| Actor Charlie Sheen arrested in Colorado ASPEN, Colo. (AP) -- Charlie Sheen spent the better part of Christmas Day in a Colorado jail cell after being arrested on domestic violence allegations.... hosted.ap.org |
Intruder shot at home of Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard's controversial cartoons of the prophet Muhammad sparked worldwide protests and forced him into hidingDanish police have shot and wounded a man at the home of Kurt Westergaard, whose controversial cartoons of the prophet Muhammad sparked a storm of Muslim protest five years ago.Danish media reported last night that Westergaard, 74, was at home near the city of Aarhus with his wife and grandchild when a 27-year-old Somalian man armed with a knife and axe tried to break in.Chief superintendant Morten Jensen, from East Jutland police, said: "At 10pm a personal alarm was received from Mr Westergaard's house."Officers found a man "armed with an axe and a knife in either hand," he said. "He broke a window of Mr Westergaard's house. He tried to attack one officer with an axe and he was shot in his right leg and his left arm." He said the man was not seriously injured and was now in custody.In 2005 the Jyllands-Posten newspaper published a caricature by Westergaard depicting Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with a fuse.Islamic tradition says no image of the prophet should be produced or shown.Danish embassies were attacked including the one in Damascus which was burned down in 2006 and death threats against Westergaard forced him into hiding.In March 2008 Denmark's three main newspapers reprinted the cartoon after the arrest of three men for plotting to murder the artist.The three – a Dane of Moroccan origin and two Tunisians – were picked up in a dawn raid near Aarhus following a long surveillance operation by the country's intelligence services, the PET.The Dane was eventually released without charge and one of the two Tunisians was deported. The other was sent to live in an asylum centre north of Copenhagen.The Jyllands-Posten also carried a statement from the cartoonist revealing how he had feared for his life but then "turned fear into anger and indignation"."It has made me angry that a perfectly normal everyday activity, which I used to do by the thousand, was abused to set off such madness," the statement added.In today's Jyllands-Posten, Westergaard described the incident: "He threatened to kill me. I ran out to the bathroom where our security room is. I was worried for my grandchild. I was afraid."I knew that I could not match him. So I alerted the police. It was scary. It was really close. But we did it. It was good."Westergaard was moved to a safe place last night but was unable to say what the attempted attack would mean for his future."It is too early to say. I must speak with PET and then we will see," he said.Muhammad cartoons row 2006DenmarkAnil Dawarguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
South Africa will be safe from terrorists, insists World Cup head Danny Jordaan • Danny Jordaan confident World Cup will be safe from terrorists• Attack on Togo's team bus in Angola "not our responsibility"Danny Jordaan, the head of the 2010 South Africa World Cup, has told Observer Sport there should be no concern over safety at the tournament following the gun attack in Angola on Togo's team bus, which killed four people and wounded eight others on Friday.Yet while Jordaan was insistent that "terrorists cannot be allowed to win", he did admit "even more stringent" security measures would be taken ahead of the finals, the first to be held in Africa.His stance was echoed by other key executives responsible for the safe delivery of the tournament, which starts in Johannesburg on 11 June, following the ambush by separatists in the Angolan enclave of Cabinda.Togo had been preparing for the Africa Cup of Nations, which starts tomorrow. But led by their captain, Manchester City's Emmanuel Adebayor, who escaped uninjured, the nation decided to pull out of the tournament.Jordaan, though, was defiant. He said: "I think it is sad for Angola. Angola invested more than a billion dollars in infrastructure, they really wanted the event to go off very well, I think they deserved better. But unfortunately these things happen."He emphasised the need to stand firm against terrorists. "It's important. We have just seen the attempted terror attacks on the United States. Unfortunately, it's a reality all over the world. Britain has its fair share of terror attacks, so does Spain and many countries. Clearly it's a global issue and we must understand it in that way. Of course, we cannot allow terrorists to win."Jordaan insisted that events in Angola should not be a cause for concern over safety in South Africa this summer. "I think the world understands that every country has its own military, police, intelligence resources and takes full responsibility for security within its own boundaries because they are separate and sovereign states," he said."Security breaches in London, Paris, New York or Cabinda are the responsibility of the countries in which they took place. And therefore no other country must be expected to take responsibility."In our case we have delivered the preliminary and final draw [of the World Cup] now, the Confederations Cup [last summer], and many other events and these are lessons that we learnt. I just think we will take more stringent measures and make sure our 100% safety record continues."Senior Superintendent Vish Naidoo, spokesman for South Africa's national police, was equally confident. "In terms of our preparation for security we have made more than adequate provisions to ensure security will be as tight as it was in all other events that we delivered in this country – 150 international events."Our measures have