Canadian Justine Dufour-Lapointe and her sister Chloe Dufour-Lapointe won gold and silver in the women’s moguls at the Sochi 2014 Winter Games.
Hopes of a family podium sweep were ended after Justine and Chloe’s sister Maxime failed to make the final phase.
Defending champion Hannah Kearney from the US won bronze after a disappointing performance in the final run of the competition.
Japan’s Aiko Uemura was beaten into fourth for the second successive Games.
Justine Dufour-Lapointe and her sister Chloe Dufour-Lapointe won gold and silver in the women’s moguls at the Sochi 2014 Winter Games
Justine Dufour-Lapointe, 19, went through a technically precise final run to score 22.44 points with her 22-year-old sister following with a solid run but coming up .78 points short of the winning score.
They were just the third pair of sisters to win gold and silver in the same event at a Winter Olympics. The others were Christine and Marielle Goitschel of France in 1964 and Doris and Angelika Neuner of Austria in 1992.
“It’s the best feeling, they did it! They did it!” shouted the sisters’ watching father Yves Dufour-Lapointe.
Hannah Kearney scored 21.49 in what is set to be her final Winter Olympics.
Voters in Switzerland have narrowly backed a referendum proposal to bring back strict quotas for immigration from EU countries.
Final results showed 50.3% voted in favor. The vote invalidates the Swiss-EU agreement on freedom of movement.
Fiercely independent Switzerland is not a member of the EU, but has adopted large sections of EU policy.
Brussels said it regretted the outcome of the vote and would examine its implications.
A Yes vote of more than 50% was needed for the referendum to pass.
The vote has shown up traditional divisions, with French-speaking areas against the quotas, German-speaking regions divided, and the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino firmly in favor.
In a statement, the European Commission said it regretted that an “initiative for the introduction of quantitative limits to immigration has been passed by this vote.
Voters in Switzerland have narrowly backed a referendum proposal to bring back strict quotas for immigration from EU countries
“This goes against the principle of free movement of persons between the EU and Switzerland. The EU will examine the implications of this initiative on EU-Swiss relations as a whole. In this context, the Federal Council’s position on the result will also be taken into account.”
The vote comes amid increasing debate across Europe about migration and the impact of free movement of people.
Switzerland’s economy is booming at the moment, and unemployment is low, but many Swiss worry about immigration.
A quarter of the eight million-strong population is foreign, and last year 80,000 new immigrants arrived.
Since 2007, most of the EU’s 500 million residents have been on an equal footing with locals in the Swiss job market – the result of a policy voted into law in a 2000 referendum.
But a coalition led by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party now wants to reverse this deal, saying it was a huge mistake.
Supporters of quotas believe free movement has put pressure on housing, health, education, and transport. They also argue that foreign workers drive salaries down.
But the Swiss government and business leaders say free movement is key to Switzerland’s economic success, allowing employers to choose skilled staff from across Europe.
Switzerland’s bilateral agreements with the EU took years of negotiation to achieve.
Abandoning free movement could limit Switzerland’s access to Europe’s single market, where over half its exports are sold.
The X Factor show has been cancelled in the US after three seasons following judge Simon Cowell’s decision to return to the UK show.
The Fox network show has been unable to match the ratings success of Simon Cowell’s previous singing contest American Idol.
The X Factor‘s audience dropped from 12 million in 2011 to six million last year.
The X Factor show has been cancelled in the US after three seasons following judge Simon Cowell’s decision to return to the UK show
The news follows Simon Cowell’s announcement that he will be back on the UK version in the autumn after three years away.
“I’ve had a fantastic time over the last 12 years, both on The X Factor and American Idol,” Simon Cowell said in a statement about the US show’s cancellation.
“And apart from being lucky enough to find some amazing talent on the shows, I have always had an incredible welcome from the American public – most of the time!”
Dieudonne M’bala M’bala has been acquitted over a video where he called for the release of a man who tortured and murdered a Jew in 2006.
