off
he is also very popular among the some ethnic croats living in bosnia
who are entitled to vote in the presidential elections
the devoutly religious mayor who said spends more time reading prayer books
than the constitution also enjoys the backing of croatia powerful catholic
church
during debates bandic made several gaffes about foreign policy and independent
observers point to allegations about suspected links with corruption in the
capital all of which could work against him
total of million croatians are entitled to vote the polling stations open
at am gmt and close twelve hours later exit polls are to be released
shortly after polls close with the first official results expected by midnight
indian set on fire in latest australia attack
sydney jan afp
man of indian descent was recovering in hospital on saturday after group of
men set him on fire in the australian city of melbourne police said the latest
in string of similar attacks
police stressed there was no evidence of racial motive after four men poured
an unidentified fluid on the year old and set him alight in suburb of the
city leaving him with percent burns
it follows the stabbing murder of another indian in the city last weekend which
prompted delhi newspaper to run cartoon likening australian police to the ku
klux klan and in turn an angry reaction by australian officials
in the latest incident the victim was parking his car in side street after
dinner with friends when he was attacked in the early hours of saturday his
condition was described as stable
believe there no reason at this stage to consider this in any way racially
motivated detective sergeant neil smyth told reporters
the circumstances of parking car randomly on side street and just some
people approaching him are bit strange and it highly unlikely therefore to
be targeted attack on any individual
police have only vague description of the attackers which is really just
unspecific just four males smyth said it is an unusual event
deputy prime minister julia gillard said the government condemns all acts of
violence in the strongest possible way this matter remains under
investigation by the victorian police
in new delhi the government said it was in touch with australian authorities
but urged the media to report on the incident responsibly
the indian high commissioner in canberra and consul general in melbourne are
following up this matter vigorously with the australian authorities foreign
ministry spokesman vishnu prakash said
under the circumstances the media is advised to exercise utmost restraint in
reporting on these sensitive issues as it could aggravate the situation and
could have bearing on our bilateral relations with australia
but india overseas affairs minister vayalar ravi who is responsible for
indians working or studying abroad reacted sharply and rebuked australia for
failing to prevent such attacks
want to make it loudly clear that the australian government should take
preventive action he said on the sidelines of conference in delhi
why cannot they arrest them and put them behind bars and prosecute them
surely the australian police must be efficient enough to mark these people
our government expresses serious concerns and is waiting for results the
minister added
the murder on january of nitin garg brought sharp condemnation from the indian
government and allegations of australian racism in the indian media
series of attacks on indian nationals and students in australia sparked street
protests and diplomatic row in the middle of last year
iran hangs six drug traffickers state television
tehran jan afp
six men convicted of drug trafficking were hanged on saturday in prison in the
central city of isfahan iranian state run television reported
the unidentified men were part of drug trafficking gang who used revolutionary
guards uniforms and forged orders for their drug smuggling operations said the
report on the television website
it said more than ton of narcotics as well as weapons and forged
identification cards were confiscated
the latest hangings bring to at least nine the number of people executed in iran
so far in according to an afp count based on news reports
iran hanged at least people in and in executed people the
highest number in any country bar china
tehran says the death penalty is necessary for maintaining public security and
is applied only after exhaustive judicial proceedings
murder rape armed robbery drug trafficking and adultery are all punishable by
death in the islamic republic
two dead in attack on togo footballers buses official
luanda jan afp
two people were killed in friday attack on togo team buses in the angolan
enclave of cabinda the assistant coach and the squad spokesman an official of
the confederation of african football caf said saturday
the official speaking from cabinda said that earlier reports that one of the
bus drivers had been killed when the two vehicles were machine gunned were
incorrect
communications chief stanislas ocloo and assistant coach abalo amnalete died at
four clock this morning the caf press official for togo kodjo samlan
said after arriving in cabinda with federation colleagues
nine players and officials of the squad were reported wounded friday when the
buses came under fire as they crossed into cabinda from the congo republic to
play in the african nations cup
the attack was claimed by the front for the liberation of the enclave of cabinda
flec which has been fighting for decades for the independence of the oil rich
territory cut off from the rest of angola by democratic republic of congo
flec said the team military escorts were the intended target adding that
this operation is only the start of series of targeted actions that will
