the group had claimed an attack in athens on december on greece largest
insurance company ethniki asfalistiki and it is seen as being behind dozens of
similar attacks on the homes and offices of political leaders
the way of operating was professional and the choice of parliament first
time target clearly represents show of force greek security expert told
afp on condition of anonymity
be they new radical groups cooperating among themselves or old groups that
change their identities to create smokescreen the authorities must respond
without losing time the source added
six members of the conspiracy of the cells of fire were arrested and three
remain in custody after police raid on one of its hideouts in an athens
suburb in september last year
another group revolutionary struggle has been active for six years
blacklisted by the european union as terrorist group it claimed an attack on
the athens stock exchange in september that caused no injuries
saturday blast was swiftly condemned by prime minister george papandreou who
vowed that democracy will not be terrorised
this highly symbolic place for greeks is not guarded and will not be added
citizen protection minister michalis chryssohoidis we will not put athens
under police regime this is free and open city
besides parliament the vicinity of the blast site included the tomb of the
unknown soldier protected by the presidential evzones guards popular tourist
draw for their unique kilt like uniform
football plabennec record nice cup upset
paris jan afp
relegation threatened third division side plabennec claimed the biggest scalp of
the french cup thusfar this weekend when they knocked first division nice out in
the last
goals from captain jean michel abiven and an own goal from defender gerald cid
saw them come from behind france international striker loic remy having given
nice the lead in the th minute to record famous if unlikely victory
their coach franck kerdiles while delighted to have defeated first division
team remained realistic about their real target for the season
the priority is to stay up it is vital to bring the team back down to earth
for the challenge ahead he said
his nice counterpart didier olle nicolle was left fuming by what he saw as
totally unprofessional performance by team that itself is hovering just above
the relegation zone
the worry is that certain of the senior players did not perform at all in the
second half he said that is rank lack of professionalism and highlights
our mental fragility
french giants paris saint germain and marseille were both playing later on
sunday against fifth division opposition in the form of trelissac and
aubervilliers respectively
israeli strike kills palestinian militants in gaza medics
gaza city jan afp
israeli warplanes targeted group of palestinian militants in the central gaza
strip on sunday killing three gunmen palestinian medics said
the israeli military confirmed the air strike but gave no further details
earlier palestinians fired several mortar rounds into southern israel without
causing casualties
the air raid struck east of deir el balah in central gaza and the bodies of the
three were taken to hospital in the town said muawiya hassanein head of gaza
emergency services
the dead were all members of the militant islamic jihad group he said
it was the latest violence along gaza border which has been mostly quiet
since war israel launched on the islamist hamas in gaza on december
in response to rocket fire ended with mutual ceasefires on january
the ceasefires have largely held despite violations by both sides
nordic skiing world cup results st update
val di fiemme italy jan afp
nordic skiing world cup results on sunday
men
tour de ski seventh and final stage
km freestyle time trial
lukas bauer cze
marcus hellner swe at
jean marc gaillard fra
ivan babikov can
dario cologna sui
tour de ski final standings
lukas bauer cze hr
petter northug nor at
dario cologna sui
marcus hellner swe
jean marc gaillard fra
overall world cup standings after of events
petter northug nor points
lukas bauer cze
marcus hellner swe
dario cologna sui
jean marc gaillard fra
axel teichmann ger
matti heikkinen fin
rene sommerfeldt ger
giorgio di centa ita
daniel rickardsson swe
women
tour de ski seventh and final stage
km freestyle time trial
kristin stoermer steira nor
riitta liisa roponen fin at
evgenia medvedeva rus
justyna kowalczyk pol
sabina valbusa ita
tour de ski final standings
justyna kowalczyk pol
petra majdic slo at
arianna follis ita
aino kaisa saarinen fin
kristin steira nor
overall world cup standings after of events
justyna kowalczyk pol points
petra majdic slo
aino kaisa saarinen fin
arianna follis ita
kristin stoermer steira nor
riitta liisa roponen fin
marianna longa ita
marit bjoergen nor
natalia korosteleva rus
olga savialova rus
israeli strike kills palestinian militants in gaza medics
gaza city jan afp
israeli warplanes targeted group of palestinian militants in the central gaza
strip on sunday killing three gunmen palestinian medics said
the israeli military confirmed the air strike but gave no further details
earlier palestinians fired several mortar rounds into southern israel without
causing casualties
african migrants flee italian town as pope condemns violence
rosarno italy jan afp
more than africans fled southern italian town over the weekend after
wave of violence against migrant farm workers as pope benedict xvi condemned the
assaults on immigrants
an investigation was under way to establish whether local organised crime groups
were involved in clashes that left people injured in the calabrian town of
