in the latest incident year old jaspreet singh told police that he was
doused with petrol and set on fire by group of men as he parked his car in the
early hours of saturday
singh suffered burns to percent of his body and is recovering in hospital
crean who is also australia trade minister said police had found no evidence
that the latest incidents were racially motivated
think it is also important in terms of the most recent incident that
relative of mr singh also doesn believe that it was racially based
series of attacks on indian nationals and students in australia sparked street
protests in the middle of
alert
pope condemns murder of coptic christians in egypt
togo orders attacked team home from african cup
cabinda angola jan afp
togo ordered its footballers home from the africa cup of nations on sunday even
though the squad itself wants to stay and take to the pitch in the wake of
friday ambush on their convoy that left at least two dead and several wounded
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 they must return 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
at least two members of the togolese contingent one an assistant coach the
other team spokesman were killed and nine wounded when hooded gunmen opened
fire on togo convoy as they drove into angola northern cabinda enclave from
neighbouring congo brazzaville
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 in france where he lives in exile
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
nations cup organisers and angolan prime minister paulo kassoma had made
impassioned pleas for togo to stay making repeated assurances to bolster
security for the games
the cabinda shooting had security forces on edge in 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
togo international thomas dossevi who plays for french side nantes told afp in
cabinda that the players had unanimously decided that they wanted to stay
despite the security worries
we are all heartbroken it is no longer party but we want to show our
national colours our values and that we are men dossevi said
togo captain emmanuel adebayor had earlier been reported by his club manchester
city to be returning to britain
goalkeeper obilale was reported good condition after undergoing 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
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
cricket zaheer mishra restrict sri lanka
dhaka jan afp
zaheer khan and amit mishra shared six wickets as india restricted sri lanka to
in triangular one day series match here on sunday despite half centuries
from kumar sangakkara and suraj randiv
skipper sangakkara top scored with for his th half century and lower order
batsman randiv made for his maiden fifty but sri lanka still failed to set
stiff target in the day night match
left arm paceman zaheer finished with off disciplined overs while leg
spinner mishra took
sri lanka have already made it to the final with three successive wins while
india have so far posted one victory in two games bangladesh have lost all of
their three matches
sri lanka were struggling at after electing to bat but randiv added for
the seventh wicket with sangakkara and as many runs for the next wicket with
thilan thushara
sangakkara fell in the th over caught by suresh raina at mid wicket while
attempting to pull part time spinner yuvraj singh after hitting nine fours in
his ball knock
sri lanka suffered an early setback when upul tharanga was caught at first slip
by dinesh karthik off seamer sudeep tyagi in the opening over tharanga who
made century in the last match failed to open his account this time
tillakaratne dilshan who missed the last two games because of an injury looked
in punishing mood as he cracked five fours in tyagi successive overs
india skipper mahendra singh dhoni replaced tyagi with zaheer who struck in his
opening over when he had dilshan caught by gautam gambhir dilshan hit eight
fours in his ball
sri lanka chances of reaching challenging total receded sharply when they
lost mahela jayawardene thilan samaraweera thilina kandamby and thissara
perera in the space of runs
iran probe blames ex prosecutor over notorious jail
tehran jan afp
an iranian probe sunday found former tehran prosecutor responsible of sending
post election protesters to notorious jail where youths were killed and called
for punishments to be meted out
parliamentary fact finding committee probing unrest after the contested june
presidential polls described incidents of abuse at kahrizak prison as
disgrace which it said undermined the islamic republic news agencies
reported quoting the report which was read out in parliament
it singled out former hardline tehran prosecutor saeed mortazavi and said
detainees were sent to kahrizak at mortazavi order according to excerpts of
the long anticipated report carried by isna news agency
it said protesters arrested on july were jailed for four days alongside
dangerous criminals in very difficult conditions while they were beaten
and humiliated by their jailors
the judiciary should seriously deal with all those behind these bitter
events without any reservation and regardless of their positions the report
said
incidents at kahrizak has disgraced and undermined the islamic system
ilna and mehr news agencies also published the report on the notorious prison
south of tehran which was ordered shut by supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei
