Two Door Cinema Club Sam Halliday, Alex Trimble and Kevin Baird. Circo Voador Rua dos Arcos Lapa Rio de Janeiro show 2011 Brazil Brasil

Two Door Cinema Club Sam Halliday, Alex Trimble and Kevin Baird. Circo Voador Rua dos Arcos Lapa Rio de Janeiro show 2011 brazil Brasil

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The Old Men on the Mountains

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Swiss downhiller Didier Cuche, the favorite.

Vancouver, British Columbia

Didier Cuche is an Olympic senior citizen at 35 years years old, so you might assume that his event is curling. But instead of pushing a stone across the ice Saturday, Mr. Cuche will be careening down an icy slope at 80 miles an hour as the gold-medal favorite in the men's downhill competition (if the race isn't postponed by weather).

The Swiss skier is in good— and aging—company. In 1980, the top 12 finishers in the Olympics' downhill event averaged a young 23.6 years. This year's top 12 men's downhill skiers are ancient by comparison: 29.9 years.

"It's become an event that's all about experience," said Phil Mahre, who won silver and gold medals in the slalom in the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games. "And it's a lot more technical than it's ever been."

Despite its reckless abandon, downhill has always been friendlier to veteran skiers than other Alpine events. The turns in slalom and giant slalom can wear on aging knees in ways that the bomb-and-tuck style of the downhill race does not. So it's not surprising that this year's slalom and giant slalom skiers are nearly 2½ years younger than their downhill teammates.

But changes in the nature of competitive skiing and advances in ski technology are making the downhill race even more of a haven for the veterans of the world's most famous downhill runs. Among these new factors: fewer training runs, chemicals that make the snow harder and faster than ever, and a new generation of dramatically curved slalom skis. It's hardly surprising that the venerable Mr. Cuche is a favorite for the gold. He turned in the fastest training run Wednesday, before the run was canceled for fog. (He was disqualified in Thursday's training run for missing a gate.) He is joined on the list of skiers who are expected to do well by two other relative old-timers, Austrian Michael Walchhofer, who is 34, and American Bode Miller, who is 32. Liechtenstein's Marco Buechel is 38.

Of course, younger skiers have come out of nowhere to shock the Olympics before, most notably American Bill Johnson, who took the downhill gold at age 23 in 1984 in Sarajevo. But downhill skiing is unique among the skiing disciplines in that its courses hardly change from year to year. In slalom, giant slalom and super giant slalom, which is known as SuperG, the course changes depending on how race managers set up the gates through which the athletes ski. In downhill, skiers race down essentially the same course year after year, whether at Colorado's Beaver Creek or Vail resorts, or Europe's legendary downhill runs, such as Wengen, Switzerland, or Kitzbuhel, Austria.

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Austrian Michael Walchhofer, above, and Bode Miller atop the downhill course on Wednesday, below.

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The more times they race down a course, the more familiar they become with what skiers call the "line" of the slope, which means the most direct route from the top to the bottom. Skiers with the greatest familiarity of the line know the high-speed adjustments they need to make as they approach the treacherous turns and jumps of a typical race.

"There is no way to plan for these big events other than to have been there before," said Mr. Miller. "If I come in and race hard, it comes down to whether I can make the tactical decisions to make it down error-free."

Making matters more challenging for young downhillers is the now-common practice of injecting a course with water to ensure that the slope remains consistent for every competitor throughout a race day. With that consistency come icy-hard and lightning-fast conditions that put a premium on split-second decisions made by instinct and experience. "It's the judgment factor," said John McMurtry, the former Alpine coach for the U.S. ski team. "And it takes years to develop that judgment."

Especially now. Mr. Mahre said that when he was on the World Cup circuit, organizers would allow competitors to take four or five practice runs on the course before the actual races. Now, partly because the World Cup circuit includes more events, training runs have been cut back to just one or two for each downhill race.

"Used to be you could get 15 or 20 runs on a course within a few years," Mr. Mahre said. "Now it'll take you 10 years to get up to that level."

For many younger skiers, though, those years aren't wasted. Instead, they are using the sharp reflexes and fast-twitch muscles of their youth to win slalom and giant slalom events, which require a series of jagged turns through gates. As those physical advantages begin to deteriorate in their mid-to-late 20s, the aging skiers begin to gravitate toward the speed events, like downhill.

Since the 1990s, slalom skiers have used skis that are shaped like a parabolic arc—skinny in the middle and widening toward the tips. While the shape makes it easier to carve out the quick turns of a slalom, the skis put tremendous torque on the knees and lower legs, body parts which only hurt more as skiers age.

"I've seen people blow out their tibia and fibulas just by going through a turn," said Picabo Street, the silver medalist in the Olympic downhill in 1994.

American skier Bode Miller first broke onto the World Cup skiing circuit in 1997 as a top slalom racer out of New Hampshire. His first World Cup downhill victory, however, didn't come until 2004, when he was 27 years old. This year, the downhill and SuperG are considered his best shots at the podium, though he may also be a contender in the downhill-slalom combination event known as Super Combined.

Brandon Dyksterhouse, who grew up racing with Mr. Miller and is now the head Alpine coach at the Green Mountain Valley School in Vermont, which trains some of the country's best young skiers, said Mr. Miller is lucky to have made it into this stage of his career without having blown himself into pieces. "If you can hang in without breaking your body apart, there's no reason you can't stay competitive until you're 40."

Write to Matthew Futterman at matthew.futterman@wsj.com

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Employers face 'business tax' if they lose employment tribunals

Employers face 'business tax' if they lose employment tribunals

Employers that lose an employment tribunal case would be fined 50pc of the award under an “astonishing” proposal buried within a new Government consultation.

discrimination claims at Goldman Sachs and the BBC."/>

The number of tribunal cases rose by 56pc last year, including high profile sex and age discrimination claims at Goldman Sachs and the BBC. 