The court ruled it could not prove the controversial French comedian was behind the video’s release.
Dieudonne M’bala M’bala, who has convictions for inciting hatred against Jews, had faced a fine of 20,000 euros ($27,000) or 200 days in prison.
France recently banned one of Dieudonne M’bala M’bala’s shows over concerns about anti-Semitism.
The comedian already owes 65,000 euros in fines for six convictions of hate speech against Jews.
Dieudonne M’bala M’bala has been acquitted over a video where he called for the release of a man who tortured and murdered a Jew in 2006
Last week, police raided several properties owned by Dieudonne M’bala M’bala as part a probe into alleged fraud.
The government accused Dieudonne M’bala M’bala of trying to bankrupt himself in order to avoid paying the fines.
The comedian has caused controversy in recent months with what many regard as anti-Semitic comments.
He has joked about gas chambers and is accused of deriding Holocaust survivors and victims.
His trademark “quenelle” gesture has been described by some as an “inverted Nazi salute”.
Dieudonne M’bala M’bala says the quenelle is an anti-establishment gesture, and denies that he is an anti-Semite, saying he is anti-Zionist.
In January, France’s highest court upheld a ban on Dieudonne M’bala M’bala’s one-man show The Wall (Le Mur), which contained sketches including the performer miming urination against the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
A nun and a churchgoer have been killed by a gunman who opened fire inside a cathedral on the eastern Russian island of Sakhalin.
Six other people were wounded in the incident – most were said to have been shot in the legs and were not critically hurt.
An employee at a private security firm was detained at the scene in the main city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
A nun and a churchgoer have been killed by a gunman who opened fire inside a cathedral on the eastern Russian island of Sakhalin
The motive of the gunman, who is said to be about 25 years old, was not clear.
There was no apparent link to the Winter Olympics taking place in Sochi about 4,700 miles to the west.
The Investigative Committee – Russia’s main federal investigating authority – said psychiatrists would try to determine the suspect’s mental condition, reported Reuters news agency.
Reuters quoted the regional leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Tikhon, as saying a prayer service would be held at the cathedral later on Sunday.
The bid to save Marius the giraffe from destruction at Copenhagen Zoo has failed, and the animal was put down on Sunday morning.
Thousands of people had signed an online petition appealing for a change of heart over 18-month-old Marius.
The zoo said it had no choice because of European rules to avoid in-breeding.
Marius was due to be killed by a bolt gun, not a lethal injection, which would contaminate the meat.
Two zoos, one in the UK and one in Sweden, had reportedly put in last-ditch offers to take Marius in.
Marius was due to be killed by a bolt gun, not a lethal injection, which would contaminate the meat
On Saturday Bengt Holst, scientific director at the Danish zoo, defended Marius’s destruction, saying his genes were already well represented among giraffes at the zoo.
He said he could not understand the fuss over Marius, pointing out that, for instance, 700-800 deer are killed every year at a deer park north of Copenhagen to control their numbers.
The zoo planned to dissect the animal after it was killed, before feeding it to the tigers and other carnivores.
“It would be absolutely foolish to throw away a few hundred kilos of meat,” Bengt Holst said according to the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet.
“Some is used for research and the rest for food.”
Animal rights campaigners have described the move as barbaric and have accused the zoo of being unethical.
Russian punk rock band Pussy Riot have signed an open letter insisting Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova not be billed as members.
The letter said Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova had forgotten about the “aspirations and ideals of our group”.
Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova performed alongside Madonna at a concert in New York on Wednesday.
They were jailed for two years after singing a protest song in a Moscow cathedral in 2012 but were freed in December.
Known as “Masha” and “Nadia”, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova spent 16 months in prison.
Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova performed alongside Madonna at a concert in New York
The six members of the collective who signed the letter – Garadja, Fara, Shaiba, Cat, Seraphima and Schumacher – say they wish to remain anonymous.
