Renault reveals the R30...[ 617 ]

Renault reveals the R30, Comfirms Petrov.

By Pablo Elizalde

Sunday, January 31st 2010, 15:37 GMT

The Renault Formula 1 team launched its 2010 car at the Valencia circuit on Sunday afternoon and confirmed Vitaly Petrov as its second driver.

The new R30 was unveiled by Russian Petrov and team-mate Robert Kubica, who will form the all-new driver line-up of the French squad this year.

Twenty-five year-old Petrov, last year's runner-up in the GP2 series, becomes the first Russian Formula 1 driver in the history of the sport.

Petrov will be partnering Pole Kubica at Renault, who is hoping to turn around its fortunes following a dismal 2009 season in which the team scored just 26 points on its way to eighth place in the championship.

"The start of a new Formula 1 season is always a time of great anticipation," said new team boss Eric Boullier. "For Renault, this is particularly true of the 2010 season as we begin a new era for the team.

"With a new structure in place, new drivers, and new colours, there is a lot to be excited about and a lot to look forward to in the year ahead.

"Setting objectives is never easy, but it's clear that we have high ambitions for 2010 as we aim to take Renault back to the front of the grid. However, this is not going to happen overnight and our ambition is to make this journey one step at a time.

"The R30 should be a competitive, strong and reliable car and we've opted for an aggressive development strategy. The factories in Enstone and Viry have been working flat-out during the long winter months to ensure that we begin the new season in the best shape possible. These factories have been successful in the past and they haven't forgotten how to win in Formula 1."

The R30 was presented with Renault's new colours - yellow and black - following the exit of ING as main sponsor in the middle of last season.

It also incorporates a similar shark fin engine cover, as those seen in the new McLaren and Sauber cars.

The new colour scheme resembles that used by Renault when it first entered Formula 1 back in 1978.

American female Football...[ 616 ]

Lingerie Football: Teams of scantily clad ladies take to the field for a chance to play at the Super Bowl

American Football is the biggest sport in the US. Huge men padded and helmeted thunder around a pitch, chasing, kicking and throwing a ball, looking for a touch down. But there is also an established female version of the game called Lingerie Football

Picture: GETTY IMAGES

Taliban Chief Reportedly Killed...[ 615 ]

Pakistan Taliban Chief Reportedly Killed in U.S. Drone Strike

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, left, is seen with CIA homicide bomber Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal Al-Balawi in a video released Jan. 9.

The head of the Taliban in Pakistan, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed in a U.S. drone attack, Pakistan state television reported Sunday.

The report stated Mehsud had been injured in a drone attack in the Shaktoi area January 14 and died three days later. He reportedly was buried in the village of Mamuzai in the North Waziristan region.

The Pakistani army said Sunday that it was investigating the reports.

The militant leader's death would be an important success for both Pakistan, which has been battling the Pakistani Taliban, and the U.S., which blames Mehsud for a recent deadly bombing against the CIA in Afghanistan.

The army's announcement came shortly after Pakistani state television, citing unnamed "official sources," reported that Mehsud died in Orakzai, an area in Pakistan's northwest tribal region where he was reportedly being treated for his injuries.

"We have these reports coming to us," army spokesman Gen. Athar Abbas told The Associated Press. "We are investigating whether it is true or wrong."

A tribal elder told the AP that he attended Mehsud's funeral in the Mamuzai area of Orakzai on Thursday. He said Mehsud was buried in Mamuzai graveyard after he died at his in-laws' home. The elder spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from the Taliban.

Pakistani intelligence officials have said that Mehsud was targeted in a U.S. drone strike in South Waziristan on Jan. 14, triggering rumors that he had been injured or killed. The strike targeted a meeting of militant commanders in the Shaktoi area of South Waziristan.

Mehsud issued two audio tapes after the strike denying the rumors. But Pakistani intelligence officials told the AP on Sunday that they have confirmation that the Taliban chief's legs and abdomen were wounded in the strike.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Pakistani Taliban officials were not immediately available for comment, but low-level fighters have dismissed rumors of Mehsud's death in recent days as propaganda.

The drone strike that targeted Mehsud came about two weeks after a deadly suicide bombing he helped orchestrate killed seven CIA employees at a remote base across the border in Afghanistan. Mehsud appeared in a video issued after the bombing sitting beside the Jordanian man who carried out the attack.

The bomber, Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, said he carried out the attack in retribution for the death of former Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud — Hakimullah Mehsud's predecessor — in a U.S. drone strike last August.

The U.S. refuses to talk about the covert CIA-run drone program in Pakistan but officials have said privately that the strikes have killed several senior Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders.

Pakistani officials publicly protest the strikes as violations of the country's sovereignty, but U.S. officials say privately they support the program, especially when it targets militants like Mehsud who the government believes is a threat to the state.

Mehsud, who has the reputation as a particularly ruthless militant, took over leadership of the Pakistani Taliban soon after Baitullah Mehsud's death.

The 28 year-old militant leader has focused most of his attacks against targets inside Pakistan, but his men have also been blamed for attacking U.S. and NATO supply convoys traveling through the country en route to Afghanistan.

Hakimullah Mehsud first appeared in public to journalists in November 2008, when he offered to take reporters in Orakzai on a ride in a U.S. Humvee taken from a supply truck headed to Afghanistan. He was the Pakistani Taliban's regional commander in the Orakzai, Khyber and Mohmand tribal areas before taking over the organization.

He has taken responsibility for a wave of brazen strikes inside Pakistan, including the bombing of the Pearl Continental hotel in the northwestern city of Peshawar last June and the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore earlier that year.

The group stepped up its attacks after the Pakistani army invaded its stronghold of South Waziristan in mid-October. More than 600 people have been killed in attacks throughout the country since the ground offensive was launched.

