suu kyi national league for democracy to take part the ministry said
myanmar military rulers have kept the nobel peace laureate in detention for
of the last years having refused to recognise her party landslide victory
in the country last democratic elections in
japan has maintained trade and dialogue with myanmar warning hard line on the
military junta could push it closer to neighbouring china its main political
supporter and commercial partner
voting starts in cliffhanger chilean presidential poll
santiago brazil jan afp
voting started sunday in chilean presidential election that promised to be an
extremely tight contest between conservative billionaire sebastian pinera
and former president eduardo frei
voter intention surveys ahead of sunday knockout second round between the two
candidates suggested technical dead heat with results too close to predict
outgoing president michelle bachelet who cannot stand for another term under
chile constitution has thrown her full weight behind frei bid turning his
fortunes around to pinera chagrin
in the first round of the election held december pinera emerged with
percentage point lead over frei that margin was now seen to have shrunk to just
percentage points less than the survey margin for error
polls were to close at pm gmt with first official results expected
three hours later
some million people are eligible to vote in chile one of latin america
most prosperous nations
haiti rescue teams still hope to find survivors un
geneva jan afp
rescue teams working round the clock in haiti are reporting very high morale
and that they are still expecting to find survivors five days after the deadly
earthquake struck the un said sunday
the morale of the rescue team is very high despite the hardship and the
conditions they remain steadfast since lives have been rescued out of the
rubble elisabeth byrs spokeswoman of the un office for the coordination of
humanitarian affairs told afp
we don give up hope to find more survivors she added
voting starts in cliffhanger chilean presidential poll
santiago brazil jan afp
voting started sunday in chilean presidential election that promised to be an
extremely tight contest between conservative billionaire sebastian pinera
and former president eduardo frei
voter intention surveys ahead of sunday knockout second round between the two
candidates suggested technical dead heat with results too close to predict
urgent voting starts in cliffhanger chilean presidential poll
santiago jan afp
voting started sunday in chilean presidential election that promised to be an
extremely tight contest between conservative billionaire sebastian pinera
and former president eduardo frei
alert
voting starts in cliffhanger chilean presidential election
iran boosts security for nuke experts after bombing death
tehran jan afp
iran has beefed up security measures to protect its nuclear experts after top
atomic scientist was killed in bombing this week fars news agency reported on
sunday
some measures have been taken to protect and safeguard nuclear scientists even
though there were some before but now these measures have been increased
tehran governor morteza tamadon was quoted as saying
massoud ali mohammadi particle physics professor at tehran university died
when bomb strapped to motorbike was triggered by remote control as he was
leaving his home on tuesday
officials in the islamic republic have accused the cia and mossad the
respective intelligence agencies of the united states and israel of having
hand in the murder
tamadon echoed comments made on thursday by president mahmoud ahmadinejad who
said zionist methods were used in the bombing
it not like americans and zionists israelis would dare to enter our
country iran would not give them such security and possibility but they have
got help from the anti revolutionaries monarchists and outcasts tamadon said
the governor said iran had since obtained some leads to chase the case
the united states has rejected as absurd the allegation
charges of us involvement are absurd state department spokesman mark toner
said after iran foreign ministry accused us and israeli mercenaries of
being behind the bomb plot
urgent haiti rescue teams still hope to find survivors un
geneva jan afp
rescue teams working round the clock in haiti are reporting very high morale
and that they are still expecting to find survivors five days after the deadly
earthquake struck the un said sunday
iraq chemical ali sentenced to death for halabja attack
baghdad jan afp
saddam hussein notorious henchman chemical ali was sentenced to death on
sunday for ordering the gassing of kurds in the iraqi town of halabja brutal
attack that killed an estimated people
ali hassan al majid will die by hanging the state run al iraqiya television
channel said having been found guilty of the atrocity in the northeast of the
country as the iran iraq war drew to close in
the ruling is the fourth time that majid better known by his macabre nickname
has received death sentence
three quarters of the victims at halabja were women and children in what is now
thought to have been the deadliest gas attack ever carried out against
civilians
this judgment is victory for all iraqis humanity and the kurds because
halabja is the biggest crime of modern times said majid hamad amin minister
of the martyrs and displaced in the kurdish regional government
halabja is not only kurdish case but it is an issue for all iraqis and the
rest of the world he added
three other men were convicted for their role in the halabja attacks the
television report said
they included sultan hashem ahmed former defence minister and saber aziz
abdul al duri former intelligence chief who were both sentenced to years
in jail farhan mutlak al juburi former iraqi army chief was ordered to
serve years
close cousin of saddam majid earned his ghastly moniker for ordering
