Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield Meet in A Supermarket- Not to Fight This Time!

CHICAGO -- Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield stood toe to toe again, only this time there were hugs and smiles – and no bites to the ear.

The ill will that marked the former champions' rivalry was nowhere in sight. Instead, they were like old friends meeting in a supermarket, which is exactly what they did on Saturday.

They were at a Jewel-Osco on Chicago's South Side, where Holyfield was signing autographs and promoting his barbecue sauce. Tyson, in town performing his one-man show, made a cameo.

"I just wanted to see Evander, man," Tyson said. "I love Evander. I'm forever linked with him for the rest of my life."

Hard to believe those words came from the man who bit off a piece of Holyfield's ear during a fight, but the former "Baddest Man On The Planet" is showing a different side.

Quetta- Pakistan market bomb kills scores

A bomb attack on a crowded grocery market in a Shia-dominated neighbourhood in Pakistan has left at least 65 people dead and more than 180 wounded.

Police said an unknown number of casualties were still trapped under rubble after the explosion in the ethnic Hazara area of the south-west city of Quetta.

The atrocity followed a suicide bomb attack at a snooker club in the city on 10 January which killed at least 91 people and wounded 121. That incident sparked protests that led to the ousting of the government in the surrounding province of Baluchistan, a volatile region which borders Iran and Afghanistan.

Outlawed Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which claimed responsibility for the January attack, was reported to have said it was behind the latest bombing.

Pakistan's minority Shia population has become a target for extremists who view them as heretics and proxies of Iran.

Islamic Clerics To Seek Dialogue With New Pope

Senior Muslim clerics in Egypt believe Pope Benedict XVI's abrupt resignation could reopen the way for dialogue with the Catholic Church, severed after Benedict's controversial 2006 remarks on the Muslim prophet.


But improved ties between the Church and Al-Azhar, the premier seat of Sunni Muslim learning, would depend on the next pope's approach to the Muslim world, the clerics said.
"The resumption of ties with the Vatican hinges on the new atmosphere created by the new pope," said Mahmud Azab, an advisor on inter-faith for the head of Al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayyeb.

"The initiative is now in the Vatican's hands," he said.
In 2006, Benedict sparked fury across the Muslim world when he recounted an anecdote in which the Muslim Prophet Mohammed was described as a warmonger who spread evil teachings by the sword.

Vietnam suppresses its bloggers with long jail terms after unfair trials

A major report highlighting the plight of bloggers in Vietnam was published today. It reveals that 32 bloggers and netizens are currently in detention and accuses the Vietnamese authorities of routinely subjecting bloggers to arbitrary detention, harassment, intimidation, assaults and violations of fair trial rights.
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The 42-page report, entitled Bloggers and netizens behind bars: restrictions on internet freedom in Vietnam, has been produced by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member organisation, the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR).

It explains how the Vietnamese government has actively promoted the expansion of internet access in order to support economic development while viewing free access to the net as a potential threat to its political control.

The government has therefore intensified online censorship and restrictions. In December 2012, prime minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng ordered his security forces to step up the fight against "hostile forces" using the net to "spread propaganda which threatens our national security."

Three months before that, he issued an order to punish criticisms of the communist party and the government, naming three dissident blogs, including the prominent Danlambao (citizens' journalism) blog, which publishes a wide range of news, including those focused on politics and human rights.

The report states that in a series of unfair trials over the past 12 months, 22 bloggers and netizens were sentenced to a total of 133 years in prison and 65 years probationary detention for their online activities.

Seventeen of the people in jail, including three women, were sentenced under a draconian article - article 88 - of the criminal code that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment for the ill-defined offence of "anti-state propaganda."

In one recent trial, on 9 January, 13 people were sentenced to a total of over 100 years in prison for exercising their freedom of expression.

The report also profiles nine bloggers and their peaceful writings on the net. They include the prominent blogger Nguyen Van Hai (aka Dieu Cay) and members of the club of free journalists, whose online writings criticised article 88.

They were detained under that very article and sentenced last September to prison terms of up to 12 years. Although they protested their innocence, the conviction of Dieu Cay and Ta Phong Tan was upheld on appeal.

The report calls on the Vietnamese government to end its escalating assault on freedom of expression and its criminalisation of bloggers and net users.

"Article 88 and other 'national security' provisions of the criminal code fly in the face of Vietnam's obligations under international human rights law," said Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH president.

"Instead of engaging in the futile exercise of gagging the internet, it should immediately end the practice of making speech a crime and overhaul its repressive legal framework to ensure respect and protection of the right to freedom of expression, regardless of medium."

Source: FIDH

Pope Benedict has a pacemaker, the Vatican confirms

Operation involving the Pope's pacemaker did not affect his decision to resign, Vatican says

A day after Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation, the Vatican has acknowledged that the pontiff has had a pacemaker for years.

But Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi reiterated that he was not stepping down because of any specific illness.

His last public appearance will be his final mass in Saint Peter's Square on 27 February, Fr Lombardi said.

The pontiff would have no role in the running of the church after his resignation, he added.

The unexpected development - the first papal resignation in nearly 600 years - surprised governments, Vatican-watchers and even the Pope's closest aides.


Pope Benedict XVI at a Glance

At 78, one of the oldest new popes in history when elected in 2005
Born in Germany in 1927, joined Hitler Youth during WWII and was conscripted as an anti-aircraft gunner - but deserted
As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, spent 24 years in charge of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - once known as the Holy Office of the Inquisition
A theological conservative with uncompromising views on homosexuality and women priests