bomber rashly drove his double cabin pick up vehicle into them and blew it up
district police chief mohammad ayub khan told afp
at least people have died and the toll is likely to rise he added
estimating the crowd at the game to number about
one of his deputies habibullah khan said that people were also wounded
ramzan bittani year old driver told afp by telephone from local
hospital that he had left the match to take call
as was listening saw huge blue and white spark followed by an ear
piercing blast when was able to figure out what had happened saw bodies
and smoke all around my hand was fractured he said
anwer khan student said that he had just stepped out of his house and he
saw black pick up speeding up towards the spectators
giant flame leaped towards the sky there was bright light everywhere just
like flash and then very huge blast shook everything two pellets hit my
forehead and blood started flowing khan said
district police chief khan said that women and children were pulled from the
rubble of nearby house that collapsed in the blast and said that the remote
area was struggling to cope with the scale of the attack
he blamed the bomb on islamist extremists who were the target of military
operation in bannu district last year
security has plummeted over the last two and half years in pakistan where
militant violence has killed more than people since july
the northwest has suffered the brunt of the militant campaign with suicide
bombings increasingly targeting civilians at least people were killed in
car bomb in october at market in the provincial capital peshawar
the military is now locked in its most ambitious assault yet on taliban
strongholds in south waziristan sending troops into battle in the
district on the afghan border on october
washington however is urging pakistan to do more to also stamp out al qaeda
sanctuaries and dismantle havens of militants who cross the border and attack us
and nato troops stationed in afghanistan
on friday in north waziristan district missiles fired from us drone air craft
killed three suspected militants kilometres nine miles east of miranshah
the main district town close to the afghan border
us drone fired two missiles targeting vehicle and killing three
militants senior security official in the area told afp
the official requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the us strikes in
pakistan which have killed at least people since august and greatly
inflame anti american sentiment in the muslim nation
separate earlier us drone attack killed four militants in machikhel village
about kilometres east of miranshah
the region saw rise in us strikes last year after president barack obama took
office and established pakistan as front line in the war on al qaeda
foreign forces in afghanistan also rely on pakistan as transport route for
supplies and on friday gunmen ambushed two tankers travelling though the
southwestern province of baluchistan headed to nato troops
local police official mohammad ansar told afp that one of the trucks was badly
damaged by fire but no one was killed in the attack
also friday an anti taliban tribal leader and four others were killed in
roadside bomb in bajaur tribal district the latest in wave of attacks against
respected elders allied with the government against the extremists
football levy appointed unirea urziceni coach
bucharest jan afp
israeli ronny levy has reached agreement to coach romanian champions unirea
urziceni
the romanian club manager mihai stoica said friay that an agreement has been
reached in principle with the the former maccabi haifa coach it will be
contract of one and half years stoica told the newsin agency
levy replaces romanian dan petrescu who quit on saturday by what the club
termed mutual agreement
the year old won the israeli championship three times with maccabi haifa
between and
he has coached israeli first division side maccabi petah tikva since
petrescu orchestrated the surprise success of urziceni club from small
village of inhabitants situated km from the capital bucharest
since his arrival in the club with seater stadium reached the
romanian cup final in before winning the league title last season
the club placed third in group of the champions league to drop into the europa
league where they next meet liverpool
football ancelotti backs cech
london jan afp
chelsea goalkeeper petr cech in the firing line for some recent error prone
showings friday received vote of confidence from coach carlo ancelotti who
described him as one of the best goalkeepers in the world
cech relative loss of form in recent weeks was highlighted by chelsea taking
just nine points from possible in december but ancelotti rode to his
defence
said petr cech is one of the most important players for this team one of the
best goalkeepers in the world ancelotti said
like him because he takes on responsibility in the box he likes to come out
to catch the ball above all that important in england to have this kind of
goalkeeper
goalkeeper that takes responsibility can make the odd mistake prefer to
have goalkeeper who takes responsibility than one who just stays on his
goalline and doesn take that responsibility
cech is set to face watford in the fa cup third round tie on sunday as ancelotti
wants to field strong team in deference to the history and importance of the
competition
want to put out my best team it very important competition in england
in italy the italian cup is not so important
we want to do our best it is one of our objectives our aim to win it last
year we won it we want to do the best again this year
jealous ex lover spree fires finland gun debate
helsinki jan afp
finland was in mourning friday after jealous ex lover shot dead his former
