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Ballack thunderbolt puts Germany through

(CNN) — Michael Ballack booked Germany’s place in the quarterfinals of Euro 2008 after his thunderbolt free-kick earned a 1-0 victory in a bad-tempered Group B clash against co-hosts Austria in Vienna.

The Chelsea midfielder has been unhappy with his displays in the tournament so far — but he returned to the form of the last six months of the domestic season, lashing home a superb strike into the top corner just after the break at the Ernst Happel Stadium.

It sets up a last-eight clash against his new club manager Luiz Felipe Scolari, who will fulfil his Portugal duties before being unveiled at Stamford Bridge later this summer.

However, Ballack’s national coach, Joachim Loew, may not be in the dressing room at Basel’s St Jakob-Park on Thursday.

Loew, along with Austrian counterpart Josef Hickersberger, were sent to the stands four minutes before the break after bickering among themselves and with the fourth official. UEFA are likely to review the incident, with dismissals normally carrying a touchline ban.

Germany’s path to the last eight would have been clearer had Mario Gomez not wasted an open goal early in the match.

Gomez’s blunder came in the fifth minute after Miroslav Klose had composed himself in the area and crossed to present the chance to his strike partner.

The Stuttgart forward would not have been given an easier opportunity in his career but he spooned his finish, allowing just enough time for Gyorgy Garics to get back and head off his own line.

found here.

Deadly flooding keeps Iowans from homes

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (CNN) — Flooding across Iowa has been linked to at least five deaths and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes, officials said Monday.

Authorities found the body of Scott Jared McCulley, 35, on a gravel road near Wapello on Sunday, a day after his family reported him missing, said Sherry Crooks, a spokeswoman for the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office.

The death brought the number of flood-related deaths since Thursday to five, the governor’s office said.

In Cedar Rapids, residents were allowed to return home temporarily to retrieve keepsakes and other items Sunday, but authorities said Monday that strike teams had determined the neighborhoods were no longer safe, even for a quick visit.

We are taking a step back, Cedar Rapids Fire Department spokesman Dave Brown said, saying it would be awhile before evacuees would be permitted to go back home.

Police set up checkpoints to keep people away from the affected neighborhoods, deemed unsafe after weeks of heavy rain forced the Cedar River from its banks, leaving much of Iowa’s second-largest city under water. See photos of the flooding

Evacuees waited in line at the checkpoints Sunday to receive special wristbands that allowed them to go home and gather their belongings. Authorities set a curfew and asked the residents to stay out of the neighborhoods between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., so people stuffed what they could into plastic bags and returned to the checkpoints.

Tracy Murphy made a beeline for her family photos when she entered her house, parts of which looked as if burglars had ransacked it. Watch Murphy return home

Anything can be replaced, but your photos can’t, she said.

A trash can was overturned and belongings were strewn across rooms. Murphy’s eyes welled up as the realization hit her: My whole, entire life is gone. iReport.com: Photos of flooded towns

The checkpoints — manned by police and the Iowa National Guard — remained in place Monday, but Brown said authorities would not be letting residents check on their homes.

Strike teams assessed the residential and commercial areas where the waters had receded Sunday and determined those areas were not safe for re-entry, he said. See a map of the flooding in Iowa

Veronica Johnson evacuated her home and later had to evacuate her mother’s house, she said. She hasn’t been able to return in four days — and not just because of dangerous floodwaters.

I live by a gas station, and the tankers from underground busted up through the ground, so I have gas spilled all around my house and the whole neighborhood, she said.

Residents have been getting angry with the authorities who are keeping them from their homes, she said, but she understands safety comes first.

They have Red Cross, police department, fire department, and the people who they brought in — the Marines and stuff, the National Guard — have been excellent, she said. They are keeping us out of our homes even though we’re getting upset with them. We have no right because they’re trying to protect us.

Local authorities expect to release a list of areas that are safe by Monday afternoon, with the hope that people can begin returning to their homes Tuesday, Brown said.

