Spain goes wild after Euro title victory
June 30, 2008 at 8:42 am | Posted in Sport News | Leave a commentTags: 2006 World Cup, AP, Austria, Champion, Championship, CNN, david Villa, Ernst Happel Stadium, Euro, EURO 2008, Europe, European, European Championship, Fernando Torres, football, Football fans, Germany, Jens Lehmann, Luis Aragones, Madrid, major, major football, Michael Ballack, News, News Update, Pedro Pinto, Russia, scored, soccer, Spain, Spanish, Sport News, Switzerland, Torres, tournament, victory, Vienna
VIENNA, Austria (CNN) — Joyous Spanish fans partied hard into the early hours Monday morning after their side defeated Germany 1-0 to claim their first major football title in 44 years.
Fernando Torres celebrates after giving Spain the lead on 33 minutes.
Germany started the second half strongly as they went in search of an equalizer with German captain Michael Ballack firing a shot narrowly wide on 58 minutes, but they could not break Spain’s defense.
Spanish fans in Austria and back home went wild on the final whistle, with fireworks being left off and the sound of car horns filling the air in Madrid. Read the full match report
Firefighters had to douse the celebrating crowds with water as the temperature neared 30 degrees Celsius in Madrid after the final whistle, The Associated Press reported.
Similar jubilant scenes played out across Spain, with King Juan Carlos summing up all Spanish football fans’ patient wait for a major tournament win, AP reported. 
Watch Spain erupt into a huge fiesta »
“We suffered, but in the end, it was worth the pain,” he said.
News agency Efe reported that 25 people were hospitalized in the Spanish capital, with one person in critical condition with head injuries. In all, emergency services treated 120 people.
Striker David Villa, the tournament’s leading scorer with four goals, told the watching crowds to prepare for Monday, when the team will arrive in Madrid to show off the trophy. The team is expected to arrive at Madrid Barajas airport at 7pm local time (1700 GMT), AP reported.
Football fans had been gathering all day in Vienna with around 70,000 watching the eagerly anticipated match on giant screens in the Fanzone area in the center of the city in addition to a 50,000 capacity crowd at the Ernst Happel Stadium.
“The Spanish section of the crowd erupted with joy at the final whistle,” CNN’s Pedro Pinto said. Watch why this win by Spain is significant »
Pinto said Spain had deserved their victory: “Spain are worthy champions — they played better and scored more goals throughout the tournament.”
Large crowds had also gathered in public squares in Berlin, Madrid and other German and Spanish cities to watch the match. CNN’s Al Goodman said scenes of pandemonium had erupted in the Spanish capital at the end of the game.
The three-week Euro 2008 tournament in Austria and Switzerland had already delivered plenty of drama, excitement and hugely entertaining football, raising expectations that the title showdown would serve up a suitably thrilling finale. Watch CNN’s Pedro Pinto sum up the tournament’s highlights »
The match also offered an intriguing contest between two football-obsessed nations with contrasting records of success.
Germany were chasing a record fourth European Championship title to go with those they won in 1996, 1980 and 1972. With three World Cups to their name as well, the German national side have a reputation as pragmatic and perennial challengers for major honors, most recently reaching the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup.
The Spanish, by contrast, had long been considered the sport’s biggest underachievers. Home to two of the world’s greatest clubs in Real Madrid and Barcelona and one of Europe’s strongest leagues, it had been 24 years since Spain last reached a major final, losing to France in the 1984 European Championships.
The country’s sole previous international success came in the same competition as hosts in 1964 and the current squad’s run to the final had captured the nation’s imagination, Goodman said.
After winning all three matches impressively in the group stages, Luis Aragones’ side beat world champions Italy on penalties in the quarterfinals and produced a performance of stylish swagger to overcome Russia 3-0 in the semis.
Ref :: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/football/06/30/euro2008.result/index.html
Medical helicopters collide, killing at least 6
June 30, 2008 at 8:30 am | Posted in U.S.News | 1 CommentTags: Arizona, CNN, FAA, Gregor, helicopters, killing at least 6, lastest news, medical helicopters, Medical helicopters collide, News, News Update, Phoenix, U.S.News
(CNN) — At least six people were dead and one critically injured Sunday after a midair crash between two medical helicopters near a hospital in Arizona, authorities said.
Rescue workers sift through wreckage from two medical helicopters that collided midair Sunday afternoon.