By Louisa Peacock, Jobs Editor 8:00AM GMT 29 Jan 2011

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Organisations found to have breached an individual’s rights would be forced to pay the Exchequer half the amount of the total compensation award, on top of the payout itself, according to the proposal introduced on page 52 of the 88-page document.

The plans threaten to undermine David Cameron’s “pro-business, pro-growth” agenda, lobby groups warned.

An upper limit of £5,000 is being considered, reduced by half for employers that pay within 21 days. It would be the first time organisations would be penalised for losing a case.

Business groups are stunned by the measure which sits within the same document that pledges to “remove barriers to growth and job creation”. It also comes alongside the Government’s new Employer’s Charter, aimed at reducing the burden of employment law.

Manufacturers’ organisation the EEF branded the proposal a “revenue generator”. Steve Radley, director of policy, said: “On the day Government announced an Employer’s Charter to reassure business about the balance of employment legislation, it undermined this principle by burying a potential new tax at the back of a lengthy consultation. [The fine] would impose extra costs at a time when companies are already under immense pressure.”

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said the proposal came “out of the blue”. However, BCC adviser Abigail Morris said it was reasonable to charge guilty employers a nominal fee of about £150, as claimants also faced paying a fee to lodge a case. But “anything in the thousands would be unacceptable,” she said.

Tim Gray, employment partner at law firm Clough & Willis, said: “It is astonishing for the Government to say 'we’re doing this to help employers’ but then introduce a fine. This is a tax on businesses that make mistakes.” He added the penalty would place huge pressure on companies to settle out of court – even when the claims were spurious – as managers would be scared of spiralling costs at tribunal.

The Department for Business estimates the fine would cost employers £5.5m a year. However, experts said the figure was “conservative” given official figures show employers lost 28,500 cases last year and a typical tribunal payout is £4,000, according to ACAS, the conciliation service. Even if employers paid just a £1,000 penalty, that could clock a total yearly “tax” of £28.5m.

The BIS consultation said: “While we recognise that business will be opposed to such a proposal, we take the view that it will encourage employers to have greater regard to what is required of them in law and, ultimately, will lead to fewer workplace disputes and employment tribunal claims.”

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Egypt Cuts Internet, Deploys Riot Police

CAIRO—Egyptians woke Friday morning to find their Internet access shut down in much of the country and to the sight of heavy deployments of black-clad, truncheon-wielding riot police, as the country braced for massive antigovernment protests on ascale unseen in decades.

Opposition activists said the popular turnout on this traditional day of prayer and rest could prove to be decisive in determining whether the historic four-day-old protest movement gains momentum in its calls for the end of President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, or fizzles beneath the weight of a violent government crackdown.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Egyptian demonstrators tore a portrait of President Hosni Mubarak during a protest against his rule in the northern port city of Alexandria.

At least five people have died in the unrest so far, news agencies reported. The latest death came late on Thursday, according to the Associated Press, when security forces shot dead a protester in the northern Sinai peninsula, the latest indication that the unrest was spreading to more isolated parts of Egypt.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest and most organized opposition movement, endorsed Friday's demonstrations in a statement on its website on the eve of Friday's planned demonstrations.

"The group will participate in the demonstration scheduled in order to achieve popular demands," the Brotherhood said in the statement.

That marks a shift by the group, which analysts say can mobilize millions of supporters, but until now had held back from throwing its full organizational weight behind the protests.

Meanwhile, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and prodemocracy figure Mohamed ElBaradei returned to Egypt on Thursday evening in order to take part in the protests. He is seen as one of the few secular, liberal figures with the status to challenge the establishment.

On the eve of Friday's anticipated demonstrations, state-run media appeared to shift tone from downplaying the street protests to issuing stark and graphic warnings that violence and chaos were likely to ensue. Analysts said it appeared an attempt by the regime to scare off citizens, many of whom appear to be taking to the streets in protest for the first time in their lives.

An independent Egyptian newspaper published on its website Thursday evening tips for first time protesters on how to stay safe in a demonstration. It counseled demonstrators to pack a wet towel in case of tear gas and urged girls to tie hair in a bun so that it can't be grabbed by riot police.

The government also has taken unprecedented steps to limit protesters' ability to move around and communicate, closing the city's subway system and shutting down the internet and cellphone text-messaging services throughout much of the country.

Early Friday morning, the U.S., which has taken a more strident tone in support of the demonstrators in recent days, denounced the clampdown. Fittingly, it did so via Twitter, the online social-networking site that has played a key role in coordinating and sustaining the unrest that is sweeping the Arab world.

"We are concerned the communication services, including the internet, social media and even this tweet are being blocked in Egypt," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley tweeted at 5:30 a.m. Egyptian time.

Underscoring the widespread fears of unrest, the Egyptian Football Federation announced on Thursday that it was postponing all matches scheduled for Friday and Saturday, citing security reasons.

Write to Charles Levinson at charles.levinson@wsj.com

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Aussie Day Fireworks-6

Aussie Day Fireworks-6

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Edwin van der Sar will retire at the end of the season. Who could replace the Dutchman at Manchester United?

Edwin van der Sar will retire at the end of the season. Who could replace the Dutchman at Manchester United?

Edwin van der Sar's retirement from football this summer leaves Sir Alex Ferguson once more looking for a replacement for an established goalkeeper.