poisonous gas attacks in brutal scorched earth campaign of bombings and mass
deportations that left an estimated kurds dead in the
he had already been sentenced to hang for genocide over the kurdish offensives
when in december he received second death sentence for war crimes
committed during the ill fated shiite uprising in southern iraq
and in march last year the iraqi high tribunal handed down third death
sentence over the the murders of dozens of shiites in the sadr city
district of baghdad and in the central shrine city of najaf
however he is probably best known for the halabja attack when in march
iraqi jets swooped over the small town and for five hours sprayed it with
deadly cocktail of mustard gas and the nerve agents tabun sarin and vx
majid was the king of spades in the pack of cards of most wanted iraqis issued
by the us military in and was arrested in august of that year
like saddam majid hails from the northern town of tikrit where he was born in
according to court documents although he told tribunal last year that
he was born in
considered saddam right hand man and bearing strong resemblance to the
former dictator he was member of the decision making revolutionary command
council and regularly called upon to wipe out rebellion
in march the ruling baath party put him in charge of state agencies in the
kurdish area including the police army and militias
as iraq eight year war with iran drew to close the following year fighters
from the rebel patriotic union of kurdistan with backing from tehran took over
the farming community of halabja near the border
as saddam enforcer he then ordered the gas attack to crush the uprising
new york based human rights watch has said majid was responsible for the deaths
or disappearances of around non combatant kurds when he put down the
revolt across the kurdish region
but majid said he ordered the attacks against the kurds who had sided with iran
in the war for the sake of iraqi security he has refused to express remorse
for the killings
two blasts at croatian oil refinery television
zagreb jan afp
two powerful explosions rocked an oil refinery at sisak in central croatia but
there were no casualties state television reported sunday
the two blasts late saturday started fire which firefighters managed to put
out during the night
the fire engulfed petrol treatment unit but the unit had been out of
commission for four days for technical problems so damage was not believed to
be very serious the refinery director damir butkovic was quoted as saying in
the internet edition of the daily vecernji list
the sisak refinery kilometres miles south of zagreb is one of two
refineries operated by the croatian company ina in which the hungarian gas and
oil company mol is the biggest shareholder
its capacities for treating oil are due to increase this year from to
million tonnes annually thanks to ongoing modernisation it supplies more than
percent of the croatian market and also large part of the bosnian market
alert
haiti rescue teams morale very high still hope to find survivors un
taiwan china finance pacts take effect
taipei jan afp
three agreements leading to closer cooperation between taiwan and mainland china
in banking insurance and securities came into effect over the weekend the
island financial authority said sunday
the three memoranda of understanding which were signed in november are the
latest step in rapidly improving ties between the two former arch foes after ma
ying jeou became taiwan president in may
the financial supervisory commission said the mous followed pressure from the
island finance industry for greater access to the huge mainland market
with the mous taiwan financial industry can not only serve taiwanese
companies in the mainland but tap the mainland market the commission said on
its website
since taiwan and the mainland share the same language and cultural roots
taiwan financial industry stands good chance of gaining profits
despite lingering hostility between china and taiwan local businesses have
channeled about billion us dollars into china since taipei eased an
investment ban in the early
china took billion us dollars of the island total exports in or
percent of the island overseas sales
the mous focus on supervisory cooperation in the fields of banking securities
futures and insurance they provide for thresholds and preferential policies for
both sides to enter each other financial markets
following the mou seven taiwanese bank offices on the mainland can be upgraded
to branches
cricket shakib shahadat put india in spot
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
shakib al hasan and shahadat hossain shared six quick wickets to put india under
pressure in the first test against bangladesh here on sunday
left arm spinner shakib took and paceman shahadat bagged as india
slipped from comfortable for no loss to in their first innings at tea
on the opening day
sachin tendulkar was unbeaten on at the break also completing test
runs during his ball knock he was lucky to survive on when imrul kayes
dropped catch at first slip off debutant paceman shaiful islam
amit mishra was the other not out batsman on five
the second session belonged to bangladesh who grabbed six wickets for runs
in overs
shakib provided the breakthrough when he dismissed stand in captain virender
sehwag who uppishly drove the spinner to tamim iqbal at short cover after
hitting nine fours in his ball for his th test half century
sehwag unbeaten on at lunch completed his half century immediately after
the interval when he hammered shahadat for three fours in an over
left handed gautam gambhir fell to loose shot at the same total of
chasing an away going delivery from shahadat to be caught behind
the bangladeshi paceman struck again when he removed rahul dravid four who
was bowled while attempting to work the ball on the on side
shakib got his second wicket when he had venkatsai laxman seven stumped by