The collision, at Flagstaff Medical Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, set fire to a 10-acre area, according to fire officials, and another two rescue workers were injured by a secondary explosion after the crash.
The helicopters collided at roughly 3:45 p.m. local time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
“As you can imagine, we’ve got lots of heaps of metal to go through,” said Capt. Mark Johnson of the Flagstaff Fire Department. “It’s just difficult right now.”
He said a landing pad on the roof of the hospital is used by medical helicopters.
Federal Aviation Authority officials originally had reported at least seven deaths and three critical injuries, but they revised those numbers after investigators spent more time on the scene.
Flagstaff Police Department Sgt. Tom Boughner said the two rescue workers were not immediately believed to be seriously injured. He said the helicopters crashed into a wooded area near a neighborhood and that no one on the ground was believed to have been injured or killed in the crash.
He said the fire had been contained by Sunday evening.
FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said at least one of those killed in the collision was a patient.
He said three of those killed, including the patient, were aboard a Bell 407 helicopter operated by Air Methods Corporation, an air medical service provider. The other helicopter, operated by Classic Helicopter Service of Utah, also was a Bell 407. The other four victims, including the one critically injured, were on that helicopter.
Both helicopters were headed to the hospital at the time of the crash, Gregor said.
FAA safety inspectors from Phoenix, Arizona, were en route to the scene Sunday, and additional inspectors from Washington were expected to arrive Monday morning. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead a probe into the crash, Gregor said.
Ref :: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/06/29/helicopter.crash/index.html
Captain Ballack injury doubt for Germany
June 29, 2008 at 2:26 am | Posted in Sport News | Leave a commentTags: 2002 World Cup, 2006 World Cup, Arsenal, Ballack, Basel, Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea, Chelsea's, CNN, Ernst Happel Stadium, EURO 2008, European Championship, football, football news, Frings, German football federation, Germany, Joachim Loew, Live News Update, Luis Aragones, Michael Ballack, News, News Update, Portugal, Russia, soccer, Spain, Sport News, Switzerland, TURKEY, Vienna, World Cup, www.uefa.com
(CNN) — Germany captain Michael Ballack is a doubt for Sunday’s Euro 2008 final against Spain because of a calf injury.
Ballack holds his right calf during the semifinal win over Turkey.
“We have to see how it develops overnight,” Germany coach Joachim Loew told the Associated Press.
“They are working around the clock on him.”
The German football federation said that Ballack also missed the session on Friday, held at their training camp in southern Switzerland.
That session had not been open to the media.
“It was unthinkable that he would have been able to train today,” Loew added.
Ballack, 31, has been a key figure in Germany’s march to the final but has been troubled in the past by calf injury, missing the opening game of the 2006 World Cup with a similar problem.
He also had to sit out the 2002 World Cup final against Brazil because of suspension.
Chelsea’s Ballack has scored two goals in Euro 2008, the highlight a blistering free kick against Austria in a group mach and the third goal in the 3-2 quarterfinal win over Portugal.
Germany had earlier received good news about Ballack’s fellow midfielder Torsten Frings, who said he was fit for the final after a rib injury.
Frings featured in Germany’s opening three matches but he was forced to sit out his side’s quarterfinal victory over Portugal after suffering a broken rib in the last group game against Austria.
The vastly experienced Werder Bremen player returned to action during Wednesday’s semifinal against Turkey, after being sent on at half-time by coach Joachim Loew to counteract the early dominance of their opponents.
The move helped, with Germany much more effective after the break before going on to win the clash in Basel 3-2, although it remains to be seen which team Loew starts with against Spain.
Frings’ battling qualities in the heart of midfield could prove invaluable to the Germans, particularly if Ballack is sidelined, as they look to combat a Spanish side whose confidence is sky high heading into the clash at the Ernst Happel Stadium.
Luis Aragones’ side have been victorious in their last 11 matches and are unbeaten in 21, with their latest triumph being Thursday’s 3-0 defeat of Russia in their semifinal encounter.
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The absence of tournament leading scorer David Villa through injury is a blow for the Spanish, but his loss could see Aragones further bolster an impressive-looking midfield with the selection of Cesc Fabregas.
With or without the Arsenal midfielder, Frings believes Spain’s midfield is a class apart from most other teams. “They have a strong, technically-gifted team capable of cutting through the midfield like no other side,” said Frings.
