BASEL, SWITZERLAND – 8-7 was the final score, Canada over Scotland, giving Canada team skip Glenn Howard his third consecutive World Championship in curling after an extra-end win over Scotland’s Tom Brewster.
Details: RTS Swiss public broadcasting (Fre), The Scotsman (final not yet listed, 23:00 Sunday), Toronto Sun
MILLLENIUM STADIUM, CARDIFF, WALES – The Welsh team completed their Grand Slam, which involves winning all the Six Nations matches in a season, with a 16-9 win over France, 17 March. It was their third slam in eight years and brought comparisons with the great 1970s team led by Mervyn Davies,who died the previous day. It was not a particularly good game, except in the result, with only one try and long periods of rather negative defensive play by the French team. The Welsh team will not care too much about the manner of the victory.
The English forwards dominated as they crushed Ireland 30-9, including a penalty try. The match was balanced until half-time but then England took complete control at the scrums, aided by handling errors by the Irish.
Italy won the match with Scotland 13-6 to avoid the “wooden spoon” for the bottom team. Scotland’s manager Andy Robinson insisted he would stay on despite his team losing all five matches.
Links to other sites: Wales Online, Guardian, BBC
Two die as high winds sweep the region
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Winds of up to 100mph in Scotland and other parts of Britain 3 January are causing considerable damage, with some areas suffering power cuts and transport disrupted, including the London-Edinburgh trains. A man died in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in southern England when a tree fell on his van and a sailor, one of three injured on a boat in the Channel, died after they were rescued.
Weather alerts remain in place, with strong winds expected throughout the night.
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – The preliminary stage of the Rugby World Cup ended on 2 October and it is already certain that the semi-finals and the final, to be held 23 October at 10:00 Swiss time, will be contests between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. England secured top place in Pool B and sent Scotland home early with a narrow and stodgy 16-12 win over their northern neighbours. France looked out of form as they were beaten 14-19 by Tonga but still qualified as second behind New Zealand in Pool A. England will now face France for the third sussessive World Cup: the English won the last two. Argentina came second in the group and will face the mighty All Blacks next. South Africa won all their games to win Pool D and will now meet Australia. Wales came second in the Pool after losing by a single point to South Africa but were in awesome form as they swept past Fiji 60-0. They next play Ireland, which beat Australia on the way to the top of Pool C.
Links to other sites: Rugby World Cup, Telegraph,
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Air Lingus, BA and Ryanair late Monday canceled several flights from Ireland and England to Scotland, with volcanic ash threatening northern Europe’s skies following the latest volcanic eruption in Iceland. Grimsvoetn in southeastern Iceland began to spew ash late Saturday 23 May and weather forecasters say ash could reach Scotland Tuesday, forcing airlines to cancel. The volcano is said by experts to most likely be Iceland’s strongest since the 1950s. The rest of the British Isles may be spared the ash for now, thanks to southeasterly winds.
Scotland was also hit by unseasonable weather, with winds gusting up to 150mph, power lines down and ferries and rail lines forced to close. One person died when a tree fell on his car and at the height of the storm 50,000 people were without electricity.
US President Barack Obama was able to travel from Ireland to England for the next leg of his European visit, despite storms and ash clouds to the north.
Links to other sites: Irish Times, The Scotsman
International sports, Six Nations rugby
Twickenham, London (GenevaLunch)- England put on a solid but uninspired performance to get past Scotland 22-16, 13 March. The English team have dominated their games this season but were held 9-9 at half-time and never really got going in the second till a try by Tom Croft. The win leaves the team top of the Six Nations race and if they beat Ireland in Dublin 19 March it will mean a Grand Slam.
Italy scored their first ever Six Nations win over France, winning by 22-21 with Bergamasco kicking 17 points. The French trainer responded by dropping six players for the final game against Wales, and stated that some had played their last game for France. Wales were lucky to beat Ireland 19-13 when the Welsh scored from a quick but illegal throw in from a line-out.
Links to other sites: Six Nations, L’Equipe
Sunrise: and the time is?
Russia’s nine time zones will leap forward an hour 27 March when daylight saving time starts in much of Europe, but this year, the Russians will not change back in the autumn. President Dmitry Medvedev 11 February signed a law moving the country an hour east, timewise. Daylight saving time, which has never been very popular in Russia, will no longer be observed, reports the Moscow Times. Medvedev’s move could send a signal to the UK and France, where similar moves have been proposed, but where there is stiff opposition. Scotland in particular has said it does not want the sun to rise at 10:00.
On a brighter note for Britain, LighterLater is proposing double summer time: move the clocks to benefit from daylight saving time, but also permanently move the clocks forward one hour.
