News: World
India embraces Russia arms
India signed five deals Friday to purchase more than $7 billion in hardware and expertise from Russia, including an aircraft carrier, a fleet of MIG-29 fighters, defense and space technology and at least 12 civilian nuclear reactors.
HEALTH: U.S. AIDS Fund Flat-Lining, Groups Complain
Live - Bangladesh v England
Christian-Muslim fighting injures 24 in Egypt
Pope under fire for transfer, letter on sex abuse
Clinton berates Netanyahu over settlements
Apollo men decry Moon cancellation
MEXICO: Consumers on the Offensive
RIGHTS: Gender Confab Marked by Political Uncertainties
Alaska wolves 'killed' US teacher
UN chief making second post-quake visit to Haiti
UN chief making second post-quake visit to Haiti
Tiger Woods' wife was barred from ambulance, highway patrol files show
Records compiled from investigations after golfer's car crash raise fresh questions about his account to journalists
Fresh questions have been raised about Tiger Woods' account of the car crash outside his home that led to the unravelling of his private and sporting life, after revelations that the ambulance crew refused to allow his wife, Elin Nordegren, into the ambulance because they thought it was a case of domestic violence.
Records compiled from investigations by the Florida highway patrol, released last night, show that when paramedics collected Woods "one of the crew stated that [his] wife could not go in ambulance because this was a domestic".
In the few public statements Woods has made about events on the night of 27 November, he has consistently denied that he was attacked by his wife. When he delivered a public apology last month for the multiple affairs that emerged following the crash, he said: "Some people have speculated that Elin somehow hurt or attacked me on Thanksgiving Night. It angers me that people would fabricate a story like that. She never hit me that night or any other night. There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage. Ever."
The highway patrol documents confirm Woods was found lying beside his SUV car outside his Florida home, having hit a tree and fire hydrant. The rear window of the car was smashed – apparently by a golf club, and he was seen by a neighbour lying on the ground and snoring.
The documents show police retrieved two small bottles of Vicodin, a moderate painkiller, from the house. Nordegren said Woods had taken some medication earlier in the evening, though not Vicodin.
A police officer at the scene, Jason Sipos, is recorded in the documents saying he never heard Woods or his wife make any reference to domestic violence. Woods has not played professional golf since.
Ed Pilkingtonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Experience: I was reunited with my childhood sweetheart
'I had no way of reaching him, and had to face the truth – if Getu was alive, he'd have found me'
Ten years ago, we landed at Heathrow on a grey morning. Just months earlier, our lives had been so different. My father had a successful business in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, we had a lovely home and went to a good school. I was 16, and had a boyfriend I adored. Everything was mapped out: Getu and I would marry, have children and grow old together.
But the war with Eritrea changed everything. My parents were from there, so overnight they became the enemy. My father was imprisoned and we were ordered to leave. My six older siblings fled to the countryside. My mother took my nine-year-old sister and me into hiding. Soon after, she announced we were leaving the country. I wanted to tell Getu and rang his neighbour, but he wasn't home. I cried all the way to the airport; it was only then I found out we were heading for the UK.
For three weeks we lived in a hostel in London. I was desperate to call him, but we were penniless and phone cards cost a fortune. By the time we were moved to Manchester, my mother had sunk into a depression. It was up to me to sort out benefits and education. Virtually every penny went on food and bus fares, but eventually I scraped enough for a phone card. "Getu's left," his neighbour told me.
I had no way of reaching him, and had to face the truth – if Getu was alive, he'd have found me. I grieved in secret; my mother had enough to worry about, as we feared deportation and longed for news of my father. I threw myself into my studies, becoming fluent in English and working as an interpreter. Then we heard my father had died while being deported to Eritrea; he'd had health problems, and was treated badly in prison. He was 49. With him gone, there was nothing for us back home.
I started going out with a fellow student. We married in 2002 and Maysoun arrived two years later. But, deep down, I knew the marriage wasn't working. Much as I tried to deny it, I'd never stopped loving Getu. Four years later, we separated.