“We will have to put them under pressure and prevent them from getting into the game, otherwise it could prove very difficult.”
Spain’s current form, combined with some inconsistent German displays over the last few weeks, means that for many people the Iberian nation are favorites to win their first major title since their European Championship success in 1964 this weekend.
Frings admits his side have not been at their best throughout the tournament, but he was warned his side’s critics to write them off at their peril.
“You can accuse us of a lot of things but this much is clear: we have had an answer to everything that’s been thrown at us so far and that’s why we are in the final,” he said on www.uefa.com.
“During the group phase certain things were not working and, because of that, the coached changed the system, which worked very well against Portugal. It’s important now that we learn from what went on during the Turkey game.
Ref :: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/football/06/28/euro.ballack/index.html
Fellow GI is person of interest in pregnant soldier’s death
June 29, 2008 at 2:24 am | Posted in U.S.News | Leave a commentTags: Bamberg, death, Fayetteville, Fellow GI is person of interest in pregnant soldier's d, Fort Bragg, Germany, hotel, Kentucky, Megan Lynn Touma, NEW YORK, North Carolina, North Carolina hotel, soldier, soldier's death, soldiers, U.S. Army
(CNN) — Authorities have identified a soldier in training as a person of interest in the death of a pregnant soldier who was found in a hotel, a military official said.
Spc. Megan Lynn Touma, 23, was seven months pregnant when her body was found in a North Carolina hotel.
Authorities discovered the body of Spc. Megan Lynn Touma, 23, who was seven months pregnant, in a motel in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on June 21.
Lt. Col. John Clearwater said Saturday that authorities are investigating a soldier in training at nearby Fort Bragg as person of interest in the case.
Fayetteville police found Touma’s body when they responded to a call of strong odor coming from one of the motel rooms.
Touma, a dental specialist from Cold Springs, Kentucky, arrived at Fort Bragg on June 12.
In five years with the Army, Touma had served with the U.S. Army Dental Activity Clinic in Bamberg, Germany, and in Fort Drum, New York, before her assignment to Fort Bragg.
Ref :: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/28/pregnant.soldier/index.html
Review: ‘Wall-E’ is a classic
June 29, 2008 at 2:11 am | Posted in Entertainment News | 2 CommentsTags: Andrew Stanton, Blade Runner, Charlie Chaplin, Dolly, Electronic billboards, Entertainment News, Finding Nemo, Hello, Hollywood, Live News Update, movie, News, News Update, Pixar film, Review: 'Wall-E' is a classic, Wall-E, Wall-E ponders a Rubik's Cube
(CNN) — The most consistent production unit in Hollywood just hit another home run.
Wall-E ponders a Rubik’s Cube in the Pixar film “Wall-E.”
Over the last decade, Pixar has become a byword for quality, combining cutting-edge digital animation with depth of character, slapstick comedy and rich, engrossing storytelling that appeals equally to kids and adults. “Wall-E” has all of that and more.
Written and directed by Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo”), it’s Pixar’s most ambitious movie and an instant classic.
Wall-E is a solar-powered garbage drone, the last one still operating on an abandoned toxic planet that looks an awful lot like — well, is — Earth. A rusty box sitting on caterpillar tracks, with a retractable binocular-shaped head, he compresses junk into building blocks and then piles them up into towers that are shadow-skyscrapers of waste in the ruins of an unidentified city.
Electronic billboards still plug defunct products and bring us up to speed handily: Having polluted the planet with more waste than it could handle, globo-corporation Buy N Large evacuated its customers on a five-year space cruise (“The final fun-tier,” promises the president, played by Fred Willard), leaving the robots to clean up the mess. Only their calculations were a little off. It’s been 700 years, and Wall-E is still at work. Watch the cast talk about the plucky robot »
The opening half-hour is a delectable demonstration of visual storytelling. Although his vocabulary is limited to a bare handful of words, Wall-E, we gather, has developed more than a trace of consciousness. He’s a hoarder, curious enough to collect unusual bric-a-brac: a whisk, an electric light bulb, bubble wrap. His most treasured item is a VHS tape of “Hello, Dolly.”
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His systems are scrambled when he bumps into Eve, a gleaming research pod from the mother ship whose sleek, egg-like design and distinctive start-up chime must be a wink to Pixar (and Apple) boss Steve Jobs.
