meanwhile many female domestic workers remained deprived of wages and food
and endured forced confinement and physical or sexual abuse hrw said
it called on the government to establish an independent commission to
investigate and publicly report on the situation of migrant workers
although hrw commended uae cabinet approval of compulsory housing standards
for workers it lamented that companies have five years to comply with the rules
which took effect in september
alpine skiing finland poutiainen wins world cup giant slalom
cortina ampezzo italy jan afp
finland tanja poutiainen won the women world cup giant slalom here on sunday
ahead of germans viktoria rebensburg and kathrin hoelzl
poutiainen clocked combined time of min sec over the two legs sec
ahead of rebensberg with hoelzl at for her second world cup victory of the
season
austrian kathrin zettel who notched up slalom double at the slovenian resort
of maribor last week was fastest down the first leg but mistimed turn on the
second run and crashed out
american lindsey vonn fresh from winning friday super and saturday
downhill finished th but retained her lead of the world cup overall
standings
she currently sits atop the rankings on points ahead of germany
maria riesch who was eighth in the giant slalom
competition for the giant slalom cristal globe will come down to face off at
the season ending garmish partenkirchen event between current leader hoelzl
points zettel and slovenian tina maze
golf kaymer wins abu dhabi golf championship
abu dhabi jan afp
germany martin kaymer won the million euro abu dhabi golf championship for
the second time in three years sunday when he prevailed over ian poulter by one
shot
fire kills mother five children in russia report
moscow jan afp
mother and five children died sunday in an apartment fire in the central
russian region of oryol local news agencies said
woman her four children and nine year old girl who was guest at the
time died as result of fire police source told the interfax news
agency
he said the blaze likely started due to an electrical short circuit in the
woman first floor apartment in the village of verkhovye about kilometres
miles south of moscow
scores of people die in russia each year due to lax enforcement of fire safety
regulations and inadequate soviet era infrastructure
on december nightclub blaze in the russian city of perm claimed victims
after fireworks set off inside the lame horse club caught fire to the wood and
straw ceiling panels
total of people including children died in fires across russia in
according to the emergency services ministry figures for are not yet
available
football blatter hints at opening on video replays media
geneva jan afp
world football chief sepp blatter said in newspaper interview on sunday that
he might consider video assistance for referees in the future
the president of world football governing body fifa has staunchly opposed the
use of video replays as refereeing aid because they would interrupt the flow
of the game
but he told the swiss newspaper sonntagsblick that he might consider them after
other technology has been approved
not completely against it but only when goal line technology is ready to
be introduced only then he said
the guardian of football rules the international football association board
is due to discuss electronic goal line technology including computer chips in
balls and goalmouth cameras at its meeting in march
blatter again ruled out the introduction of such aids in south africa this
summer
we won carry out any experiments there not even with two extra referees he
added
two additional assistant referees are being lined up in europa league matches
this season in trial aimed at improving surveillance of incidents in penalty
box
in december fifa executive committee also ruled out the introduction of video
technology to assist referees similar to the system used in rugby cricket and
tennis
pressure for refereeing aids surged again with the furore that followed thierry
henry blatant handball in world cup playoff against ireland in november that
saw france qualify for the finals
football depor luis out to end of season
madrid jan afp
deportivo la coruna brazilian international filipe luis will miss the
remainder of the season after suffering serious ankle injury in home win
over athletic bilbao the club said sunday
luis scored the opener in saturday game on minutes but injured his ankle as
he collided with goalkeeper gorka iraizoz and was stretchered off as his side
went on to record win that put depor fourth point above sevilla and real
mallorca
luis and summer target for barcelona was an ever present last season and
had not missed game this season but will now be out for four to six months
his club said
tennis the passion is back says resurgent henin
melbourne jan afp
belgium justine henin said sunday the passion is back after reaching the
quarter finals of her first grand slam since making surprise return to the
sport
henin defeated young countrywoman yanina wickmayer on rod
laver arena showing everyone she has lost none of the class that took her to
world number one before she retired in may
it yeah magical out there the way feel said the seven time grand slam
champion who will play russian th seed nadia petrova for place in the semi
finals
feel so happy on the court feel it my place
feel wouldn say different from before but enjoy it much more and
ve found the passion again
henin who entered the tournament as wildcard won tough battle against her
year old rival in yet another long contest the year old third
marathon in row and admitted the matches were beginning to take their toll
my left leg which has been strapped for the past two matches is quite sore
said henin playing only her second tournament since coming out of retirement
sprained my ankle also when fell down hope it going to be okay
tomorrow
so physically it hasn been easy in the last few days but like said
