Obama dismisses Afghan report leak

Washington: President Barack Obama spoke publicly about the WikiLeaks incident for the first time Tuesday, expressing concern about the disclosure of tens of thousands of documents, but at the same time, downplaying the content.

“While I'm concerned about the disclosure of sensitive information from the battlefield that could potentially jeopardize individuals or operations, the fact is, these documents don't reveal any issues that haven't already informed our public debate on Afghanistan. Indeed, they point to the same challenges that led me to conduct an extensive review of our policy last fall,” Obama said.

President Barack Obama further said that he is "concerned about the disclosure of sensitive information" about the US mission in Afghanistan by the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks.

The administration has been critical of the decision by WikiLeaks to publish what it said are about 76,000 US military and diplomatic reports about Afghanistan filed from 2004 to January 2010.

Obama referenced the reports shortly after meeting with top congressional Democrats and Republicans to discuss a range of issues, including small business jobs legislation, energy reform, the Afghanistan war funding bill and the need to fill judicial vacancies.

The President called the meeting "productive," though he slammed congressional opponents for holding legislation meant to boost small business loans "hostage to partisan politics." He also attacked Senate Republicans for using "parliamentary procedures" to block votes on judicial nominees.

"If we want our judicial system to work -- if we want to deliver justice in our courts -- then we need judges on our benches," Obama said. "I hope that in the coming months, we'll be able to work together to ensure a timelier process in the Senate."

Obama praised energy reform legislation being unveiled by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada. Among other things, the bill is expected to mandate that utilities generate a portion of their power from renewable energy sources. It would also encourage the production of trucks fueled by natural gas.

Many liberal Democrats, however, are upset that the bill does not include caps on carbon emissions. Obama said Tuesday that Reid's bill is "only the first step" and promised to keep pushing for broader reform.

"If we've learned anything from the tragedy in the Gulf, it's that our current energy policy is unsustainable," he said.

HC asks Delhi govt, 4 schools to reply on RTE violation plea

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought replies from the city government and four of its schools on a petition filed by a group of girls accusing them of violating the Right to Education(RTE) Act by denying them admission in various classes.

Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw issued notice to Directorate of Education, NCT Delhi, Sarvodaya Kanya Bal Vidyalaya, Babarpur, Govt. Girls Senior Secondary Schools, New Ashok Nagar, and two other schools from Kahjuri Khas area-Govt. Girls Senior Secondary Schools and Rajakiya Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya.

The respondents have been asked to give their response by August 5.

Filing the petition through counsel Ashok Aggarwal, the girls alleged that the government and its schools have violated the RTE Act and arbitrarily taken a decision not to admit them on various grounds.

"These cases of girl students are only few instances. The government schools are invariably denying admission to thousands of students on false amd illegal grounds...," the counsel argued before the court.

According to the counsel, the girls were denied admission on grounds like no seat was available, students who had dropped out could not be re-admitted, of being over-age or belonging to neighbouring UP.

Denial of admission was unconstitutional and against the fundamental right to have education, Aggarwal submitted.

The Court fixed August 8 as the next date for further hearing of the case.

China flooding kills over 701, worst toll in a decade

Beijing: More than 1,000 people have died or disappeared in severe flooding in China so far this year, and the heaviest rains are still to come, a senior official warned on Wednesday.

This year's floods, which have caused tens of billions of dollars in damage already, have exacted the highest death toll since 1998, when the highest water levels in five decades claimed 4,150 lives.

With the typhoon season rolling in, Liu Ning, general secretary of the government's flood prevention agency, told a news conference authorities must ramp up preparations.

"Since 60 to 80 percent of the annual rain level occurs in June, July and August, we should be prepared to prevent and combat potential disasters," Liu said.

Tropical storm Chanthu is expected to hit China's southern island of Hainan and Guangdong province this weekend. Six to eight typhoons are expected this year.

Already, three-quarters of China's provinces have been plagued by flooding and 25 rivers have seen record-high water levels, Liu said.

State broadcaster China Central Television showed footage of soldiers and rescue workers searching through rubble and mud for survivors of a landslide in Ankang city in the northern province of Shaanxi, where 14 people have died and 35 remained missing as of Wednesday.

Footage from Shaanxi and the southwestern province of Sichuan showed flooded shops and homes, with buses and cars driving down water-filled streets. Some residents waded through knee-deep water to stock up at the local supermarket.