They said that their group belonged to a “leftist anti-capitalist ideology” but that the pair had become “institutionalized advocates of prisoners’ rights”.
The letter read: “Unfortunately for us, they are being so carried away with the problems in Russian prisons, that they completely forgot about the aspirations and ideals of our group – feminism, separatist resistance, fight against authoritarianism and personality cult, all of which, as a matter of fact, was the cause for their unjust punishment.”
The remaining members of the group criticized Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova for appearing at the Amnesty International concert in New York.
“Our performances are always <<illegal>>, staged only in unpredictable locations and public places not designed for traditional entertainment,” the group said.
The group said that although Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova had repeatedly stressed they were no longer members, the public announcement before their speech spoke of “the first legal performance of Pussy Riot”.
The letter did praise the former members for their new cause.
“Yes, we lost two friends, two ideological fellow member (sic), but the world has acquired two brave, interesting, controversial human rights defenders – fighters for the rights of the Russian prisoners.”
However, it added: “Unfortunately, we cannot congratulate them with this in person, because they refuse to have any contact with us.”
A new research suggests that high-dose vitamin C can boost the cancer-killing effect of chemotherapy in the lab and mice.
Given by injection, it could potentially be a safe, effective and low-cost treatment for ovarian and other cancers, scientists at the University of Kansas say.
Reporting in Science Translational Medicine, they call for large-scale government clinical trials.
Pharmaceutical companies are unlikely to run trials, as vitamins cannot be patented.
Vitamin C has long been used as an alternative therapy for cancer.
High-dose vitamin C can boost the cancer-killing effect of chemotherapy in the lab and mice
In the 1970s, chemist Linus Pauling reported that vitamin C given intravenously was effective in treating cancer.
However, clinical trials of vitamin C given by mouth failed to replicate the effect, and research was abandoned.
It is now known that the human body quickly excretes vitamin C when it is taken by mouth.
However, scientists say that when given by injection vitamin C is absorbed into the body, and can kill cancer cells without harming normal ones.
The researchers injected vitamin C into human ovarian cancer cells in the lab, into mice, and into patients with advanced ovarian cancer.
They found ovarian cancer cells were sensitive to vitamin C treatment, but normal cells were unharmed.
The treatment worked in tandem with standard chemotherapy drugs to slow tumor growth in mouse studies. Meanwhile, a small group of patients reported fewer side-effects when given vitamin C alongside chemotherapy.
Co-researcher Dr. Jeanne Drisko said there was growing interest in the use of vitamin C by oncologists.
One potential hurdle is that pharmaceutical companies are unlikely to fund trials of intravenous vitamin C because there is no ability to patent natural products.
Clint Eastwood has been credited with saving the life of a golf tournament director in California who was choking on a piece of cheese.
“Clint saved my life,” said Steve John, director of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament.
Clint Eastwood reportedly saw that Steve John was in difficulty and performed the Heimlich manoeuvre on him.
The technique requires a rescuer to carry out abdominal thrusts on a choke victim to dislodge the blockage.
Clint Eastwood has been credited with saving the life of golf tournament director Steve John who was choking on a piece of cheese
“Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe. It was as bad as it could have been,” Steve John said of the incident at a drinks reception in Carmel-by-the-Sea on Wednesday.
“Clint came up behind me, and he knew exactly what to do.”
Clint Eastwood told the Carmel Pine Cone that he noticed Steve John had “that look of panic people have when they see their life passing before their eyes”.
Clint Eastwood, 83, moved behind Steve John and carried out the manoeuvre.
“I gave him three good jolts, and that got it out,” he said.
“And then I made him drink a big glass of water with a bunch of lemon squeezed in it.”
Clint Eastwood said he had performed the manoeuvre before, but only “to practice”.
Celebrity boxing match between rapper DMX and George Zimmerman has been called off, TMZ reported.
Promoter Damon Feldman said on Twitter that the match, which generated a public outcry this week, was called off because there’s “more to life than money.”