didn play tennis for two years so probably have to spend more time on the
court
but it the kind of match that gives you confidence of course when you have
to fight that probably what need
couldn think could be at this level at this time of the year after
almost two years off
henin and wickmayer played some superb tennis over two and quarter hours on
the rod laver arena but it was the old stager who had the composure when it was
needed at the end of the first and third sets
she took control of the first set tiebreak to gain the early advantage then
attacked wickmayer at the end of the third set breaking her opponent and
claiming the match
henin conceded she had dreamed of winning the australian open emulating
kim clijsters feat of winning the us open on her return
but she said she tried to keep her emotions in check
don go that far just go step by step she said
it probably the right attitude to have just to be focused on this moment
right now
that what ve done since arrived in australia and think it worked
pretty good
of course have dreams ll try to go as far as possible
if it till the end it would be amazing but it still too early to talk
about that
henin must now get past petrova following the in form russian
win over third seed svetlana kuznetsova
ve played her recently already twice so really know what she playing
said petrova who lost to henin at an exhibition tournament in december and in
the first round of the brisbane international
know what to expect know what kind of balls are going to be coming at me
so it all fresh in the memory so it going to be maybe even easier maybe for
me to play her because it like it so fresh in my mind
cricket pacemen put india on top despite mahmudullah
dhaka jan afp
mohammad mahmudullah cracked an unbeaten under pressure but failed to stop
india from gaining an upper hand in the second and final test against bangladesh
here on sunday
bangladesh were wobbling at before posting in their first innings
thanks to lower order batsman mahmudullah who kept the indian attack at bay with
gutsy ball knock
india raced to for no loss in reply at stumps on the opening day with
virender sehwag not out and gautam gambhir not out at the crease
the visitors were indebted to pacemen ishant sharma and zaheer khan
for restricting bangladesh to modest total left arm spinner pragyan
ojha was the other main wicket taker with
india bowlers were superbly supported by wicket keeper mahendra singh dhoni
who took three catches and two stumpings after missing the previous test due to
an injury
our plan was to create pressure the wicket was bit damp and we bowled in the
right areas said sharma
the first hour was helpul for the bowlers and think it was really good toss
to lose we bowled very well against them we needed to take those early wickets
and that what we did
bangladesh were when mahmudullah walked in to bat but india had to
struggle for the remaining wickets as he put on useful runs for the ninth
wicket with shafiul islam who contributed only nine
mahmudullah was on when last man rubel hossain joined him but could manage
only including in an over from off spinner harbhajan singh he hit
fours
harbhajan finished the innings when he bowled rubel for his lone victim leaving
mahmudullah just four short of his maiden test hundred
am not disappointed at missing the century in the end we got good total
and always like to contribute to the team cause said mahmudullah
tried to bat as long as possible that was my plan they have very good
bowlers and we played some bad shots if we take three or four early wickets
tomorrow they will be under pressure
most of the bangladeshi batsmen failed to apply themselves with mohammad
ashraful skipper shakib al hasan and mushfiqur rahim all getting
out when looking well set
ashraful and shakib both fell to rash strokes ashraful stepped out to attempt
big shot off ojha missed the line and was stumped while shakib was caught
behind chasing an away going delivery from zaheer
rahim who added for the sixth wicket with his captain was trapped leg
before by sharma after hitting six fours in his ball knock
india gained an early advantage when they left the hosts reeling at in the
morning session with zaheer and sharma taking two wickets apiece and ojha one
ashraful hit six fours in his ball knock while tamim iqbal imrul kayes
junaid siddique and raqibul hasan all failed to reach double figures
bangladesh batting problems began immediately after winning the toss when
sharma had kayes caught by dhoni with his first delivery of the match
zaheer bowled opener iqbal with delivery that came in sharply and then had
siddique caught behind to reduce the hosts to
sharma second victim was raqibul hasan caught by rahul dravid at second slip
after making only four
india lead in the short series following their run victory in the
opening test in chittagong on thursday
israel says record year in anti semitism
jerusalem jan afp
israel on sunday said that was record year for acts of anti semitism
across the world which were mainly sparked by its war against hamas in the gaza
strip last year
was the year where the largest number of anti semitic incidents was
recorded said governmental report published ahead of the january
international holocaust remembrance day
with the start of the operation wave of acts of anti semitism started across
the world it said referring to israel operation cast lead in december
and january during which some palestinians and israelis were
killed
according to the report the expressions of anti semitism consisted of acts of
violence the burning of synagogues defacing of cemeteries and holocaust
memorials as well as verbal assaults
most of the incidents reflected longstanding and known anti semitic ideas but
were extreme intensive and louder than before many of the expressions of
anti semitism in created total link between israelis and jews