mushfiqur rahim who broke the stumps when the batsman lost balance after
inside edging delivery on to his pads
yuvraj singh also didn last long hitting shakib full toss straight to rubel
hossain at mid on after contributing just
dinesh karthik fell for duck caught by diving raqibul hasan at gully off
shahadat
bangladesh skipper shakib put india in to bat in overcast conditions after the
match started minutes late due to fog but his fast bowlers failed to taste
success in the opening hour
sehwag leading the side in the absence of injured mahendra singh dhoni went
for shots early in his knock as he drove shahadat and then upper cut shafiul
over the slips for fours
india earlier suffered double blow when wicketkeeper batsman dhoni back
spasms and off spinner harbhajan singh stiff neck were ruled out of the
match they were replaced by karthik and leg spinner mishra
up to killed by haiti earthquake who
geneva jan afp
the world health organisation has estimated that between to people
in haiti have been killed by the earthquake the united nations said sunday
who paho pan american health organization estimates that the number of dead
ranges between and people said situation report issued by the
un office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs
the haitian government estimated on friday that more than people were
killed and injured by the magnitude earthquake that struck on
tuesday
ukrainians brave snow cynicism to vote
kiev jan afp
braving widespread cynicism with the political elite as much as freezing
winter ukrainians voted for new president sunday despite often failing to
muster much enthusiasm for any candidate
with snowflakes tumbling in kiev and the pavements treacherous with black ice
the winter weather reflected the bleak mood of voters five years after the
orange revolution raised hopes of new era in the country
the main contenders in the first round of the vote pro russia politician viktor
yanukovich and prime minister yulia tymoshenko are the same faces who have been
at the centre of ukraine politics for much of the decade
despite the disenchantment opinion polls have predicted that turnout will be
relatively high at over percent and steady flow of voters was already
heading into polling stations in the first hours of voting
people lives are going from bad to worse here complained businessman
grigory as he cast his vote in kiev school
voted for yanukovich because it is impossible to vote for tymoshenko she has
nothing except empty slogans and lies
another businessman also called grigory and aged however hailed tymoshenko
as the saviour of ukraine
natalyia zozulia cleaner said she had exercised her option to vote
against all the candidates know it will change nothing disappointed
with the mess here
voted for yanukovich am sick of the orange leaders want stability
these last five years were madness said volodymyr efremenko manual
labourer
in the southern peninsula of crimea resort region on the black sea normally
known for its balmy weather the temperatures were also unseasonably low and the
mood equally frigid
do not think that positive changes will come they haven appeared in the
last two decades since independence and they are not going to come now said
dmitry as he cast his vote in cinema in the city of sevastopol
leonid estekhin added have no more hopes do not see the leaders in
this country who can rescue us from rock bottom
the disenchantment was even more pronounced in the eastern city of donetsk the
stronghold of yanukovich and hotbed of opposition to the orange revolution
at one polling station elderly pensioners were straining their eyes and
demanding help to locate yanukovich name on the list
anyone but tymoshenko whoever but please not her shouted marina
pensioner ve already told all the neighbours to come and vote and told
them to vote yanukovich only he can save us
but even here yanukovich who has served as prime minister as well as regional
governor was suffering from the widespread disillusionment with established
faces
do not believe in the promises of the politicians in power said irina
saleswoman
let have young and beautiful president and things will be better she said
after voting for the athletic businessman sergiy tigipko whose campaign has
experienced late surge in the last weeks
us soldier dies in afghanistan nato
kabul jan afp
an american soldier has died in afghanistan after being wounded while fighting
taliban led insurgents nato said sunday
in brief statement nato international security assistance force isaf said
the soldier had died on saturday in eastern afghanistan an increasingly
volatile theatre of the war against the anti government militants
an isaf service member from the united states died of wounds yesterday as
result of an engagement with insurgents in eastern afghanistan it said
it gave no other details
around international service men and women are deployed to afghanistan
under us and nato command for the fight against the islamist militants now in
its ninth year
another troops are being sent to the country and are due to arrive by
august military officials have said
the decision to send more foreign soldiers is part of renewed strategy for
bringing the fight to the taliban while backing up battlefield progress with aid
and development efforts to win over local populations
the increased forces however mean more engagements and inevitably higher
rate of deaths among foreign troops the officials say
this has become evident in recent months as the total death toll among
international soldiers in was compared with for the year before
according to an afp tally based on that kept by the independent website
icasualties org foreign soldiers have died in afghanistan so far in
civilian casualties have also become central issue in the hostilities with
the garmser district of southern helmand province focal point in recent weeks
as the taliban whips up hostility and isaf and afghan forces retaliate