At any rate, Eve is the apple of Wall-E’s eye. He’s so smitten, he’d follow her anywhere — even outer space.
There’s something special about Wall-E and his pursuit. Robots have been routinely humanized in sci-fi movies: in “Blade Runner,” “A.I.” and “Metropolis,” for example. And “Wall-E” also isn’t alone in implying that human beings are becoming more mechanistic ourselves, though the obese overgrown babies Stanton imagines reclining in hover chairs — pampered and cocooned from birth — is a more scathing caricature of consumer over-dependency than we’d expect to find in a Hollywood family film. iReport.com: Share your view on ‘Wall-E’
Indeed, Stanton’s most obvious touchstones are Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film “2001: A Space Odyssey” (at one point he treats us to a parodic blast of “Also Sprach Zarathustra” to signal a small baby step for man that’s also a huge leap for mankind) and Douglas Trumbull’s 1972 eco-parable “Silent Running”: philosophical sci-fi films made only four years apart at another point of environmental sensitivity.
But the animating spirit here goes back much further, to the sentimental reveries and delightful improvisatory dexterity of Charlie Chaplin. In “Modern Times,” made more than 70 years ago, Chaplin made play with the degrading effects of industrialized society. In “Wall-E,” Stanton pitches us between a post-industrial wasteland embalmed in smog and the sterile, artificial atmosphere of a giant floating life-support system.
These aren’t attractive prospects, but they are transformed by the little lovelorn robot, a lonely soul who seeks companionship anywhere he can get it … in a cockroach, an old movie and a trigger-happy search robot.
“Wall-E” isn’t a perfect movie; some business involving a team of rogue robots is unduly scrappy. But, mostly, this is a film filled with remarkable moments: a pas de deux in front of the Milky Way (with Wall-E propelled by a fire extinguisher), Eve’s maternal glow as she carries out her primary directive, the fleeting moment when first-time space traveler Wall-E turns back, sees the Earth and tries to share his joy in the discovery.
“Wall-E” is rated G and has a running time of 97 minutes. For Entertainment Weekly’s take, click here
Ref :: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/06/27/review.walle/index.html
N. Korea destroys nuclear reactor tower
June 27, 2008 at 11:48 am | Posted in World news | Leave a commentTags: Bush, China, CNN, English, George W. Bush., IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency, Live News Update, News, News Update, North Korea, Nuclear, nuclear weapons, PYONGYANG, Pyongyang's, State, Sung Kim, U.S., U.S. President, U.S. State, World news
PYONGYANG, North Korea (CNN) — North Korea on Friday destroyed a water cooling tower at a facility where officials acknowledge they extracted plutonium to build nuclear weapons, CNN’s Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour reported from the scene.
The cooling tower is demolished at the Yongbyon nuclear complex near Pyongyang, North Korea.
The massive implosion, which came at about 5pm local time Friday at the Yongbyon facility, was intended to be a powerful public symbol of a move to end nuclear activities by the Communist nation once branded a member of an “axis of evil” by U.S. President George W. Bush.
The destruction of the highly visible symbol of North Korea’s long-secret nuclear program came just a day after the country released details of its program.
A signal flare gave a three-minute warning as U.S. State Department officials and observers from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) watched from a reviewing stand.
“The whole thing came tumbling down,” Amanpour said.
“This is a very significant disablement step,” the U.S. envoy to North Korea, Sung Kim, said.
Nuclear experts say that the plant’s destroyed central water-cooling tower would take a year or longer to rebuild if North Korea were to try using the plant again.
“This is a critical piece of equipment for the nuclear reactor,” said analyst John Wolfsthal, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who has been following North Korea since the 1980s. “Without this facility, the reactor can’t operate and can’t produce more plutonium for weapons.” Watch President Bush claim progress over the N. Korea nuclear issue »
North Korea has been dismantling other parts of the facility under the watchful eyes of representatives of the five other nations, including the U.S., that have been involved in six-party talks aimed at ending Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.
On Thursday, North Korean officials turned over to China a 60-page declaration, written in English, that details several rounds of plutonium production at the Yongbyon plant dating back to 1986.
In it, North Korea acknowledges producing roughly 40 kilograms of enriched plutonium — enough for about seven nuclear bombs, according to the U.S. State Department.