girlfriend and four of her work colleagues in the latest armed rampage which has
reignited debate on the country gun controls
ibrahim shkupolli father of three who was originally from kosovo ended his
killing spree on thursday by turning his weapon on himself bringing the overall
toll from the tragedy in the helsinki suburb of espoo to six
as relatives tried to come to terms with their loss investigators indicated
they believed shkupolli may have selected his targets after suspecting his
former girlfriend of being romantically involved with workmate
we are sure that relationship issues such as jealousy or some other such
relationship problems which go back several years are behind what has happened
said tero haapala chief investigator of finland national bureau of
investigation nbi
that is definitely the main reason for the murder of the girlfriend but we
still don know for sure why he shot the other four he told afp
in separate comments to finnish media haapala said that shkupolli appeared to
have deliberately sought out his victims in the mall all of whom worked at the
same supermarket where the former girlfriend worked
the injuries of the victims indicate that the shooter wanted to shoot just
them there were no bullets shot in the direction of bystanders he said in
comments to the online edition of the helsingin sanomat newspaper
newspapers asked pointed questions about how the shooter had been able to get
his hands on weapon even though alarm bells had already been sounded
as well as run ins with the law over illegal firearms he was also subject to
restraining order issued by court over harassment of his ex girlfriend
police acknowledged lessons had to be learned but defended their performance
when asked if they could have done more to prevent the shootings
speaking at press conference nbi investigator esa groenlund said police
searched shkupolli home last year after the ex girlfriend received threatening
phone calls and text messages but no weapon had been found
groenlund also confirmed shukupolli did not have finnish nationality although
he had been living in the country for more than decade
finland one of western europe most sparsely populated countries with long
tradition of hunting has one of the largest per capita gun ownerships in the
world
but debate about the level of gun ownership has become hot political topic in
the wake of two shootings at schools in and which left total of
pupils and staff dead as well as the two shooters
new firearms law intended to tighten up licensing requirements is due to be
put before parliament in the spring
investigators said that the gun used by shkupolli was not licenced
the year old was fined by the helsinki district court in for firearm
violation for illegal possession of mm handgun and ammunition
the espoo district court had also fined shkupolli for illegal possession of
calibre handgun and ammunition in
prime minister matti vanhanen acknowledged the shooting raised new questions
about firearms laws
the incident draws attention to the large amount of handguns in our country
vanhanen said in statement
broad based cooperation within our society is necessary to avoid such tragedies
in the future
witnesses said the shooting sparked panic among the around new year eve
shoppers in the mall in mid morning with many charging headlong for the exit
armed police and medics who rushed to the scene found the bodies of three men
and woman at the prisma supermarket and then later found the ex girlfriend
body at her home
after an extensive search of the mall proved fruitless officers found the
gunman body several hours later
tight security calls for peace as world welcomes
vatican city jan afp
pope benedict xvi issued new year day call for tolerance after massive
celebrations worldwide ushered in fresh decade under heavy security and amid
warnings of more extremist plots
the pope comments came after new yorkers partied while being protected by
rooftop snipers in times square following the christmas day attempt by
nigerian suspect to blow up us airliner bound for detroit
british prime minister gordon brown said the failed plane bombing showed that
terrorism remained very real global threat as the world enters new decade
eight years after
in his traditional new year day mass friday benedict called for respect and
tolerance
respect others regardless of their skin colour nationality language
religion the pope said
he also spoke against war and violence deploring that too often the faces of
children were sunken by hunger and illness disfigured by pain and
hopelessness
before such defenceless humans all the false justifications for war and
violence fall down
for the archbishop of canterbury rowan williams the past decade had been
terrible and gruelling years in all kinds of ways
but the leader of the world million anglicans added that people should not
give up on the hope for change or shrug our shoulders and lower our
expectations
in the world major cities millions turned out for parties to bid farewell to
decade that saw the september attacks the launch of wars in
afghanistan and iraq and disastrous economic crisis
but security was tight across the globe after the airliner bomb plot
thousands of police officers deployed in new york backed by surveillance
cameras rooftop snipers and devices able to detect radiation or biological
agents
partygoers in times square were not allowed to carry backpacks or alcohol
on wednesday police had ordered the brief evacuation of times square and
investigated what they said was suspicious van which later proved to be
harmless
we assume here that new york is the number one terrorist target in america
city police commissioner raymond kelly said
the british prime minister in an article on his downing street office