About 36,000 Iowans were evacuated because of statewide flooding, 24,000 of them in Cedar Rapids. The massive flooding has overwhelmed the city — which is in a 500-year flood plain, an area the federal government says has less than a 0.2 percent chance of flooding. Watch residents begin the cleanup process

It’s been compared to a 3,000-year flood, Cedar Rapids police Detective Brad Novak said. So something with that rarity of an event, there is no playbook to go by.

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver has declared 83 of the state’s 99 counties disaster areas. More than 3,300 Iowa National Guard troops have been deployed to help primarily with sandbagging and staging resources, Maj. Gen. Ron Dardis of the Iowa National Guard said Sunday. Another 700 troops were expected to join them Monday. Watch workers desperately sling sandbags

Culver estimates agricultural damage could reach $1 billion, exceeding the costs of the big flood in 1993.

There have been 17 weather-related deaths in the state since May 25 — 12 of them from tornadoes and the rest linked to flooding, said Courtney Greene, a spokeswoman for Culver’s office.

In addition to the body found Sunday in Grandview, other flood-related deaths include an Iowa State University student struck by lightning in Curlew, a farmer swept away by floodwaters in Wright County, a man killed in a car accident in Hamilton County and a 51-year-old woman found dead in her Cedar Rapids home, Greene said.

This month’s severe weather has trampled towns from North Dakota to Indiana. The Federal Emergency Management Agency says more than 11 million Midwesterners will be affected by flooding and tornadoes.

Iowa has been inundated with heavy rains in recent weeks that have caused several major rivers that feed the Mississippi — including the Cedar, Des Moines and Iowa rivers — to flood their banks.

The flooding is some of the worst to hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast nearly three years ago, FEMA Administrator David Paulison said Sunday. Watch how the Midwest is familiar with flooding

found here.

Here comes the bride, there goes your wallet?

(LifeWire) — Jennifer Bilotta thought she and her husband Michael had the perfect present for his cousin’s wedding. The gift in question — a fused-glass plate decorated with a tacky scene of a bride and groom, she recalls — had been given to Bilotta at her own wedding a few years earlier.

Nothing wrong with a little regifting as long as the bride and groom enjoy the gift. Or so Bilotta thought.

She collects Barbies, and he collects G.I. Joes, says Bilotta, 33, a publicist in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania. The plate seemed up their alley. So for their wedding gift, we gave them the plate along with a card with a check for the usual wedding amount.

But the gift didn’t go over well. A few weeks after they got married, we were talking to them about their wedding gifts, and they mentioned this hideous glass plate that someone gave them, Bilotta says. The card must have gotten separated from the plate, so they didn’t know it was from us and they both went on about how ugly it was. We never fessed up.

Deciding what to give (or not give) newlyweds is never an easy task, says Peggy Post, one of the country’s leading etiquette experts and co-author of the book A Wedding Like No Other. Before you turn into a guestzilla, however, take heart. Gift giving doesn’t have to be a stressful experience, says Post.

The wrong way to give

Some gifts should never be given — namely those that you yourself received. Whether it’s to save yourself some cash or to avoid the hassle of shopping, regifting is a wedding no-no, says Steve Kemble, star of Style Network’s Whose Wedding Is It Anyway? and Married Away.

found here.

Floodwaters breach sandbags in Iowa college town

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (CNN) — Floodwaters inundated Iowa City and the University of Iowa arts campus on Sunday despite what one official called a Herculean effort to hold back the water with sandbags.

We’ve had the [National Guard] working next to prisoner inmates, sandbagging, said David Jackson, the university’s facilities manager. Students, faculty and staff, leaders of the university, the president of the university — out sandbagging.

Some 500 to 600 homes were ordered to evacuate and others faced a voluntary evacuation order through the morning, said Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey.

The Iowa River in Iowa City crested at 31.5 feet and was expected to remain at that level until Monday, city and state officials said Sunday.

Classes at the university have been suspended until next Sunday, according to its Web site.

All of our theaters, our music building, Clapp Recital Hall, our fine arts building [the] new Art Building West designed by Stephen Hall, has taken on significant water as well, said Sally Mason, president of the university.