Watching brief: Sir Alex Ferguson has been to see Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David De Gea in action as he looks for Edwin van der Sar's successor Photo: GETTY IMAGES

By Steve Wilson 12:13PM GMT 27 Jan 2011

Already at the club:

Tomasz Kuszczak
A Poland international, Kuszczak’s future at Old Trafford is far from certain despite being Van der Sar's deputy since joining United in 2007. Ferguson was open to the idea of Kuszczak joining Leicester City on loan this month, though the player turned down the opportunity. The recent signing of Anders Lindegaard suggests Ferguson does not see Kuszczak as the long-term successor to Van der Sar.

Anders Lindegaard
Billed as the new peter schmeichel (though not rated by the man himself), Lindegaard arrived at Old Trafford last month from Danish side Aalesunds FK in a deal worth £3.5m. The 26 year-old already has four caps for Norway but is still perhaps slightly callow to step immediately in to Van der Sar's boots.

Ben Amos
Currently on loan at Oldham, at 20 Amos is definitely one for the future rather than the present. Has represented England at youth level right up to the Under-20s.

Elsewhwere:

David De Gea (Atletico Madrid)
Spain’s Under-21 goalkeeper is much coveted across Europe as one of the most exciting talents on the continent. Ferguson has personally been over to Spain to watch him as well as sending scouts to a number of his matches.

Manuel Neuer (Schalke 04)
Having excelled for Germany at the World Cup, the 24 year-old is interested in a move to Old Trafford and has the big-match experience from his national service to suggest he would be unfazed by joining the club.

Hugo Lloris (Lyon)
The 23 year-old is first choice for France. Lyon’s £25 million valuation could scare United off but his Champions League experience could make it worth the money.

Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow)
Russia’s first choice starred against United in the Champions League group stage last season. Out of contract in Dec 2011 making him a cut price option.

Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax)
At 28, is well-established and the Holland international is out of contract in Jun 2012, so he too could be signed relatively cheaply.

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Colin Jones: an early prototype of Billy Elliot

Colin Jones: an early prototype of Billy Elliot

Colin Jones’s ballet photographs captured the dancing life with a marvellous candour, intimacy and wit.

Ballet dancers Rudolph Nureyev and Lynn Seymour sitting in The Crown pub in the North End Road , West London - 1965  Photo: COLIN JONES

By Charles Spencer 5:50PM GMT 25 Jan 2011

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Talking to the 74-year-old photographer Colin Jones is like meeting an early prototype of Billy Elliot. The son of an East London printer, he grew up during the Second World War, was evacuated on three occasions and attended no fewer than 13 schools before he was 16. He suffered from dyslexia, and one school told him he would be “lucky to get a job as a road sweeper”.

Instead, he took up ballet lessons, made it into the Royal Ballet School, joined the touring company and married the great ballerina Lynn Seymour. The marriage didn’t last long.

“Kenneth Macmillan did everything he could to break us up,” he says of the Royal Ballet’s celebrated choreographer. “She was his muse and he was a very selfish man.”

“I was hopeless as a dancer,” admits Jones “and I don’t know why they took me on.” What’s more his father, who served in the Burma campaign, was furious that his son had become a dancer. Jones’s career with the ballet was interrupted by National Service. Many of the men in the Royal Ballet got out of it by turning up to the interview “dressed as women and carrying handbags, but I wasn’t brave enough for that”. When news got out in his regiment that he was a dancer, Jones says he was terribly bullied until he took up boxing, knocked a few people out and earned some respect.

It was while touring with the Royal Ballet in Australia that he bought his first camera and started taking photographs of the dancers and backstage life, and now a selection of them is being shown at the Proud Gallery in Chelsea.

Jones, with his personal experience of the sheer slog that lies behind the glamour of ballet, offers an insider’s view of company life and pictures of rare intimacy.

I particularly love the shot of Nureyev and Lynn Seymour in a scruffy London pub, and of the glamorous dancer Margaret Anderton standing outside a newsagent’s in the desolate Gorbals in Glasgow with its dwarfish proprietor lurking in the background.

Here you can see the awakening political awareness that informs so much of Jones’s later work, with his superb pictures of working-class life in Sunderland, the brothels of the Philippines, and the boy soldiers of the Khmer Rouge.

Mind you, it wasn’t all earnest reportage. He also found time to take iconic shots of the Who and Mick Jagger in the Sixties.

In fact, Jones’s ballet photographs comprise only a small part of his work, but he captured the dancing life with a marvellous candour, intimacy and wit.

Buy Ballet and Dance Tickets from Telegraph Tickets

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Canada Wins Gold in Women's Hockey

AFP/Getty Images

Members of the Canadian team celebrate their win.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Canada's women upheld their half of the bargain in letting the world know who owns hockey Thursday, blanking archrival the United States 2-0 in their Olympic gold-medal game.

The game was the reverse of the U.S.-Canada men's game Sunday. This time Team USA carried the play only to be stymied by the Canadian goaltender. All the scoring took place in the first period, when Canada got two opportunistic goals from Marie-Philip Poulin. Canada rode goalie Shannon Szabados the rest of the way.

"My teammates were unbelievable today," Ms. Szabados said. "This is an incredible moment."

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Marie-Philip Poulin, center, celebrates her goal against the U.S.

The game was a tribute to what women's hockey can be when played by two equal opponents. This Olympic tournament showed once more how the U.S. and Canada are eons ahead of other countries in women's hockey, a fact reflected in numerous blowouts and questions about whether there were enough players around the world to merit inclusion in the Olympics.

But when played by two teams as equally skilled as the Americans and Canadians, the women's game was perfectly fast-paced and thrilling. Passes zipped tape to tape, slapshots boomed and both goalies acrobatically knocked away pucks or snagged them with darting gloves.