in late july following reports of prisoner abuse
despite initial denials iranian authorities admitted that three young
protesters including the son of prominent conservative politician died
of injuries inflicted in kahrizak
mortazavi was sacked from his post as tehran prosecutor in late august and
given largely bureaucratic position as one of the deputies of the new tehran
prosecutor general
he also heads an organisation to combat smuggling in the administration of
president mahmoud ahmadinejad
the feared mortazavi hunted down scores of journalists and dissidents during his
six years in office and reportedly closed over reformist publications
his name has also been cited in the case of canadian iranian photographer zahra
kazemi who died in custody in and canada has called for his prosecution
the post vote unrest now in its seventh month was triggered by ahmadinejad
disputed re election in the june poll which the opposition charged was
massively rigged to keep the hardliner in power
hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters poured into streets in week long
protests and have held sporadic demonstrations ever since mainly alongside
state sponsored events
the authorities said people were killed in protests but the opposition
claimed were killed and that some protesters were raped in custody
the latest demonstration on december during shiite mourning rituals of ashura
also left at least eight killed including the nephew of opposition leader mir
hossein mousavi
the parliamentary probe categorically denied claims by the opposition that
some detainees were raped in detention
it also accused mousavi and fellow defeated presidential candidate mehdi
karroubi of provoking the unrest with claims that the election was fraudulent
if the candidates had not broken the law and provoked people we would not have
seen such bitter events that disgrace the sacred islamic republic system the
report said
they have to be held accountable and the judiciary should not be negligent of
this incriminating behaviour the report said
hardliners have repeatedly called for the arrest and punishment of mousavi and
karroubi with some senior hardline clerics declaring them as mohareb enemy
of god who deserve death
russia kills two militant chiefs in dagestan official
moscow jan afp
russian security forces have killed two leading local islamist militants in
clashes in the violent southern caucasus region of dagestan officials said
sunday
madrid begov described as the head of the makhachkala shamkhal terrorist
sabotage group was killed sunday morning during an operation by security
forces in makhachkala the main city of dagestan
the clash took place when the forces surrounded suspected militant safe house
on the outskirts of the city security officials in dagestan told official
russian news agencies
after being asked to surrender begov replied with gunfire in the resulting
storm of the house begov was eliminated spokesman for the fsb security
service told the itar tass news agency
meanwhile another militant leader styled as the emir of makhachkala was shot
dead by the security forces late saturday after resisting arrest on highway
outside the city the fsb official told itar tass
the militant named as marat kurbanov was killed along with two of his
companions who were also rebels the fsb said the car they were in was filled
with explosive materials and blew up
concerns have mounted over increased militant attacks throughout russia
caucasus region where islamist militants have been battling pro kremlin local
authorities and russian security forces in sporadic insurgency
in dagestan region on the caspian sea the tensions have been particularly
acute in recent months and last week five policemen were killed in suicide
bombing in makhachkala
begov had been wanted for attempting last april to murder senior fsb
operative in makhachkala
colonel zulkaid kaidov had been lured into the meeting after begov brother
telephoned him to say madrid begov wanted to surrender he was wounded but
survived the attack
the interfax news agency said begov had worked for the omon the special forces
of the russian police but had been sacked in he then went to study in
egypt and became part of the militant underground
pope calls for respect of migrants after italy violence
vatican city jan afp
pope benedict xvi called sunday for the respect of migrants speaking out
against wave of violence against african farm workers in southern italy
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 the pope said
violence must never be means to solves 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 it is man and god
loves him as god loves me the pope added
the sermon came day after more than immigrants fled southern italian
town after residents violently attacked african farm workers
the clashes which began late thursday left people injured in the calabrian
town of rosarno
the injured included foreigners as well as police officers and locals
police said
british pm turns to mandela for post plot fightback
london jan afp
british prime minister gordon brown dismissed failed plot against him as
silliness sunday and revealed he is turning to nelson mandela for
inspiration before this year election
although last week call by two former ministers for vote on brown
leadership fizzled out there was fresh reminder of his weakness sunday when