Flooding, particularly along the Yangtze River basin, has overwhelmed reservoirs, swamped towns and cities, and caused landslides that have smothered communities, including toppling 645,000 houses. The Three Gorges Dam faced its highest levels ever this week and water breached the massive dam.

"Although water levels in the upper stretches of the Yangtze River have surpassed that of 1998, the flood situation is still not as severe because the Three Gorges Dam has played a key role in preventing floods along the river this year," Liu said.

The waters have killed 701 people and left 347 missing. The overall damage totals CNY 142.2 billion (USD 21 billion), Liu said.

This year's torrential floods have hit farms especially hard, affecting 2.3 million acres (930,000 hectares) of crops, with more than 330 acres (133 hectares) destroyed by floods as of July 10, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Tiger Woods still No. 1 earning athlete in the world

Detroit: Professional golfer Tiger Woods has been off his game since his extramarital affairs were exposed last year, but he is still the world's highest earning athlete, according to two lists released on Wednesday.

Woods claimed the top spot on a 2010 U.S. list of 50 athletes for the seventh consecutive year compiled by Sports Illustrated, though his total earnings fell 10 percent to USD 90.5 million. His total is also down 40 percent from USD 127.9 million in 2008.

Woods also topped Forbes magazine's 2010 list of the top 50 earning athletes in the world at USD 105 million, down 4.5 percent from last year as the star golfer has lost such sponsors as Accenture Plc and AT&T Inc. It was the ninth consecutive year he topped the Forbes list.

Overall, the average earnings for the entire U.S. list at a website rose 11 percent to a record USD 26.2 million, and were up 1.7 percent to USD 30 million for 20 international stars.

Tennis star Roger Federer, at USD 61.8 million, bumped soccer player David Beckham from the top spot he had held the last two years on the international list.

Woods' earnings for the 2010 list are comprised of USD 20.5 million in earnings and USD 70 million in endorsements from such sponsors as Nike Inc and Electronic Arts Inc. Woods' endorsement earnings fell USD 22 million from last year's list.

Woods' personal life took center stage for fans after a car accident outside his Florida home last November brought to light extramarital affairs and led him to make a public apology. He has played several tournaments since his April return from a self-imposed, five-month exile but has yet to win.

Rival golfer Phil Mickelson came in second on the 2010 U.S. list at USD 61.7 million, and the top 10 included four players from the National Basketball Association, led by LeBron James at No. 4 (USD 45.8 million), SI.com said.

The top 10 also included boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr (No. 3 at USD 60.3 million), two Major League Baseball stars, including Alex Rodriguez at No. 5 (USD 37 million), and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning of the National Football League (No. 9 at USD 30.8 million).

On the international list, Federer jumped from No. 9 last year as his earnings doubled, while Beckham slipped to No. 3 at USD 40.5 million behind FIFA world soccer player of the year Lionel Messi at USD 44 million.

Rounding out the international top five were soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo (USD 40 million) and boxer Manny Pacquiao (USD 38 million).

Basketball player Allen Iverson, No. 8 on last year's U.S. list, dropped entirely out of the top 50. Tennis player Maria Sharapova was the only female athlete to make either list, ranking No. 20 on the international list at USD 19.9 million.

Rounding out Forbes' top five were boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr (USD 65 million), NBA star Kobe Bryant (USD 48 million), Mickelson (USD 46 million) and Beckham (USD 43.7 million). Federer (USD 43 million), James (USD 42.8 million) and Pacquiao ($42 million) were next on the list, which previously ranked the top 20.

Racial tensions roil NC school board; 19 arrests

Raleigh, NC: Protesters and police scuffled Tuesday at a school board meeting in North Carolina over claims that a new busing system would resegregate schools, roiling racial tensions reminiscent of the 1960s.

Nineteen people were arrested, including the head of state NAACP chapter who was banned from the meeting after a trespassing arrest at a June school board gathering.

"We know that our cause is right," the Rev. William Barber said shortly before police put plastic handcuffs on his wrists before the meeting started.

Inside, more than a dozen demonstrators disrupted the meeting by gathering around a podium, chanting and singing against the board's policies. After several minutes, Raleigh police intervened and asked them to leave. When they refused, the officers grabbed arms and tried to arrest the protesters. One child was caught in the pushing and shoving, as was school board member Keith Sutton, who was nearly arrested before authorities realized who he was.

"Hey, hey, ho, ho, resegregation has got to go," some protesters chanted.