In response, Bush said he would lift some U.S. sanctions against North Korea and remove the country from the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism.
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But he made clear that other sanctions remained in place on North Korea — which has been on the terrorism list since its alleged involvement in the 1987 bombing of a South Korean airliner which killed 115 people.
“The United States has no illusions about the regime in Pyongyang,” Bush said. “We remain deeply concerned about North Korea’s human rights abuses, uranium enrichment activities, nuclear testing and proliferation, ballistic missile programs and the threat it continues to pose to South Korea and its neighbors.”
U.S. analysts will pore over the document to resolve Washington’s outstanding concerns, which include questions about the extent of North Korea’s proliferation of nuclear technology and the status of any uranium enrichment program. Watch what’s still unknown after Pyongyang’s declaration »
Friday’s event at the nuclear plant marked at least an effort by North Korea — dubbed “The Hermit Kingdom” in the international community for its isolationist tendencies — to show the world a good-faith effort to end its nuclear weapons program.
Media outlets from the five other nations involved in the talks were invited to view the tower’s implosion, a rare move in North Korea. CNN was among the media outlets present.
But there appeared to be no mention of the declaration or planned implosion at Yongbyon on the Web site of North Korea’s state-run news agency on Thursday. And an article Wednesday noted the 58th anniversary of the Korean war, calling it “a war of aggression started by the U.S. imperialists in an attempt to occupy the whole of Korea.”
Fabregas steels himself for history
June 27, 2008 at 11:41 am | Posted in Sport News | Leave a commentTags: Cesc Fabregas, david Villa, EURO 2008, Fabregas, football, Germany, Live News Update, News, News Update, Russia, soccer, Spain's, Sport News
Spain’s Cesc Fabregas says that he has no intention of letting Sunday’s Euro 2008 final against Germany slip through his hands.
“Listen I know what it’s like to lose a major final, I don’t want to lose another one,” said the Arsenal man who set up Spain’s last two goals in Thursday’s 3-0 semi-final win over Russia after coming on as a sub.
Fabregas also scored the winning penalty in the 4-2 shoot out over Italy in the quarters and with the injury to david Villa the 21-year-old may get to start the final.
Ref :: http://www.bangkokpost.com/euro2008/news.php?p=headlines&f=euro2008-direct-actu-391-en.xml
Classy Spain too good for a faltering Russia
June 27, 2008 at 11:36 am | Posted in Sport News | Leave a commentTags: 2008, AFP, Arsenal, Casillas, Cesc Fabregas, Daniel Guiza, David Silva, EURO 2008, Euro 2008 semi-final, European, Fernando Torres, football, Guus Hiddink, Holland, Live News Update, Luis Aragones, News, News Update, Russia, soccer, Spain, Spain's, Sport News, Vienna, World Cup, Xavi
Vienna, June 26, 2008 (AFP) – Spain, one of the pre-tournament title favourites, ensured they made their first final for 24 years when they demolished Russia 3-0 here on Friday (Thailand time) in their Euro 2008 semi-final. (More reports and analysis from Euro 2008 – Click here)
Xavi, Daniel Guiza and David Silva scored the goals as Spain brought Russia quickly back down to earth following their surprise win over Holland in the quarter-finals to give them a chance of a second European crown after the one they won in 1964 – they also made the 1984 final where they lost to hosts France.
Spain’s Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas was a standout player creating two of the goals after coming on for leading scorer David Villa in the first-half, and said that the task was not over.
“We came here to win the title, and the most difficult match is to come,” said the 21-year-old.
“It was kind of strange coming on that early and also as I am not a natural striker a strange position for me to take up.
“Will I play in the final? Well he (Luis Aragones) is the boss and I will be there if he needs me.”
Russia’s wizard like coach Guus Hiddink said that there could have only been one winner.
“We lost to a really good team from Spain,” said the 61-year-old Dutchman, who has now met defeat in three major semi-finals with Holland and South Korea in the 1998 and 2002 World Cup and now with Russia in the European showpiece.
“The Spanish were excellent and deserved their victory. I am obviously disappointed by the result, but despite that I am proud of my team.”
Hiddink’s team failed to spark here with the much-hyped Andrei Arshavin a huge let-down.
Spain were always the more controlled and measured and when they let their passing game flow in the second half they proved too irresistible for their inexperienced opponents.