taken care of every little detail and every eventuality – whether it's potential or whether it can be expected based on what has happened in other countries."Will there be a re-examination of security? "No. We don't have to re-examine the security. Because if you look at the situation in Angola we're not confronted with the same here. We're not a target for terrorism in this country but we've prepared ourselves because we are hosting 31 other nations. I don't think what has happened there can or should be in any way attributed to the security in our country."We have dealt with this proactively. Interpol is on board to assist us, we're having bilateral and multi-lateral discussions with participating countries. The joint security forces and the all other government departments that are involved have embarked upon simulation exercises."Naidoo insisted that no team would be left exposed as Togo were by travelling through a volatile area by land, rather than sea. "At the Confederations Cup we provided the security of highly trained, highly skilled elite personnel to protect these teams. So having that, and all the other security in place around the tournament complementing this security for the teams, [plus] our intelligence capacity, we don't foresee any problems whatsoever."While Naidoo added he would offer any help to the Angolan authorities if asked, Rich Mkhondo, spokesperson for the 2010 Local Organising Committee, added: "We as an organising committee regard this as an isolated terrorist incident and want it to be treated as such. There is no linkage with what happened in Angola to the World Cup. Football for us rules, and terrorism stinks."World Cup 2010Global terrorismFootball politicsJamie Jacksonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Chinese lawyer missing after detention Policeman said Gao Zhisheng, a fierce critic of the government, had 'lost his way'Fears are growing for the Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng after his brother said police admitted he "went missing" in September, seven months after being taken into detention.The firebrand critic of the Communist party has been repeatedly detained by public security agents and has testified that he was tortured and threatened with death. Gao disappeared from his hometown in Shaanxi province on 4 February last year. His family told reporters and human rights groups at the time that he was whisked away by local police and security agents from Beijing.Since then, his whereabouts have been a mystery, but this week his brother told Associated Press that he had received new and disturbing information from one of the policemen who took Gao away.Gao Zhyi said the policeman told him that Gao Zhisheng "lost his way and went missing" on 25 September.The authorities refuse to comment on the case. The ministry of justice asked for faxed questions but did not reply to them. Similar requests for information from Beijing's Public Security Bureau have been met with silence.Human rights groups said they were alarmed and called on foreign governments and journalists to press for an explanation of how Gao went missing during his captivity.Roseann Rife of Amnesty International said everybody should be asking the Chinese authorities where Gao Zhisheng was. "We have been very concerned since last February because there are reports in his own hand about how he was treated in custody last time, when it seemed he was near death."Mo Shaoping, a lawyer who was prevented from representing Gao during an earlier trial, said the situation was abnormal."If he ran away from a detention centre or died there, the legal responsibility of the authorities is unavoidable. If police told Gao's relative that he is missing, they have an obligation to find him."China's security apparatus often detains rights activists and lawyers without explanation or public comment, but the duration of Gao's disappearance and his testimonies about past treatment have raised concerns.After a detention in 2007 he wrote an open letter – made public last year – that claimed guards used electric batons on his genitals, burned his eyes with cigarettes and shouted "kill the bastard". He said they threatened to kill him if he told anyone about his treatment.Despite constant surveillance and death threats, Gao was arguably fiercer and more confrontational in his criticism of the Communist party than any other activist.In a previous interview with the Guardian, the former soldier and coal miner said he felt protected because there would be an international outcry if anything happened to him."They threaten to arrest me and I say, 'Go ahead'. I am a warrior who does not care whether I live or die. Such a sacrifice will be nothing to me if it speeds the death of this dictatorship," he said.That was two years before the Olympics, when several other prominent activists said they felt protected by international exposure. Since then at least two of them have been imprisoned. Hu Jia was sentenced to three and half years in 2008 and Liu Xiaobo was given 11 years by a court last month.Chinese censors block information about such cases. Local media are forbidden to report on Gao Zhisheng and a Wikipedia entry about him is blocked.The crackdown on critical voices continues. This week police detained Zhao Shiying, who signed up to the Charter 08 call for political reform.Two human rights lawyers revealed that their email accounts had been targeted soon after Google announced that it was reconsidering its presence in China because its database was hacked for information about activists.ChinaHuman rightsJonathan Wattsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Pakistan snubs US over militants Pakistan's army rules out new offensives against militants any time soon, as the US defence secretary arrives for talks. news.bbc.co.uk |