Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, Iranian nuclear scientist, car bomb, died he was 32.

Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan was an Iranian nuclear scientist and university professor killed in a bomb blast near Gol Nabi Street, in north Tehran,^[1] in 11 Jan. 2012—a day after Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz was quoted as telling a parliamentary panel that "2012 would be a critical year for Iran", in part because of "things that happen to it unnaturally died he was 32.."^[2] According to the semi-official Fars news agency, Ahmadi-Roshan (aged 32) was a graduate of Sharif University and supervised a department at Natanz uranium enrichment facility in Isfahan province.^[1] According to that agency, he died after two assailants on a motorcycle attached magnetic bombs to his car.^[3]


(Persian: مصطفی احمدی روشن‎, c. 1980 – 11 January 2012)

Citing the Fars News Agency, The Guardian reported that Ahmadi-Roshan was a chemistry expert specializing in "making polymeric membranes for gaseous diffusion, part of the process needed for the enrichment of uranium."^[4] He was a deputy director for commercial affairs at Natanz uranium enrichment facility. The Fars News Agency reported that the driver of Roshan's car later also died in a hospital from injuries sustained in the explosion.^[5]
Ahmadi-Roshan was one of several Iranian nuclear scientists assassinated in recent years. The Iranian government has blamed Israel and the US for the killings, the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization saying: "The heinous acts of America and the criminal Zionist regime will not disrupt our glorious path."^[6]
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton categorically denied any United States involvement, stating: "I want to categorically deny any United States involvement in any kind of act of violence inside Iran".^[7]
Israeli President Shimon Peres was quoted saying that, to the best of his knowledge, Israel was not involved in the hit.^[8]
Several conservative newspapers in Iran called for retaliatory action against Israel. The daily Kayhan, supervised directly by the office of the Supreme Leader of Iran, wrote: "The Islamic republic has gathered much experience in 32 years, thus assassinations of Israeli officials and military members are achievable."^[9][10]
Ahmadi-Roshan was buried on 13 January 2012.^[11]
On 14 January 2012 Iran sent, via the Swiss embassy in Tehran, a diplomatic message to the United States government claiming that Iran has direct evidence of CIA's involvement in the assassination of Ahmadi-Roshan.^[12]
Following his death, Ahmadi Roshan's wife stated to Fars News, "Mostafa's ultimate goal was the annihilation of Israel." She added that her spouse loved any resistance figure willing to fight the Zionist regime.^[13]
Following the assassination the speaker of Israel's army said "we do not shed tears for this murder". According to Jerusalem Post commander of Israel's army stated a day before the attack that 2012 is going to be a critical year for Iran filled with un-normal events.^[14]
A month after Ahmadi-Roshan's assassination, NBC News wrote:^[15]

Deadly attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists are being carried out by an Iranian dissident group that is financed, trained and armed by Israel’s secret service, U.S. officials tell NBC News, confirming charges leveled by Iran’s leaders...U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Obama administration is aware of the assassination campaign but has no direct involvement.

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Gevork Vartanian, Soviet intelligence agent, Hero of the Soviet Union, died he was 87.

Gevork Andreevich Vartanian  was a Soviet intelligence agent died he was 87..^[1][2]

^{(Russian: Гево́рк Андре́евич Вартаня́н; Armenian: Գևորգ Անդրեևիչ Վարդանյան; February 17, 1924 – January 10, 2012)}

Early life

Vartanian was born to Armenian parents in Nor Nakhichevan, USSR. His father was a Soviet intelligence agent as well who was sent to Persia in 1930, where he worked for 23 years under a cover of a wealthy merchant. Gevork Vartanian was not even 16 when he went into intelligence.^[3] In 1955, he graduated from the Institute of Foreign Languages, Yerevan. He is primarily responsible for thwarting Operation Long Jump, concocted by Adolf Hitler, headed by Ernst Kaltenbrunner, and led by Otto Skorzeny, which was an attempt to assassinate Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt at the Tehran conference in 1943.^[4]

Operation Long Jump

In 1942, Adolf Hitler decided to set the operation in motion. After careful planning and deliberation under the personal supervision of Security Police Chief Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Hitler sent his special commando agent, Otto Skorzeny, along with six other men to rendezvous at Tehran and spearhead the operation. The plan entailed the capture and/or assassination of Josef Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin Roosevelt.
The first tip-off about the planned attempt came from Soviet intelligence agent Nikolai Kuznetsov, under the alias of Wehrmacht Oberleutnant Paul Siebert, from Nazi-occupied Ukraine.^[5] Kuznetsov got a drunk SS officer named Ulrich von Ortel to tell him about the attempt. Although the scheduled date of the operation was not known, the fact that it would take place was confirmed.
According to Vartanian, he had been assigned to recruit agents beginning in 1940. He and his seven recruits had identified Nazi spies. However, in the autumn of 1943, they were given a different task, security for the upcoming conference. Six German radio operators had been sent to Tehran as an advance team for the assassination. Eventually, Vartanian and his men managed to find where the commando unit was hiding.^[6]
From then on, the radio messages to Berlin were intercepted by Soviet and British intelligence. However, one of the Germans managed to send a coded message "we are under surveillance". The operation was getting off track and the main group led by Skorzeny never went to Tehran.