Sutton, the only black member of the board, said he went into the crowd to try and calm things down and encourage officers not to use such strong force. He said he felt insulted that he almost got arrested and believes the officer who tried to detain him owes him an apology.

"I'm just real dismayed and disappointed," Sutton said.

The Wake County School Board has voted multiple times over the last several months to scrap the district's diversity policy, which distributed students based on socioeconomics and for years had been a model for other districts looking to balance diversity in schools. Several school board members elected last year have built a majority in favor of focusing on neighborhood schools.

The board's chairman, Ron Margiotta, said the panel would not be distracted in its effort to "provide choice and increased stability for families."

"This board does not intend to create high poverty or low-performing schools," he said to scoffs from the crowd.

At a morning rally that drew 1,000 people, speakers quoted Martin Luther King Jr., remembered the days of segregated water fountains and likened the current situation to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education battle. Barber talked about America's legacy of racial strife to galvanize the crowd.

"Too many prayers were prayed," Barber said. "Too many lives were sacrificed. Too much blood was shed. Too many tears were shed. We can't turn back now."

Barber's supporters believe the new policy will resegregate schools. They carried signs that read: "Segregate equals hate" and "History is not a mystery. Separate is always unequal."

George Ramsay, a white former student body president of Enloe High School, said it was necessary to keep the diversity policy in place to prepare students for an increasingly connected world.

"It is shortsighted to ignore the way students like me have been enriched by diversity," Ramsay said.

Monsoon back in Delhi, waterlogging and traffic jams too

New Delhi: Rains returned to the capital after a gap of five days, drenching Delhiites and bringing waterlogging and traffic snarls back to the city today.

The city received a total of 42.6 mm of rains from last night, with 28.2 mm of the showers reported between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm today.

With this, the MeT Department said, the capital has received 212.6 mm of rains in the past 15 days after the South-West monsoon hit the capital on July five.

The rains also brought the mercury down to a comfortable 30 degree Celsius, five degrees below normal, while the minimum was recorded at 25.6 degree Celsius, one degree below normal.

The humidity was at a high of 98 per cent while the minimum was at 79 per cent.

The weatherman has predicted generally cloudy sky with one or two spells of rains or thundershowers for tomorrow. The temperature is likely to oscillate between 25 and 32 degree Celsius.

The rain also brought with it waterlogging and subsequent traffic jams in the city.

MCD Control Rooms received 111 complaints of waterlogging, 17 complaints of falling of trees or branches and three complaints of falling of building parts.

Traffic was affected in many parts of the city due to waterlogging and vehicles developing technical problems.

Vehicular movement was affected in Moti Bagh, Dwarka, Rajouri Garden, North Campus, Punjabi Bagh, Wazirabad, Mahipalpur, Raja Garden, Aurobindo Marg, Shastri Park, Vikas Marg, Peetampura and Madhuban Chowk.

Roger Hayden to replace De Puniet at Laguna Seca

London: American Roger Lee Hayden, younger brother of 2006 MotoGP world champion Nicky, will stand in for injured Frenchman Randy de Puniet at this weekend’s US Grand Prix, the LCR Honda team said on Monday.

De Puniet broke the tibia and fibula in his left leg at the German Grand Prix at Sachsenring and had surgery on Sunday night.

The team said the 29-year-old Frenchman had a titanium rod inserted in his leg and will leave hospital on Tuesday.

“They say that I need six weeks recovery period to start racing again but I will try my best to be back in Brno,” the rider said, referring to the Czech Grand Prix on Aug. 15.

Yamaha’s world champion Valentino Rossi made his race return at the weekend, finishing fourth, just six weeks after breaking his leg.

Hayden knows the Laguna Seca circuit well and raced there in MotoGP for Kawasaki in 2007, finishing seventh.

White clouds over oceans can stop global warming: Study

Mumbai: White clouds over oceans can stop global warming and bring more rains to the land, according to a recent study.

"Clouds reflect sunlight and cool the planet. Clouds with bigger droplets tend to be darker and those with tiny droplets for the same amount of water are more white.

"If the droplet number in the clouds is increased, the reflectivity increases and it will increase rainfall on land and also slow down global warming," Prof Govindasamy Bala, the lead author of the study from Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, said today.

"Reducing the droplet size and thus increasing the reflectivity is the basic mechanism behind the proposal for whitening the marine clouds to counteract global warming," Bala said.

