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Monday, August 27, 2012
London, England — As Paralympians ready for the Games which are set to open later this week, they have access to a world class fitness center inside the Paralympic Village which is designed to maximise their pre-Game preparations.
According to volunteers staffing the center, instead of being a single large room, as in Beijing, the building has numerous rooms. It, along with the adjacent Village Services Centre, is designed to be converted into a school after the games conclude. Rooms have been structured as a gym, an auditorium, and science laboratories.
Gym equipment is supplied by Technogym, an Italian firm that has supplied gym equipment for the Olympics since 2000. Equipment has been provided not just for for the Fitness Centre, but for gyms at all the Olympic venues. The newest equipment is oriented toward maximum flexibility, allowing athletes to exercise the particular muscles that they most require for their sport.
In addition to the equipment, the Fitness Centre also provides instructors trained in the use of the equipment, the likes of which athletes from many countries have never seen before. There are also a number of instructors available to provide motivational training.
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Saturday, September 22, 2007
British architect Norman Foster and FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta presented today in Barcelona the redevelopment project for the team’s stadium, Camp Nou, built in 1957.
The Catalan club expects that this redesign will turn the stadium into a city landmark and that “the external image of the stadium will become a recognized brand for FCB.” Works will begin in 2008.
The new stadium will be wrapped in a colourful mosaic made up of the team’s colours (blue and red) and those of the Catalan flag (red and yellow) and reminiscent of Gaudi’s style. This reptile-like cover of tiles and lights will allow the stadium to transform itself according to the time of day and the events taking place. The project also includes the building of a retractable roof.
According to the Club, “the remodelled stadium is designed such that it can be built with minimal disruption FCB normal football activity.”
Monday, July 3, 2006
At least 43 people have died and at least 46 injured, 4 of whom are in critical condition, in a metro train crash in Spanish city of Valencia, according to the regional government.
It has been reported that two of the carriages have derailed and overturned, leading to the evacuation of 150 passengers.
A part of the wall in the tunnel between the Plaza de España and Jesús stations in the southwestern neighborhood of Patraix may have collapsed, causing the derailment of one of the carriages, which in turn caused the carriage behind it to overturn.
Another theory put forth by subdelegate of the regional government Luis Felipe Martínez is that the wheels on one of the carriages fell off while the train was speeding. The same source has also confirmed that there are two overturned carriages.
The fire department, paramedics and local police are on the scene after a passenger in the crashed train called the emergency services at about 1:03 p.m. CEST (1103 UTC). The authorities have closed the area to all road traffic and routes 1 and 2 of the Valencia metro system, which use the affected rail tracks, are shut down.
The incident comes days before Pope Benedict XVI was due to visit Valencia for the World Meeting of the Families, expected to be attended by one million pilgrims.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
A police officer has been killed in County Armagh, Northern Ireland by Continuity IRA gunmen a mere 48 hours after two soldiers were killed.
In what is presumed to be an attempt by dissident Republicans to derail the peace process, Pc Stephen Carroll was shot in the head just before 10:00 p.m. on March 9.
The officer, described as an experienced veteran with 23 years of service, was responding to a call for help in the Lismore Manor estate in Craigavon when he was shot. In what is described as a genuine incident, a female member of the public had called for help saying a street gang had broken a window.
A two vehicle patrol was sent to the incident given previous trouble in the area. After standing off for a reasonable period to ensure that there was no ambush, the members of one vehicle got out to deal with the incident, whilst those in the second vehicle provided cover, while providing cover in the second vehicle that Pc Carrol was attacked.
The PSNI, believe that the officer was hit by one of two shots fired by a gunman secreted in scrubland on the estate. There are unconfirmed reports that a second officer has also been injured.
Responsibility for the shooting has been claimed on behalf of the North Armagh Battalion of the Continuity IRA in a coded message to Belfast media.
The shooting has led to a call for unity and calm from a broad spectrum of the community ranging from spokesmen for the Ulster Volunteer Force, who called for the gunmen to be dealt with through the courts, to Sinn Féin were quick to condemn the gunmen and to offer their condolences to the family of the dead officer.
This is the first death of a police officer to sectarian violence in over a decade, and comes after a nine month period in which intelligence indicated that dissidents were aiming to kill a policeman.
Friday, October 18, 2013
A massive fire is feared to have killed residents and destroyed more than one hundred homes in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. The blaze is one of the worst New South Wales have seen in more than a decade, said Premier Barry O’Farrell.
Emergency services attempted to evaluate the extent of the devastation on Thursday night, and determined that up to 30 homes in the area of Springwood had been lost. Mr O’Farrell says it will be a miracle if lives were not lost in the blaze. Rural Fire Service Commissioner, Shane Fitzimmons said that it could take some time to assess the true extent of the damage, however, and fears it could be much worse.
“We’ll be counting properties in the dozens, if not the hundreds,” he said.
Weather conditions are set to ease on Friday, however the firefighters have a huge battle ahead of them, says Deputy RFS Commissioner Rob Rogers.
“The worst combination is north-westerly to south-westerly and we’ve got that now. We’ve got an incredibly long fire front and there is no sign of any rain coming”.
Schools in the Blue Mountains were evacuated last night, with many residents seeking refuge at emergency evacuation centres around the area. Around 600 students were transported to Springwood Sports Club for shelter.
While fires continue to cause destruction across the Blue Mountains region, around 100 further blazes are being contained across the Central Coast and in the Southern Highlands.
