Hamas announces ceasefire in Gaza

The Palestinian militant group Hamas has announced an immediate ceasefire with Israel in Gaza, according to Hamas officials. The group said it would hold fire for one week so long as Israel withdrew all its forces from the Gaza Strip. The move comes hours after a unilateral Israeli ceasefire came into effect. The cessation of hostilities was put under strain by fresh rocket fire into Israel and an Israeli air strike on militants in Gaza. Hamas official Ayman Taha told the BBC that the ceasefire also applied to other militant groups. "Hamas and the factions announce a ceasefire in Gaza starting immediately and give Israel a week to withdraw," he was reported as saying. The group said the ceasefire would be temporary unless Israel met its long-standing demands. These include an end to military action, lifting its 19-month blockade of the Gaza Strip and opening border crossings between Gaza and Israel. Hamas' leader in exile, Khaled Meshaal, will make an "important" announcement in Syria on Sunday afternoon regarding Israel's ceasefire, the Associated Press news agency reported.Israel, whose ceasefire came into effect at 0200 (2400 GMT) has said its troops will stay in Gaza for as long as necessary. Hours later, at least seven rockets were fired into Israel, Israeli sources said, triggering an Israeli air strike in response. At least 1,300 Palestinians, according to Palestinian sources, and 13 Israelis have been killed since Israel launched its offensive on 27 December.

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Sri Lankan army 'corners rebels'

T he Sri Lankan army says it has cornered Tamil Tiger rebels in the northeast of the country. Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka said rebel resistance was crumbling fast and that they could only escape by sea as they were surrounded on three sides. His claims cannot be independently verified and there has been no response from the Tamil Tigers. A day earlier the rebels said they killed 51 soldiers - a claim denied by the army. The Tigers have lost a considerable amount of territory to government forces in the last few months, including key strongholds Kilinochchi and Elephant Pass. See map of the region The Sri Lankan forces said they were poised to capture the last major rebel-held town of Mullaitivu, with Lt Gen Fonseka saying his troops had captured 17km of territory in as many days in the area, leaving the rebels with just a 40km stretch of coastline. A defence ministry statement said soldiers had seized "a highly fortified camp" in the village of Maruthampuvel in Mullaittivu on Saturday, Associated Press reported. The statement also said eight rebel fighters had been killed in the region. The two sides have differed in their reports of casualties, with the rebels earlier claiming they killed 51 soldiers near the town of Dharmapuram in northern Sri Lanka, but the army saying it had taken control of the area, killing 20 rebels with only seven soldiers dead. Independent journalists are prevented by the government from travelling to the conflict zone, so it is impossible to verify the casualty claims made by both sides. The Jaffna peninsula and its capital have been regarded as the heart of the 25-year-old separatist insurgency. The Tigers have been fighting for a separate homeland for 25 years. At least 70,000 people have been killed in the insurgency.

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Aruna Devi From Manipur Wins Mumbai Marathon

Wrong Winner felicitated at Mumbai Marathon Like Always and Anything else in India…Things Like These Happen..All The Time. Should the Marathon organizers be Shameful? They Should not just be Shameful but Apologize to the people Of Northeast India. This is stereotyping …Nothing Else.. When Aruna Devi From Manipur won the Women’s Category of Mumbai Marathon…Should this a be a reason for a separate Country…No but this is a Never ending Ending story… When Indian Media Named its sportsperson of the year 2008 Mary Kom...The Champion of Women’s World Boxing Federation was not even included…But some obscure player from some Indan mainland was. A thought to remember…Now the news Mumbai, Jan 18 : In an embarrassing moment, the organizers of the VIth Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2009 mistakenly declared and felicitated a wrong person as the winner in the Indian women’s category in the 42-km Main Marathon here Sunday afternoon. Even as the ‘wrong’ person basked in glory on the specially erected podium, the right winner, Aruna Devi, from the north-eastern state of Manipur stepped forward and staked her claim to the title.Upon verification, the organizers found her claim to be genuine, said a spokesman for Procam International, the promoters of the event. ‘We apologized to her for the mistake. It should never have happened in the first place and it was entirely an error on our part,’ the spokesman told IANS after the matter was duly rectified. Immediately, Aruna Devi’s name was publicly announced as the real winner and she was felicitated in a separate ceremony and handed over the prize money - US$2,500 (Rs.100,000) The spokesman said Aruna Devi took the faux-pas by the organisers in a sporting spirit and the matter ended amicably. Mumbai Marathon...Who is This? Leading Mumbaikars in the run included many celebrities like Anil Ambani, Soha Ali Khan, Gulshan Grover, Milind Soman, Arjun Rampal, Vinay Pathak, Shreyas Talpade, Rahul Bose, Om Puri, Tara Sharma, Lillete Dubey, Dolly Thakore, Anand Mahindra, Amit Chandra, Archana Chandra, Sanjeev Kapoor and Annabelle Mehta, to name a few. The event brand ambassadors were Bollywood hunk John Abraham, three-time Olympic champions Gabriela Szabo and Gail Devers, and famous Moroccan long distance runner Hicham El Guerrouj, the spokesman said. The Mumbai Police and Traffic Police, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), the state government, Indian Navy and other agencies were actively involved to make the event safe and successful. Apart from the main title sponsor Standard Chartered Bank, the associate sponsor was Tata Consultancy Services. The event was held under the aegis of the Athletics Federation of India with technical coordination by Maharashtra Athletic Association and promoted by Procam International.

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