The new climate modelling study by the IISc in collaboration with the Carnegie Institution, Stanford University, and NASA-AMES, California suggested that altered atmospheric circulation under the scheme could create a monsoonal circulation and cause the continents to become wetter, not drier, on average.

The study is reported in the latest issue of the journal 'Climate Dynamics' titled 'Albedo enhancement of marine clouds to counteract global warming: impacts on the hydrological cycle.'

Bala said the number of marine cloud droplets could be increased by spraying tiny droplets of sea water into the marine atmosphere. Salt particles in sea water serve as seeds for many tiny cloud droplets.

"For uniform reductions in sunlight over land and oceans, our earlier modelling work showed that the planet could become drier.

"However, when you selectively reduce the sunlight over only the ocean surface by whitening only the marine clouds (which we have done in the current model), a monsoonal circulation is triggered which increases the rainfall. We find an increase of 7.5 per cent in the overall water budget over land," Bala said.

To test the climate consequences, Bala and his co-authors used a computer simulation of the global climate system in which atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were set at approximately twice of that of the present day.

Cloud droplets over the oceans in the model were reduced to make the clouds more reflective. Clouds over land were unaltered. "As expected, the whitened clouds reflected more solar radiation and offset the warming effect of the high carbon dioxide levels," Bala, attached with Divecha Center for Climate Change and Center for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the IISc, said.

The scientists claimed that the effect of this marine cloud seeding is very different on the planetary water cycle when compared with other sunlight reduction methods such as injecting sulphate aerosols into the stratosphere.

In reality, persistent marine clouds are found off the west coasts of the continents and only these clouds can be made whiter by making their droplets smaller.

"The local effects of such patchier schemes are likely to be different from what we find in our study, where we made all the marine clouds uniformly more reflective," Bala said.

"However, we do believe that any mechanism that increases the albedo of the ocean will lead to more rainfall over land. Further investigation using other climate models is required to test the robustness of our results," he added.

This kind of seeding the cloud and making them whiter is relatively safer and cheaper, Bala said, adding "this is just one of many proposed emergency fixes to halt global warming which requires macro-engineering and also an international consensus."

Other authors of the study are Ken Caldeira, Long Cao George Ban-Weiss and Ho-Jeong Shin from Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution and Rama Nemani from NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, US.

Youth killed following argument over Rs 200

New Delhi: A 25-year-old man was beaten to death allegedly by his friend in north Delhi following an argument over Rs 200 the victim owed him, police said today.

The incident took place near Kourya bridge in Kotwali area last night and the victim has been identified as Imran, a senior police official said.

Jaishankar Mishra and Imran, who police claimed were vagabonds, used to sleep beneath the bridge.

"Imran owed Rs 200 to Mishra who asked him to return the money. They had a heated argument over this last night which led to the murder of Imran," the official said.

In a fit of rage, the official said, Mishra allegedly picked up a rod and beat Imran continuously. "Imran died on the spot," he said.

Mishra was arrested and a case of murder was registered against him.

Osama bin Laden's '20-strong family stranded in Iran': Son

Dubai: A son of Osama bin Laden said on Sunday on Al-Arabiya television that 20 members of the al Qaeda chief's family are stranded in Iran as Tehran is refusing to discuss their fate with Saudi Arabia.

"I think the time has come for my family members to leave Iran but their lack of identification papers and passports made us in need of another third-party country willing to receive them after Iran refused to hand them over to Saudi Arabia," said Omar bin Laden, the fourth son of the Saudi-born head of the global terror network.

"Othman (his brother held in Tehran) called me by phone four days ago and asked me to find a country to mediate their release and accept to receive them," he added according to excerpts of an interview posted on Al-Arabiya's website.

The Dubai-based Arabic news channel said that there are about 20 members of Osama bin Laden's family living in Iran.

They are thought to reside in a complex in Tehran where they were detained after fleeing from Afghanistan in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States claimed by al Qaeda.

Among them are one of bin Laden's wives identified as Khairya Saber, his sons Saad, 30, Othman, 27, Mohammed, 25, and Hamza, 19, as well as his daughter Fatima, 24, plus their spouses and children, the report said.

Omar bin Laden told Al-Arabiya that Washington "has no objections about receiving them" in the United States.

"None of my brothers has been charged on behalf of any party, American or otherwise," he said, adding that "the Americans have offered their help" to get them out of the Islamic republic.