Residents have been urged to leave areas surrounding the Blue Mountains region, after the alert system was upgraded to an ‘emergency warning’.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Pichilemu, Chile – Last Saturday, Chile was hit by a 8.8 earthquake. Many coastal towns were also hit by a tsunami, and Pichilemu was one of them. Its inhabitants were surprised by the giant waves that destroyed the most of the costanera and that reached the city square.
Pichilemu, that means in Mapudungun language small forest, is one of the most famous Chilean resort towns in the central zone of Chile. It is recurrently visited by surfers from all the world, because the Punta de Lobos beach is considered one of the best for surf practice worldwide.
Central Pichilemu was not severely damaged by the earthquake, but the tsunami caused significant destruction. The Fishermen Creek, located in front of the beach, was completely destroyed, and its machines are now unusable. Most of the Agustín Ross architecture that characterized the city, three of them being National Monuments of Chile, were damaged. The Agustín Ross Mirador, a famous location in front of the beach, located less than 200 meters from the Fisherman Creek, was completely destroyed. Its famous balustrades were washed away or thrown asunder. Many restaurants, kiosks and a circus were affected by the tsunami.
The rural parts of Pichilemu, like Ciruelos, Rodeillo and Espinillo feature houses constructed from adobe. Many were more than 100-years old, and were destroyed or are now uninhabitable.
The most powerful aftershock was produced almost 40 kilometers in front of the coast of Pichilemu, at the 03:10 local time (07:10 UTC) in March 2, with an intensity of 5.5 in the Richter scale, according to the USGS.
The Intendant of the O’Higgins Region, Juan Núñez, had a meeting with the Governor of the Cardenal Caro Province, Loreto Puebla, the Mayor of Pichilemu, Roberto Córdova, and naval and military authorities, juntas de vecinos representatives. They decided to leave the Carabineros police force to maintain the security of the city.
The Arturo Prat square was severely damaged by the earthquake and later by the tsunami. In the left picture, can be seen some kiosks, all of them were destroyed, as can be seen on the right picture. Image: Diego Grez.
A boat that was originally in front of the Fisherman Creek of Pichilemu, was thrown almost a block away by the powerful tsunami that hit Chile last Saturday. Image: Diego Grez.
A fair was located in front of the beach, called Feria Internacional Artesanal, where Peruvian and Chilean craftsman were selling their crafts. All of their premises were destroyed, and later looted by the people that were passing by the costanera. Image: Diego Grez.
A strong aftershock was originated around Pichilemu, in March 5, 2010, at 12:34:32 AM at epicenter (03:34:32 AM UTC). Image: USGS.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
File:Bbcr2electricpromslogo.jpg
The BBC have announced they are to axe annual music festival Electric Proms from their schedule for financial reasons. The festival first took place in October 2006. The 2011 event will not go ahead, with last year’s festival being the last.
Bob Shennan, controller of BBC Radio 2, said he was “disappointed” with the decision to cancel the festival. He said “In the current climate, we are faced with making difficult decisions, including how best to deliver high-quality live music programming throughout the year in light of continuing efficiency savings. I feel that Radio 2 can achieve the same impact of the Electric Proms in an alternative, more cost-effective way. I’m disappointed that the lifetime of Electric Proms has come to an end, but very proud of its fantastically rewarding run of creating new moments in music for the past five years.”
During the festival’s five year run it has featured performances from stars such as Elton John, Neil Diamond, and Shirley Bassey.
The decision to axe the festival comes at a time when the BBC are planning a 20% savings cut. Last week BBC director general Mark Thompson announced 650 job losses after dropping five languages from the BBC World Service.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
On Thursday, Congress turned down the “Net Neutrality Amendment” to the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act (COPE Act) 269-152.
The COPE Act is designed to make it easier for telecommunications companies to offer cable TV service and strengthen competition. Proponents hope it would lower the price of high-speed Internet for consumer by enabling Internet service providers to bundle phone, data, video and mobile phone services. The act is the first major telecommunications bill to come before Congress in over a decade, and it passed by 321-101 vote on Thursday.
Portions of the “Net Neutrality” amendment to the COPE Act sought to assure that communication companies who provide Internet services treated all data delivery passing through their connections equally. It specified that each broadband provider has the duty “not to block, impair, degrade, discriminate against, or interfere with the ability of any person to use a broadband connection to access, use, send, receive, or offer lawful content, applications, or services over the Internet.” The amendment’s passage would have prevented AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and other broadband providers from charging content providers like Google, Yahoo, Amazon or eBay for priority access to their networks. Democrats were largely in favour of the legislation with 140 Ayes and 58 Noes, whereas only 11 Republicans voted for the measure, with 211 against.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi argued that “The imposition of additional fees for Internet content providers would unduly burden Web-based small businesses and start-ups,” and that “They would also hamper communications by noncommercial users, those using religious speech, promoting civic involvement and exercising First Amendment freedoms.”
The phone companies and their Congressional allies argued that the restrictions in the amendment would discourage investment in upgrading networks. Chief technology officer for BellSouth William L. Smith told the Washington Post that telephone companies should be able to charge companies for having their content load faster than that of competitors. “If I go to the airport, I can buy a coach standby ticket or a first-class ticket,” Smith said. “In the shipping business, I can get two-day air or six-day ground.”
The legislation has been subject to intense lobbying by telecommunication companies on one side, and content providers on the other. The bill is due to be discussed next in the Senate, where lobbying efforts from both sides are expected to intensify. The White House said that it supports the current bill.