continue in all the territory of cabinda
the players headed by captain emmanuel adebayor were to decide saturday
whether to stay on for their matches but kodjo said pullout was not planned
for the moment
togo one of africa top sides are scheduled to start their campaign against
ghana on monday in cabinda which is to host seven nations cup matches this
month despite long running security concerns
biathlon biathlon world cup results
oberhof germany jan afp
biathlon world cup results here on saturday
km sprint shooting sessions penalty per missed target
evgeny ustyugov rus penalties michael greis
carl johan bergman swe halvard hanevold nor emil
hegle svendsen nor anton shipulin rus martten
kaldvee est ivan tcherezov rus nikolay kruglov
rus alexander os nor
sprint standings after of ten races
ole einar bjoerndalen nor points evgeny ustyugov rus
michael greis ger emil hegle svendsen usa tim burke usa
overall world cup standings of races
evgeny ustyugov rus points tim burke usa simon fourcade
fra emil hegle svendsen nor christoph sumann aut
sri lanka frees over ex militants military
colombo jan afp
sri lanka on saturday released more than former tamil tiger fighters from
military custody following rehabilitation program an official said
president mahinda rajapakse who is touring the northern town of vavuniya
handed over the ex combatants to their immediate relatives an army officer
involved in the rehabilitation major general daya ratnayake said
out of some tiger combatants who are undergoing vocational training we
have identified about who had very minimal involvement with the tiger
movement he added
he said out of the identified for release were given over to their
parents on saturday while the others too would be freed soon
some of the tiger rebels surrendered to security forces while others were
arrested from among nearly war displaced civilians who moved into state
run internment camps during the final stages of fighting last year
about third of ex rebels are being trained in plumbing masonry carpentry and
electrical work as part of their rehabilitation
few ex combatants have been released in the past to travel overseas for
migration or work but their exact number is unknown
the tamil tigers who fought for separate homeland from were defeated by
sri lankan troops in mid may when the military killed the top guerrilla leader
velupillai prabhakaran
germany westerwelle debates human rights with saudis
riyadh jan afp
german foreign minister guido westerwelle europe first openly gay top
diplomat said human rights issues were fully aired during visit on saturday
to saudi arabia
we had an extensive discussion about the issue of human rights right through
to the discussion of religious plurality he told reporters after talks with
his saudi counterpart prince saud al faisal
the government of the kingdom of saudi arabia is aware that the european union
has clear position on the issue of the death penalty we are convinced that
the death penalty should be abolished around the world
prince saud told the same news conference that during their discussion he had
made clear to westerwelle that regional cultural and religious traditions must
be respected
would like to stress that we talked about human rights and that includes
different criteria between countries we reached the conclusion that these
matters cannot be imposed by either side summarily and change cannot come
unless is it by conviction
human rights activists in germany had called on westerwelle to take up the issue
of gay rights during his one day visit to saudi arabia where islamic sharia law
permits the imposition of the death penalty for range of crimes including
homosexual relations
westerwelle who arrived in riyadh late friday with business delegation also
held talks with the country finance minister
he was also due to meet king abdullah before flying to qatar for talks on
sunday
intelligence services manipulated jordan bomber
amman jan afp
the doctor from jordan who blew himself up in afghanistan killing seven cia
agents and his jordanian handler was manipulated by various intelligence
services his father charged on saturday
my son was doctor who saved lives but he was lured by the intelligence
apparatus who changed him enormously khalil al balawi told afp his voice
choking on tears
rather than be of service to his people and his nation he was sucked into the
whirlpool of the intelligence services he said
humam khalil abu mulal al balawi blew himself up at us military base in khost
near the pakistan border on december killing seven cia agents and his
handler who was jordanian intelligence officer and royal family member
jihadist websites have identified balawi as double agent who duped western
intelligence services for months before turning on his handlers
jordanian official told afp on wednesday that jordan has benefited since
year ago from anti terrorist information provided by humam khalil al balawi and
shared them with other services as part of the fight against terrorism
asked to identify these intelligence services and if the taliban were among
them balawi father said don know but the official parties know exactly
what they are doing
his remarks came shortly after al jazeera television broadcast video in which
balawi said the suicide bombing he planned to carry out was aimed at avenging
the death in us attack of the taliban chief in pakistan
we tell our emir baitullah mehsud we will never forget his blood it is up to
us to avenge him in and outside america the bomber said about the taliban
leader killed in august
this is message to the enemies of the muslim nation the cia and
jordanian intelligence services said the bearded man in military uniform
identified by al jazeera television as balawi