former senior labour figure called on the premier to quit
fighting back after bruising week brown gave an interview to the news of the
world britain biggest selling tabloid insisting he was not going to spend
my time dealing with things that in my view have been form of silliness
he also vowed to serve full term if he wins the general election which must
be held by june
brown revealed he was inspired over the christmas break by the film invictus
telling the story of then president mandela and the south african rugby union
team at the world cup following the collapse of apartheid
the nelson mandela film you will be interested to know is about
determination and that is what am all about brown said
he has been reading the poem by william ernest henley which gave the film its
name and contains the line my head is bloody but unbowed
invictus is very interesting because it poem mandela gave to the south
african rugby captain francois pienaar and says this is poem that influenced
me when was in prison and it should influence you brown said
the poem certainly made an impact on me
brown has also been talking to former premier tony blair who he described as
one of the greatest british prime ministers
tony and talk lot brown said we have kept in touch and ll be drawing
on his advice as always do
blair will give evidence to britain public inquiry on the iraq war within
few weeks amid reports some labour figures are worried it could prove
embarrassing ahead of the election
meanwhile the fall out from last week failed leadership coup continued as
peter watt former labour general secretary who was at the party centre
before resigning in urged brown to stand aside for the sake of labour
gordon is big political figure but he lacks the emotional intelligence
required by modern leader watt told the mail on sunday which is also
publishing extracts from his memoirs critical of brown
despite the embarrassment of the plot support for labour increased slightly in
the last month according to the latest icm opinion poll for the sunday
telegraph
it gave david cameron main opposition conservatives an unchanged percent
support compared to percent for labour up one percent icm interviewed
adults by telephone on wednesday and thursday
the poll also found that percent of voters thought labour would do better
without brown as leader compared to percent who thought the party would do
worse
cameron said britain needs an election soon both parties have already
effectively been campaigning since the start of the year
if anything the last week demonstrates that we need to have strong determined
leadership from united government he told bbc television
we can get that from labour and gordon brown and an increasing number of
people in the labour party seem to be saying that
golf europe pip asia in royal trophy
bangkok jan afp
world number seven henrik stenson holed the winning putt as europe regained the
royal trophy with dramatic victory over asia on sunday
the vastly experienced swede who played in the last two ryder cups clawed back
from three holes down after against thailand thongchai jaidee to earn
half point and the win for europe with gutsy seven foot par putt at the final
hole
it was repeat of europe triumph in the maiden event in when stenson
beat thongchai in the anchor match for overall victory europe also won in
but were stunned by asia last year
we really had game on this week and we had to dig deep especially me in the
final match with thongchai said stenson am not playing great at the moment
but told the boys could find that extra bit near the end if needed it and
did that today
player captain colin montgomerie who will skipper europe in the ryder cup in
october said the victory was great fillip for european golf
it was an incredible competition and great to see seve ballesteros vision come
to fruition he said of the ailing spanish legend who created the tournament
seve phoned me and congratulated me when was on the th green
this is great start for european golf in very important year and all credit
to my team for fighting so hard for the victory
montgomerie made huge contribution to the overall win with battling display
against the in form liang wen chong of china
he drew on all his experience to match liang foot birdie putt on the final
hole to claim critical half point for europe
thongchai three time asian number one with record victories to his name
would have taken the encounter into play off if he had beaten stenson and he
said sorry to asian captain naomichi joe ozaki
apologise to the captain let the team down on the last hole but overall
gave it all have got he said
koumei oda two time winner on the japan tour last season put the first point
on the board for holders asia with crushing and victory over sweden
alexander noren who had percent record going into the singles
oda who teamed up with teenage countryman ryo ishikawa to beat colin
montgomerie and pablo martin on the opening day was in scintillating form with
six birdies in holes at the amata spring country club
korea charlie wi kept the momentum going with up win over england simon
dyson in an error strewn encounter
dyson currently fourth on the european ryder cup points list after two
victories last season holed five foot birdie putt on the th to square the
match but made mess of the last to hand wi the win
sweden peter hanson took the scalp of the highly regarded ishikawa and to
