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By Krittivas Mukherjee and Kerstin Gemlich MUMBAI/PARIS (Reuters) - Big poultry producers India and France confirmed their first cases of H5N1 bird flu on Saturday as the deadly disease continued its geographical spread from Asia. India's federal government said eight people were being checked for H5N1 in the western state of Maharashtra, where about 50,000 birds have died in the last few days. "Yes, it is confirmed. The disease is H5N1. It has come to Maharashtra," state animal husbandry min ...

By Rachel Sanderson PINEROLO, Italy (Reuters) - British champion Rhona Martin's grip on a semi-final place in the Olympic curling competition slipped on Saturday after Britain's women lost 8-4 in a key match against Norway. "We got punished," Martin, looking tired, told reporters. "There was an inconsistency of shots. You play one good one and one bad one. You can't do that at this stage of competition." Britain's women, who have always said it would be a struggle to reach the semis, folded  ...

By Mitch Phillips LONDON (Reuters) - Liverpool ended their 85-year Manchester United jinx when a first-half Peter Crouch header gave them a deserved 1-0 win in the FA Cup fifth round at Anfield on Saturday. They will be joined in the quarter-finals by Newcastle United, who beat second division Southampton 1-0 with a goal by Kieron Dyer in his first start since August following his recovery from a mystery illness. Third division Brentford, who beat Sunderland in the last round, went out after  ...

SESTRIERE, Italy (Reuters) - Above the clanging cowbells and blaring air horns, the skirling sound of bagpipes briefly filled the air at the men's Olympic Alpine skiing venue on Saturday. "That's my dad playing the pipes. My brother plays as well and so do I. It's nice to have him out here," said Finlay Mickel after racing down the Kandahar Banchetta super-G piste to finish equal 22nd. "I've pla ...

By Mitch Phillips LONDON (Reuters) - Liverpool ended their 85-year Manchester United jinx when a first-half Peter Crouch header gave them a deserved 1-0 win in the fifth round of the FA Cup at Anfield on Saturday. Third division Brentford's run came to an end across London at Charlton Athletic where the Premier League side eased through 3-1 while Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United drew 0-0 in a turgid all-Premier clash at the Reebok Stadium. Liverpool had not beaten United in nine FA Cup ti ...

By Angus MacSwan RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Fans poured into Rio de Janeiro from around the globe and a huge police operation swung into action for what will be one of the biggest rock concerts ever -- a free show by the Rolling Stones on the city's famed Copacabana Beach on Saturday night. A Carnival atmosphere took over the beach area, as fans gathered in front of the stage built on th ...

By Ossian Shine TURIN (Reuters) - Double Olympic history was created in half an hour on Saturday when Kjetil Andre Aamodt and Janica Kostelic became the most successful Olympic Alpine skiers of all time. The racers both romped to their fourth Winter Olympics gold -- Aamodt in the men's super-G and Kostelic just over 30 minutes later in the women's combined. No male or female Alpine skier have accrued as many Olympic titles in 82 years of Games history. "The last one is always the best one,"  ...

By Karolos Grohmann TURIN (Reuters) - Turin Winter Olympics organisers said on Saturday security measures were in place to prevent any violence after 11 people were killed in an attack on the Italian consulate in Libya over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad. Organisers said they did not believe the clashes on Friday in Libya's eastern coastal city of Benghazi would spill over into the Games that  ...

By Asim Tanveer MULTAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan banned demonstrations in the capital Islamabad on Saturday as protests over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad grew and four people were wounded when shots were fired during a rally in a central town. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the ban would apply to a protest planned on Sunday by Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), the country's main Islamist alliance. "MMA leaders have been told that protests and rallies will not be allowed i ...

By Mitch Phillips LONDON (Reuters) - Liverpool ended their 85-year Manchester United jinx when a Peter Crouch header gave them a deserved 1-0 win over their Lancashire rivals in the fifth round of the FA Cup at Anfield on Saturday. Liverpool had not beaten United in nine FA Cup ties spanning 85 years, including the 1996 and 1977 finals, but were always in command of a disappointing game. The goal came in the 19th minute when England striker Crouch was left unmarked to steer in an excellent he ...