balawi senior said the man on the video was his son confirming an earlier
statement by relative
my heart is broken to have lost my son but can only be proud of him he
said
my son killed some of those manipulated him added the father who is also
known as abu mohammed
football angola dare not lose warns former coach goncalves
luanda jan afp
the coach who masterminded the greatest football achievement by angola says the
african nations cup hosts dare not lose the opening match of the tournament
sunday against mali
we do not want the same situation as ghana two years ago when our qualification
for the knockout stage rested on the final group game luis oliveira goncalves
warned saturday
he spoke to the media here as african football reeled from terror attack on
the togo bus convoy as it entered angola friday claiming the lives of an
assistant coach and the team spokesman
goncalves defied massive odds by guiding the angolan palancas negras black
antelopes national team to the world cup in germany at the expense of
hotly fancied nigeria
but he lost his job when angola were evicted halfway through the elimination
process for the world cup in south africa after finishing second behind
benin in mini league
it is going to be difficult facing mali because they have strong side one of
the best in africa warned goncalves ahead of the match at the new seat
november stadium
but angola are used to facing the best teams in africa and with our fans behind
us hope we can win we know that as hosts we have an added responsibility
the footballers coaches managers and everyone else involved with the national
team are fully motivated to get the right result
tomorrow it is going to come down to which side makes the least mistakes the
game will be won or lost on the number of errors and hope it is angola who
make the fewest
algeria one of six african qualifiers for the world cup in south africa
and outsiders malawi complete group with the mini league winners and runners
up advancing to the quarter finals
skiing nordic ski world cup results
val di fiemme italy jan afp
nordic skiing world cup results here on saturday
women km classic style
petra majdic slo
elena kolomina kaz at
marianna longa ita
riikka sarasoja fin
arianna follis ita
britta johansson norgren nor
olga savialova rus
eva nyvltova cze
magddalena pajala swe
katrin zeller ger
overall world cup standings after of races
petra majdic slo points
justyna kowalczyk pol
aino kaisa saarinen fin
marit bjoergen nor
arianna follis ita
three charged in egypt coptic christmas eve attack
nagaa hammadi egypt jan afp
egyptian police on saturday charged three men with premeditated murder over the
shooting deaths of six coptic christians in christmas eve attack judicial
source said
north qena prosecutor has charged the three suspects with premeditated murder
putting the life of citizens in danger and damage to public and private
property judicial source said
police arrested the three on friday after the shooting in the southern town of
nagaa hammadi in which six coptic christians and one muslim policeman were
killed
the alleged gunmen all muslims raked pedestrians with gunfire along stretch
of road that houses two churches and many shops in an attack that sparked
sectarian clashes in neighbouring villages
on saturday police also announced the arrest of muslims and christians in
the neighbouring town of bahgura where christian houses and shops had been set
on fire the day before
wednesday attack in nagaa hammadi was the deadliest since copts were killed
in sectarian clashes in also in southern egypt
copts who account for up to percent of egypt population of million
complain or routine harassment and systematic discrimination
tennis cilic toys with tipsarevic on way to chennai final
chennai india jan afp
defending champion marin cilic continued his winning streak against janko
tipsarevic to enter the final of the dollar atp chennai open on
saturday
the world number from croatia triumped in semi final lasting
minutes to record his fourth successive win against the th ranked serbian
second seeded cilic favoured to retain the title after top seed robin soderling
crashed out in the first round plays either stanislas wawrinka of switzerland
or dudi sela of israel in sunday final
cilic who beat tipsarevic in the quarter final here last year ran away with
the first set in just minutes after the serb failed to hold his serve even
once
tipsarevic seeded fourth was broken again in the first game of the second set
allowing cilic to dominate in front of indian fans at the nungambakkam
tennis stadium
know the crowd was with janko but played to my potential and won cilic
said on courtside after the match
it is great to be in the final here again very good way to start the year
look forward to returning to the court tomorrow
cilic had defeated indian wildcard somdev devvarman in last year final
malaysian premier urges calm after attacks on churches
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysia premier called for calm on saturday as fourth church was
firebombed in the latest of series of attacks on churches that has heightened
ethnic tensions
the good shepherd lutheran church southwest of kuala lumpur was targeted with
molotov cocktails the day after church in the capital suburbs was set
ablaze and molotov cocktails were thrown into the compounds of two others
the attacks come amid an escalating row over the use of the word allah by non
muslims
islamic groups staged protests friday in response to court ruling last week
giving catholic newspaper the right to use the word following long running
dispute with the government over the issue
in visit to one of the damaged churches prime minister najib razak on
