D Thursday, September 10, 2009 METRO win a winter wardrobe worth 2,000* *terms and conditions apply (see in store for details) 09 Autumn / Winter Collection wwinwin wardrdw 2 *terms a (see in Henry Street www.arnotts.ie Anoushka G BCBG Maxazria Gerard Darel Hobbs Jaeger Marella Max & Co Nanette Lepore Nicole Miller Paul & Joe Sister Ted Baker and many more CrouCh, touCh, pause... Rugby pundit Brent Pope and model Ruth Griffin are geared up for The Rugby Show Live 2009 which takes place this weekend at the RDS in Dublin. Fans and players will have the chance to meet a host of Irish rugby stars, including Keith Earls and Jerry Flannery, get free fitness tests and learn new rugby skills a crack team of commandos res- cued an Irish journalist in a daring raid on his kidnappers strongold yester- day, during which a British soldier and his interpreter were killed. New York Times journalist Stephen Farrell, who holds a joint Irish and British passport, had been kidnapped on Saturday along with his interpreter, Sultan Munadi. They had travelled to the afghani- stan province of kunduz to investigate reports of civilian deaths in the air- strike on hijacked fuel tankers. Describing the dramatic rescue Mr Farrell said: We were all in a room, the Talibs all ran, it was obviously a raid. We thought they would kill us. We thought should we go out?.There were bullets all around us. I could hear British and afghan voices. Mr Farrell said his interpreter moved forward, shouting Journalist, journal- ist but fell in a hail of bullets. Mr Farrell said he dived into a ditch and after a minute or two heard more British voices. He said he shouted British hostage and as he moved to- wards the voices he saw Mr Munadi lying on the ground motionless. He was lying in the same position as he fell. I saw him go down in front of me. He did not move. Hes dead. He By ELLEN OREILLy Commandos rescue Irish journalist in daring raid was so close, he was just two feet in front of me when he dropped. Mr Farrells abduction was not re- ported, as kidnappings involving jour- nalists are often the subject of a volun- tary news blackout. This is the second time Mr Farrell has been kidnapped. He was taken at gunpoint near Fallujah in Iraq in april 2004 while on another assignment. a former reporter with The Times in London, Mr Farrell joined the New York Times in 2007 working in the newspapers Baghdad bureau. Bill keller, executive editor of the New York Times, wrote in the paper: Were overjoyed that Steve is free, but deeply saddened that his freedom came at such a cost. Stephen Grey, author of Operation Snakebite, on the war in afghanistan, said Mr Farrell is the sort of person who realises that you have to get out of your comfort zone beyond the wire in order to work out the truth. Safe: New york Times reporter Stephen Farrell THE sex scandal surrounding Silvio Berlusconi deepened yesterday amid claims that six more escort girls partied with the Italian prime minister. Sonia carpendone and roberta Nigro were named as having been paid expenses to have sex. The pair specialise in passing themselves off as sisters. and Vanessa Di Meglio was twice paid to have sex with Mr Berlusconi, 72, last year, it emerged. On the whole, she is not an escort girl but if the chance arises she is not amiss to be being paid for sexual services, said Gianpaolo Tarantini, a businessman who invited the women to the parties. The names emerged after Mr Tarantinis statements to prosecutors were leaked yesterday. They revealed details of at least 18 parties over five months. The businessman, who is being investigated for fraud, also named Maria Teresa De Nicolo, 38, as having had sex with the leader. Berlusconi: 6 more escorts come forward BELGIaN police raided homes and stood guard at schools across Mechelen yesterday in response to a threat of attack posted on the internet. a German man had found the apparent threat on a US website at the start of the year and alerted authorities. 239 days to go until I an [sic] hero at the kTa Lyceum Mechelen, Belgium, watch the news, the anonymous posting read, referring to a non-existent school and yesterdays eye-catching date 09/09/09. Some 330 officers were deployed at schools across Mechelen. The threat has clearly been taken seriously, said a police spokesman. schools guarded over web threat PM Brown praises paras breathtaking heroismGORDON BROwN yesterday hailed the breathtaking heroism of a British paratrooper killed during a mission to free kidnapped journalist Stephen Farrell. The British prime minister confirmed the death with the very deepest sadness saying his thoughts were with the soldiers family. They are truly the finest among us, and all of us in Britain pay tribute to them, and to the families and communities who sustain them in their awesome responsibilities, he said. This operation was carried out after extensive planning and consideration. Those involved knew the high risks they were running. That they undertook it in such circumstances showed breathtaking heroism. The number of UK troops killed in Afghanistan since the start of operations in 2001 is now 213. Berlusconi: Scandal just wont go away for the Italian PM index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html