website spoke of extremist threats
the new decade is starting as the last began with al qaeda creating
climate of fear brown wrote saying the failed bombing had exposed an
evolving terrorist threat
the failed attack in detroit on christmas day reminds us of deeper reality
that almost years after september th international terrorism is still
very real threat
the new year of course had its lighter moments as well
russians used to stern faced messages from their leaders were treated to
surprise cartoon on state television caricaturing president dmitry medvedev and
prime minister vladimir putin
television cartoons of russian leaders have been virtual taboo over the last
half decade
celebrations at iconic european sites including the eiffel tower in paris and
the london eye across from big ben saw tens of thousands of revelers joyously
welcome the new year
spain had an extra reason to party with the country taking over the eu
presidency for six months at midnight
this is the best street party in the world now am going to work on my first
hangover of said gerry shalloe year old english teacher from
ireland who lives in madrid
auckland new zealand was the first major city to see in the new year with
burst of fireworks and in australia about million people watched
pyrotechnic display from the iconic sydney harbour bridge
there were also hopeful messages with south african president jacob zuma using
his new year comments to rally for unity for the football world cup the
first ever to be held in africa
but in afghanistan where western powers have been fighting the taliban for most
of the past decade us led soldiers were on alert after two militant attacks
killed eight americans and five canadians
in the philippines at least five people were killed and about injured in
revelry involving fireworks and guns which draw on ancient superstitions that
noise drives away evil spirits
britain to hold talks on fighting extremism in yemen
london jan afp
british prime minister gordon brown has called an international meeting on
combating extremism in yemen for january in london his office said friday
the meeting on the same day as conference on afghanistan comes after an
alleged bid by nigerian man suspected of receiving al qaeda training in yemen
to blow up us plane as it came in to land in detroit on december
gordon brown has invited key international partners to high level meeting in
order to discuss how best to counter radicalisation in yemen the downing
street office said in statement
the prime minister will host the event on january in london
downing street added the meeting would stand alone but run in parallel with
the afghanistan event which is expected to be attended by senior ministers or
leaders from around nations
the aims would include identifying what the yemeni government needs to help it
fight violent islamic extremism and coordinating assistance for areas most at
risk of becoming radical the statement said
brown added the international community must not deny yemen the support it
needs to tackle extremism
nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallah is suspected of trying to blow up
christmas day flight from amsterdam to detroit and of visiting yemen and
receiving training for his mission from an al qaeda bomb maker there
the announcement of the meeting came hours after brown said the detroit incident
shows that terrorism remains very real global threat as the world enters
new decade eight years on from
the alleged plot which has led to major review of security procedures and the
coordination of airline and other watch lists threw the spotlight onto the
threat posed by militants based in yemen brown said
enemies of democracy and freedom now trying to mastermind death and
destruction from yemen as well as other better known homes of international
terror such as pakistan and afghanistan are concealing explosives in ways
which are more difficult to detect said brown in an article on the downing
street website
al qaeda and their associates continue in their ambition to indoctrinate
thousands of young people around the world with deadly desire to kill and
maim
our response in security intelligence policing and military action is not
just an act of choice but an act of necessity
he added world leaders must now cooperate urgently to tighten security at
airports and on planes britain had ordered review of airport security
arrangements he said promising action as quickly as possible
this could include the use of full body scanners at airports only previously
used to limited extent
the new decade is starting as the last began with al qaeda creating
climate of fear brown wrote saying the failed bombing had exposed an
evolving terrorist threat and highlighted major new base for terrorism
the failed attack in detroit on christmas day reminds us of deeper reality
that almost years after september th international terrorism is still
very real threat he added
ski jumping four hills ski jump results
garmisch partenkirchen germany jan afp
results of the four hills ski jump event here on friday
gregor schlierenzauer aut points
wolfgang loitzl aut
simon ammann sui
andreas kofler aut
anders jacobsen nor
janne ahonen fin
johan remen evensen nor
bjorn einar romoren nor
thomas morgenstern aut
stefan thurnbichler aut
four hills standings after two of four events
andreas kofler aut pts wolfgang loitzl aut janne
ahonen fin simon ammann sui gregor schlierenzauer aut
overall world cup standings after eight of events
simon ammann sui pts gregor schlierenzauer aut andreas
kofler aut thomas morgenstern aut wolfgang loitzl aut
selected janne ahonen fin
petraeus hails progress as us transforms iraq command
baghdad jan afp
top us general david petraeus hailed progress in iraq at ceremony on friday to