diaspora minister yuli edelstein said in the introduction to the report that it
is hard nowadays to tell the difference between anti israeli attacks in europe
and the united states as well as other places in the world and anti semitic
attacks
the report did not provide exact figures on acts of anti semitism which are
expected to be released in press conference later on sunday
prime minister benjamin netanyahu said on sunday that the current form of anti
semitism is mixed with new intention of trying to deny the jewish state the
right of self defence
the fight against anti semitism is more important than ever since there has
been significant rise in the number of expressions of anti semitism since
operation cast lead he said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting
the war in gaza was an overwhelming military victory for israel but sparked
international condemnation with un human rights council report accusing both
israel and palestinian militants of war crimes
the goldstone report demanded that both sides investigate their actions during
the day conflict and israel is expected to release the results of an
internal military investigation into the war later this week
sri lanka opposition warns of election coup
colombo jan afp
sri lanka opposition on sunday raised the tension ahead of this week
presidential election by accusing the ruling regime of preparing to stage coup
to hang onto power
citing what they said was credible information opposition leaders pointed to
troop movements plans to prevent the election commissioner announcing result
and preparations to disrupt the media
the ruling party led by president mahinda rajapakse has consistently denied any
such intentions and said it expects to win fairly in tuesday contest against
former army chief sarath fonseka
at press conference with fonseka leaders of his coalition allies repeated
warnings first made last thursday about state backed coup and said they were
ready to stage street protests if the will of the people was ignored
in the face of inevitable defeat the rajapakse regime according to reliable
information seems to be conspiring to thwart the democratic process said
mangala samaraweera former foreign minister and backer of fonseka
fonseka said armoured fighting vehicles had been brought to the capital from
the former war zone in the north and added that key military commanders who
could not be counted on by rajapakse had been moved out
the year old retired four star general who was the country army chief
until last november believes the strong armed forces are among his
staunchest supporters
we are percent certain that the military and police will not carry out the
orders to seize power fonseka said
military sources confirmed that several senior officers had been recalled to
colombo but said the armoured cars had been brought down to take part in
national day celebrations on february
the government stressed that the president had ordered the authorities to ensure
free and fair poll and dismissed the allegations as tactics from the
opposition
the opposition is making baseless allegations to justify their defeat
rajapakse spokesman chandrapala liyanage said we will have peaceful
election and all indications are that the president is comfortably ahead
liyanage said the president has issued instructions to the police and security
forces to maintain law and order and ensure peaceful voting on tuesday
opposition leader ranil wickremesinghe said they had also appealed to police and
security forces not to carry out any illegal orders
we have to be ready now to protect our franchise we are making counter plans
we will get on to the streets if necessary he said
campaigning for tuesday presidential election ended on saturday night with
both fonseka and rajapakse expressing confidence of winning amid personal and
bitter contest between the two sides
the two men were the architects of the government victory over tamil tiger
rebels whose year violent struggle for tamil homeland was crushed in may
us envoy in peace shuttle between israelis palestinians
amman jan afp
us middle east envoy george mitchell on sunday shuttled between jerusalem and
amman in his second attempt this week to persuade israeli and palestinian
leaders to relaunch peace talks
mitchell met with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in jerusalem before
heading to amman for talks with palestinian president mahmoud abbas on
regional tour aimed at reviving talks suspended during last winter gaza war
netanyahu said after the meeting that mitchell had presented new ideas about
how to relaunch the peace process without providing further details
expressed my hope that these new ideas will lead to the renewal of the peace
process if the palestinians themselves show similar interest he added
the united states has been trying for months to convince both sides to return to
the negotiating table but the palestinians have refused to do so unless israel
halts all settlement growth in the west bank and east jerusalem territories it
occupied in
washington initially backed that demand but has more recently pressed both sides
to immediately return to the talks and praised limited month settlement
slowdown enacted by netanyahu in november
the palestinians have rejected the moratorium on building starts because it
excludes mostly arab east jerusalem which they demand as their capital as
well as public buildings and projects already under way
israel has meanwhile insisted it will not give any more ground and blamed the
palestinians for the impasse
israel vice prime minister silvan shalom on sunday said it was time to say
clearly and unequivocally that there will be no further concessions from israel
for the launching of negotiations
the method of the palestinians is to refuse to resume negotiations to force the
united states to exert pressure on israel he told public radio
the ball is in the palestinian court he added