rosarno of them migrants police officers and locals
calm was generally restored sunday after two days of unrest
police in the regional capital reggio di calabria said sunday african
migrants had left the rosarno area with more than transferred to reception
centres in the southern towns of crotone and bari
pope benedict xvi spoke out against the violence which erupted on thursday and
friday saying in his traditional sunday sermon we have to go to the heart of
the problem of the significance of the human being
an immigrant is human being different in where they came from in their
culture and tradition but person to respect who has rights and
responsibilities
violence must never be means to solve difficulties the problem is human
one and invite everyone to look in the face of those nearby and see their
soul their history and their life and say to themselves he is man and god
loves him as god loves me the pope added
rosarno police officer speaking on condition of anonymity and referring to
the possible involvement of the region ndrangheta network one of italy
most brutal organised crime group told afp that several investigations are
under way but they have only just started
ndrangheta members are suspected of having exploded device outside the public
prosecutor office in the regional capital reggio calabria earlier this month
in revenge attack
italian interior minister roberto maroni confirmed on sky tg news channel that
the cause of the two day unrest in rosarno population was being
investigated
maroni accused the ndrangheta of having secretly brought thousands of workers
into the country to unscrupulously exploit them
he also criticised local authorities the migrants employers and employers
associations for worsening the migrants condition by paying them poorly and
accommodating them in slum quarters
police recognised local ndrangheta clan members in the clashes with the
immigrants il quotidiano della calabria reporter michele albanese told afp
the mafia cynically exploits the immigrants the criminal masterminds know that
clandestine immigrants will not even try to revolt because they have no id and
no state protection anti mafia priest luigi ciotti concurred
il giornale the newspaper owned by italian prime minister silvio berlusconi
family meanwhile offered provocative advice for residents of the southern
calabria region rather than shooting negroes shoot the mafia
why won calabrians shoot the mafia immigrants are poor and weak ugly and
dirty perfect targets the paper said organised crime which keeps security
forces in check is powerful violent revengeful and therefore must not be
bothered the paper added with twist of irony
bird causes emergency landing in russia
moscow jan afp
swiss airline flight made an emergency landing just after takeoff in saint
petersburg on sunday when bird was caught in one of its engines but no one
was injured russian news agencies said
the airbus was to travel to zurich with passengers and seven crew
members but turned around and landed at pulkovo airport because of an engine
problem the agencies reported citing an official from the regional prosecutors
office
after the plane takeoff at pm gmt the crew informed authorities
that there were vibrations in an engine the official said
checks revealed that the vibrations were caused by the presence of bird in
one of the engines
last year us airways pilot was forced to carry out dramatic crash landing
in new york hudson river saving the passengers after birds flew into the
plane engine
togo team ready to leave angola but new talks underway
cabinda angola jan afp
togo football team was readying to return home sunday after deadly rebel
attack on their bus the coach said as africa cup of nations organisers made
last ditch bid to convince them to stay
the bus that should bring us to the airport is ready the players are dressed
and ready to leave coach hubert velud told afp by telephone from their base
camp in the northern province of cabinda
for the moment it looks like we re leaving but can only speak in the
conditional because for the last three or four days everything changes every
other hour he said
angolan authorities and the confederation of african football were said to be in
talks with togolese officials in last minute effort to convince the team to
stay with the tournament opening ceremony in luanda less than an hour away
the three parties were meeting in hotel in cabinda one witness told afp
togo government has ordered the team to return home after separatist rebels
ambushed their convoy on friday as it entered the restive province from
neighbouring congo brazzaville
at least two members of the togolese contingent an assistant coach and team
spokesman were killed and nine wounded when hooded gunmen opened fire on the
team bus sparking minute gunfight with security forces
urgent israeli strike kills palestinian militants in gaza medics
gaza city jan afp
israeli warplanes targeted group of palestinian militants in the central gaza
strip on sunday killing three gunmen palestinian medics said
corrected
gaza city jan afp
israeli fire kills three palestinian militants in gaza medics
corrected togo orders attacked team home from african cup
cabinda angola jan afp
togo ordered its football team home from the violence marred africa cup of
nations on sunday after rebel gun attack on their convoy left at least two of
their contingent dead
just hours before the day tournament opening match between angola and mali
the togolese players said they wanted to honour those killed by sticking with