rename the military command of us forces here the only troops still deployed in
the country
multi national forces iraq mnf the name of the command of the coalition
that invaded iraq in was changed to united states forces iraq usf in
ceremony attended by senior generals and iraqi ministers at al faw palace at us
camp victory on baghdad outskirts
since left in september have noted progress each time returned
petraeus the current us regional military commander and former top general in
iraq told reporters
that is not to say there have not been considerable challenges there have not
been periodic horrific attacks and that there have not been innumerable
obstacles
but there has been sustained progress and that progress has been maintained
even after us forces moved out of the cities and progress continues even as us
forces have drawn down
petraeus added that parliamentary elections scheduled for march only the
second since saddam hussein was ousted were of enormous importance and said
it was crucial that they be free and fair
it is hugely important that the election that takes place in early march be one
that is judged once again as were the provincial elections in january of this
past year is judged to have been free and fair he said
it is very important that everyone has the opportunity to vote is not
intimidated
the odd people who attended the ceremony among whom were defence minister
abdel obeidi and iraqi army chief lieutenant general ali ghaidan majeed saw
general ray odierno the top us commander in iraq roll up the mnf flag and
unfurl new one for usf
after the departure of british romanian and australian troops in july the
remaining odd us troops are now the only force in mnf spurring the
decision to change the command name
at the start of the invasion the so called coalition of the willing
included nearly countries aside from the united states including britain
australia and poland
it drew criticism however because many of the countries contributed only
handful of troops with several pulling out or dramatically reducing their
military commitments shortly after the invasion
as part of security deal signed by baghdad and washington in november us
troops withdrew from iraq cities at the end of june and must leave the country
entirely by the end of
ten more deaths in brazil flooding
rio de janeiro jan afp
at least people were killed friday after being buried by landslide in
brazil rio de janeiro state raising to the number of deaths in the region
following recent heavy rains and flooding local press reported
officials said another people were missing and believed buried by landslides
after rains began inundating the region on wednesday according to the folha de
sao paulo newspaper
friday deaths occurred shortly after dawn in the town of angra dos reyes when
landslide from nearby mountain buried local inn killing its occupants
some rescue workers and firefighters were searching for possible survivors
and additional victims the daily reported
afp graphics advisory
paris jan afp
we have moved the following additional graphic
pakistan lakki marwat attack
map of northwest pakistan locating suicide bomb attack in lakki marwat
text slug pakistan unrest northwest blast
mm
paris hong kong
tel
iraq death toll drops to lowest level since invasion
baghdad jan afp
violence in iraq dropped dramatically in to its lowest level since the
invasion figures showed on friday but monitoring group warned that security
gains were levelling off
data compiled by the government and an independent monitoring group showed
civilian deaths as result of unrest here fell to their lowest level since the
us led invasion to oust saddam hussein
according to an afp tally of figures released by the defence interior and
health ministries total of civilians were killed by violence last year
less than half of toll of
the toll was markedly lower however than one compiled by iraq body count
ibc an independent britain based group which put the number of civilians
dead in at
despite the disparity ibc toll was also dramatically lower than its
figures it said in its annual report
general david petraeus the current us regional military commander and former
top general in iraq said on friday that since left in september have
noted progress each time returned
that is not to say there have not been considerable challenges there have not
been periodic horrific attacks and that there have not been innumerable
obstacles he told reporters in baghdad
but there has been sustained progress and that progress has been maintained
even after us forces moved out of the cities and progress continues even as us
forces have drawn down
ibc noted that while there had been significant improvements in security in
such violence still afflicts iraq population more than any other
and the second half of saw around the same number of civilian deaths as the
first which ibc said may indicate that the situation is no longer improving
prime minister nuri al maliki has promoted himself as having improved security
across iraq and is aiming to retain his post after parliamentary elections due
on march
but national security advisor safa hussein warned in an interview with afp
earlier this week that al qaeda is threat in the run up to the vote
their intention continues in this direction he said when asked if he expected
further waves of massive coordinated bombings think during the election
period it will continue this way
ibc added that large scale bombings have increased in their severity of
impact noting that people were killed in eight major attacks last year
baghdad in particular was struck by three major coordinated vehicle bombings in
august october and december that killed around people attacks blamed on
