the currency to drop on the foreign exchange market