put the first point on the board for europe before india jeev milkha singh
handed the advantage back to asia with and win over the previously
unbeaten robert karlsson of sweden
spain pablo martin dominated his match with thailand prayad marksaeng and
birdie at the th gave him the contest and as europe fought back
soren kjeldsen of denmark ensured that the match went to the last game between
thongchai and stenson with and triumph over india gaganjeet bullar
skiing clean sweep for vonn in world cup
haus im ennstal austria jan afp
lindsey vonn of the united states pulled off clean sweep of the women world
cup programme here on sunday when she won the closing super
the world cup leader had already won the two downhills on friday and saturday
with one month to go until the winter olympics get underway in vancouver vonn
underlined her supremacy with what was the th world cup win of her career and
her sixth of the season
she also took another giant step along the road to making it three overall world
cup wins in row as her nearest challenger atop the standings germany maria
riesch lost vital time with big mistake on the lower section of the piste
vonn clocked min secs and finished well clear of former world cup winner
anja paerson of sweden italy nadia fanchini and martina schild of switzerland
shared third place
the american already came close to pulling off world cup sweep at lake louise
in december when she won the two downhills only to have to settle for second by
the smallest of margins in the third race to elizabeth gorgl of austria
luge world cup results
winterberg germany jan afp
luge world cup results here on sunday
women
natalie geisenberger ger
tatjana fner ger at
erin hamlin usa
anke wischnewski ger
corinna martini ger
overall world cup standings after six out of eight races
tatjana fner ger points
natalie geisenberger ger
anke wischnewski ger
erin hamlin usa
nina reithmayer aut
israel says no us financial pressure over peace talks
jerusalem jan afp
israel on sunday dismissed an implicit threat by top us official to apply
financial pressure on its close ally in order to advance peace talks
president barack obama middle east envoy george mitchell said in an interview
with pbs television earlier in the week that under us law washington can
withhold support on loan guarantees to israel
but israeli finance minister yuval steinitz said sunday that we have no
indication that there is any intention to pressure us through the guarantees
only few months ago we reached an agreement with the us treasury and state
departments on the extension of their guarantees
the united states offered israel billion dollars in loan guarantees in the
early to assist the jewish state in the absorption of hundreds of
thousands of immigrants from the former soviet union
in former us president george bush temporarily suspended the approval of
the guarantees by congress in order to pressure israel to take part in an
international peace conference
loan guarantees are not cash grants but allow israel to take loans from
international bodies with better conditions and lower interest rates
prime minister benjamin netanyahu office said in response to mitchell
comments that everyone knows that the palestinian authority is refusing to
renew the peace talks while israel has taken important and significant steps to
kickstart the process
the palestinian authority needs to change its ways not israel his office
said in statement
despite intensive diplomatic efforts washington has so far failed to revive the
stalled middle east peace process key component in the obama administration
foreign policy
the palestinians have said they will not restart talks until israel freezes all
settlement activity while the jewish state has enacted only partial easing of
construction in the occupied territories
urgent pope calls for respect of migrants after italy violence
vatican city jan afp
pope benedict xvi called sunday for the respect of migrants speaking out
against wave of violence against african farm workers in southern italy
malaysian christians defy church attacks
kuala lumpur jan afp
thousands of malaysian christians came out for weekly services sunday despite
new attacks in an arson campaign that has sent tensions soaring in the muslim
majority nation
eight churches across the country have been fire bombed or vandalised since
friday in an escalating row over the use of the word allah by non muslims as
translation for the christian god
council of churches secretary general hermen shastri said malaysia christians
who number percent of population of million were unbowed
think that people faith is greater than what happening around so they
continue to go to church and pray for themselves as well as for the nation he
told afp
islamic groups have staged protests after court ruling last week that gave
catholic newspaper the right to print the word allah following long dispute
with the government over the issue
four churches and catholic convent school were targeted early sunday police
said adding no one was injured
molotov cocktails were thrown at the all saints church and the school in
taiping in the northern state of perak and bottle of kerosene was found in
another church nearby before sunday services
in two other minor incidents black paint was hurled onto the window of
baptist church in the central state of malacca while stones were thrown at the