isaf said civilian died after being shot by its troops in the early hours of
sunday morning when they fired on large vehicle travelling at high speed
without headlights towards one of its convoys
after firing three to five rounds into the grille of the vehicle it stopped
isaf said in statement
the initial assessment determined one civilian received gunshot wound to the
chest the man died of his wounds this morning none of the other five
passengers suffered any injuries it said
garmser has been the scene of violence for the better part of week after
demonstrations that government investigators said were whipped up by taliban
rumours that foreign troops had desecrated copy of the koran during an
operation
seven people were killed on tuesday during protest march that turned violent
when shoots were fired from among crowd of hundreds of people officials said
the following day another five afghan civilians were shot and wounded outside
military base during demonstration that appeared to be related to the tuesday
incident
the united nations said in report released last week that civilians killed in
the afghan war jumped last year to making the deadliest year for
ordinary afghans since the us led invasion in civilians were
killed
the majority or percent of the dead were killed in taliban attacks the un
said
among the taliban increasingly effective arsenal are roadside bombs which
military intelligence officials say claim up to percent of foreign troops
casualties as well as afghan security forces and civilians
afghanistan defence ministry said two afghan soliders were killed on saturday
in the sangin district of helmand by roadside bomb
in helmand marjah district an air strike was called in during fire fight
between militants and afghan troops also on saturday the ministry said in
separate statement resulting in the deaths of five terrorists
and in southern paktika province four militants were killed and three wounded in
nato air strike on saturday the spokesman for the provincial governor
mukhlis afghan told afp
almost one in four britons back blair war crimes trial poll
london jan afp
nearly one quarter of britons want former prime minister tony blair to be tried
as war criminal over the iraq war according to poll published on sunday
yougov poll for the sunday times newspaper found that percent of those
surveyed think that blair should face war crimes charges
the weekly newspaper added that percent believe that blair deliberately
misled the country in the run up to the war
blair who led the nation into the controversial conflict will meanwhile give
evidence to britain public inquiry into the iraq war at some point in the two
week period from january
the survey suggested that most people think the former premier knew that saddam
hussein possessed no weapons of mass destruction
yougov found that only percent of those polled accepted that blair genuinely
believed in the threat that he used to help make the case for the iraq war
yougov interviewed voters in an online poll that was conducted on thursday
and friday
urgent up to killed by haiti earthquake who
geneva jan afp
the world health organisation has estimated that between to people
in haiti have been killed by the earthquake an official united nations document
said sunday
olympics ice hockey bluffer guide
vancouver canada jan afp
afp bluffer guide to ice hockey at the winter olympics
went to boxing match and hockey game broke out why are players allowed
to punch each other silly in hockey game
hockey players live by an unwritten code that players must show respect for
each other by not raising their sticks or hitting from behind this allows the
skill players to do what they do best and the tough guys to duke it out when the
time calls for it
hockey seems to have its own language when someone is cherry picking what
does that mean
it when player generally forward hangs out behind the play waiting for
long pass from his defenceman so that he can have breakaway on the other
team goaltender
see the referee blowing his whistle to stop the play for an offside
frequently but what is an offside
player may not skate across the opposing team blueline into his offensive
zone ahead of the puck if that happens the whistle is blown and face off is
held just outside the zone where the infraction occurred offside is called to
keep players from hanging around the red line at centre ice or all the way down
in their offensive zone and waiting for pass that will give them breakaway
skating toward the goal with no defenders around except for the goalie and an
easy chance at goal
why do ice hockey broadcasters sometimes say he beat him like rented mule
it reference to goaltender conceding goal in an embarrassing manner
how is player plus minus stat calculated
player receives plus if he is on the ice when his club scores an even
strength or shorthand goal he receives minus if he is on the ice for an
even strength or shorthand goal scored by the opposing club
what does winger do on the ice
you can fly with just one these guys follow the action up and down the rink
on either side of the centre left and right side wings pass back and forth
trying to position themselves for shot on goal defensively they guard the
opponents wings and attempt to disrupt them
under fire merkel holds political crisis meeting
berlin jan afp
german chancellor angela merkel was due sunday to hold what was being billed as
crisis meeting of her key coalition allies in bid to quell internal
squabbling that has seen her own popularity slide
the conservative merkel was set to hold talks with guido westerwelle
foreign minister and head of the free democrats fdp her new coalition
partners as well as horst seehofer from her bavarian sister party the csu
germany new look coalition formed after merkel convincing election win in
september has experienced torrid few months amid bickering over tax policy
