Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Friday, January 4, 2008
Day 475 - Dakar Rally canceled
Because of real terrorist threats, this year edition of Lisabona-Dakar rally was canceled!
This world we are living in... It is a sad sport world premiere.
"Dakar Rally cancelled over al-Qa'eda threat
By Andrew Baker
The Dakar Rally, one of the biggest events on the annual motor sport calendar, has been cancelled.
The rally, due to commence in Lisbon tomorrow, was called off by the organisers after consultation with the French government over security issues.
More than 600 vehicles and their crews had assembled in the Portuguese capital ready to set off into Africa and through the Sahara to the Senegalese capital in the 30th running of the gruelling event.
But the organising body, the ASO, announced that security concerns meant that the event could not take place.
In a statement released at noon, the ASO said: "Based on the current international political tension and the murder of four French tourists... linked to a branch of al-Qa'eda in Islamic Maghreb, but also and mainly the direct threats launched directly against the race by terrorist organisations, no other decision but the cancellation of the sporting event could be taken."
The ASO insisted that security could never be compromised, and that their first responsibility was to guarantee the safety not only of the crews taking part, but also of their support teams, the media and spectators.
The organisers condemned "the terrorist menace that annihilates a year of hard work" not only by themselves but by all the competitors.
The leading manufacturer teams, such as those running former world rally champion Carlos Sainz and multiple Dakar winner Stephane Peterhansel, will have spent millions of pounds on development work and salaries. But they can afford to.
Harder hit will be the 80 per cent of the field who are amateurs, and who use their own funds to support their Dakar campaigns.
The Dakar rally is regarded as the "Mount Everest" of off-road racing, and in its three decades has claimed the lives of almost 50 competitors.
Mark Thatcher, the son of the then prime minister, famously became lost during the running of the rally in 1982, but was eventually recovered intact.
The rally has four categories, for cars (usually heavily modified off-road vehicles, or purpose-built "buggies"), motorbikes, trucks and quad-bikes.
Many would-be competitors will be making their way home from Lisbon wondering why the organisers could not have reached their conclusions about the security threat some months ago.
The future of the event must inevitably be called into question, given the difficulty of effectively policing the remote areas of the Sahara through which the bulk of the rally runs.
In the meantime, this looks like a sad victory for terrorism over sport".
source http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/
This world we are living in... It is a sad sport world premiere.
"Dakar Rally cancelled over al-Qa'eda threat
By Andrew Baker
The Dakar Rally, one of the biggest events on the annual motor sport calendar, has been cancelled.
The rally, due to commence in Lisbon tomorrow, was called off by the organisers after consultation with the French government over security issues.
More than 600 vehicles and their crews had assembled in the Portuguese capital ready to set off into Africa and through the Sahara to the Senegalese capital in the 30th running of the gruelling event.
But the organising body, the ASO, announced that security concerns meant that the event could not take place.
In a statement released at noon, the ASO said: "Based on the current international political tension and the murder of four French tourists... linked to a branch of al-Qa'eda in Islamic Maghreb, but also and mainly the direct threats launched directly against the race by terrorist organisations, no other decision but the cancellation of the sporting event could be taken."
The ASO insisted that security could never be compromised, and that their first responsibility was to guarantee the safety not only of the crews taking part, but also of their support teams, the media and spectators.
The organisers condemned "the terrorist menace that annihilates a year of hard work" not only by themselves but by all the competitors.
The leading manufacturer teams, such as those running former world rally champion Carlos Sainz and multiple Dakar winner Stephane Peterhansel, will have spent millions of pounds on development work and salaries. But they can afford to.
Harder hit will be the 80 per cent of the field who are amateurs, and who use their own funds to support their Dakar campaigns.
The Dakar rally is regarded as the "Mount Everest" of off-road racing, and in its three decades has claimed the lives of almost 50 competitors.
Mark Thatcher, the son of the then prime minister, famously became lost during the running of the rally in 1982, but was eventually recovered intact.
The rally has four categories, for cars (usually heavily modified off-road vehicles, or purpose-built "buggies"), motorbikes, trucks and quad-bikes.
Many would-be competitors will be making their way home from Lisbon wondering why the organisers could not have reached their conclusions about the security threat some months ago.
The future of the event must inevitably be called into question, given the difficulty of effectively policing the remote areas of the Sahara through which the bulk of the rally runs.
In the meantime, this looks like a sad victory for terrorism over sport".
source http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Day 474 - The Big Snow
After more than 24 hours of heavy snow and hard wind the south part of Romania is almost blocked under 50-100 cm of snow. The highway linking the country capital - Bucharest - to the Black Sea is closed. Many other roads are blocked. The ports at Black Sea are closed. Trains and flights are delayed indefinitely. Over 100 small cities and villages were cut from electricity. There is simply too much snow in a very short period of time. And the weather reports are alarming: temperatures up to minus 20 degrees Celsius are to be expected in the next 24 hours. These are images from this morning around my house.