mitchell held first round of talks with netanyahu on thursday and met with
abbas on friday earlier last week he had visited lebanon and syria
mitchell held closed door meeting with jordan king abdullah in amman on
sunday ahead of the talks with abbas officials said
tennis safina career in limbo as back injury forces her out
melbourne jan afp
the immediate career of russian dinara safina is in limbo after recurrence of
her back problems forced the world number two out of the australian open on
sunday
shattered safina was in agony after retiring from her match with maria
kirilenko and struggled to hold back tears as she faced the media describing
her latest injury setback as really really terrible
the second seed who took painkiller before the match as precaution after
feeling some stiffness following practice on saturday retired during the first
set of her fourth round clash
safina the runner up here last year was trailing and when she pulled
out saying she felt her back go after marathon sixth game that had eight
deuces which she won to lead
my back again she said when asked what the injury was it suddenly hit me
it was getting worse and worse
today warmed up and it was fine but was cooling down and started to feel
little more pain
suddenly played long game and won the game turned to my coach and
said cannot move anymore
have no idea really how it could happen it really really terrible
safina said further diagnosis would need to wait until she saw her doctor in
germany
the year old battled back problem in late and withdrew from warm up
tournament in brisbane to receive further treatment but was confident the
injury was behind her upon arriving in melbourne
she had looked in good touch in the first three rounds winning all her matches
in straight sets
safina who has made huge improvements in her fitness in the last two years
said the injury felt identical to the one last year
exactly the same like in doha exactly the same she said just cannot move
anywhere
the physio asked me to lie on the table and said cannot lie cannot
make any movement whenever try to move it hurts terribly it shocking
after holding serve in the sixth game safina led with break of serve
against kirilenko but called for the trainer after the seventh game
she didn get any treatment but took more painkillers and played on
however she dropped the next two games
safina was in obvious discomfort and after netting very weak forehand at
all to hand kirilenko set point she strode towards the umpire and indicated
her night was over
she went back to her seat and put her racquet down before returning to the
court to shake hands with kirilenko
safina said she was worried she may have done more damage by playing on
it is the first time the th ranked kirilenko has reached the quarter finals of
grand slam and the year old will face china zheng jie for place in the
semis
it was an early present for kirilenko the win just hours before she was due to
turn and she said she had finally fulfilled long standing dream to still
be in the australian open on her birthday
but she said it was not the way she wanted to beat safina
my first time actually in the quarter final happy about it she said
but prefer to win the whole match and get to the quarter final than to win
like this feeling bad for dinara really
japanese residents elect mayor opposing us base
tokyo jan afp
japanese voters in city on okinawa island elected mayor sunday who opposes
plans for controversial new us air base reports said complicating row with
washington over relocating troops
two candidates in nago city were squaring off over whether or not to give local
support to plan currently under review by the centre left national
government to build major new marine corps air base there
susumu inamine who is against replacement base in nago saw off incumbent
yoshikazu shimabukuro who supports it local newspapers and broadcaster
reported
prime minister yukio hatoyama has said he may scrap an agreement with washington
to relocate the base from its current site in crowded urban area of okinawa to
quieter coastal site in the nago area by
the issue has strained ties between tokyo and washington which marked the th
anniversary of their security pact last tuesday since japan new leaders took
power four months ago ending half century of conservative rule
the southern island of okinawa which saw some of the bloodiest battles of world
war ii hosts more than half of the us troops in japan
while some local businesses benefit from the heavy american military presence
many residents have long opposed it citing crimes committed by servicemen as
well as noise pollution and the threat of accidents
hatoyama whose coalition government includes pacifist groups and stern
opponents of the us military presence has said he will make decision by may
on where to move the controversial futenma air base
some analysts speculated that hatoyama would ultimately settle with the current
plan as there is no other realistic option for the replacement base in japan
with no other communities willing to host it
but the new mayor inamine is expected to refuse the plan
even though the central government can technically overrule local government
decision to refuse the base such move could provoke sharp criticism as
hatoyama has vowed to consider pains inflicted on okinawans and to respect
local governments decisions
some observers have voiced frustration with the premier for making at times
contradictory statements on the issue leaving both okinawans and washington
officials confused about his intentions
what mr hatoyama has said so far is inconsistent and don know how he wants
to settle the base row said yoshinobu yamamoto professor of international
politics at aoyama gakuin university
yamamoto pointed out that as an opposition politician years ago hatoyama
advocated the withdrawal of all permanent us forces from japan
