Ten killed, scores wounded in Baghdad mosque blast

     Baghdad: At least 10 people were killed on Friday and scores wounded in a car bomb attack on a Shiite mosque in Baghdad on the second day of the Eid al-Adha. Iraqi Interior Ministry sources were quoted by an international news agency as saying that the car bomb targeted a Shiite mosque in Al-Risala district. He said the target was the Shuhada al-Taf mosque in southwestern Baghdad.

Pak cricketer accused of rape

     Sydney: A Pakistani cricketer has been accused of raping a woman at a hotel in Melbourne during the team's second (Boxing Day) Test against Australia. According to The Herald Sun, the woman reported the alleged attack to a suburban Centre Against Sexual Assault (CASA), but has so far refused to make a complaint to the police. The rape is alleged to have happened in the player's hotel room. A CASA spokeswoman said on Thursday that the young woman reported the assault straight away, but was not prepared to make a complaint to the police. "There are very good reasons for that, but they are confidential and I am not prepared to discuss them," the spokeswoman said, adding that the woman in question was still extremely distressed. Reacting to the report, the Pakistan team's manager, Haroon Rashid, said he would discuss the complaint with the player. "Why would she be in his room? If there is no consent, why would she be in somebody's room?," the paper quoted Rashid as saying. Cricket Australia officials are believed to have been informed of the alleged rape. The Pakistan team has not been in Melbourne since the second Test. They will return to Melbourne for the first final in the one-day VB Series on February 4 if they make the finals play-off. The Pakistanis head to India after their Australian commitments.

Condi Rice made to wait for Secretary of State date (Go To Top)

     Washington: George W Bush's second term as president got off to an inauspicious start with Democrats in the U.S.Senate stonewalling the confirmation of Condoleezza Rice as the 67th Secretary of State. Bush had hoped that Rice's overwhelming approval by the full Senate would be celebrated on Inauguration Day (January 20) and that he would conduct her historic swearing-in as one of the first acts of his second administration. According to the New York Times, while members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved Rice by a 16-2 vote on Wednesday and the full Senate prepared for a vote today, some anti-Bush Democrats suddenly served notice they wanted more time. Republican sources identified the key holdouts as 87-year-old Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, both of Massachusetts. Byrd, a former Ku Klux Klan member, has been one of the most vocal critics of Bush. Rice would be the first black woman to serve as secretary of state. Byrd's spokesman, Tom Gavin, said the delay was "not intended as any slight to Dr. Rice" and said that before voting, the full Senate should "have a chance to read the transcripts" of her confirmation hearing. But Republicans said the delay, coming after last week's efforts by Democrats led by Sen. Barbara Boxer to challenge Bush's November election, was an effort to damage the president's second-term momentum. Officials in both parties agreed Rice would eventually be approved by the full Senate, possibly next week, despite yesterday's sharp Democratic criticism of Bush's Iraq policy during two days of committee hearings, which wound up yesterday.

Serena predictably swamps Sania (Go To Top)

     Melbourne: India's Sania Mirza predictably lost 6-1 6-4 to American seventh seed Serena Williams in the third round of the Australian Open Grand Slam on Friday. Sania, the first Indian woman to have reached this far in a Grand Slam event, put up a late challenge before losing to the former world number one at the Vodafone Arena. The 18-year old wildcard saved two match points and held her own for the better part of the game against a player who not long ago had all the four Grand Slams under her belt. The Hyderabadi overcame a first set walloping and pushed the 2003 winner to her limits in the second set before the seventh seed raised her game to quell Sania's challenge in 57 minutes. Sania would jump up by 66 places to be close to the 130-mark in world rankings after today's match.