"For sure it's good hockey," Canadian men's hockey defenseman Brent Seabrook said during the first-period intermission. "It's really exciting."

Fans also passionately supported the game, holding banners that read "She Shoots, She Scores" and "I Believe in Women's Hockey."

The game started slowly but the U.S. began a relentless forecheck, which pinned the Canadian defense in their zone much of the night. Forwards Hilary Knight and Caitlin Cahow stormed the net several times, but Ms. Szabados kept turning them away, often relying on her fast glove hand to snag pucks out of the air.

The U.S. had an even better chance to get into the game in the second period when Canada was called for delay of game by shooting the puck over the glass. A few seconds later, it was called again for the same penalty – a highly unusual sequence of events that gave the U.S. a five-on-three power play for almost two minutes. But between the Canadians' deft shot-blocking and too much U.S. passing, the danger passed.

By the third, it was clear Canada was planning to hang on and the game became a series of efforts by the U.S. team to penetrate the Canadian zone, with Canada countering when the U.S. defense pinched too deep.

The medals ceremony was touching, with the bronze-medal Finnish team clearly thrilled to have won a medal. The U.S. women, meanwhile, were despondent, many in tears. When U.S. fans began chanting "U.S.A., U.S.A.," the Canadian-dominated arena took up the chant as well.

But the roof went off when gold was handed out. Looking down from the skyboxes was the Canadian men's team. They must get through the semifinals Friday to reach their gold-medal game to hold up their end of the national bargain.

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Women find a space of their own with mom caves

cavesx.jpg" width="245" height="161" border="0" alt="Marjorie Mulla of Palm Bay enjoys her mom cave in her Palm Bay, Fla., home. The room was the laundry room before it became a cave.">By Megan K. Scott, Florida Today

When life gets stressful for Mary Kammerer, she retreats into a spare bedroom in her house. She lights candles or burns incense, listens to meditation music — sometimes she talks to her mom, whose ashes she keeps in the room.

She doesn't allow any interruptions. Her husband and pets know to stay away and she leaves her cellphone in the other room. She lies on the air mattress, closes her eyes and lets the music take her to a place where only she lives.

"It puts me in a whole new world, where I can relax," said Kammerer, 51, of Rockledge, Fla., who works for Bridges, a community organization for people with special needs. She goes into the room two or three times a week for an hour, more if she is stressed. "It's better than a bubble bath."

For years, men have retreated to their "man caves" to watch sports, play video games or shoot pool without their wives or girlfriends around to bother them. Women who needed time alone had the kitchen, a place associated more with work than relaxation. It's now the social center in the home, so there's no privacy there.

But these days, women are chiseling out their own sanctuary, taking over a room, nook or even a closet and making it their "mom cave."

A mom cave is the place where the woman who nurtures everyone goes to nurture herself, said Elaine Griffin, New York City interior designer and author of "Design Rules: The Insider's Guide to Becoming Your Own Decorator." She coined the term mom cave with HomeGoods. (It's really a woman cave but mom cave sounded better, she said.)

It's a natural evolution from man caves, the saying "If mom's not happy, nobody's happy," and the idea that it's OK to have me time, she said. The next logical step was a space for the me time.

"We saw women all over the country beginning to take that space for themselves, whether it was an extra room they could actually dedicate to themselves or just a space they could carve out for themselves," she said.

"It's a space a woman can go to and say, 'All right husband and kids, when this door is closed I'm off duty.' "

A good mom cave has a place to sit, a place to store things, a place to work and a place to visit, Griffin said. It also has to be pretty — you can't relax in chaos — and personalized, mementos on the wall, for example. When you open the door, you should go, ahhh, she said.

It's not simply a room for doing nothing. Unlike men, women relax by doing things, so they need storage and a place to work, Griffin said.

"We never just sit there and watch endless TV. We're watching TV and knitting. We're talking on the phone and balancing our checkbook." And since women are social, they need a place where a visitor can sit, even if it's an ottoman, she said.

Many women use their mom caves to pursue their passion, like Marjorie Mulla, whose former laundry room has two sewing machines, fabric, yarn, storage boxes filled with patterns and other art supplies. Some days she goes in her cave simply to sew a button; others she's in there for hours working on a project.

Mulla, 52, of Palm Bay, an intake paralegal, said she always has had a space in the house, but when the family relocated to Brevard, there were no extra bedrooms. Her husband, who had a man cave for several years, moved the washer and dryer into the garage.

"It provides me with an opportunity to tune everything else out," said the mom of four. "It's sort of like an hour at the spa. Nothing else really matters, because my focus is on what my hands are doing, so I'm not stressing about the every day, how much laundry is piling up, how many errands I need to run."

Suzy Moore, 59, of Merritt Island, uses her mom cave to make costumes for shows and her grandchildren's performances. Her cave has gone from a closet to a corner of the playroom to her son's room and back to the playroom.

It's an all-purpose, let's-have-fun room when her grandkids visit. And her mother loves for her to move the spare bed into the room when she's there.

"It is my world," Moore said. "It is my true creative world. It is truly my own little sanctuary."

Women need that sanctuary more than ever, the result of leading increasingly chaotic lives, Griffin said. Men have been much better at staking a claim to a space and saying, "this is my space, do not bother me."

Laura Scott, 49, a mom of two in Satellite Beach, said when she and her husband built their home seven years ago, a mom cave was a requirement. He had his big office. Her retreat has a desktop computer, couch, television and a meditation area.

Even when she's paying bills, she burns incense and puts on her crystal salt lamp. "It makes it a lot easier and a lot nicer."

The mom cave does have rules. Men sometimes want to be in the space, too, but they're allowed only by invitation; the same goes for the kids, Griffin said. "It's not a family room."