saturday sought to quell tensions in the multicultural nation dominated by
muslim malays but home to large number of ethnic chinese and indian
minorities
islam prohibits us from insulting or destroying any other religions either in
the physical form or in the form of their worship places najib said
all parties need to stay calm and should not act emotionally
while visiting the metro tabernacle church whose ground floor was badly damaged
by the firebombing he also announced an allocation of ringgit
dollars for the church to relocate
this is sincere contribution from the government to maintain harmonious
society he told reporters as he visited the building accompanied by senior
cabinet ministers and police officials
in posting on his website late friday he vowed the government would not
tolerate any threat to racial harmony
an investigation into this matter has already been launched and those
responsible will be brought to justice he said
national police chief musa hassan said tough security laws could be invoked
against people spreading false information by text message about further attacks
on churches
no arrests have been made so far and we don know whether it was committed by
muslims or otherwise we only know there are at least two motorcyclists we
don know their nationality he told afp earlier on saturday before the
fourth attack
the arson assaults have drawn criticism from government and opposition
politicians while the council of churches of malaysia condemned them as an
irresponsible act
we call on the government to do everything possible to ensure the safety of
christians to worship freely and firm action should be taken to apprehend these
extremists hermen shastri the council secretary general told afp
tensions were heightened last week when the high court ruled in favour of the
catholic herald newspaper which has used allah as translation for god in
its malay language section
the government has argued the word should be used only by muslims the ruling
was suspended on wednesday pending an appeal after the government argued the
decision could cause racial conflict
religion and language are sensitive issues in malaysia which experienced deadly
race riots in
the row is among string of religious disputes that have erupted in recent
years straining relations between malays and ethnic chinese and indians who
fear the country is being islamised
about percent of malaysians are christians including some catholics
more than half of those catholics are from indigenous groups most of whom live
in the borneo island states and who mainly speak malay
tennis henin withdraws from sydney tournament with injury
brisbane australia jan afp
leg injury has forced justine henin to withdraw from next week sydney
international tennis tournament
henin said she strained muscle during her epic loss to fellow belgian kim
clijsters in the final of the brisbane international on saturday henin first
tournament since coming out of month retirement
the year old said she would rest the leg for few days in brisbane before
flying to melbourne for the australian open
the withdrawal robs sydney organisers of the chance of second round match up
between henin and world number one serena williams
two dead in attack on togo footballers buses official
luanda jan afp
two people were killed in friday attack on togo team buses in the angolan
enclave of cabinda the assistant coach and the squad spokesman an official of
the confederation of african football caf said saturday
the official speaking from cabinda said that earlier reports that one of the
bus drivers had been killed when the two vehicles were machine gunned were
incorrect
alpine skiing adelboden giant slalom cancelled for fog
adelboden switzerland jan afp
the men world cup giant slalom at adelboden was cancelled saturday after
competitors had completed their first run owing to thick fog on the course
organisers said
the start had been held up three times for poor visibility before us star ted
ligety wearing bib number one headed down after the top of the course had been
moved down several metres
but the mists became ever thicker and organisers ultimately ruled the event
should be called off
italian davide simoncelli had been the fastest of those who did make it down
ahead of austrian marcel hirscher and croatia ivica kostelic
urgent two dead in attack on togo footballers buses official
luanda jan afp
two people were killed in friday attack on togo team buses in the angolan
enclave of cabinda the assistant coach and the squad spokesman an official of
the confederation of african football caf said saturday
turkmenistan resumes gas supplies to russia
moscow jan afp
turkmenistan resumed gas supplies to russia on saturday russian state energy
giant gazprom said after nine month break that raised questions about
moscow influence in the energy rich state
this morning gas starts to flow from turkmenistan all outstanding issues
regarding supplies have been resolved gazprom spokesman sergei kupriyanov said
in an interview with the echo of moscow radio
pipeline rupture in april virtually halted turkmen natural gas supplies to
russia slashing its income from gas exports
the ex soviet state which lost around one billion dollars month amid the
disruption had angrily blamed moscow for causing the burst by cutting its gas
imports provoking pressure build up as demand dropped off from end clients
in europe
ties with russia then soured with turkmenistan seeking to develop new gas
markets in china and iran and lessen its dependence on russian imports
but on visit to ashgabat in december russian president dmitry medvedev said
the year was ending on high note as turkmenistan agreed to new long term
gas agreement
