India 'concerned' over Australia attacks

Nine MSN 16/01/2010

India's junior foreign minister says New Delhi has expressed its "absolute displeasure" to Australia over attacks on Indian students.

"We are doing our utmost to register our absolute displeasure and concern about what is happening to our citizens in Australia," the Press Trust of India news agency quoted Praneet Kaur as saying in New Delhi on Friday.

"I think almost on a daily basis the situation is being monitored," the junior foreign minister added.

The comments came less than a week after Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith telephoned his Indian counterpart S M Krishna to try to cool tensions over the attacks in Australian cities.

Information Minister Ambika Soni said New Delhi is seeking assurances Indians will be safe in Australia.

"A certain clarity or a certain reassurance from Australia should be forthcoming so that the sense of insecurity and fear which is there in the Indian students there and their families especially in India can be assuaged," she said.

Foreign Minister Krishna during his talks with Smith conveyed his "deep concern" over the incidents, which included an attempt by a group of men to set fire to an Indian man in Melbourne last week.

The string of attacks, which included the murder of a student this month in Melbourne, has prompted a strong reaction in the Indian press, with one newspaper likening Australian police to the Ku Klux Klan.

Two men questioned in Sydney over Indian's murder

The Times of India 10/01/2010

SYDNEY: Two men were detained at Sydney airport for questioning over the murder of an Indian man whose partially burnt body was found a fortnight ago. They were let off but their passports were seized, a media report said on Sunday.

The two men were apparently employed by Ranjodh Singh, 25, whose partially burnt body was found beside Wilga road, Willbriggie, in southwest New South Wales, Dec 29.

The two men were stopped by the police at the Sydney Airport departure lounge on Monday as they were about to board a flight to Nepal via Singapore. Both were questioned about their relationship to Ranjodh Singh, Sydney Morning Herald reported on Sunday.

The two, believed to be seasonal workers employed by Singh, were taken to police station for questioning, but were later released after having their passports confiscated.

Berlusconi bloodied after hit to face

Yahoo 7 News MILAN (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was taken to hospital with blood smeared over his face after a man hurled a small model of Milan cathedral at him at a political rally, police said on Sunday.

Television footage showed the premier with blood splattered over his lips, teeth and chin being bundled into a car by aides and rushed away, minutes after finishing a lively speech to thousands of flag-waving supporters in a central Milan square.

Initial X-rays showed a loss of blood and injuries to two teeth but the 73-year-old prime minister and media mogul said "I'm fine, I'm fine" when he was moved to a hospital room in the northern city, Ansa news agency said.

A 42-year-old man was detained for throwing a small model of Milan cathedral at Berlusconi from close range, police said. The man has been undergoing treatment for mental problems for the past 10 years, Ansa said.

Berlusconi's allies were quick to say the incident was the result of a campaign of "hatred" by his leftist opponents. He has faced growing criticism in recent months amid mounting legal troubles and scandals over his private life.