afghanistan and turkey admission to the european union
the new coalition has got off to very poor start especially in tax
questions gerd langguth professor of political science at bonn university and
merkel biographer told afp
ordinary germans appear to agree with strong majority percent saying
the new coalition has had bad start according to recent poll by
independent opinion research institute forschungsgruppe wahlen
analysts said the main flashpoint at sunday talks would be over fiscal policy
with the fdp seen as business friendly party demanding the government
upholds pledge for deep tax breaks from next year
according to the bild am sonntag paper westerwelle has told merkel this is
absolutely the core priority for the fdp
however leading christian democrats as well as several state and local leaders
say tax giveaway now would be disastrous given the tattered state of germany
public finances
the recession in germany the worst since world war ii has blown huge
hole in the budget with the government estimating it will have to take on
record billion euros billion dollars of new debt in
langguth said the planned tax breaks could be moved to later date expect
compromises for example they might postpone the tax cuts he said
ahead of the meeting fdp economic policy expert hermann otto solms said
postponement of the tax cuts until year before the next legislative
election would be acceptable
if the relief comes into force in that would correspond with the original
demands of the fdp solms told the tagesspiegel am sonntag
the new partners are also at loggerheads over the country mission in
afghanistan turkey eu accession and new museum about the fate of ethnic
germans expelled from eastern europe after
the squabbling has taken its toll in the opinion polls
recent forsa institute survey showed that opposition parties enjoyed more
public support than the coalition for the first time since the election support
softened especially for the fdp which lost two points
backing for the usually popular merkel the most powerful woman in the world for
four consecutive years according to forbes magazine has also dropped sharply
amid sniping from within her own ranks
dimap survey on january showed satisfaction with merkel performance had
slumped to percent drop of points from the last time the poll was taken
in december
and the forschungsgruppe wahlen survey indicated that percent of voters
thought merkel was doing little to set the course for the government compared
to percent who approved of her management of the coalition
olympics canada women go for three peat on home soil
los angeles jan afp
canada and the united states are the olympic gold medal favourites as the rest
of the world continues to play catch up in women ice hockey
it virtually certain that the two nations will clash in the championship game
on february at the vancouver winter olympics as history is on their side
in the previous three olympics the two teams have combined record and
outscored opponents
team usa coach mark johnson says anytime the us and canada meet you can expect
fireworks
it is incredible end to end action and pure hockey from skills standpoint
said johnson son of former calgary flames coach badger bob johnson and
member of the us men gold medal winning team in lake placid
the success of canada and the us also highlights what wrong with the women
tournament which has trouble being taken seriously because of the huge parity
gap between the top two teams and the rest of the field
because they are playing at home the pressure on two time defending champion
canada will be just as heavy on the women as the men
canada is in its last two olympics and once again they will be led by
year old veteran hayley wickenheiser forward caroline ouellette and goaltender
kim st pierre
canada is preparing for its run at an olympic three peat by playing non checking
games against year old boys teams while the us players are warming up by
playing against minnesota high school boys teams
the women game is much different than the men because of the no contact
rules which opens the game up for smaller players
american defenceman angela ruggiero said many parents wouldn let their
daughters play hockey if there was checking
this way parents aren afraid to sign up their daughters she said
personally would love to check
on paper it might look like the us is heading in the wrong direction as they
have gone from gold silver to bronze but based on their
recent success against canada some are even picking them as the gold medal
favourite
the us has won two straight world championship titles over canada and the team
has had five months as group together instead of forming at the last minute
like previous winter games
sweden was the surprise silver medallist in turin in beating the us in
the semi finals
the swedes are led by goaltender kim martin who is coming back from knee
injury that kept her out of the world championships while tina enstrom is
the sister of nhl defenceman tobias enstrom
china coach hannu saintula has guaranteed that his team will finish at least
sixth
handful of chinese players like sun rui captain wang linuo and jin fengling
are now training with north american players in canadian women league
alert
up to killed by haiti earthquake who
alert
up to killed by haiti earthquake who
olympics russia aim to wreck canada ice hockey dream
los angeles jan afp
the ice hockey spotlight will clearly be on host canada and mighty russia at the
vancouver olympics but sweden believe they can again spoil the party
canada has put together superpower lineup for the tournament with the perfect
blend of talented youth up front and experience on the back end
canada picked all of its players from the national hockey league which took
two week break so its stars could compete during the february games
there will be plenty of pressure on the canadians as the desperate