Fortunately we were able to save all the art, she said. The art was placed in crates shipped out of state last week. We anticipated the worst a week ago.

At least 8 feet of water rushed through the campus, officials said. Among the school’s 30,000 students, Ann Barber told CNN she has been sandbagging for nearly seven days.

It’s very hard to watch the devastation of our university, she said.

This month’s severe weather has trampled towns from North Dakota to Indiana. The Federal Emergency Management Agency says more than 11 million Midwesterners will be affected by flooding and tornadoes.

Meanwhile, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, some of nearly 20,000 displaced residents began to return home Sunday as water there receded.

People lined up for about a block in one part of the city waiting for a special wristband to allow them access to their homes.

The flooding there caught many people by surprise.

We didn’t think it would get this high, said Tina Fleischacker, whose Cedar Rapids home was soaked. We moved everything upstairs and it’s gone. It’s gone. We left with the clothes on our backs.

About 36,000 Iowans, most in Cedar Rapids, evacuated their homes due to the state-wide flooding. At least 472 people spent Saturday night in 18 shelters set up across the state, according to Dave Miller, the administrator of Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

In Iowa City, the water is expected to drop no more than 3 feet by Saturday, said John Benson, spokesman for Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

There’s that moment of ‘phew,’ but then there’s that realization that the water will be going down very slowly, Bailey told reporters.

She urged residents to be careful when returning to their homes and businesses, and asked them to abide by a 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

Water flows are still dangerous, she said. We need people to be patient. We will get them into those homes and businesses as soon as possible.

Iowa has been inundated with heavy rains in recent weeks that have caused several major rivers that feed into the Mississippi — including the Cedar, Des Moines and Iowa Rivers — to flood their banks.

The flooding in the Midwest is some of the worst to hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina inundated the Gulf Coast nearly three years ago, FEMA administrator David Paulison said Sunday on CNN.

The scenarios are much different, but the aftermath is similar, he said. The fact [is] that we have a lot of people whose homes have been destroyed.

The agency has received more than 12,000 disaster assistance applications from the hardest-hit states — Iowa, Indiana and Wisconsin.

Starting Tuesday, the American Red Cross will set up kitchens in Iowa to serve up about 100,000 meals to residents each day. The agency, which is housing 720 flood victims in 30 shelters, plans to spend about $15 million on Midwest relief efforts.

Iowans are very concerned about how they will afford to rebuild. See a map of the flooding in Cedar Rapids

Most of the people here … do not have flood insurance, said Steve Doser, director of a shelter in Cedar Rapids. See photos of the flooding

A couple people told us … that they were told they didn’t need flood insurance, ‘Don’t worry about it, you’re in a 500-year [plain],’ he said. Now they don’t have anything. Watch what Iowa has to look forward to

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver estimates agricultural damage could reach $1 billion, exceeding the costs of the big flood in 1993. He praised the strength and resilience of the people of Iowa and vowed to rebuild the state, noting that will take a long time. Watch how Midwest is familiar with flooding

There have been 16 storm-related deaths since May 25 in Iowa, 12 of them from recent tornadoes, Culver said Sunday. Four Boy Scouts were killed last week when a twister touched down at a camp in Iowa.

Culver has declared 83 of the state’s 99 counties disaster areas. More than 3,300 Iowa National Guard troops have been deployed to help primarily with sandbagging and staging resources, Maj. Gen. Ron Dardis of the Iowa National Guard said Sunday.

That number is expected to rise to 4,000 by Monday, he said. Watch workers desperately sling sandbags

found here.

Floodwaters breach sandbags in Iowa college town

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (CNN) — Floodwaters inundated Iowa City and the University of Iowa arts campus on Sunday despite what one official called a Herculean effort to hold back the water with sandbags.

We’ve had the [National Guard] working next to prisoner inmates, sandbagging, said David Jackson, the university’s facilities manager. Students, faculty and staff, leaders of the university, the president of the university — out sandbagging.