The potential match was set for March 1, which would have been the 19th birthday of Trayvon Martin, who was killed in 2012 by George Zimmerman. It would have pitted George Zimmerman, who was found not guilty in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, against the trash-talking musician with a history of arrests, most of them drug or driving offenses.
Trayvon Martin’s shooting and George Zimmerman’s self-defense claim polarized the nation on issues of racial justice, stand your ground laws and gun control.
Celebrity boxing match between rapper DMX and George Zimmerman has been called off
Damon Feldman as said on Twitter: “Just looked at my son and daughter today wow I’m so lucky those people must be in so much pain … all you people are right.”
After the fight between George Zimmerman and Earl Simmons, better known as DMX, was announced earlier this week, Damon Feldman met a barrage of criticism, with civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton cautioning against glorifying Zimmerman.
The promoter also came under intense attack on Twitter. One Tweet to him said: “We just wish you could make a living without helping a killer profit from his deed.”
Damon Feldman’s tweets that the fight was called off were deleted from his Twitter feed.
After George Zimmerman’s acquittal, his lawyer said it would be difficult for his client, like defendants in other notorious crimes, to find normal employment.
Hundreds of Turkish demonstrators marching in Istanbul in protest at new laws tightening government control of the internet clashed with riot police.
Demonstrators threw fireworks and stones at police cordoning off Taksim Square, the city’s main square.
President Abdullah Gul is under pressure not to ratify the legislation.
The new legislation includes powers allowing authorities to block websites for privacy violations without a court decision.
The opposition says it is part of a government attempt to stifle a corruption scandal.
Demonstrators threw fireworks and stones at police cordoning off Taksim Square
PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denied accusations of censorship, saying the legislation would make the internet “more safe and free”.
The Turkish parliament approved the bill last week.
As well as allowing Turkey’s telecommunications authority to block websites without first seeking a court ruling, it will also force internet providers to store data on web users’ activities for two years and make it available to the authorities.
Internet access in Turkey is already restricted and thousands of websites blocked.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been openly critical of the internet, describing Twitter as a “scourge” and condemning social media as “the worst menace to society”.
Both Twitter and Facebook were widely used by anti-government protesters to spread information during demonstrations last year.
The corruption scandal broke in December with the arrest of businessmen close to the prime minister and three ministers’ sons.
Since then, Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has sacked hundreds of police officers and executives from banking and telecoms regulators and state television.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the scandal is an attempt by a US-based cleric with influence in the police and judiciary to unseat him. The cleric, Fethullah Gulen, denies this.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 12 cup muffin pans or line with 20 paper baking cups.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, buttermilk, red food coloring and vanilla. Stir in the baking soda and vinegar. Combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt; stir into the batter just until blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, dividing evenly.
Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan set over a wire rack. When cool, arrange the cupcakes on a serving platter and frost with desired frosting.
Justin Bieber’s lawyers has filed legal documents in an attempt to prevent the release of images showing the singer in police custody.
The request comes after footage emerged of Justin Bieber being strip-searched by police in a jail in Miami Beach following his arrest last month.
The motion, filed late Friday by Justin Bieber’s lawyers: “While in custody at the Miami Beach police station, the defendant was captured on videotape in various states of undress which show intimate personal parts of the defendant’s body.”
Justin Bieber’s lawyers has filed legal documents in an attempt to prevent the release of images showing the singer in police custody
The documents allege the release of the video showing Justin Bieber’s strip search is in violation of the law and it emerged before the pop star’s lawyers were made aware of the existence of the footage. Last week, it was revealed a police officer was facing an internal investigation over claims she attempted to take a picture of the singer while he was behind bars.
Justin Bieber denies charges of DUI, driving on a suspended license and resisting arrest without violence and is due to appear in Florida court on Friday.
Philip Seymour Hoffman has been mourned by family and friends at his funeral in New York City.