Sylvia Hampton said no one is allowed in her mom cave, which has an old fashioned wooden single bed, a keyboard, a small antique mirror and an old fashioned table with a doily on it that her son crocheted. She has Elvis books and photos — of Elvis, her husband, her grandkids.

"This is my retreat," said the 71-year-old Melbourne resident. "It's cooler and darker and quieter than any other room in the house. Even though it's small, it's fine for me."

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Cat - 21/365

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Cat - 21/365

I thought I'd introduce you to one of my cats - Ellie. We have 2 cats, a dog, 2 Chinese Silkies plus numerous other creatures like echidnas, snakes and an infrequent kangaroo.

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Traeth Ogwr Rockpool, the first of 2011!

Traeth Ogwr Rockpool, the first of 2011!

I was actually hoping for a sunset like the previous evening; the sky had promise around 3.00 but by the time I had escaped from the salesgirl at Comet and got to the beach it was past 4.00ish and gathering gloom. I fired off a couple of shots in the rockpools and came home again. Good to meet some of the South Wales Dubbers including Hels and Jo who were down there on a mini-meet!

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Snow on Road

Snow on Road

There's a lot wrong with this picture. Despite my better judgment I chose not to crop.

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Joanna Yeates murder: timeline

Joanna Yeates murder: timeline

This is how events have unfolded following the disappearance of 25-year-old landscape architect Joanna Yeates from Bristol.

Joanna Yeates's parents David and Theresa with her brother Chris (left) and boyfriend Greg Reardon (right) Photo: PA

9:14AM GMT 20 Jan 2011

Friday December 17

6pm: Miss Yeates leaves the architectural firm where she worked with boyfriend Greg Reardon, 27, and joins colleagues in the Ram pub in Park Street for a drink.

8pm: She leaves the Ram to walk the 20-minute journey home from the city centre to Clifton.

8.10pm: Miss Yeates is caught on CCTV popping into a Waitrose supermarket in the Clifton Triangle.

8.30pm: She uses her mobile phone to ring her best friend Rebecca Scott and arranges to meet on Christmas Eve.

8.40pm: At a Tesco Express on Regent Street in Clifton Village - about a quarter of a mile from her flat - Miss Yeates buys a pizza, which is missing. She then visits a nearby off-licence to pick up some cider.

Police believe she returned home to her flat in Canynge Road, which she shared with Mr Reardon. A receipt from Tesco was found in the flat, along with a cream-coloured coat she had been wearing and her mobile phone and keys.

Sunday December 19

Mr Reardon reports Miss Yeates missing when he returns to Bristol from a weekend away visiting relatives in Sheffield.

Monday December 20

Avon and Somerset Police make their first appeal for information, saying they are concerned for her safety because it is out of character for her to go missing.

Tuesday December 21

Miss Yeates's parents appeal directly to their daughter, saying: ''Jo, whatever the reason that you have not been in touch over the last few days, we want you to know that we love you dearly and are desperate to know that you are safe and well.''

Wednesday December 22

Mr Reardon makes an appeal, saying: ''I desperately want her back - I thought we would be together forever.''

Specialist officers search the couple's flat, as well as the snowy Bristol Downs and Avon Gorge.

Thursday December 23

Miss Yeates's parents make a second tearful appeal and reveal fears their daughter has been abducted.

Detectives say that when Miss Yeates was in the Tesco Express she bought a Tesco Finest tomato, mozzarella and basil pesto pizza. There was no trace of the pizza, the wrapping or the box in her flat.

Friday December 24

Police release new CCTV footage showing Miss Yeates buying the pizza.

Christmas Day, Saturday December 25

A couple walking their dogs in the Failand area of North Somerset, three miles from where Miss Yeates went missing, find a body.

Sunday December 26

Police announce they are ''satisfied'' the body found is that of Miss Yeates.

Monday December 27

The family of Miss Yeates lay flowers at the spot where her body was found.

Tuesday December 28

Police announce that Miss Yeates died as a result of strangulation and officially launch a murder investigation.

Wednesday December 29

It is reported that Miss Yeates's landlord Chris Jefferies saw her leave her flat with two people on the night she disappeared. He later denies the sighting, saying it is a ''serious distortion'' of what he told police.

Police disclose new CCTV footage of Miss Yeates buying cider at an off-licence on the night she goes missing.

Thursday December 30

Police arrest Mr Jefferies on suspicion of murdering Joanna Yeates.

Friday December 31

Police reveal they have been granted more time to question Mr Jefferies.

New Year's Day, Saturday January 1

Miss Yeates's family issue a statement expressing their grief that their daughter has been ''stolen'' from them but say they are confident her killer will be caught.

Mr Jefferies is released on police bail pending further inquiries.

Sunday January 2

Police warn women not to walk home alone after dark as Miss Yeates's killer remains at large.

Monday January 3

Police say they have found no evidence Miss Yeates was sexually assaulted, suggest more than one person may have been involved in the murder, appeal for help in tracing a 4x4 vehicle seen near to where her body was discovered and reveal they still do not know when and where she died.

Tuesday January 4

Detectives launch a national campaign on Facebook to appeal for witnesses.

Wednesday January 5

Police reveal they are investigating whether Miss Yeates could have been strangled with her own ski sock - which her killer might then have kept as a trophy.

Friday January 7

Officers talk to more than 200 people as they retrace Miss Yeates's last steps three weeks after her disappearance.

Saturday January 8

Her parents say their daughter's killer has robbed her of a future as a wife and mother. Her brother, Chris Yeates, says he has been left in a ''surreal hole of despair''.

