Croatia, The Netherlands, Poland, Italy and England on Saturday booked their places at next year’s World Cup finals to join fellow European qualifiers, Ukraine and Germany. Croatia beat Sweden 1-0 through Darijo Srna’s 56th minute penalty, while England also needed a penalty — scored by Frank Lampard in the 25th minute — to edge out Austria by the same score.
No image available
/ 15 September 2005
Barcelona got their Champions League campaign off to a winning start on Wednesday with a comfortable 2-0 defeat of Werder Bremen in group C. Wednesday’s other winners included Udinese, Arsenal, Juventus, Bayern Munich and Benfica, and Manchester United drew 0-0 with Villarreal.
The two rival camps in the battle over next-generation DVD standardisation are looking forward to the International Radio and TV Exhibition in Berlin from September 2 to 7. Since consumers will likely decide the winner — Blu-Ray or HD-DVD technology — producers are eager to impress them with devices in the new formats.
Kimi Raikkonen has signed a pre-contract at Ferrari and is to replace record world champion Michael Schumacher at the famed Italian formula-one team from 2007 onwards, Germany’s Bild daily reported on Thursday. Bild said Schumacher could swap cockpits with Raikkonen as he is reportedly in talks with the Finn’s outfit.
Austrian champions Rapid Vienna returned to the Champions League group stage for the first time in eight years while Thun from their Euro 2008 co-hosts Switzerland qualified for the elite event for the first time on Tuesday. Jozef Valachovic was the hero for Rapid when the Slovakia defender headed home a corner kick.
German football bosses go into the final year of preparations for the 2006 World Cup knowing only the final polish needs to be added to the 12 hosting stadiums. ”We now have the best infrastructure for football in the world,” said Wolfgang Niersbach, vice-president of the 2006 World Cup Organising Committee.
Top-ranked Roger Federer beat French teenager Richard Gasquet 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (4) on Sunday to defend his Hamburg Masters title and collect his tour-leading sixth championship of the year. By avenging one of only two losses this year, Federer stretched an Open-era record — he has now won 19 consecutive finals.
Australian Open champion Marat Safin became embroiled in an argument with an old friend and the umpire before crashing out of the second round of the Masters Series in Hamburg on Wednesday. The volatile Russian lost 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to Juan Carlos Ferrero, the former French Open champion from Spain.
A growing number of consumers worldwide are turning to health foods, with trend researchers predicting a boom in the organic food industry. In the United States the so-called ”Lohas” — Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability consumers — already make up about a third of the population, according to reports.
Defending champion and top-ranked Roger Federer cruised into the third round of the Hamburg Masters and avenged his Olympic defeat by beating Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-1 on Wednesday. In his first tournament following a three-week break to rest inflammation in both feet, Federer will next meet Tommy Robredo.
Andre Agassi’s attempts to turn himself into a contender for the French Open once again failed to convince as he fell at the first hurdle of his last build-up tournament at the Hamburg Masters on Tuesday. Earlier, David Nalbandian slipped to a surprise defeat on the second day of the Masters Series.
Top-ranked Roger Federer won his first match after a three-week injury layoff, but some of his main challengers at the Hamburg Masters left the tournament on Monday. Second-seeded Andy Roddick was upset in the opening round by Nicolas Massu of Chile; Rafael Nadal pulled out; and Carlos Moya withdrew, citing a shoulder injury.
Up to 150 000 self-styled witches and warlocks, New Age practioners and the simply curious are converging for May Eve revelries on the summit of the highest peak in the Harz Mountains, Germany, on Saturday night. April 30, or May Day Eve, is called Walpurgis Night, formerly the date of the pagan festival marking the start of summer.
Uranus may be responsible for recent devastating Asian sea quakes because the mystery-shrouded ”planet of calamity” is unusually close to the Earth, tabloid newspaper readers in Germany were warned on Wednesday. The report in the Bildnewspaper cites an array of experts ranging from Nasa scientists to TV astrologers.
No image available
/ 23 February 2005
As the formula-one season is about to start, Michael Schumacher is once again the overwhelming favourite and few would bet against him adding yet another title to his already impressive array of trophies. He is confident that he can add another. ”I am feeling even stronger now than I did at the beginning of my career,” he says.
No image available
/ 19 January 2005
United States film star Leonardo DiCaprio revealed in a German women’s magazine that he hopes one day to find a woman who is ”at least half as good” as his mother. In the interview appearing in the Frau im Spiegel magazine, the 30-year-old actor says he puts a lot of importance on such qualities as friendship and humour in a relationship.
No image available
/ 8 December 2004
A newly designed airbag can ”hear” an accident and will go into series production at a major German car manufacturer next year, the VDO Automotive AG has announced. The airbag is ten times faster than a conventional airbag and can be re-used after a light accident, VDO said.
No image available
/ 29 September 2004
Some day soon your car could be speaking to you with a synthetic robot voice telling you: ”You’ve forgotton to lock up!” Or you could even ask it a question: ”Good morning, how do I switch on the lights?” A voice will respond: ”Turn the knob on the left”. Driving a car in 2010 will be a lot safer and more comfortable than today. The vehicle will be fitted with a host of ultrasound, infrared, radar and video and other electronic systems.
No image available
/ 16 September 2004
They came to dine at an expensive restaurant along the normally calm harbour in Hamburg. Instead, they got soaked. About 50 patrons found themselves up to their waists in water on Wednesday evening when a 195m-long cargo ship entered the harbour at high tide, creating a giant wave that inundated the chic eatery.
Korgo, a new virus that can infect Windows 2000 and XP systems simply by connecting them to the internet, continued to spread worldwide on Friday, installing a tiny spy that can record what keys were pressed at secret moments such as typing passwords.
No image available
/ 11 January 2004
They had been watching him for months, aware that his pop star good looks concealed a secret life as one of Europe’s new terrorist kingpins. Finally, on a cold winter dawn, the police moved in. Abderrazak Mahdjoub did not resist as armed German officers surrounded his Hamburg home and led him away.
No image available
/ 30 November 2003
The scene is Santa Clara Valley, California, in 1976. Two Steves are busy at work in the garage. Their goal: the world’s first personal computer. Long before IBM, Intel, and Microsoft laid the fundament for the first ”Wintel” PCs, the ambitious Steven and the tinkerer Steve turned their vision of a computer for the rest of us into reality.
An FBI agent has testified that the key plotters behind the September 11 2001 attacks had a test run criss-crossing the United States a few days before the suicide plane bombings. The agent testified at the trial in Germany of a Moroccan charged with helping the plotters.
Wrapping up one of the most sensational investment-scam cases ever in post-war Germany, Hamburg’s district court found Juergen Harksen guilty of defrauding investors of millions of dollars and served a term longer than asked by prosecutors.
No image available
/ 14 January 2003
Lufthansa is to become the first airline to offer its passengers onboard internet access, news reports said on Tuesday.
The man accused of managing the ”kitty” for the September 11 pilots, went on trial in Hamburg yesterday acknowledging that he had lied to investigators.