The result matched the 4-1 Group D drubbing the Spaniards had dealt Russia in their opening game of the competition and they will now meet Germany – who beat Turkey 3-2 in Wednesday’s other semi-final – in the trophy match at 1:45am on Monday (Thailand time).
Russia began with a lot of energy, although their final ball more often than not was poor.
Spain had the first chance as David Villa cleverly played in Fernando Torres in the sixth minute but goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev kicked away his snap-shot.
Villa then tried his luck from distance with a vicious shot that Akinfeev palmed to safety.
Arshavin was largely anonymous throughout although his strike partner Roman Pavlyuchenko proved an occasional menace and lashed a free-kick over the bar on 16min.
Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta was holding his head in shame just before the half hour mark as he swiped at thin air after latching onto a ball over the top and on 31min Pavluychenko forced Iker Casillas to tip a curling shot around the post.
The Iberians suffered a blow on 34 minutes as striker Villa limped out with a leg injury but coach Luis Aragones curiously chose to replace him with midfielder Cesc Fabregas rather than striker Guiza.
Almost immediately Pavlyuchenko should have scored as he took down the ball on his chest only to have his heel clipped as he went to shoot, failing to make good contact and flicking the ball wide.
Spain had the last chance of the half with a piece of great skill from Torres who took down Fabregas’s pass and turned onto his left foot only to scuff his shot straight at Akinfeev.
And they had the first chance after the break, taking the lead on 50 minutes as Xavi, who up until then had had a quiet game, arrived late in the box to convert Iniesta’s driven cross, poking out a foot to prod the ball between Akinfeev’s legs.
The game had needed a goal and that opened it up with Torres curling a shot over the bar moments later.
Hiddink made a double change soon afterwards and his team started to play with more urgency, although at the expense of their accuracy.
With Russia pushing forward Spain started to hit them on the counter-attack with Torres enjoying much more space until he found himself surprisingly replaced by Aragones in favour of Guiza.
However the move bore fruit on 73min as Fabregas flicked the ball over the top and Guiza beat the offside trap of a stretched Russian defence to chip delicately over the onrushing Akinfeev and give Spain a comfortable cushion.
They were flowing and Silva completed the rout on 82min, converting another measured ball from Fabregas on the counter.
Russia almost got a late consolation but Casillas saved Dmitri Sychev’s point blank header.
4:08 AM Friday, 27 June 2008
Ref :: http://www.bangkokpost.com/euro2008/news_highlighted.php?id=128559
Hamas: We want truce, despite rocket attacks
June 25, 2008 at 1:20 am | Posted in World news | Leave a commentTags: attacks, CNN, despite rocket attacks, Ehud Olmert, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, JERUSALEM, Live News Update, News, News Update, policemen, rocket attacks, soldiers, truce, We want truce, West Bank, World news
JERUSALEM (CNN) — Hamas leaders in Gaza are still committed to a cease-fire agreement with Israel despite numerous rocket and mortar strikes Tuesday, a Hamas spokesman said.
Hamas policemen were all smiles after the six-month truce was declared last week.
The Israeli military has not responded, but a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the attacks could jeopardize the fragile truce, which took effect Thursday.
“It is clear that these rocket attacks present a grave violation of the understandings achieved by Egypt to achieve calm in the south,” Mark Regev said.
Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza said they fired three rockets into southern Israel on Tuesday, violating a truce between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas leadership.
Two Israelis received minor injuries when one of the rockets struck the southern Israeli town of Sderot, a frequent target of such militant strikes, Israeli ambulance services said. Another rocket struck the town, causing damage, and the third rocket landed in an open field, a police spokesman said.
An Islamic Jihad source said its militants fired the rockets in revenge for the Israeli killing of one of its commanders in the West Bank.
The rocket firings followed a mortar attack from Gaza into Israel earlier in the day that the Israeli military said marked the first reported violation of the truce.
No one was hurt, and the mortar shell did not cause any damage. There has been no reported Israeli response.
Israel said that under the conditions of the truce, the Hamas leadership in Gaza is responsible for all militant attacks on Israel, not just those carried out by Hamas militants.
Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli military said it killed a senior member of Islamic Jihad and another militant with him during a raid in Nablus, in the West Bank.
The senior militant, Tareq Jumaa Ahmed Abu Ghali, opened fire at the Israeli soldiers as they tried to arrest him, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The soldiers fired back, killing Abu Ghali and the other militant, the IDF said.