Among those at the Church of St Ignatius Loyola were Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Ethan Hawke, Spike Lee and other show business figures.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46, was found dead at his home in Manhattan on Sunday with a syringe in his arm.
While police believe the actor died of a heroin overdose, a post-mortem examination was inconclusive.
Philip Seymour Hoffman has been mourned by family and friends at his funeral in New York City
The New York City medical examiner’s office has said more tests are needed to determine what exactly killed Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Authorities also found dozens of bags of what seemed to be heroin in the actor’s apartment.
Philip Seymour Hoffman’s partner of 15 years, Mimi O’Donnell, and their three children walked behind the coffin as it was brought into the church on Friday.
Playwright David Bar Katz, who found Philip Seymour Hoffman’s body, looked visibly upset as he arrived before the funeral.
The lights at theatre marquees on New York’s Broadway, the centre of American theatre, were dimmed on Wednesday in Philip Seymour Hoffman’s honor, and a candlelight vigil was held outside the Labyrinth Theater Company. His close family held a private wake on Thursday.
A larger memorial service is being planned for later in February.
Amid the investigation into Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death, three people have been arrested on drug charges, including one on a charge of heroin possession with intent to sell.
Lindsey Vonn, who had to drop out from the 2014 Sochi Olympics due to a knee injury, opened up about attending the 2013 Met Gala last May with boyfriend Tiger Woods.
“It was hard to go to the Met Ball with people who eat lettuce and Diet Coke for dinner,” Lindsey Vonn, 29, said in the February issue of SELF magazine.
A-list celebrities who attended fashion’s biggest night last year included Beyonce, Katie Holmes, Miley Cyrus and Jennifer Lawrence.
“It’s difficult to be at events with a room full of women who weigh half as much as you do. That’s always tough.”
Lindsey Vonn opened up about attending the 2013 Met Gala last May with boyfriend Tiger Woods
“So many of them are skinny-fat,” Lindsey Vonn continued of the stars in attendance.
“They have more cellulite than most people. I feel like I need to give them a cheeseburger.”
As for her relationship with Tiger Woods, the skier said: “We’re good for each other.”
“I don’t know what he’s learned from me, to be honest. But we push each other and help each other when we’re down.”
Lindsey Vonn and Tiger Woods, 37, made their red carpet debut at the gala as Vonn stunned in an Elie Saab white dress with see-through slits in the front.
Hollywood legend Woody Allen responded to his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow’s accusations of childhood molestation in a New York Times op-ed.
Woody Allen chose to respond in the same publication in which Dylan Farrow made the claim a week ago.
“Of course, I did not molest Dylan,” the film-maker wrote.
Dylan Farrow immediately responded with her own counterclaim, saying: “Nothing he says or writes can change the truth.”
Woody Allen responded to his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow’s accusations of childhood molestation
Woody Allen, 78, claimed the entire scandal was orchestrated by Dylan’s adopted mother Mia Farrow.
The film director and Mia Farrow were in a lengthy relationship that ended bitterly in 1992.
Dylan Farrow wrote, through a spokesman: “His op-ed is the latest rehash of the same legalese, distortions, and outright lies he has leveled at me for the past 20 years. He insists my mother brought criminal charges – in fact, it was a pediatrician who reported the incident to the police based on my firsthand account. He suggests that no one complained of his misconduct prior to his assault on me – court documents show that he was in treatment for what his own therapist described as <<inappropriate>> behavior with me from as early as 1991.”
A UN aid convoy bringing supplies into the besieged district of the central Syrian city of Homs has come under fire, leaving at least one person hurt.
Renewed fighting in the city had already slowed bids to bring in relief supplies.
The Syrian Red Crescent said its vehicles were fired on, and that one of its drivers was wounded.
However, Syrian state media said four Red Crescent aid workers were wounded by rebel gunfire.
The UN is overseeing efforts to deliver food, water and medicine by truck to some 3,000 civilians in rebel-held areas.
