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Russia president criticizes ruling party over vote

Irina Titova
Associated Press
Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:34 EST

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday sharply criticized officials in the ruling Kremlin-backed party for manipulating recent regional votes, saying it must learn to win fairly.

Medvedev's statement marked a rare criticism of the United Russia party led by his predecessor and mentor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. United Russia is a power base for Putin, who has not ruled out a return to the presidency in 2012.

Speaking before a major party meeting in St. Petersburg also attended by Putin, Medvedev accused some of United Russia's regional branches of using their dominance and official connections to shape the election results in their favor.

He said the party must "free itself of such people and shed such bad political habits."

RIA Novosti
Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:47 EST

A man in Russia's southwest Urals has been arrested for trying to sell a hand grenade at a bus stop to buy alcohol, local police said.

The incident took place in the city of Ufa on Thursday.

The 55-year-old man was seen by police operatives at a bus stop "approaching the drivers of taxis and buses, and offering to sell them a grenade for 800 rubles ($27.50)", a spokesperson told RIA Novosti.

The man has been charged with illegal possession of explosives, and faces up to four years in prison.

The Daily Mail
Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:45 EST

A thug high on drink and drugs gouged out his former lover's eye during a murder bid and threw it from an eighth-floor balcony.

Francis Murphy was today jailed for 12 years by a judge who told him he had committed a crime of 'almost medieval barbarity'.

An earlier trial heard how jealous Murphy attacked Natalie Farrell, 27, with the wire of a coat hanger as he threatened: 'I am taking your eye out you f****** cow.'

After flinging her eye from the eighth floor of a Dundee high-rise, evil Murphy then tried to throw her over the balcony as well.

Ms Farrell didn't realize what had happened - until a friend found the eye and gave it to paramedics who had been called to the block of flats.

She did not return to the High Court in Edinburgh today where Murphy was sentenced.

Michael Breslin
Fermanagh Herald
Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:54 EST

© Unknown
The six counties claimed as their own have been a 'live-exercise' training laboratory for the British intelligence and military command of the Westminster government

As police try to establish reports of a downed plane in the Boho area on Thursday of last week, the British Army has denied that it was one of their drones.

However, an army spokesperson confirmed that the skies over north Fermanagh and west Tyrone are hosting 'rest of world' night time flight training for RAF and British Army Air Corps pilots.

A police spokesman referred enquiries about 'drones' in the sky at night to the British Army Press Office. He said that police were keen to speak to anyone who was flying in the Boho area on Thursday around the time of the 'loud bang' reports to contact them so they can be ruled out of their enquiries about a downed plane.

A British Army spokesman insisted that there was no training with unmanned drones: "Absolutely not. We don't train with drones. I don't know where they do most of their training, but I would suggest the Salisbury Plain.

Ariel David
The Associated Press
Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:30 EST

© AFP/File/Indranil Mukherjee
Flames and smoke gushing from The Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, one of the sites of attacks by alleged militant gunmen. The first anniversary of the attacks will be difficult for many of the hotel staff, who have been offered counseling and post-trauma therapy for the last 12 months.

Italian police on Saturday arrested a Pakistani father and son accused of helping fund and providing logistical support for last year's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, authorities said.

The two were arrested in an early morning raid in Brescia, where they managed a money transfer agency, police in the northern Italian city said.

The day before the attacks began on Nov. 26 they allegedly sent money using a stolen identity to a U.S. company to activate Internet phone accounts used by the attackers and their handlers, said Stefano Fonsi, the head of anti-terror police in Brescia.

The transfer was just $229 but gave the attackers five lines over the Internet, which are difficult to trace and allowed militants to keep in touch even during the rampage, Fonsi said.

Italian police began the probe in December after being alerted by the FBI and Indian police about the transfer, Fonsi told The Associated Press.

Helen Carter
The Guardian
Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:30 EST

Four bridges collapse, main roads are blocked and hundreds are evacuated as 12 inches of rain falls in Cumbria in 24 hours

A policeman swept away and killed during the devastating flooding that hit north-west England was trying to save lives by directing motorists off a bridge across a swollen river.

PC Bill Barker, who would have been 45tomorrow , was praised by Gordon Brown as a "very heroic, very brave man" who had given his life saving others after Cumbria was struck by what the Environment Agency described as "unprecedented" rainfall.

Severe flooding in the county was driven by a combination of heavy rain, saturated ground and swollen rivers.

Hundreds were evacuated from their homes, four bridges collapsed and main roads were blocked after 314mm (12.4in) of rain fell in 24 hours - a record for England.

Flooding was also reported in north-west Wales and Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland.

Brian McDonald
Independent.ie
Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:43 EST

Hundreds of people were forced out of their homes in east and south Galway yesterday as flood levels continued to rise.

In Ballinasloe, deteriorating conditions forced the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) to disconnect up to 400 homes and business premises in the centre of the town for safety reasons --with power being restored to some 250 of these later on in the day.

An ESB spokesperson said it was not possible to say when the remaining 150 affected properties would be reconnected.

Ballinasloe became the epicentre of flooding in the west after the River Suck burst its banks late on Thursday night and water poured into the town centre. St Michael's Square, River Street and Derrymullen were the areas worst affected, with over 200 homes and business premises evacuated.

Troops from the Western Command were called in to assist gardai and Civil Defence members deliver thousands of sandbags to home and business premises. Flat-bottomed boats were used to rescue people stranded in their homes.

Grainne Cunningham, Ralph Riegel & Edel Kennedy
Independent.ie
Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:22 EST

A state of emergency was declared in Cork last night after the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) was forced to open dams which led to widespread flooding in the city.

ESB chiefs defended their actions, claiming they prevented an even greater flood from occurring.

But business and homeowners said they had little warning ahead of the flood that left three buildings in danger of collapse.

The ESB released "large volumes of water" from the dams at Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid, about eight miles from the city centre.

A spokeswoman said that the issue of compensation for flooded homes and business premises "doesn't even arise".

"The action taken by the ESB mitigated damage very, very significantly, by at least a third, by managing the release of the water," she said.

BBC
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:10 EST

Easyjet is removing all copies of its in-flight magazine

Easyjet has apologised after fashion photographs shot at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin were published in its in-flight magazine.

In the pictures, models pose in designer clothes among the concrete blocks of the "Field of Stelae".

The budget airline says it was unaware of the images until they appeared in the magazine, which is published by a company called INK.

Easyjet said that it was now reviewing its relationship with the publisher.

The memorial commemorates the six million Jewish victims of the Nazi genocide.

In a statement, Easyjet said it "profusely apologises" to anyone who was offended by the "inappropriate" shoot and said it would withdraw this month's issue from all flights.

BBC
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:59 EST

Football matches are fixed all the time. Here's Thierry Henry, the French national team captain using his hand to control the ball and set up a team-mate to score an extra-time winner against the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday night. France thus qualified for the World Cup tournament in South Africa next summer, while the Irish were left stunned that the referee had pretended not to see the illegal infringement.

About 200 European football games are under investigation in a match-fixing inquiry, German prosecutors have said.

At least three of the games were in the Champions League and another 12 were in the Uefa Europa League, officials said.

Uefa representative Peter Limacher called it the biggest match-fixing scandal ever to hit Europe.

On Thursday police carried out about 50 raids in Germany, the UK, Switzerland and Austria, making 17 arrests and seizing cash and property.

Fifteen of those arrested were in Germany and the other two in Switzerland.

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