The Egyptian-brokered cease-fire agreement is between Israel and Hamas leaders in Gaza and does not apply to the West Bank, which is controlled by the Palestinian Authority under President Mahmoud Abbas. The truce is supposed to last six months.
The terms stipulate that Palestinian militants stop attacks on Israel. Israel, in turn, will halt raids inside Gaza and ease its economic blockade if the truce holds.
Israel has repeatedly said that the truce is a first step toward a broader cease-fire agreement that must include the release of an Israeli soldier who was taken hostage two years ago.
Ofer Dekel, Israel’s point man for the negotiations to release Cpl. Gilad Shalit, is expected to arrive in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday, an Israeli official said. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met Tuesday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh.
A day before his trip to the Egyptian resort city, Olmert held “security consultations” with Dekel and Defense Minister Ehud Barak on how to expedite Shalit’s release.
Ref :: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/06/24/gaza.truce/index.html
German coach Loew warns of Turkish threat
June 25, 2008 at 1:15 am | Posted in Sport News | Leave a commentTags: Ballack, Basle, CROATIA, Euro, EURO 2008, football, German, German coach Loew warns of Turkish threat, Joachim Loew, Live News Update, Loew, Michael Ballack, News, News Update, penalty shootout, Portugal, Russia, soccer, Spain, Sport News, TURKEY, Turkish, Vienna
(CNN) — A full strength Germany will take on a markedly under strength Turkey in the first semifinal of Euro 2008 in Basle on Wednesday but after the upsets of the quarterfinals coach Joachim Loew is urging his men not to take victory for granted.
Loew has been at pains to stress that victory is not guaranteed for his German favorites.
“All teams in the semifinals have a certain class. I know Turkish players and the conditions there from my own experience,” Loew told the Associated Press.
“They become euphoric, especially if things are going their way. They have national pride, very high morale and they play until the end, the very last minute. It will be very hard.
“I’ll warn my players that Turks believe until the end that they can win the game.”
German captain Michael Ballack also warned on Tuesday not to take Turkey lightly, say the would be a “very strong” rival.
“They know how to adjust to opponents and that shows they are very strong mentally,” Ballack said at Germany’s training base before the team’s departure for Basel.
“Their coach knows how to motivate them and they will be a very uncomfortable opponent. Hats off to them for reaching the semifinal, but we shouldn’t overestimate them either.”
Loew, whose team beat Portugal 3-2 in a five-goal thriller to reach the last four, has the luxury of a fully-fit squad with midfielder Torsten Frings recovered from a broken rib.
His Turkish counterpart Fath Terim has selection posers of an unwelcome type with up to nine first team regulars out through injury or suspension, an appeal against the suspension of first choice goalkeeper Volkan Demirel failing on Monday.
Recber Rustu, the hero of the penalty shootout win over Croatia to reach the last four, will deputize again.
At the other end, his fellow veteran keeper Jens Lehmann is promising he will “give his life” to make sure his possible international farewell does not end at the semifinal stage.
“For me this is the most important game. I don’t want to go out again in the semifinals,” the 38-year-old former Arsenal star told the Bild newspaper.
“As a player I can not promise a victory, only that I will push myself and give my life.”
He added: “You know what I mean – my sporting life. My private life belongs to my family.”
Underdogs Turkey have conjured up a series of last-gasp escapes with Semih Senturk scoring the equalizer against Croatia with the final kick of extra time before helping them to victory on penalties.
“Albert Einstein said there were two ways to live. One is to believe in miracles and live that way. The second is to know that nothing is a miracle,” Terim said. “If a team doesn’t give up and pushes to the end, that team will eventually win.”
Senturk, who came on as a substitute against Croatia, is likely to start against the Germans with star striker Nihat Kahveci ruled out through a thigh injury.
“That goal gave the whole team a lot of confidence,” Senturk told the Associated Press.
“But in the end, it’s not important who scores the goals. It only matters that you win matches. We are determined to do that against Germany as well. I think they will be very cautious on Wednesday.
“We are proud of our success so far, but we definitely want to go one step further now.”
Despite Turkish defiance, four-tme champions Germany will start as clear favorites to reach the final where the winners of the Spain — Russia semifinal await in Vienna on Sunday.
Ref :: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/football/06/24/turkey.germany/index.html
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