windows of the good shepherd church in the eastern state of sarawak according
to police
confirming the fresh attacks home minister hishammuddin hussein said the
security situation remained under control
the people need not worry and should not be influenced by reports on the
internet or the smses the minister told state news agency bernama referring
to inflammatory reports sent by telephone text message
about worshippers at the catholic church of the assumption in kuala
lumpur one of four in the malaysian capital targeted by arsonists were briefed
by parish priest phillips muthu on the attack on their building
told them we don want to blame any people any quarter any religion we
are peaceful and we are here to offer our prayer for the nation he told
reporters at the church where fire bomb damaged part of the grounds
of course we are afraid after the incident but life has to go on
one worshipper who only wanted to be identified as lee said reaction to the
court ruling from sections of the muslim community had been quite shocking
but think the majority of malaysians are still peace loving and we should
have dialogue to resolve this she said
police car was stationed outside the nearby protestant life chapel church
which had molotov cocktail thrown into its porch and volunteers stood guard
and checked worshippers cars
the strong congregation of the metro tabernacle church the worst damaged
in the attacks moved its service to hall offered by malaysia ruling party
prime minister najib razak has called for calm and said the government will not
tolerate any threat to racial harmony in the multicultural nation which is home
to large ethnic chinese and indian minorities
tensions were heightened last week when the high court ruled in favour of the
catholic newspaper the herald which has been using allah as translation for
god in its malay language section
the government has argued the word should be used only by muslims the ruling in
the newspaper favour was suspended on wednesday pending an appeal after the
government argued the decision could cause racial conflict
the row is among string of religious disputes in recent years that have
strained relations between muslim malays and ethnic chinese and indians who fear
the country is being islamised
cricket india sri lanka one day scoreboard
dhaka jan afp
scoreboard after sri lanka innings against india in the triangular one day
series here on sunday
sri lanka
tharanga karthik tyagi
dilshan gambhir zaheer
sangakkara raina yuvraj
jayawardene kohli zaheer
samaraweera lbw sreesanth
kandamby run out
perera yuvraj mishra
randiv mishra
thushara yuvraj zaheer
welegedara st dhoni mishra
lakmal not out
extras lb nb
total for all out overs
fall of wickets tharanga dilshan jayawardene
samaraweera kandamby perera sangakkara
thushara randiv welegedara
bowling tyagi sreesanth zaheer mishra
nb jadeja yuvraj raina
toss sri lanka
umpires enamul haque ban and ian gould eng
tv umpire sharfuddoula shahid ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
skiing vonn wins again in world cup
haus im ennstal austria jan afp
lindsey vonn of the united states made clean sweep of the women world cup
programme here on sunday when she won the closing super
the world cup leader had already won the two downhills on friday and saturday
ghana demands extra security for its players
accra jan afp
ghana is demanding extra security for its players at the africa cup of nations
in angola following friday deadly attack on the togolese squad the government
said on sunday
ghana is one of the teams based in the oil rich enclave of cabinda where
separatist rebels claimed responsiblity for friday ambush that left at least
two dead and several wounded
ghana president john atta mills has demanded extra security for players
ahead of the nations cup scheduled to kick start in angola later today
information minister zita okaikoi said in statement
the safety of our players and any other participating countries is very
important hence the need for extra security she added
togo players have decided to stay on and take part in the tournament but the
government in lome is ordering their immediate return they are scheduled to
come up against ghana on monday in group opening match
russian ice hockey in shock after unprecedented brawl
moscow jan afp
russian ice hockey authorities launched an inquest sunday after an unprecedented
brawl at top level match that saw two entire squads exchange punches and
wrestle on the ice just minutes into game
the game between chekhov from the moscow region and siberia omsk was abandoned
with just minutes seconds played as so many players had been sent off that
there were not sufficient players left to complete the fixture
their continental hockey league russia top flight which also includes teams
from belarus latvia and kazakhstan was holding an emergency meeting sunday
to decide how to punish the protagonists in the fight state media said
the game started testily with ferocious body checks and then degenerated into
an unashamed boxing match with the players taking off their gloves to throw
better punches
more particpants skated onto the ice from the substitutes bench as the referees
looked on helplessly television pictures showed
having sent off much of the two teams the game then restarted with those
remaining
but seconds after the face off the fighting started again with everyone else