the new deal provides for russia purchase of billion cubic metres of
turkmen gas per year much lower supply than in recent years
turkmenistan has unveiled to new pipelines in recent months which will double
its gas supplies to neighboring iran and allow it to directly ship gas to
energy hungry china
tennis atp chennai open results
chennai india jan afp
results from the sixth day of the dollar atp chennai open tennis
tournament here on saturday denotes seeding
semi final
marin cilic cro bt janko tipsarevic srb
alert
two dead in attack on togo footballers bus federation official
africa rebel chief captured critical in jail wife
libreville jan afp
the head of the only rebel group in the central african republic still fighting
the government has been captured and is in critical condition in jail his
wife said saturday
charles massi former prime minister who heads the rebel convention of
patriots for justice and peace cpjp had been beaten after being captured by
soldiers of the presidential guard denise massi told an afp reporter in
libreville
speaking by telephone from france she said she had learned unofficially that
he was being held in prison nicknamed guantanamo at bossembele
kilometres miles northwest of the capital bangui
he was beaten up and he in lamentable critical condition she said
adding that she had last spoken to her husband on december
she said he had been captured by the presidential guard in the border area of
chad cameroon and central africa without specifying in which country
his arrest has not been announced by the government of president francois
bozize
massi was prime minister under ange felix patasse the president toppled in
bloodless coup by bozize in he also served as minister under bozize
he was arrested in southern chad in may last year for illegally entering that
country and attempted destabilisation of neighbouring state he was freed in
august after expressing his intention to make peace with bangui according to
chadian interior minister ahmat mahamat bachir
massi capture came days after government forces in the central african
republic clashed with cpjp rebels near the border with chad
military official said on december that several rebel fighters and two
government soldiers were killed in an attack on cpjp base in the northern
ngarba region
the army ordered the operation after receiving information that the rebels were
preparing to launch fresh assault on the town of ndele kilometres
miles to the south the official said
the cpjp briefly seized control of ndele in late november after leading several
abortive assaults on the town before it was retaken by the army in fighting
that left more than dozen dead
in statement sent to afp the rebel movement accused bangui of mistakenly
pursuing logic of war accusing it of ignoring an offer of negotiations
extended to the government in august
the launch of hostilities against us will only needlessly weaken the country
it charged
bahais held over protests face trial this week iran
tehran jan afp
iran said on saturday members of the outlawed bahai group arrested in connection
with anti government protests would soon face trial as spokeswoman for the
group rejected charges they had weapons in their homes
the bahais trial will be this week in revolutionary court in tehran tehran
prosecutor abbas jafari dolatabadi was quoted by the fars news agency as saying
he repeated comments he made on friday that they were arrested because they
played role in organising the ashura protests and for having sent abroad
pictures of the unrest
he added that they were not arrested because they are bahais arms and
ammunition were seized in some of their homes
but diane alai the bahai international community un representative in
geneva said the charges against the bahais were entirely unfounded
without doubt these are baseless fabrications devised by the government to
further create an atmosphere of prejudice and hatred against the iranian bahai
community alai said in statement
bahais are committed to absolute non violence and any charge that there
might have been weapons or live rounds in their homes is simply and completely
unbelievable she added
followers of the bahai faith founded in iran in are regarded as infidels
and suffered persecution both before and after the islamic revolution
the bahais consider bahaullah born in to be the last prophet sent by god
in direct conflict with islam the religion of the vast majority of iranians
which says mohammad was the last prophet
in mid iran arrested seven bahais on charges of spying for arch foe
israel which the islamic republic does not recognise
alai said we are particularly concerned by the fact that these accusations
come just days before the scheduled trial of seven bahai leaders who have been
locked up for nearly two years on equally unfounded charges
the us commission on international religious freedom non partisan official
body that advises the us government last week criticised iran for ramping up
vilification of bahais in light of recent unrest
these allegations are not only without merit but downright fabricated said
leonard leo chairman of the commission
if the iranian government moves forward next week with the trial of the seven
bahai leaders the us government and international community must demand fair
and transparent proceedings in accordance with the international human rights
standards he said
in mid august iran announced that the seven bahais would be tried within
days but the tribunal was postponed and so far no date has been officially
announced by iranian authorities for their trial
president mahmoud ahmadinejad disputed june re election triggered wave of
opposition protest amid charges that the vote was marred by massive fraud