The government and rebels accused each other of violating a ceasefire after mortar fire on Saturday morning delayed an earlier attempt to bring in aid.
A UN aid convoy bringing supplies into the besieged district of the central Syrian city of Homs has come under fire, leaving at least one person hurt
On Friday, the first day of the agreed three-day ceasefire, more than 80 children, women and elderly people were evacuated.
Many of those evacuated on Friday looked frail and described extreme hardships inside the area, which has been under army siege for nearly a year-and-a-half.
They said bread had not been available for months, and many residents were gathering weeds and leaves to eat.
Relief officials had earlier warned that this second phase of the humanitarian operation, to allow aid into the embattled quarter, was particularly delicate, not least because the government side has always been reluctant to see supplies going in to rebel-held areas.
If the aid does reach the city, the next step would be another day of evacuations.
During Friday’s operation, vulnerable civilians such as children, old people and medical cases were brought out of the besieged area, sometimes carried by Red Crescent volunteers.
They told journalists that there were more people trapped in the city who had wanted to leave.
Homs has been a key battleground in the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
A tourist train has been derailed by a falling boulder killing two people in the southern French Alps, local officials and firefighters say.
At least nine people were injured.
The train was travelling from Nice to the town of Digne-les-Bains on a line which crosses gorges and viaducts at up to 3,200ft above sea level.
Images from the scene show the two-carriage train dangling from the tracks, the side of one carriage caved in by the rock.
The train was travelling from Nice to the town of Digne-les-Bains on a line which crosses gorges and viaducts at up to 3,200ft above sea level
Local prosecutor Stephane Kellenberger told AFP news agency that one of the dead was a Russian woman, while the other victim came from the Alps region.
One of the injured is said to be in a critical condition, while the others, including the driver, are reported to have sustained lighter injuries.
“A rock the size of a car came off the mountainside and slammed into the first car of the train,” Jean Ballester, mayor of nearby Annot, told BFM television.
There were a total of 34 people on board at the time of the accident, AFP news agency reports.
The agency adds that a total of 110 firefighters and 32 vehicles were deployed from around the region, as well as two helicopters.
They are said to have encountered difficulties in reaching the accident because of heavy snow and the isolated location.
The train travels on track that regularly receives snow and rockfalls, but regional transport official Jean-Yves Petit said that even in winter it is considered safe.
Danish animal rights campaigners are trying to save a healthy young giraffe at Copenhagen Zoo from being destroyed.
The zoo says it cannot keep the giraffe, named Marius, because of European rules to avoid in-breeding, and that attempts to find it a new home have failed.
Copenhagen Zoo says it needs to kill the giraffe before it becomes an adult and attempts to mate.
Campaigners say to do so would be barbaric.
Copenhagen Zoo says it needs to kill the giraffe before it becomes an adult and attempts to mate
Bengt Holst, scientific director at the zoo, said 18-month-old Marius’s genes were already well represented among giraffes at the zoo.
He could not understand the fuss Marius’s impending destruction had generated, pointing out that, for instance, 700-800 deer are killed every year at a deer park north of Copenhagen to control their numbers.
Marius is due to be killed by a bolt gun. The zoo will not use a lethal injection, because that would contaminate the meat.
The zoo plans to dissect the animal after it has been killed, before feeding it to the tigers and other carnivores.
McDonald’s has opened its first restaurant in communist-controlled Vietnam.
Hundreds of people queued for the opening of the restaurant in the southern city of Ho Chi Minh, AFP says.
Ho Chi Minh, known as Saigon during the Vietnam War, was where the US-backed government was based until it fell to communist forces 38 years ago.
The first McDonald’s restaurant in Vietnam is being run by the prime minister’s son-in-law.
Henry Nguyen flipped burgers at a McDonald’s restaurant while a teenager growing up in the United States, where his family fled at the end of the war.