al qaeda working with diehard elements of saddam baath party
the ibc report also said the restive northern city of mosul has become more
violent than the capital on per capita basis with recorded civilian
deaths in out of an estimated population of million people
baghdad which has population of around million people saw deaths
the group added that mosul experienced nearly twice as many violent incidents as
baghdad
according to ibc an emerging trend in terms of types of violence in was
the increasingly prevalent use of magnetic sticky bombs secretly affixed to
cars the number of people killed as result of such attacks rose to in
from in
british pm calls high level meeting on yemen
london jan afp
british prime minister gordon brown has called an international meeting on
fighting extremism in yemen for january in london statement from his
downing street office said friday
the meeting on the same day as conference on afghanistan comes after an
alleged bid by nigerian man suspected of receiving al qaeda training in yemen
to attack plane as it came in to land in detroit in the us on december
gordon brown has invited key international partners to high level meeting in
order to discuss how best to counter radicalisation in yemen the statement
said the prime minister will host the event on january in london
downing street added the meeting would stand alone but run in parallel with
the afghanistan event which is expected to be attended by senior ministers or
leaders from around nations
the aims of the meeting will include identifying what the yemeni government
needs to help it fight violent extremism and coordinating assistance for areas
most at risk of radicalisation the statement said
brown added the international community must not deny yemen the support it
needs to tackle extremism
nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallah is suspected of trying to blow up
christmas day flight from amsterdam to detroit and of visiting yemen and
receiving training for his mission from an al qaeda bomb maker there
chad president makes new year peace plea to rebels
ndjamena jan afp
chad president idriss deby itno called friday on rebel forces in the troubled
central african nation to lay down their weapons saying constant conflict was
hindering development
war is not the solution the president in his new year address
today conditions are more than ripe for everyone to satisfy their political
ambitions through the ballot box
the landlocked nation is rich in natural resources but has been blighted by
violence and instability
in february last year rebels swept across the whole of south chad to ndjamena
in week and were only defeated with french help
but deby who took power in military coup but has since been
democratically elected insisted friday that the country rebel movements had
no future and accused them of acting as brake on the country development
stop stop stop plunging chadian families into mourning and destroying our
country he urged in his latest plea to anti government forces
he stressed there had been repeated efforts to end the fighting and help chad go
forward in harmony with its neighbours in particular sudan where several rebel
groups have bases
sudan and chad started fresh bid last week to normalise relations
both sides agreed at high level talks in khartoum to meet again to take steps to
stop cross border rebel attacks from each side according to sudanese
presidential adviser ghaze salaheddin
chad has accused sudan of supporting rebels seeking to oust the government
while khartoum has charged ndjamena with backing ethnic minority rebels in the
western sudanese region of darfur
improved ties between the two countries could also help to bring peace to war
torn darfur where about people have died since ethnic rebels revolted
in according to the united nations
best quotes from around the world over the past week
paris jan afp
best quotes from around the world over the past week
wakey wakey
when you hear pop on plane you re awake trust me so just jumped
didn think and just went went over there and tried to save the plane
guess
dutchman jasper schuringa who has emerged as christmas day hero for his
impulsive smackdown of terror suspect who tried to blow up us bound
airliner
fire fire
there was pop then there was little bit of light little bit of
kind of flameish light and there was fire and people began to panic almost and
everybody was rushing towards that area and tried to get water blanket and
fire extinguisher
syed jafry who was sitting three rows behind the nigerian man with reported
links to al qaeda accused of trying to blow up the airplane
vietnamese justice
why do you prosecute me now
tran anh kim military officer turned pro democracy campaigner
challenged court before it jailed him for five and half years for attempted
subversion he said he had been involved with the opposition for more than three
years
orwell birthplace
we will not allow george orwell ancestral house where he was born to be
lost to history
provincial official vivek singh from the indian state of bihar on plans to
save the writer neglected birthplace from ruin
beyond nature
we want to develop something to go beyond nature eventually
hiroshi liu researcher at chiba university east of tokyo after japanese
researchers said they had developed hummingbird robot that can flutter
around freely in mid air with rapid wing movements
jellyfish nightmare
had minor brush with what can be very serious jellyfish
british charity worker ben southall winner of australia best job in the
world contest reflects on being stung by potentially deadly jellyfish just
days before the end of his dream stint on the great barrier reef
indonesia mourns
he was the father of pluralism and multiculturalism in indonesia