Later years

Vartanian was awarded with the Hero of the Soviet Union medal. He met with Churchill's granddaughter and was congratulated for his great service to the Allies. Vartanian has been interviewed many times. Al Gurnov of Russia Today interviewed Vartanian on the eve of the Victory Day parade, which was broadcast on May 9, 2008. It was revealed that Vartanian's identity was kept secret until the year 2000, when he finally received full credit for putting a stop to the assassination plot.

Death

Gevork Vartanian died at the age of 87 at Botkin hospital in Moscow on January 10, 2012.^{[1] [7] [8] [9]}
Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin attended the funeral and paid his respects to Vartanian's widow Gohar.^[10]
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev expressed his condolences to Vartanian’s friends and relatives. He described Vartanian as "a legendary intelligence agent, a genuine patriot of his country, a bright and extraordinary person... He took part in splendid operations, which went down in the history of the Russian foreign intelligence service. His death is an irretrievable loss to his family and all those who knew and highly appreciated the legendary man."^[11]
Condolences were also expressed by the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan,^[12] Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan,^[13] President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan.^{[14] [15]}


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Takao Sakurai, Japanese boxer, Olympic gold medalist (1964), died from esophageal cancer he was 70.

Takao Sakurai (桜井 孝雄 Sakurai Takao^?) (September 25, 1941 – January 10, 2012)^[1] was a professional boxer who won the gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics  died from esophageal cancer he was 70..

Amateur career

Born in Sawara, Chiba, Sakurai began boxing in high school, keeping his training secret to his parents. Although there was no trainer in his high school, Sakurai won the Japan's inter-high school championship in the bantamweight division in 1960.^[2][3] Then he entered Chuo University,^[2] and won the All-Japan Amateur Boxing Championships in the bantamweight division in 1963.^[3] Sakurai captured the Olympic boxing gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics in his senior year. In the finals, he knocked down his opponent 3 times in 2 rounds, capturing the win by RSC, and becoming the only Japanese boxer ever to win Olympic gold. His record in the amateurs was 138-13.^[2]

Olympic results

• Defeated Brian Packer (Great Britain) 4-1
• Defeated Cassis Aryee (Ghana) 5-0
• Defeated Nicolae Puiu (Romania) 5-0
• Defeated Washington Rodríguez (Uruguay) 5-0
• Defeated Chung Shin-Cho (South Korea) RSC

Professional career

Sakurai's feat in the Olympics heightened hopes for his professional career, and he made his professional debut from Misako Boxing Gym^[2] in March, 1965. He won 22 straight fights,^[2] but was unable to make a full transition from his cautious, amateur boxing style to a more aggressive, professional style. He could win only 4 fights by knockout out of his 32 professional fights.
Sakurai challenged Lionel Rose for the world bantamweight title on July 2, 1968. He got a knockdown in the 2nd round,^[2] but ended up losing by decision in 15 rounds. He suffered the first knockout loss of his career against Rubén Olivares in May, 1969 in a non-title match. Later that year, he won the OPBF bantamweight title, which he defended twice before announcing his retirement in 1970. His professional record was 30-2-0 (4KOs), and he was the top-ranked world bantamweight contender when he retired.

Post Retirement

Sakurai founded his own boxing gym One Two Sports Club, in Tsukiji, Chūō, Tokyo, and worked as a trainer there.^[2] He was the first man to practice Koichi Wajima's "Frog Jump" punch under the guidance of Hitoshi Misako who is the president of Misako Boxing Gym where he trained during his career as a boxer.^[4] His eldest son has also had a successful amateur boxing career, winning a national tournament in the featherweight division.
Sakurai died of esophageal cancer in Tokyo at dawn on January 10, 2012,^[2] the birthday of Hitoshi Misako.^[5]


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Syed Shah Mardan Shah-II, Pakistani politician and spiritual leader, died from a heart attack he was 83.

Takao Sakurai ^[1] was a professional boxer who won the gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics died from a heart attack he was 83..