The first McDonald’s restaurant in Vietnam is being run by the prime minister’s son-in-law
He said last July, after winning the franchise, it had been his dream to open a McDonald’s since returning to Vietnam more than a decade ago.
The move underlines Vietnam’s hunger for Western consumer brands and the attractions for foreign investors, say observers.
Despite the Vietnamese economy’s recent slowdown, foreign brands are popular among the youthful population whose parents had few of the food and lifestyle options now available in the country.
Starbucks, Subway, Burger King, and KFC all have a presence there.
Henry Nguyen is the founder of travel and food group Good Day Hospitality and managing general partner of investment firm IDG Ventures Vietnam. He is married to the daughter of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
This year’s World Sauna Championships in Finland have ended in tragedy with the death of finalist Vladimir Ladyzhensky.
Russian Vladimir Ladyzhensky and his Finnish rival, Timo Kaukonen, collapsed after suffering severe burns. Vladimir Ladyzhensky later died in hospital.
The event requires participants to withstand 110C (230F) for as long as possible. The men managed six minutes before judges noticed something amiss.
Chief organizer Ossi Arvela said all the rules of the event had been followed.
“All the rules were followed and there were enough first aid personnel. All the competitors needed to sign in to the competition with a doctor’s certificate,” Ossi Arvela told reporters in Heinola, where it was held.
This year’s World Sauna Championships in Finland have ended in tragedy with the death of finalist Vladimir Ladyzhensky
Half a litre of water was added to the stove inside the sauna every 30 seconds, and the last person remaining was the winner. There was no prize other than “some small things”, he told the Associated Press.
“I know this is very hard to understand to people outside Finland who are not familiar with the sauna habit,” he said.
“It is not so unusual to have 110 degrees in a sauna. A lot of competitors before have sat in higher temperatures than that.”
Timo Kaukonen, the defending world champion, had refused to leave the sauna during the final despite appearing sick, Ossi Arvela said. He is now said to be in a stable condition in hospital.
Ossi Arvela said police were already investigating Vladimir Ladyzhensky’s death, which he said had left the organizers grief-stricken.
The event, which had over 130 participants from 15 countries, had been held since 1999. Organizers said the competition would never be held again.
President Vladimir Putin met his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics, officials say.
Neither side would confirm what was discussed during the informal conversation during the opening ceremony in the Russian city of Sochi.
Russia has frozen delivery of a $15 billion bailout program pending the formation of a new government in Kiev.
Mass anti-government protests erupted in Ukraine in late November.
Vladimir Putin met his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics
Under pressure from Moscow, Viktor Yanukovych had refused to sign a far-reaching association and trade agreement with the EU.
Amid continuing protests, Viktor Yanukovych has accepted the resignation of PM Mykola Azarov – widely seen as pro-Moscow – and a new prime minister has yet to be nominated.
The meeting between Vladimir Putin and Viktor Yanukovych in Sochi on Friday evening was confirmed by senior Russian and Ukrainian officials.
There was no information about what was discussed, but correspondents speculate it was likely to include the suspended Russian financial package – which Ukraine desperately needs in the face of a sliding currency, dwindling foreign reserves and rising borrowing costs.
Viktor Yanukovych’s meeting with Vladimir Putin follows talks in Kiev last Wednesday between Yanukovych and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
Japanese authorities warned Tokyo residents to stay indoors as a severe snow storm hit the capital.
Correspondents say it is the first such warning for the city in 13 years.
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled, roads closed and some train services suspended.
Japanese authorities warned Tokyo residents to stay indoors as a severe snow storm hit the capital
Local media has reported that at least 43 people have been injured because of snow-related accidents, with as much as 1.6 in of snow recorded on Saturday morning in Tokyo.
Weather forecasters have warned that with a rapidly developing low pressure front heading towards eastern Japan, more snow can be expected.
Last year parts of northern Japan had as much as 18ft of snow – a record-breaking amount that caused buildings to collapse under its immense weight.