Wednesday January 12

Miss Yeates best friend Rebecca Scott, the last person to speak to her, says she is ''desperate to see justice done''.

Monday January 17

Land Registry documents show the killer could have entered and left Miss Yeates's flat without being seen by any of her neighbours.

Tuesday January 18

Mr and Mrs Yeates say their daughter probably knew her killer and urge anybody who knows somebody who has reacted strangely to the murder to come forward.

A reconstruction of the final steps of Miss Yeates was created for BBC's Crimewatch programme.

Meanwhile, detectives said that tests revealed she did not eat the Tesco Finest pizza she was seen buying on her way home just before she went missing.

Wednesday January 19

Police said that more than 300 people made calls to the Operation Braid incident room since filming started on a reconstruction of the 25-year-old's final movements.

Thursday January 20

A 32-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of the murder of Miss Yeates.

bristol downs, somerset police, avon gorge, friend rebecca, landscape architect, rebecca scott, waitrose supermarket, minute journey, clifton village, yeates, specialist officers, coloured coat, christmas eve, journey home, brother chris, reardon, architectural firm, regent street, tesco, disappearance
qtdz
Telegraph.co.uk

Swans reflecting sprouting beans

Swans reflecting sprouting beans

Dali GoodPak for Hipstamatic

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Skyview

Skyview

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gray

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On Princelet Street

On Princelet Street

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Flickr.com

Rufus the Newfoundland

Rufus the Newfoundland

Meet our new dog, Rufus.

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Flickr.com

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Beijing

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Gui Jieqtdz
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Zenyatta caps 19-1 career with Horse of the Year award

By Bob Velin, USA TODAY

She will go down in history as perhaps the greatest female Thoroughbred race horse of all time, coming within a nose of being undefeated for her career.

And now, Zenyatta (19-1) can add the biggest honor of her career to her bulging résumé— Horse of the Year for 2010. It marks the second consecutive year a female horse has won the industry's top award — Rachel Alexandra edged Zenyatta for the honor last year.

Her owners, Jerry and Ann Moss, accepted the Eclipse Award on Monday night during ceremonies at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach.

"She did it all, and we're thrilled to be in her company," said Jerry Moss.

Zenyatta edged out the 4-year-old colt Blame, who defeated the hard-charging mare by a nose in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs last November, in the final race for both horses.

Zenyatta and Blame are both retired — Zenyatta at Lane's End Farms in Kentucky and Blame at Claiborne Farm, also in Kentucky. Other Eclipse winners:

•Two-year-old male: Uncle Mo, the highly regarded winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, and the overwhelming early favorite for the Kentucky Derby on May 7.

Mike Repole, who purchased Uncle Mo for $220,000, said he was "overwhelmed by winning an award that was won by the likes of Secretariat, Seattle Slew … and Uncle Mo is now in that company." Uncle Mo received 236 of the 238 votes cast.

•Two-year filly: Awesome Feather. She won the BC Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 5, then was sold at auction for $2.3 million.

•Three-year-old male: Lookin at Lucky, the hard-luck colt who won the Preakness Stakes after finishing sixth in the 2010 Kentucky Derby (224 votes).

•Three-year-old filly: Blind Luck (237 votes).

•Older male: Blame, got all 238 votes.

•Older female: Zenyatta, receiving 237 of the 238 votes. The Irish horse Goldikova, who won her record third consecutive Breeders' Cup Mile in November, got the other vote.

•Female Sprinter: Dubai Majesty (232 votes).

•Male Sprinter: Big Drama (170 votes).

•Male Turf Horse: Gio Ponti (199 votes).

•Female Turf Horse: Goldikova (212 votes).

•Steeplechase Horse: Slip Away (175 votes).

•Outstanding Owner: Winstar Farm (100); Mr. And Mrs. Jerome S. Moss (81).

•Outstanding Breeder: Adena Springs (69); Claiborne Farm, Adele Dilschneider (55).

•Outstanding Trainer: Todd Pletcher (168); John Schireffs (28).

•Outstanding Jockey: Ramon Dominguez (124); Garrett Gomez (60).

•Outstanding Apprentice Jockey: Omar Moreno (197).

•Other winners: Photography: Michael Clevenger, Louisville Courier-Journal; Writing (feature/commentary): Wright Thompson, ESPN.com; Writing (news-enterprise): Bill Finley, Thoroughbred Daily News; Television (live racing); ESPN, The Breeders' Cup World Championships; Television (feature): HRTV, Inside Information: Swale; Audio and Multi-media Internet: Horse-Racing Radio Network, Breeders' Cup.

The awards are voted on and presented by the NTRA, Daily Racing Form, and National Turf Writers and Broadcasters.

fontainebleau hotel in miami beach, thoroughbred race horse, juvenile fillies, seattle slew, jerry moss, claiborne farm, who won the preakness stakes, ann moss, churchill downs, female horse, r 233, irish horse, blind luck, horse of the year, second consecutive year, breeders cup, preakness stakes, hotel in miami, hard luck, velin
qtdz
Usatoday.com

Hiroglyphes

Hiroglyphes

Temple de Karnak, Luxor, gypte.

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Rolograaf_02_08-01-2011

Rolograaf_02_08-01-2011

Locomotion 80-90's Disco Giants - Robin-S, Zoetermeer Januari 2011

Elke eerste vrijdag van de maand maken we een retroreis naar de jaren 80 en 90 in de Locomotion te Zoetermeer.
Gloednieuwe shows op zowel Plaza als in discozaal Festival!