Some 500 to 600 homes were ordered to evacuate and others faced a voluntary evacuation order through the morning, said Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey.

The Iowa River in Iowa City crested at 31.5 feet and was expected to remain at that level until Monday, city and state officials said Sunday.

Classes at the university have been suspended until next Sunday, according to its Web site.

All of our theaters, our music building, Clapp Recital Hall, our fine arts building [the] new Art Building West designed by Stephen Hall, has taken on significant water as well, said Sally Mason, president of the university.

Fortunately we were able to save all the art, she said. The art was placed in crates shipped out of state last week. We anticipated the worst a week ago.

At least 8 feet of water rushed through the campus, officials said. Among the school’s 30,000 students, Ann Barber told CNN she has been sandbagging for nearly seven days.

It’s very hard to watch the devastation of our university, she said.

This month’s severe weather has trampled towns from North Dakota to Indiana. The Federal Emergency Management Agency says more than 11 million Midwesterners will be affected by flooding and tornadoes.

Meanwhile, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, some of nearly 20,000 displaced residents began to return home Sunday as water there receded.

People lined up for about a block in one part of the city waiting for a special wristband to allow them access to their homes.

The flooding there caught many people by surprise.

We didn’t think it would get this high, said Tina Fleischacker, whose Cedar Rapids home was soaked. We moved everything upstairs and it’s gone. It’s gone. We left with the clothes on our backs.

About 36,000 Iowans, most in Cedar Rapids, evacuated their homes due to the state-wide flooding. At least 472 people spent Saturday night in 18 shelters set up across the state, according to Dave Miller, the administrator of Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

In Iowa City, the water is expected to drop no more than 3 feet by Saturday, said John Benson, spokesman for Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

There’s that moment of ‘phew,’ but then there’s that realization that the water will be going down very slowly, Bailey told reporters.

She urged residents to be careful when returning to their homes and businesses, and asked them to abide by a 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

Water flows are still dangerous, she said. We need people to be patient. We will get them into those homes and businesses as soon as possible.

Iowa has been inundated with heavy rains in recent weeks that have caused several major rivers that feed into the Mississippi — including the Cedar, Des Moines and Iowa Rivers — to flood their banks.

The flooding in the Midwest is some of the worst to hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina inundated the Gulf Coast nearly three years ago, FEMA administrator David Paulison said Sunday on CNN.

The scenarios are much different, but the aftermath is similar, he said. The fact [is] that we have a lot of people whose homes have been destroyed.

The agency has received more than 12,000 disaster assistance applications from the hardest-hit states — Iowa, Indiana and Wisconsin.

Starting Tuesday, the American Red Cross will set up kitchens in Iowa to serve up about 100,000 meals to residents each day. The agency, which is housing 720 flood victims in 30 shelters, plans to spend about $15 million on Midwest relief efforts.

Iowans are very concerned about how they will afford to rebuild. See a map of the flooding in Cedar Rapids

Most of the people here … do not have flood insurance, said Steve Doser, director of a shelter in Cedar Rapids. See photos of the flooding

A couple people told us … that they were told they didn’t need flood insurance, ‘Don’t worry about it, you’re in a 500-year [plain],’ he said. Now they don’t have anything. Watch what Iowa has to look forward to

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver estimates agricultural damage could reach $1 billion, exceeding the costs of the big flood in 1993. He praised the strength and resilience of the people of Iowa and vowed to rebuild the state, noting that will take a long time. Watch how Midwest is familiar with flooding

There have been 16 storm-related deaths since May 25 in Iowa, 12 of them from recent tornadoes, Culver said Sunday. Four Boy Scouts were killed last week when a twister touched down at a camp in Iowa.

Culver has declared 83 of the state’s 99 counties disaster areas. More than 3,300 Iowa National Guard troops have been deployed to help primarily with sandbagging and staging resources, Maj. Gen. Ron Dardis of the Iowa National Guard said Sunday.

That number is expected to rise to 4,000 by Monday, he said. Watch workers desperately sling sandbags

found here.