(桜井 孝雄 Sakurai Takao^?) (September 25, 1941 – January 10, 2012)

Amateur career

Born in Sawara, Chiba, Sakurai began boxing in high school, keeping his training secret to his parents. Although there was no trainer in his high school, Sakurai won the Japan's inter-high school championship in the bantamweight division in 1960.^[2][3] Then he entered Chuo University,^[2] and won the All-Japan Amateur Boxing Championships in the bantamweight division in 1963.^[3] Sakurai captured the Olympic boxing gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics in his senior year. In the finals, he knocked down his opponent 3 times in 2 rounds, capturing the win by RSC, and becoming the only Japanese boxer ever to win Olympic gold. His record in the amateurs was 138-13.^[2]

Olympic results

• Defeated Brian Packer (Great Britain) 4-1
• Defeated Cassis Aryee (Ghana) 5-0
• Defeated Nicolae Puiu (Romania) 5-0
• Defeated Washington Rodríguez (Uruguay) 5-0
• Defeated Chung Shin-Cho (South Korea) RSC

Professional career

Sakurai's feat in the Olympics heightened hopes for his professional career, and he made his professional debut from Misako Boxing Gym^[2] in March, 1965. He won 22 straight fights,^[2] but was unable to make a full transition from his cautious, amateur boxing style to a more aggressive, professional style. He could win only 4 fights by knockout out of his 32 professional fights.
Sakurai challenged Lionel Rose for the world bantamweight title on July 2, 1968. He got a knockdown in the 2nd round,^[2] but ended up losing by decision in 15 rounds. He suffered the first knockout loss of his career against Rubén Olivares in May, 1969 in a non-title match. Later that year, he won the OPBF bantamweight title, which he defended twice before announcing his retirement in 1970. His professional record was 30-2-0 (4KOs), and he was the top-ranked world bantamweight contender when he retired.

Post Retirement

Sakurai founded his own boxing gym One Two Sports Club, in Tsukiji, Chūō, Tokyo, and worked as a trainer there.^[2] He was the first man to practice Koichi Wajima's "Frog Jump" punch under the guidance of Hitoshi Misako who is the president of Misako Boxing Gym where he trained during his career as a boxer.^[4] His eldest son has also had a successful amateur boxing career, winning a national tournament in the featherweight division.
Sakurai died of esophageal cancer in Tokyo at dawn on January 10, 2012,^[2] the birthday of Hitoshi Misako.^[5]


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Mary Raftery, Irish journalist (States of Fear), died he was 54.

Mary Frances Thérèse Raftery was an Irish investigative journalist, filmmaker and writer died he was 54..

(21 December 1957 – 10 January 2012) 

She started her investigative journalism career with In Dublin magazine in the 1970s, before moving on to Magill Magazine and then to Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) in 1984. Her documentary series States of Fear was broadcast on the Irish television channel Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) in 1999.^[2] A book she wrote later that year called Suffer the Little Children added more detail to her claim that the Irish childcare system between the 1930s and 1970s was guilty of widespread persecution and abuse. In 2000, the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was established by the Irish Government to examine the evidence: its Report was published in May 2009.^[3] Her programme "Cardinal Secrets" was broadcast as a Prime Time special on RTÉ in 2002. It led to the setting up of the Murphy Commission of Investigation into clerical abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese which published the Murphy Report in 2009.
She was nominated for "NNI National Journalist of the Year" in 2011 for her work in exposing clerical abuse of children.^[4]

Death

Raftery died of ovarian cancer at St. Vincent's University Hospital on 10 January 2012, aged 54. She was survived by her mother, three siblings, her husband and her son.^[5][6][7][8]


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Cliff Portwood, English footballer and singer, died from lung disease he was 74.

Clifford "Cliff" Portwood was an English footballer and later singer and television personality died from lung disease he was 74..

(17 October 1937 – 10 January 2012)

A winger and inside-forward, he scored 96 goals in 252 league games in a fourteen-year career in the Football League. He spent 1955 to 1959 at Preston North End, without making an appearance, before he was sold on to Port Vale for £750. He was sold on to Grimsby Town for £6,000 in July 1961, and helped the club to win promotion out of the Third Division in 1961–62. He moved on to Portsmouth for £4,000 in 1963, where he remained for the next six years, before he left the professional game to move to South Africa. He later became a successful singer and television personality in Australia.