hatoyama last month said that his views had changed but added that there is an
argument about whether it is appropriate to have foreign troops stationed in
japan if you think about the future or years from now
yamamoto said if he truly believes in an alliance without the permanent
presence of us troops in japan there may be fundamental differences in the
perception of the alliance between him and the united states
it could be disaster for the future of the alliance
group of liberal academics last week supported hatoyama review of the base
agreement called for review of the japan us alliance and said we should
also make efforts to remove other us bases in the future
japanese residents elect mayor opposing us base
tokyo jan afp
japanese voters in city on okinawa island elected mayor sunday who opposes
plans for controversial new us air base reports said complicating row with
washington over relocating troops
two candidates in nago city were squaring off over whether or not to give local
support to plan currently under review by the centre left national
government to build major new marine corps air base there
susumu inamine who is against replacement base in nago saw off incumbent
yoshikazu shimabukuro who supports it local newspapers and broadcaster
reported
prime minister yukio hatoyama has said he may scrap an agreement with washington
to relocate the base from its current site in crowded urban area of okinawa to
quieter coastal site in the nago area by
the issue has strained ties between tokyo and washington which marked the th
anniversary of their security pact last tuesday since japan new leaders took
power four months ago ending half century of conservative rule
the southern island of okinawa which saw some of the bloodiest battles of world
war ii hosts more than half of the us troops in japan
while some local businesses benefit from the heavy american military presence
many residents have long opposed it citing crimes committed by servicemen as
well as noise pollution and the threat of accidents
hatoyama whose coalition government includes pacifist groups and stern
opponents of the us military presence has said he will make decision by may
on where to move the controversial futenma air base
some analysts speculated that hatoyama would ultimately settle with the current
plan as there is no other realistic option for the replacement base in japan
with no other communities willing to host it
but the new mayor inamine is expected to refuse the plan
even though the central government can technically overrule local government
decision to refuse the base such move could provoke sharp criticism as
hatoyama has vowed to consider pains inflicted on okinawans and to respect
local governments decisions
some observers have voiced frustration with the premier for making at times
contradictory statements on the issue leaving both okinawans and washington
officials confused about his intentions
what mr hatoyama has said so far is inconsistent and don know how he wants
to settle the base row said yoshinobu yamamoto professor of international
politics at aoyama gakuin university
yamamoto pointed out that as an opposition politician years ago hatoyama
advocated the withdrawal of all permanent us forces from japan
hatoyama last month said that his views had changed but added that there is an
argument about whether it is appropriate to have foreign troops stationed in
japan if you think about the future or years from now
yamamoto said if he truly believes in an alliance without the permanent
presence of us troops in japan there may be fundamental differences in the
perception of the alliance between him and the united states
it could be disaster for the future of the alliance
group of liberal academics last week supported hatoyama review of the base
agreement called for review of the japan us alliance and said we should
also make efforts to remove other us bases in the future
alpine skiing finland poutiainen wins world cup giant slalom
cortina ampezzo italy jan afp
finland tanja poutiainen won the women world cup giant slalom here on sunday
ahead of germans viktoria rebensburg and kathrin hoelzl
poutiainen clocked combined time of min sec over the two legs sec
ahead of rebensberg with hoelzl at
badminton malaysia lee scores sixth malaysian open title
kuala lumpur jan afp
the badminton world top seed lee chong wei again proved why the malaysia open
championships is his favourite hunting ground after securing his sixth men
singles crown in brilliant style sunday
thailand boonsak ponsana found no answer to lee speed and supreme confidence
as the malaysian earned one sided win in minutes
it was also the first time lee has won back to back super series titles after
having triumphed in the korea open in seoul last week
lee said he was now looking forward to more success later this year in the world
championships in paris in august the commonwealth games in new delhi in october
and the asian games in guangzhou this november
had two tough tournaments and didn expect to play this well in the final
want to maintain my form throughout the year and do well in the major events
said lee
my next two tournaments are the all england and swiss open in march where
want to do well and looking forward to playing rival lin dan of china in these
events
the women singles gold went to wang xin of china after her opponent bae youn
joo of south korea retired hurt with leg injury midway through the deciding
third game of the final
bae won the first game but wang xin came back strongly to win the second
game and was leading in the decider when the korean conceded the
match
china also claimed the women doubles gold as olympic champions du jing yu yang
defeated teammates and world no ma jin wang xiaoli in minutes
mixed doubles gold also went china way as tao jiaming zhang yawen upstaged
world champions thomas laybourn kamilla rytter juhl of denmark
in minutes