In March, Omar bin Laden called on countries such as Qatar or the United Arab Emirates to host the family detained in Iran, which has already released one of his sisters and one of his brothers to Syria.

Govt against using Army to fight Naxals: PC

Virudhunagar: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has said the Government did not want to use the Armed Forces to contain Naxal violence as this could lead to loss of civilian lives.

Government was not in favour of deploying the Army to combat Naxals because the Air Force too would have to be engaged, he said at a public meeting here last night.

Referring to Naxal operations in seven states, he said the paramilitary forces would continue to counter the Left-wing extremists.

Chidambaram said he was also concerned about possibility of violence rearing its head in Tamil Nadu as some persons from this district were making inflammatory speeches that could instigate violence.

"If there is violence in speech and writing...there will be violence in the action also. This cannot be allowed at any point of time. We will not allow violence to rear its head in Tamil Nadu," he said.

Chidambaram, who was participating in the 108th birth anniversary celebrations of former chief minister Kamaraj and 125th Anniversary of the Congress party, said, "We have a dream about Kamarajar Atchi (Government) blossoming again in Tamil Nadu. We long for that. But Kamarajar Government is there at the Centre and several states. The Central government is being run in the direction shown by Kamaraj.

NASA telescope made in Utah set to finish survey

Salt Lake City: A telescope made by Utah State University's Space Dynamics Lab for NASA is on track to complete its first sky survey.

So far, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer — or WISE — project has discovered 25,000 asteroids.

The lab's WISE program manager John Elwell says the project has been exciting.

Elwell says WISE has produced 1.3 million images, including distant galaxies and brown dwarf stars, as well as 100,000 asteroids. The asteroids mainly occupy an area between Mars and Jupiter. About 90 of these space rocks travel "near" Earth, meaning roughly 30 million miles from the planet.

Elwell says the first sky map was set for completion on Saturday. Over the next three months, WISE will map half of the sky again so astronomers can see what's changed.

Muggy weather in Delhi but rains expected

New Delhi: Delhi saw muggy weather on Saturday morning with the minimum temperature two notches above normal at 29.2 degrees Celsius, but the weather office said rains were expected later in the day.

"Skies will remain partly cloudy with possibility of thunder and rains later in the day. The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 37 degrees," said an official of the Indian Meteorological Department.

The humidity settled at a high of 85 percent. Traces of rainfall were reported from some parts of the city around 8 am, the official said.

The city has so far received 176.4 mm of rain this monsoon - 91 percent more than the average.

Turkey unveils its own drone plane for first time

Ankara: Turkey on Friday unveiled its first drone airplane, a surveillance craft able to fly for 24-hour stretches over the rugged mountains where Kurdish rebels are waging a deadly insurgency.

Turkey's eagerness to produce its own military technology mirrors its increasingly robust and independent diplomacy in the region. And producing its own drone fleet would allow Turkey to sever an important link with Israel, which has provided Turkey with drones even amid rising tensions over Israeli policy toward the Gaza Strip.

While the success of the Turkish-made drone is far from assured, Turkish engineers said they were confident it would become part of the country's arsenal. Ozcan Ertem, head of the project, said an armed version of the Anka, or Phoenix, was possible but not in the works for now.

Some 43 countries have now developed unmanned aerial vehicles, which have proved to be extremely effective in gathering intelligence and, in US hands, staging attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.

Ertem said four or five countries, including Pakistan, which has also sought drones from the US, are expected to place orders for the Anka once the Turkish Air Force issues an order probably later this year. The first system, comprising three planes and remote-control units, was expected to be delivered to the Turkish Air Force in 2013.

The drone, with a 56-foot wingspan and an ability to fly for 24 hours at a speed of 75 knots per hour and height of 30,000 feet (9,144 meters) is expected to spy mostly on Kurdish rebels who have recently increased infiltration into Turkey from bases in northern Iraq and escalated attacks on Turkish targets in a war for autonomy in the Kurdish-dominated southeast that has killed as many as 40,000 people since 1984.

Turkey has purchased 10 massive Heron drones from Israel and their delivery was expected to be completed in August.

Turkey had also bought or leased other drones from Israel, he said, and the United States separately provides intelligence from Predator drones on the Kurdish rebels.

The defense cooperation goes beyond drones — Israel has upgraded some of Turkey's combat jets and tanks with modern radar equipment, according to defense officials and analysts, — but the relationship is threatened by the dispute over Israel's May 31 raid on an aid ship that attempted to break its blockade of Gaza. After Israeli commandos killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American aboard the ship, Turkey withdrew its ambassador and pulled out of three naval drills with Israel in the Mediterranean.