Playing career

Cliff Portwood started his career with Manchester Athletic, playing youth football with the likes of Bobby Charlton, Eddie Colman and Albert Scanlon,^[1] before joining Preston North End in February 1955 after being spotted by Frank Hill.^[2] During his time at Deepdale he was Tom Finney's understudy.^[2] However he did not make his league debut at Preston, as new manager Cliff Britton did not see Portwood as being up to First Division standard once he returned from his national service with the Royal Air Force.^[3]
He joined Third Division Port Vale in August 1959, when manager Norman Low paid out £750 to secure his services. He scored his first senior goal against Queens Park Rangers on 5 December 1959, in a 3–3 draw in the FA Cup. He finished the 1959–60 campaign with 12 goals to his name, bagging braces in wins over Grimsby Town and Bury. He was the club's top scorer for the 1960–61 season with 26 goals, netting twice in clashes with Chelmsford City, Watford, Bristol City and Grimsby Town, and hitting a hat-trick in a 5–0 boxing day win over Tranmere Rovers in front of over 14,000 spectators at Vale Park. He was sold to Grimsby Town for £6,000 in July 1961, as the club were looking to raise £10,000 to re-sign Stan Steele from West Bromwich Albion. He had scored 38 goals in 74 games for Port Vale in league and cup competitions.^[4]
Under Tim Ward's stewardship, the "Mariners" won promotion out of the Third Division as runners-up in 1961–62, finishing three points ahead of third-placed Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. They retained their Second Division status by a four point margin in 1962–63, after which new manager Tom Johnston moved Portwood on to George Smith's Portsmouth for a £4,000 fee, also in the second tier. He had scored 35 goals in 92 league games for Grimsby in a two-year spell.
Legendary striker Ron Saunders left the club in 1964, after scoring 33 goals in 1963–64. This left Portsmouth short of goals, and Portwood was the club's top scorer in the 1964–65 season with 12 goals, helping them to avoid relegation by just one point. Portwood scored a total of 30 goals in 106 league and cup games at Portsmouth.^[5] After leaving "Pompey" in 1970 he went to South Africa, playing and coaching with Durban United. Whilst in Durban, he entered a singing competition on the radio and won a recording contract in Australia.^[1]

Style of play

In his later life, Portwood compared his style to that of Cristiano Ronaldo – "on the ball, twinkly-toed, turn on a sixpence, turn in the box, sharp."^[3]

Singing career

Moving to Melbourne permanently in the early 1970s, he became a successful recording artist and TV personality, earning five gold records and appearing on Channel 7's The Penthouse most weekends.^[1] During his career he met and performed with such people as Keith Moon, Bernard Cribbins, Tommy Cooper, Frankie Vaughan and Dick Emery.^[3] Portwood returned to England in the early 1980s, on his return he appeared on several talent shows and in 1982 recorded a World Cup song with members of the 1966 FIFA World Cup squad; "Up there oh England" was pulled due to a licensing issue on the B-side.^[6] The song was done in conjunction with his producer friend, Mike Brady, who wrote the original song "Up There Cazaly", a number one in Australia. The licensing issue was eventually resolved in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.^[3]
In the late 1990s he had for several years been going to Florida and successfully singing on the cabaret circuit there in the winter months, until a lung condition meant he had to return full-time to England in 2008. There he regularly watched Portsmouth play at Fratton Park, and lived in Alton, Hampshire, until his death. He died in hospital at Basingstoke on 10 January 2012, after losing his battle with lung disease.^[7]

Honours

with Grimsby Town

• Football League Third Division runner-up: 1961–62

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Jean Pigott, Canadian politician and businesswoman, MP for Ottawa—Carleton (1976–1979), died he was 87.

Jean Elizabeth Morrison Pigott, OC  was a Canadian politician and businessperson  died he was 87..

(May 20, 1924 – January 10, 2012)

The daughter of Ottawa businessman Cecil Morrison, her family has lived in the Ottawa Valley for four generations. She married Arthur Pigott in 1955.^[2] Pigott was president and CEO of her family's business, Morrison-Lamothe Bakery, one of only three women CEOs in Canada in the early 1970s. In 1976, she won a by-election in Ottawa—Carleton riding and became a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons as a Progressive Conservative.
In the 1979 federal election, she lost her seat to Liberal Party candidate Jean-Luc Pépin even though the Progressive Conservative Party made enough gains elsewhere in the country to form a minority government. The new Prime Minister, Joe Clark, hired Pigott as an advisor. In the 1980 federal election, she was the Tory candidate in Ottawa Centre, where she placed second to Liberal candidate John Evans.
Following the Tories' return to power under Brian Mulroney in the 1984 federal election, Pigott was appointed by Mulroney as chair of the National Capital Commission.
Pigott was the first woman to sit on the board of directors of Ontario Hydro and also sat on the board of Canadian Tire Corporation. She has also served as chair of the board of the Ottawa Congress Centre and the Centre for Studies of Children at Risk in Hamilton, Ontario.
In 1995, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for having "shown leadership and determination in ensuring the use of resources for positive growth and change at all levels of government".^[3]
Pigott received heart surgery during the 1970s and recovered from two strokes during her late seventies.^[2]
Jean Pigott died January 10, 2012.



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