their fixtures starting with group opener on monday against ghana
but togolese prime minister gilbert houngbo said plane had been sent to bring
the team home immediately as goalkeeper kodjovi obilale recovered from gunshot
wounds in south african hospital
we understand the position of the players who want to in some way avenge their
dead colleagues but it would be irresponsible for the togolese authorities to
allow them to continue houngbo told reporters in lome
if there is team or persons present under the banner of togo at the opening
of the africa cup of nations this afternoon it will be false representation
the team must return today
captain emmanuel adebayor told french radio station that togo president faure
gnassingbe had personally told the team to return conversation that turned
the team decision
we all decided to do something good for the country and play to honour those
who died said adebayor manchester city striker unfortunately the head of
state and the country authorities have decided otherwise we will pack up and
go home
south african president jacob zuma condemned the shooting as shocking and
unacceptable but brushed away speculation that the attack could affect his
nation hosting of the world cup in june
at least two members of the togolese contingent an assistant coach and team
spokesman were killed and nine wounded when hooded gunmen opened fire on the
team bus as their convoy drove into angola northern cabinda enclave from
neighbouring congo brazzaville on friday
separatist rebels threatened to carry out more attacks saying they had warned
issa hayatou head of the confederation of african football caf against
holding matches in cabinda
this is going to continue because the nation is at war because hayatou
persists said rodrigues mingas secretary general of the forces for the
liberation of the state of cabinda military position flec pm
we wrote two months before the nations cup to mr issa hayatou to warn him that
we were at war he did not want to take our warnings into consideration mingas
told afp by telephone
they were warned they knew it and they closed their eyes
mingas faction is one of several groups battling for independence in small but
oil rich cabinda cornerstone of angola economic boom despite peace
agreement
the cabinda shooting had security forces on edge in the capital luanda in the
run up to sunday opening game in one incident police fired into the ground
after driver failed to make stop witnesses said
goalkeeper obilale came through surgery in johannesburg hospital for gunshot
wounds to the lower back and abdomen doctor told reporters
the operation went well it was routine operation the patient is in good
general condition said surgeon elias degiannis
the south african president office said in statement that he reiterated
that south africa remains percent ready to host the fifa world cup and
dismissed speculation that the angolan incident had any bearing on the world cup
tournament in south africa
in accra ghana president john atta mills demanded extra security at the
tournament an official added the safety of our players and any other
participating countries is very important hence the need for extra security
snooker ding past his selby date at masters
london jan afp
china ding junhui crashed out of the masters tournament after losing to
england mark selby in the first round at wembley here on sunday
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
selby will now face either higgins or mark allen in the quarter finals of
snooker leading invitational event
alert
israeli tank fire kills three palestinian militants in gaza medics
second journalist killed in afghanistan in days
london jan afp
the war in afghanistan claimed the life of second journalist in days when
an explosion killed british reporter out on patrol with us marines officials
said sunday
rupert hamer of the sunday mirror newspaper was killed saturday by an improvised
explosive device ied as he accompanied us marines patrolling near nawa
southern afghanistan the ministry of defence in london said
philip coburn photographer for the british tabloid with hamer was
injured in the explosion and was in serious but stable condition officials
said us marine also died in the blast
the foreign office said it thought that year old hamer the paper defence
correspondent was the first british journalist to die in afghanistan
my heartfelt thoughts and sympathies are with the families friends and
colleagues of rupert and philip prime minister gordon brown said in
statement released by his office
their courage skill and dedication to reporting from the frontline was
incredibly important and ensured that the world could see and read about our
heroic troops
on december also in southern afghanistan canadian reporter michelle lang of
the calgary herald newspaper was killed in kandahar province alongside four
soldiers when roadside bomb exploded beneath their armoured vehicle
the taliban claimed responsibility for that attack
in all of last year three journalists including lang died in afghanistan
according to tally by the international news safety institute
hamer and coburn arrived in afghanistan on december and were due to spend
month embedded with troops
it was the fifth time hamer who leaves behind wife and three young children
had been to afghanistan sunday mirror editor tina weaver said
he was fine fearless and skilled writer who joined the paper years ago
weaver added
affectionately known as corporal hamer in the office he was gregarious
figure wonderful friend who was hugely popular with his colleagues