By now I was managing a refugee centre. Helping vulnerable newcomers gave me huge satisfaction. As a single mother, I didn't get out much, so after tucking Maysoun up I'd spend hours on Facebook, joyfully rediscovering friends who'd fled Ethiopia. When my old schoolfriend Saada popped up on screen, now in Australia, I squealed in disbelief. Minutes later, my computer pinged. "Sysay," came her reply, "I've just been home and you'll never guess who I met? Getu – he's fine, and he's never stopped looking for you," she said, adding his phone number.
I started to laugh, then cry – Getu was alive. It took a couple of days to pluck up the courage to call, but impulse soon took over. I punched the last digit and held my breath. It rang, and then I heard his voice for the first time in eight years. I got as far as saying his name before I began crying. "Sysay?" he asked incredulously. "Is that you?" Then he was crying, too. We began to talk; an hour flew by. We phoned regularly after that and emailed constantly. We were desperate to see each other and started saving furiously.
Last April, Getu was granted a temporary visa. I was so nervous waiting at Heathrow. The last time I'd been here was as a frightened teenager; now I was a 26-year-old mother. The arrivals door opened and a figure broke free from the crowd. My heart gave its familiar leap at the sight of his face. Oblivious to the crowd around us, he got down on one knee. "I've wanted to do this for so long and I'm not waiting a minute longer," he said. "Sysay, will you marry me?" All I could do was nod. A ring flashed as he put it on my finger and applause broke out.
Those first few months weren't always easy: we were embarking on a relationship that was so different from the one we'd had as teenagers. He was suddenly dependent on me; I was working, fluent in English and used to Britain. But we were determined to make it work.
Last July – 20 years after we first met – we finally married. A traditional Ethiopian song played as I walked up the aisle, but our vows were in English – this is our home now. After, we had a small party back at home. It was all we wanted, and needed. When you've been separated as long as we were, what you appreciate most is time together. We never take it for granted.
• As told to Fiona Duffy
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Entente cordiale: Sarkozy speaks warmly of Brown at Downing St
French president says Britain needed 'bang in heart of Europe' and tells Cameron he doesn't understand Tory euroscepticism
Coming from opposing ends of the ideological spectrum, Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown aren't supposed to be political brothers in arms.
However, at a Downing Street press conference yesterday the French president chose to lavish praise on the prime minister, coming close to siding with him on the issue of Europe and saying Britain was needed "bang in the heart of Europe", while expressing regret at David Cameron's decision to quit the European People's Party.
"If you ask me whether I would prefer the Tories to remain within the EPP, the answer is yes. The EPP is a good bunch of people. Opening up to others is a very good thing," Sarkozy said.
He went on to meet the Tory leader later at the French ambassador's residence in London, but the Conservatives said he only pressed the point of their decision to quit the EPP in passing. The meeting between the two sides had been very warm, the Conservatives said.
Brown and Sarkozy said they had made progress on bridging their differences on the future regulation of off-shore hedge funds, and they hoped a compromise agreement on a directivecould be reached in time for an EU finance ministers meeting next Tuesday.
The Americans are opposing adirective that means US hedge funds – or funds operating from London, but registered for tax outside Europe – would need authorisation from each of the EU countries. Sarkozy spoke warmly of the prime minister, saying: "I have found in Gordon Brown a convincing and convinced reformer, and hand in glove we have tried to find the right answers when the economic and financial crisis almost swept us all away."
He added: "I know we have differences: he is British and I am French. He is a socialist and I am not. That is not as serious as the first point. We have always worked in a spirit of partnership and trust."
The French have been building contacts with the shadow cabinet in a series of meetings, but remain perplexed by Tory scepticism, saying they cannot find the intellectual basis for this criticism.
Patrick Wintourguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Pope under fire for transfer, letter on sex abuse
Twin suicide bombs kill 43 in Pakistani city
Twin suicide bombs kill 43 in Pakistani city