Turkey's Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul and Gen. Ilker Basbug, head of the military, were among those who burst into applause to congratulate engineers as workers towed the drone about the height of a man onto the tarmac, painted in gray of combat jets, with a V-shaped tail and propeller in the back.

Remzi Barlas, head of the engineering group at Turkish Aerospace Space Industries Inc, said Anka was as capable as the Israeli Heron and even features a better anti-icing system that works for the entire 24 hour-flight. Its diesel Centurion engine by German-based company Thielert Aircraft Enginges GmbH works with jet fuel that is easier to find in remote Turkish bases in the southeast, he said. A high-octane fuel is used for the Heron.

The Turkish defense industry is "not yet world-class, but certainly growing. However, it is still dependent on foreign builders and likely will stay that way for a while," said Peter Singer, director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution.

"This is a new technology that is interestingly both easy and difficult to build and use effectively. The construction is often easier than the integration into operations," Singer said of drones. "It took years before the US was able to learn how to use the Predator (a drone that can fire missiles) to a significant effect, most especially linked with ground troops."

Karun Chandhok dropped for German GP

London: Indian Formula One driver Karun Chandhok has been dropped by the Hispania team for next weekend's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, the team announced on Friday.

Chandhok will be replaced by Japanese test driver Sakon Yamamoto, who took over from Bruno Senna at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone last week.

"I expect to be back for races later in the year," a defiant Chandhok told the BBC.

The 26-year-old added: "As a racing driver it's obviously not great to be missing races but I'm not in contention for the world championship or in a points battle over anything.

"I came into this team looking to establish myself as a credible, respectable Formula 1 driver and I've done that.”

"The team gave me the chance to be in F1 and I have to respect and support this decision. At the moment we are talking only about Hockenheim but with four drivers and two cars, it is probably inevitable I will miss some more races."

The Hispania team, which has yet to score a point this season, insisted that the decision did not mean the end of the road for F1 rookie Chandhok.

"Sakon Yamamoto gave a very positive performance in Silverstone, the team has decided to give the Japanese driver another opportunity to drive the car alongside Bruno Senna," said a team statement.

"Karun Chandhok is still part of the Hispania Racing family and is likely to be in the car at some later races this season."

Yamamoto was delighted to be given a second chance with the struggling team.

"Compared to Silverstone, I think we are more competitive and we can achieve a good result again," he said.

"The last race weekend was very exciting for me. Now, the team has given me another chance to race on Sunday and I will do my best to prove that it was the right decision."

World Cup bloopers – fate you never imagined

Paris: North Koreans risk being sent to the coal mines while Nigeria get slapped with a two-year ban from international football.

England's World Cup flops should count themselves lucky that their most pressing concern is trial by tabloid.

On their arrival home the North Korean squad was described as 'stony-faced', which could be a bad sign given what former national coach Moon Ki-Nam told reporters after the 7-0 group stage humiliation by Portugal.

What made it worse was that it was beamed live into the reclusive Communist state after they had performed respectably in a 2-1 defeat by five-time champions Brazil in their opening match.

"The players and coach are rewarded with huge houses when they win," said Moon, who fled the country in 2004. But they have to atone for losing by being sent to work in the coal mines."

There have been legendary tales down the years of the treatment meted out to football failures under unscrupulous regimes.

The late Uday Hussein, son of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam, had novel ways of punishing Iraqi players who did not come up to scratch.

Hussein's favourite punishment methods reportedly included flogging with an electric cable or being forced to take a bath in raw sewage.

Nigeria flopped at the World Cup, finishing bottom of their group in South Africa with just one point from three matches. They lost to Argentina and Greece and drew with South Korea.

On Wednesday, Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan banned the national team from international competition for two years following their dismal showing.

France's chaotic first-round exit prompted French Football Federation President Jean-Pierre Escalettes to step down.

Escalettes and Coach Raymond Domenech have also been called to appear before a parliamentary commission.

Punishment and retribution come in many forms. The most poignant was the fate that befell Colombia's Andres Escobar, whose own goal in the 1994 World Cup clash with the United States led to a surprise defeat and the fancied South Americans exiting at the first hurdle.

On his return home, Escobar was gunned down, the victim of a contract killing ordered by gangsters who blamed the defender for costing them huge betting losses on the tournament.