International sports, Six Nations rugby
Twickenham, London (GenevaLunch) - Chris Ashton scored four tries as an impressive England team crushed Italy 53-13 at Twickenham, 12 February. The winger ran powerfully in supporting positions and never gave the Italian team a chance to settle. Ashton is the first player to score four tries in one England game since 1914, when Ronald Poulton did so against France. England will hope that Ashton can do as well in the showdown against France at Twickenham, 26 February. France were a little lucky to edge past Ireland 22-25 in an exciting but rather scrappy game where the Irish made most of the running but made too many errors. Wales beat Scotland 6-24, winning their first game in the last nine contests.
Links to other sites: Six Nations, Telegraph, Guardian
“He is lucky to be alive” say rescuers
(Update, Sky video interview added) A 36-year-old hiker, Adam Potter, was shaking from shock but standing and looking at a map when a helicopter rescue team found him Saturday 20 January some 300 metres below the summit of Sgurr Choinnich Mor, near Ben Nevis. He had climbed to the top with a group of friends, then lost his footing and tumbled to the bottom. A Royal Navy helicopter was flying in the area and was called on for the rescue, but when they saw a man standing at the bottom they assumed it could not be the fallen climber, so they went to the top again and tracked his fallen gear.
Two climbers fell about 200 metres and survived, in Scotland, in 1999, with injuries that were somewhat worse than Potter’s scrapes.
The Guardian quotes the observer for the rescue team as saying “”It was quite incredible. He must have literally glanced off the outcrops as he fell, almost flying.”
Video, Sky News
Circle dancing, based on ancient folk dances and celebration of nature was revived a few years ago in Findhorn in Scotland and is now growing in popularity throughout the world.
Location: Chene Bourg, Geneva
Link out: http://www.energycentre.ch
Date: 21 Jun 2010
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Flights from Switzerland to western and northern parts of the UK, as well as Dublin in Ireland, risk being delayed or canceled, with many of the airports closed due to a volcanic ash cloud. Easyjet’s 21:50 flight to Liverpool Sunday night was canceled. London’s airports remain open for the time being, but are under threat as the cloud moves south late Sunday. Dublin airport closed early in the evening and will remain shut until at least noon Monday 17 May.
Geneva Airport recommends checking directly with the airlines for latest information.
The charts issued by the UK Met office show that the cloud is predicted to move towards the continent during the morning – but not at levels that would disrupt air travel.
Links to other sites: BBC, Irish Times, Met UK
Update 16:05 Airports in northern England appear to be spared for the time being, but the situation is changing hourly, reports the BBC, which says UK weather and ash watch authorities expect the cloud to move north during the evening. The airspace over Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland was progressively closed Wednesday 5 May due to a new risk from Icelandic volcanic ash, with airports to the north closing at 07:00 this morning and the closings occurring further south later in the day, reports the Irish Times. Shannon, which is a main base for transatlantic flights, will be one of the last to close, at 17:30.
Airports in Ireland, Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland will re-open at 13:00 Tuesday morning 4 May after they were forced to close for the morning by threats from a new volcanic ash cloud. Other countries throughout Europe are watching carefully as the Volcanic Ash Advice Centre in London tracks the new threat to the airline industry. Ireland estimates it lost about €50 million in normal tourist revenue when its airspace was closed in April.
Links to other sites: Irish Times, Sky News
Flights from Aberdeen airport in Scotland have been suspended and more disruptions are expected as a cloud of volcanic ash moves from Iceland towards British air space, notably towards Scotland. The cloud of ash is then expected to head south. The ash can cause problems for aircraft engines. EasyJet has issued a warning to passengers that major disruptions are possible Thursday 15 April. Norway cancelled flights Wednesday over safety concerns due to the ash. The Eyjafjallajokull glacier’s volcano erupted this week for the second time in four weeks, causing rivers to rise by three metres.
Links to other sites: BBC, Bloomberg/Business Week, easyJet, South Coast Today
Northern England and Scotland are expecting to have a foot of snow dumped on them in the pre-Easter holidays period. Northern Ireland was hit Tuesday night and the Met Office in the UK says unconfirmed reports of 20-30 cm of snow on the ground are coming in from that area. Meanwhile, the BBC reports the death of a teenager when her school bus crashed on icy roads, and thousands without electricity in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Strong winds are causing drifting and generally treacherous conditions in the northern British Isles.
Stade de France, Paris (GenevaLunch) - Saturday’s international between France and England was another game where one side tried to play attacking rugby and the other side relied on forward power and kicking penalties. The unusual feature was that it was England that scored the only try of the game, while France scored four penalties to win 12-10. The win secured the Grand Slam for France, who were already assured of the Championship.
Twickenham, London (GenevaLunch) – France dominated the first half of their game in Cardiff to take a 0-20 lead at half time. Wales responded with another spirited recovery but it was not enough and France ended with a 20-26 win. The French have now won their first three games: they face Italy and England for their final games.
Italy scored a rare Six Nations win when they beat Scotland 16-12.
Paris, France (GenevaLunch) - France sent out a message that their team is in fine form, and must now be favourites to win the Six Nations tournament and very likely take the Grand Slam as well. They powered past current champions Ireland with an impressive 33-10 victory. The Irish kept pace with the French for the first 20 minutes but then conceded 10 quick points when down to 14 men after a yellow card for Healy. Once France was on top they never looked back and dominated the game with a disciplined display of forward power backed up by incisive attacks.