Ook in het nieuwe jaar start het feest op Plaza al extra vroeg. Een gezellige sing a long show met de grootste hits begint al om 22.30 uur.
The 80ties RADIO Show presenteert ook deze maand weer een Amazing Meezingshow Alles is, voor thuisblijvers te horen maar ook onderweg naar het feest, te beluisteren via FM 96.2 (In een straal van 20 km rond Locomotion)

In Festival draaien de vetste hits in beeld en geluid tijdens The 80ties DISCO Show.

LIVESHOWS DISCO GIANTS OOK IN HET NIEUWE JAAR!

07/01/11 ROBIN S. (Show me love / Luv 4 Luv)

04/02/11 DIVA'S OF DANCE met de leading ladies van 2 UNLIMITED, 2 BROTHERS on the 4th Floor en T-SPOON

04/03/11 RE-PLAY, the grandmasters of Disco & Soul

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Flickr.com

No sei o nome

No sei o nome

Detalhe do jardim que fica do famoso Calado da 13 de Julho, Aracaju - Sergipe.
Eu que no ia querer levar um tombo e cair nessa planta... rsrsrs

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EOS 5D Mark IIqtdz
Flickr.com

Test yourself: how would you fare in the Only Connect quiz

Test yourself: how would you fare in the Only Connect quiz

On Monday, last year's University Challenge winners Emmanuel College, Cambridge, captained by Alexander Guttenplan, will appear in a special edition of the BBC Four quiz show Only Connect. Here are the sort of questions they can expect.

6:06PM GMT 14 Jan 2011

Comments

Answers found at the bottom.

ROUND ONE: WHAT CONNECTS….?

1. What connects:

(1) He’s my brother

(2) Well, nobody’s perfect

(3) Mein Fuhrer, I can walk

(4) It was Beauty killed the Beast

2. What connects:

(1) Epistle to the Ephesians

(2) De Profundis

(3) Don Quixote

(4) Pilgrim’s Progress

ROUND TWO: WHAT’S NEXT IN THE SEQUENCE?

1. What’s next in the sequence:

(1) Laconicum

(2) Caldarium

(3) Tepidarium

(4) ?

2. What’s next in the sequence:

(1) Herbert

(2) Jefferson

(3) Walker

(4) ?

ROUND THREE: MISSING VOWELS

Regroup these consonants and reconnect them with their missing vowels:

1. Winter Olympic events:

(1) LPNS KNG

(2) S NWB R DNG

(3) C HC KY

(4) LG

2. Fictional suicides:

(1) MMB VRY

(2) JL TCP LT

(3) JX

(4) C CS N

Round One answers: 1) Last lines in movies (Return of the Jedi, Some Like It Hot, Dr. Strangelove, King Kong). 2) Answer: They were all written in prison (St. Paul, Oscar Wilde, Cervantes, John Bunyan).

Round Two answers: 1) Frigidarium (Bathing rooms at a Roman baths, from hottest to coldest). 2) Hussein (Second names of U.S. Presidents – George Herbert Bush, William Jefferson Clinton, George Walker Bush Junior, Barack Hussein Obama)

Round Three answers: 1) Alpine Skiing, Snow Boarding, Ice Hockey, Luge. 2) Emma Bovary, Juliet Capulet, Ajax, Cio-cio Sanqtdz
Telegraph.co.uk

Iran_2000-09-29_truckstop_002.jpg

Iran_2000-09-29_truckstop_002.jpg

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Honda Civic Type R BTCC. Goodwood Festival of Speed 2008

honda Civic Type R BTCC. Goodwood Festival of Speed 2008

Honda Civic Type R BTCC.

All of photographs published here are copyright © Anthony Fosh All Rights Reserved. They may not be reproduced and/or used in any form of publication, print or the Internet without my written permission

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antsphoto

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Topaz adjust

goodwood festival of speed, honda civic type r, festival of speed, btcc, civic type r, honda civic, honda, photographs
qtdz
Flickr.com

The Strand

The Strand

After waking up at 4 in the morning after 3.5 hours sleep from a bad but rather silly dream i figured i would use the rare opportunity of me getting up early on the weekend to take some morning photos.

i headed down to the Townsville strand with my d3000 and my new nikkor 10.5mm f2.8 fisheye lens so i could test it out in low light.

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townsville

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star

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nikkor

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two girls

two girls

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Flickr.com

Great Balls Of Fire

Great Balls Of Fire

This handsome beauty sure stood out yesterday in the snowy branches of this fir tree...Cute isn't he? He was very high in the branches but I managed a few good shots of him..lol Here you can see just how puffed up he is keeping warm in our freezing Southern Ontario temperatures. This male Northern Cardinal is going to add some colour and bring some smiles today me thinks!!

Northern Cardinal
"Bill: Thick short cone shape, red or pink coloration
Size: 7-9 inches long with 11-inch wingspan, long thin tail
Colors: Bold red, black, buff, tan"

"Markings: Northern cardinals are dimorphic, with male birds a brilliant red color all over that may be slightly duller on the wings. Males also have a black narrow facial mask around the eyes, bill and chin. Females are a buff golden tan with a red tinge to the wings and tail, and their facial mask is smaller and less distinct. Both genders have a prominent head crest."

Enjoy! Best viewed large on black in lightbox.
Member of the Flickr Bird Brigade
Activists for birds and wildlife

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Cardinal

Cardinalis

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puffed

up

daddy

puffball

round

nature

Mississauga

rouge

Cardinal rouge

songbird

Cardenal rojo

Cardenal norteo

Cardenal comn

long-tailed

fun

unique

birds

quot quot, ontario temperatures, head crest, northern cardinals, northern cardinal, male birds, fir tree, facial mask, cone shape, inch wingspan, southern ontario, both genders, tinge, smiles, females, wings, balls
qtdz
Flickr.com

Guten Appetit!