Authorities have said Mehsud has been behind threats to foreign embassies in Islamabad, and there is a $120,000 bounty on his head.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

EU attacks smokers [614 ]

30.01.10 | 19:45

Smoking police ashtray ban trials - EU attacks smokers with new recommendations

Smokers have it increasingly harder in Europe.

29.01.2010 - 15:23 UHR

By Dirk Hoeren

The EU has declared war against smokers! Brussels wants to eliminate cigarettes with a ‘smoking police’, ashtray bans and high-publicity legal processes against celebrities who enjoy a puff.

More news

A dossier with recommendations for the 27 member states has been released by the EU. The objective - a “100 per cent smoke free environment”.

Health ministers proposed the paper and the EU parliament has approved it.

Member countries now have three years to bring the recommendations into their own legal systems, and in Germany it is set to spark a new debate over the controversial smoking ban.

The new 31-page document makes recommendations for drastic measures to ban smoking in all workplaces, public buildings and facilities:

• Fines: Anyone who breaks the ban will receive a fine. The penalties are intended to be high enough to act as a deterrent. Companies will be threatened with higher fines than individuals and if necessary may even be threatened with the temporary withdrawal of their business permit.

• ‘Smoking police’: The EU states are being asked to set up a system for enforcing the smoking ban, including a system of prosecution. The use of inspectors and enforcement officials is recommended. They will also carry out random spot checks.

• Ashtray ban: It will be the responsibility of all companies and public services to ensure that there are no ashtrays in the building.

• Shock trials: The EU states will be encouraged to carry out sensationalist prosecutions designed to shock the public.

Celebrities who smoke will also be targeted and exposed publicly as smoking offenders.

The document states that if individuals in the public eye have deliberately disregarded the law and this is publicly known, the authorities will demonstrate their commitment to and the seriousness of the legislation by reacting with rigorous and speedy measures, attracting the widest possible public attention.

With these measures, the EU is trying to attack and eliminate smoking as much as possible. The aim is for all enclosed workplaces and public areas to become smoke free, including those which are partly open or enclosed.

The smoking ban will also include all hallways, staircases, toilets, staffrooms, store rooms and lifts that are used at work.

In the future tobacco smoke should not be seen or smelled in the air - it will probably be illegal to light a cigarette!

The dossier even defines smoking as including the ownership or handling of a lit cigarette, regardless of whether or not the smoke is actively being inhaled.

Mehr zum Thema

The Machu Picchu evacuation[ 613 ]

Peru completes Machu Picchu evequation said Minister

A man uses a loud speaker to organize the evacuation of tourists in Aguas Calientes, in Cuzco region, Peru. Peruvian authorities successfully completed the evacuation of thousands of tourists stranded for days by mudslides and flooding near Machu Picchu, a minister said.

Foreign tourists help to fill sandbags to contain floodwaters of the Vilcanota river in Cusco. Peruvian authorities successfully completed the evacuation of thousands of tourists stranded for days by mudslides and flooding near Machu Picchu, a minister said.

30 January 2010 - 06H54 ,,AFP - Peruvian authorities successfully completed the evacuation of thousands of tourists stranded for days by mudslides and flooding near Machu Picchu, a minister said.

"Not a single tourist remains in Machu Picchu or in the town of Aguas Calientes" near the ancient ruins, said Tourism Minister Martin Perez.

He added that members of the police and military conducted an extensive search of hotels and homes "to verify that there was not a single tourist in the zone."

He said diplomats from several countries whose nationals were among the 3,500 tourists trapped since Monday had gathered in the former Inca capital of Cusco and were brought to the site to confirm that no visitors remained in Machu Picchu.

"Today we evacuated 1,460 tourists. In total, over four days, we rescued 3,500 tourists in 276 flights," Perez said.

Torrential rains had drenched the region, washing out roads and sections of a railway between Cusco and Aguas Calientes, and causing floods and mudslides that affected more than 25,000 people. Seven people were killed, authorities said.

Twelve helicopters, six of them lent by the United States, had been flying tourists out of the area since Tuesday, taking them to a nearby village where they were put on buses to Cusco.

Argentina and Chile also sent military planes to Cusco to repatriate their nationals.

Earlier, reports said some tourists did not want to be taken out of the region, but Perez said all visitors would be evacuated.

"The air bridge will keep going until all the tourists are evacuated, even though there are some who don't really want to go, who are happy to stay. But we are making the evacuation of all mandatory," he had said.

Several young backpackers from countries like Argentina, Brazil, Britain, Chile, France, Mexico and Spain were helping locals fill sand bags and form stone walls against the nearby Vilcanota river, which was threatening to flood homes.

"We are working to help the population while we wait for them to come for us," a Brazilian tourist told Peruvian television.

The government sent one ton of food to Aguas Calientes, the village adjacent to the Machu Picchu site, as well as 400,000 dollars to replenish emptied ATM machines.

The tourists became trapped at Machu Picchu when landslides cut the railway to the area that is the main link to civilization.

The only alternative is a four-day hike along a narrow mountain pathway called the Inca Trail that only 10 percent of visitors use. That path was also cut by landslides, resulting in the death of an Argentine hiker and his Peruvian guide.

Sources from Peru Rail said it could take two months to repair the railway, a period President Alan Garcia suggested would be too long of a delay for visits to resume to one of the most popular tourist destinations in Latin America.

"I don't believe it will take eight weeks. We will set up helicopter flights to take tourists there, but it's possible it will be more expensive" than the train, Garcia said from Cusco.

Machu Picchu attracts more than 400,000 visitors a year. The 15th-century Inca citadel is located on a high mountain ridge 70 kilometers (43 miles) from Cusco.