Scotland dominated Wales for most of the match in Cardiff but then fell apart due to a combination of injuries, lack of discipline and Welsh passion. They ended the match with only 13 players, having transformed a 24-14 lead with three minutes left of normal time into a 31-24 win for the Welsh.
England play Italy in the Sunday game.
Links to other sites: Six Nations, South Wales Argus
Murrayfield, Edinburgh, Scotland (GenevaLunch) - France turned on the power as they crushed Scotland at Murrayfield. The French forwards dominated the scrums but the killer blows came from outside centre Mathieu Bastareaud who scored two tries to signal his return from disgrace after falsely claiming to have been attacked during the French team’s tour to New Zealand. He actually injured himself while drunk. The 9-18 scoreline did not do justice to the degree of superiority the French team displayed. Their next game is in Paris against Ireland, who were much less convincing in their win over Italy. England beat Wales in the centenary match at Twickenham.
Links to other sites: Planet Rugby
Scotland’s largest airline, Flyglobespan, closed down Wednesday 16 December, with 800 jobs lost and 4,500 travelers stranded, most of them in Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Egypt, according to the BBC. The company flew 1.5 passengers in 2008. The Scotsman reports that thousands more people have flight reservations with the airline and not all will be able to get their money back. Iata (International Air Traffic Association), at an annual media conference earlier this week said that while major airlines are not expected to fail in coming months, smaller airlines are “fragile” and not all will survive a financially rough 2009, which comes at the end of a decade where the airline industry ended with losses eight years out of 10.
Links to other sites: BBC, Flyglobespan, Iata, The Scotsman
London, England (GenevaLunch) - Andy Murray started strongly in the end of year ATP Masters, beating Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina, the winner of the US Open, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. The Scot looked in fine form in the first set, quickly going to a 5-0 lead. Del Potro suffered from an inability to maintain a rally, and a nosebleed. He came back in the second set, winning it 6-3, but quickly fell behind in the third. The match ended 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
The other match in the O2 arena saw world number one Roger Federer take on Fernando Verdasco.
Twickenham, London, England (GenevaLunch) - England played better than in recent matches, holding the All Blacks to 6-6 at half time but could not match the New Zealanders in the second half and lost 6-19. At least the England women beat the New Zealand Ferns.
Scotland pulled off a surprise 9-8 victory over Australia where their heart was just enough to hold out against the technically better Wallabies. It was their first win against the Aussies for 27 years. Wales beat Argentina 33-16 with two tries by Shane Williams.
Links to other sites: The Guardian, The Times
Eleven people are missing after heavy rain and flooding washed out bridges and roads, and put towns under several feet of water in England and Scotland. The storms were expected but their impact nevertheless caught many areas by surprise. Cumbria in England, on the border with Scotland, was the worst-hit area. Heavy rain and gale-force winds are forecast in the area and for much of the UK in the next few days. Flood alerts are continuing and some rail service is likely to be disrupted.
The UK weather service has told Britain to expect heavy rain Thursday and Friday, accompanied by widespread flooding in northwest England and southwest Scotland. A tidal surge in the Irish Sea could spell flooding in and north of Aberystwyth, Wales and gusting up to 70 miles per hour in some areas could add to the weather woes.
Turnberry, Scotland (GenevaLunch) – In the end the old man’s dream folded: Tom Watson appeared to age a decade in the course of a painful four hole as his game fell apart.
Turnberry, Scotland (GenevaLunch) – Tom Watson offered another dose of free publicity for artificial hips as the 59-year-old lead the Open at Turnberry by one shot going into the final round.
Update 18 July 08:40 Turnberry, Scotland (GenevaLunch) – Veteran golfer Tom Watson sunk two monster putts on the last few holes to head the leaderboard at the Open at Turnberry after two days.
Turnberry, Scotland (GenevaLunch) - Fifty-nine-year-old old Tom Watson spent most of the day at the top of the leaderboard after posting a five under score of 65 on the first 18 holes, only to be bettered by Miguel Angel Jiminénez, a sprightly 45-year-old, who finished his round with two birdies to score 64. Tiger Woods was well off the pace after carding 71.
Details, Telegraph, UK
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The WHO (World Health Organization) now has a web site with regular updates that include official figures from countries with confirmed cases. Monday afternoon, 27 April, the WHO raised its alert level to 4, “sustained human to human transmission.” A disease is considered to reach the pandemic stage at levels 5-6. The organization is not recommending that countries impose travel bans or close borders but it does suggest that anyone who is ill refrain from traveling and anyone who develops flu symtoms after traveling should promptly seek treatment.
Official WHO swine flu figures, 27 April
One-third of people between 16 and 24 smoke in Scotland, with the number of smokers rising alarming, a new government report shows. The figures are the highest in 10 years. BBC