Guten Appetit!

Es gab Fondue, Baguettes und Salat - sehr Delikat!

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Silvester

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2010

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Powershot

A620qtdz
Flickr.com

Sun Rise at Long Reef

Sun Rise at Long Reef

Not a lucky day. After this shot, the thick cloud started pouring its amunitions aka 'raining' :(
Well, hope you enjoy the picture :)

See where this picture was taken. [?]

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qtdz
Flickr.com

green apple

green apple

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monyart

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Cecile

Romain

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editedqtdz
Flickr.com

Sokaka Village

Sokaka Village

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Papua New Guinea

Madangqtdz
Flickr.com

A walk and some lunch

A walk and some lunch

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Flickr.com

Liquid Gold

Liquid gold

Liquid gold is the gaze of my cat Jester, a black smoke Siberian Forest Cat. Taken with iPhone 3GS.

He was sleeping on an IKEA tray at home when I asked him to pose for this shot. I love the golden depths of his lovely eyes against the soft black mask of his face. Being mostly black and grey, he is extremely difficult to photograph.

Entered for Daily Shoot: "Make a photograph today to serve as a special memory of somebody or something."
www.dailyshoot.com

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Jester

black smoke

Siberian Forest Cat

gold

liquid

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siberian forest cat, black mask, special memory, 3gs, lovely eyes, iphone, jester, gaze, gold
qtdz
Flickr.com

Storey County Courthouse #1

Storey County Courthouse #1

B Street Series, Virginia City, Nevada
The Storey County Courthouse was built in the high Italianate style that embodies 19th-century ideals of decorative opulence as well as law and order. The first county courthouse was destroyed in the Great Fire of October 1875. Reconstruction began in 1876 and the present building, designed by the San Francisco architectural firm of Kenitzer and Raun and built by contractor Peter Burke, was completed in February 1877. The total cost of construction, including fixtures and the jail, was $117,000, a remarkable sum even for the Comstock boom years. A life-sized figure of Justice stands as sentry at the entrance, but she is not blindfolded, a rare occurrence in our national symbology. The faade of the building was decorated with elaborate ironwork, painted contrasting colors, and a pediment that included the date of construction, 1876, also the national centennial.

VC3NV_20110107_HDR_4067-tonemappedCS5

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nevada

postprocessed

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usa

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B Street

Storey County Courthouse

Tamron Lens AF 10~24mm f2.8-3.5qtdz
Flickr.com

Sunset Island

Sunset Island

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Flickr.com

Beijing Buys More EU Debt

BEIJING—China has been increasing its holdings of European Union countries' debt, including Spanish government debt, since the outbreak of the European sovereign debt crisis, Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said in a statement.

China's latest comments of reassurance for Spain and other European countries amid the euro-zone crisis come as political and corporate leaders increasingly see China as a source of capital. China's foreign-exchange reserves are by far the world's largest, totaling $2.648 trillion at the end of September.

View Full Image

Associated Press

Spain's Prime Minister Zapatero applauds as Zheng Zhijie, deputy governor of China Development Bank, left, concludes a deal with Francisco Gonzalez of BBVA bank in Madrid this week.

China maintains confidence in European and Spanish financial markets and believes they will overcome the current crisis, Mr. Gao said in the statement on the Ministry of Commerce's website Thursday.

"We will continue to buy debt and work together with Spain," said Mr. Gao, who is accompanying Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang on a visit to Spain and other European countries.

The exact amount of bonds China buys "depends on the timing and volume of issuances by the Spanish government, as well as the bonds' prices in the primary and secondary markets," Mr. Gao said.

Spanish daily El Pais on Thursday cited Spanish government sources as saying China has committed to buy about €6 billion ($7.89 billion) worth of Spanish sovereign debt. The report couldn't be immediately confirmed.

View Full Image

Reuters

. Spanish energy company Repsol, below, will get an investment from China for its Brazilian operations.

People's Bank of China Vice Governor Yi Gang, also in Spain, said China is willing to discuss with Europe the diversification of international reserve currencies, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

It is also willing to discuss with Europe the formation of a stable reserve currency system in which the supply and total quantity of reserve currency are orderly and controllable, Mr. Yi said. The report didn't elaborate on the comment. China is keen to diversify more of its foreign-exchange reserves away from U.S. dollar-denominated assets.

"Reserve managers around the world are looking to buy assets in currencies that are new to them, like the South Korean won and the Australian dollar," said Neil Mellor, a currencies analyst at Bank of New York Mellon in London. "The problem is that there are very few markets deep enough to take the amounts that China wants to dump."

Mr. Yi reiterated that China will adopt a "prudent" monetary policy to allow China's monetary conditions to return to normal levels, Xinhua said. China will also continue to improve the yuan's exchange-rate formation mechanism and will steadily promote market-oriented interest rate overhauls, he said.

Among key economic issues currently are how China can use macroeconomic policies to address inflationary pressures, and unconventional monetary policy measures adopted by the European Central Bank, Mr. Yi said.

The PBOC official added that Chinese and European financial institutions can strengthen cooperation in areas including increasing capital strength and improving the risk-sharing system, and should explore developing financial instruments and hedging devices that meet the needs of the Chinese and European markets, Xinhua reported.

—Aaron Back in Beijing, Katie Martin in London and Jean Yung in Madrid contributed to this article.

xinhua news agency, china development bank, foreign exchange reserves, european union countries, bbva bank, mr gao, reserve currencies, currency system, reserve currency, brazilian operations, chinese vice, li keqiang, bank of china, vice governor, source of capital, commerce minister, spanish government, secondary markets, sovereign debt, deputy governor
qtdz
Online.wsj.com