colonel richard kemp former commander of british forces in afghanistan told
sky news television that hamer was popular with troops
soldiers and journalists don always necessarily get on well together they
have very different jobs to do but that wasn the case for rupert kemp said
he was very well respected by everybody he worked with never heard bad
word said about him
defence secretary bob ainsworth said there had been great respect for hamer in
the ministry of defence
the sacrifice of service personnel is well documented and rightly respected
but this news demonstrates the risks also faced by journalists who keep the
public informed of events on the front line he said
foreign secretary david miliband also paid tribute to hamer saying he had died
in the course of important work informing the world about the situation in
afghanistan
there has been an upsurge of violence in afghanistan in recent months
the mod initially said an afghan soldier had been killed in the latest incident
but later corrected themselves to say no afghans died or were wounded
total of troops in the military coalition have died in afghanistan since
according to the icasualties org website
football english football league tables
london jan afp
english football league tables after sunday championship match played won
drawn lost goals for goals against goals
championship
newcastle
nottingham forest
west brom
cardiff
leicester
swansea
blackpool
sheffield utd
crystal palace
qpr
middlesbrough
bristol city
watford
coventry
doncaster
barnsley
preston
derby
scunthorpe
ipswich
reading
plymouth
sheffield wednesday
peterborough
league one
leeds
norwich
charlton
colchester
huddersfield
swindon
millwall
milton keynes dons
bristol rovers
walsall
hartlepool
brentford
southend
southampton
yeovil
carlisle
gillingham
exeter
oldham
brighton
leyton orient
tranmere
wycombe
stockport
note southampton deducted points for entering administration
league two
rochdale
bournemouth
rotherham
notts county
dagenham and redbridge
aldershot
chesterfield
shrewsbury
bury
morecambe
accrington stanley
crewe
port vale
burton albion
bradford
barnet
macclesfield
northampton
torquay
hereford
cheltenham
lincoln city
grimsby
darlington
croatians vote for president to lead eu entry
zagreb jan afp
croatians on sunday returned to the polls to pick their next president with
frontrunner ivo josipovic vowing to crack down on corruption and lead the
recession hit nation into the european union
josipovic social democrat is up against zagreb mayor milan bandic in the
run off vote with opinion polls giving the left wing professor comfortable
point lead over his populist rival
josipovic won the first round on december with percent of the vote more
than double the support garnered by bandic who is running as an independent
at pm gmt three hours before polls were to close turnout was
percent the electoral commission said slightly higher than at the same stage
in the first round when the final turnout was record low percent
exit polls are to be released shortly shortly after polling stations close while
the first official results will be released by midnight
croatia third president since the country independence from the former
yugoslavia in will be important since he will lead us into 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
josipovic lecturer in criminal law and classical music composer who has
enjoyed an untarnished political career has vowed an uncompromising fight
against 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
several investigations are underway into alleged graft at state run firms more
than dozen officials have already been detained
the winner of sunday vote should help in cleaning up crime and corruption so
that there are no more untouchables vanda samric told afp after she voted in
zagreb
he should serve as filter between people and the government help croatians
to have an optimistic view of the future and bring back faith in fairness and
honesty the year old designer added
bandic veteran social democrat expelled from the party when he announced his
bid for the presidency in november called on the electorate to vote for man
and not for party as he touted his experience as zagreb mayor
since bandic first become zagreb mayor decade ago the capital has enjoyed
construction boom and major overhaul of its creaking public transport system
during the campaign the two contenders pledged similar agenda croatia eu
entry during their mandate stepping up the fight against corruption and pulling
the economy out of recession
croatia where unemployment is running at around percent is forecasting
contraction of up to percent in its economy for its external debt is
meanwhile nearly percent of gross domestic product
the most important is to work in improving the economic situation and ending
the crisis parliament speaker luka bebic told reporters as he cast his ballot
for all their 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
football english football league result
london jan afp
english football league result on sunday
championship
leicester ipswich
played saturday
cardiff blackpool
coventry barnsley
derby scunthorpe
postponed
crystal palace bristol city
middlesbrough swansea
preston doncaster
qpr plymouth
sheffield wednesday peterborough
reading newcastle
watford sheffield united
played friday
west brom nottingham forest
league one
leeds wycombe
norwich exeter
postponed
brighton brentford
bristol rovers stockport
carlisle millwall
charlton hartlepool
gillingham tranmere
milton keynes dons swindon
oldham leyton orient
