| Roma's success no surprise
Spalletti tried to keep his feet on the ground after his latest success. "We have to be cautious and keep our heads," he told a news conference. "Too much euphoria is a dangerous thing. After all we also have to concentrate on the league and we have got a tough game coming up at the weekend." Real Madrid's worst fears were however confirmed on Wednesday and the loss will have major repercussions at a club that measures success in terms of European trophies. "We didn't have that magic we've shown on other nights," said skipper Raul, whose 61st Champions League goal was to no avail. "It's a very heavy blow, a really big disappointment because the Champions League was one of our big objectives this season and now we are out of it." At the back Pepe gave further evidence of poor judgement in picking up two needless bookings, while his fellow defenders struggled to deal with Roma's sharp passing and running off the ball.
December Slump In Vehicle Sales Augurs Ill for '08
See Corrections & Amplifications item below. The auto industry's troubles, once centered on Detroit, are spreading to other manufacturers amid a slump in U.S. vehicle sales that is likely to turn 2008 into the weakest year in at least a decade. The industry yesterday reported a 3% drop in sales of cars and light trucks in December, according to Autodata Corp., as housing woes and high fuel prices scared increasing numbers of consumers away from showrooms. .
State of the union
Last week, the hot pop topic was regional differences in music taste. But what of the separate national musical identities of Britain? We asked English musicians to name the songs that they feel define Englishness
Tim Wheeler on what defines Northern Ireland
Isobel Campbell on Scotland
Nicky Wire on Wales
Interviews by Paul Lester
Friday February 15, 2008
The Guardian
Frayed union ... The Sex Pistols. Photograph: Reuters
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MPs fear Terror Bill switches power from Scots to English courts
A constitutional row was brewing last night over the UK Government's planned Counter-Terrorism Bill, which, it is claimed, will drive a "coach and horses" through 300 years of Scotland's independent legal system if passed unchanged. The bill, which among other things includes the controversial plan to increase pre-detention without charge and toughen up sentencing, states that proceedings for an alleged offence "may be taken at any place in the United Kingdom", raising worries that cases, which should be heard in Scotland, will be heard in England under a different legal system. Concerned parties, including the Law Society of Scotland, fear, if unamended, the proposal will undermine the position of the Lord Advocate, whose prosecutorial independence is guaranteed by the 1998 Scotland Act, and the position of the High Court, which is protected by the 1707 Act of Union.
Romney throws his support to McCain
I hundred percent agree with Sammare that our electoral system needs drastic restructuring.It is outdated and non customised,non friendly to our modern days needs.It gives you dangerous Bushes, or young inexperienced speechwriters with energy of youth,lot of funds gathered by certain group of people but no LEADERS.SamR formula to get rid off Aids by90% and others are worth trying for rich lax Americans besides poor ,ignorant evErywhere.What is the aid situation in his country.IsOsama responsible or it? .
Targetting Spain - another M11 bomb for another Election?
A certain hysteria has it certain sectors of Spanish & Catalan public opinion following the arrests of 14 suspected Islamist terrorists in the city of Barcelona between Friday night & Saturday morning. In an operation involving the Spanish secret service (the CNI) the Guardia Civil & local regional Catalan police (Mossos d'esquadra) co-ordinated raids made on a bakery, mosque & several flats in the Raval district of central Barcelona. Immediately news services both in the Spanish state & abroad cited further co-operation with amongst others the intelligence services of France & the UK. The Spanish state will celebrate a general election on the 9th of March almost 4 years after the M11 massacre which was falsely attributed to ETA by the then right wing regime. Nobody wants to talk about bombs now - but we should all the same.
More air carriers turn stingy as costs escalate
MUMBAI: Life used to be in the lap of luxury for flight crews, until recently. They got to stay in the best of five-star hotels, savoured the very best food and moved about in company-owned luxury cars, between logging flying hours. Today, with costs going through the roof, airlines have been exploring every possible corner where they could cut costs. Scissors are being run through many of the frills, including lodging, boarding and conveyance. So much so, some airlines have started putting up their crews in guest houses to save on hotel expenses. Predictably, car rental allowances, too, are getting pruned. After all, in a low-margin business, every penny counts. And the austerity drive goes way farther. SpiceJet, for one, has even reduced the grammage (weight) of its boarding passes in a bid to trim costs.
Gang member attacks two men on TriMet bus
After approaching two Hispanic men at the back of a TriMet bus, 20-year-old Andres Napolean-Marcos identified himself as a gang member, displayed a knife and a pair of brass knuckles, and then attacked the two bus passengers. The confrontation happened at 5:17 a.m. on Jan. 23 near the area of Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Northeast Roselawn Street. The bus driver responded by activating an alarm to notify police of the attack and ordered everyone off of the bus. The fight between the men continued as they left the bus until officers from the Portland's Northeast Precinct contacted the three men on the street. According to the Portland Police Bureau spokesman, Brian Schmautz, Napolean-Marcos believed the two men were rival gang members. Napolean-Marcos was arrested for one count of first-degree attempted assault, two counts of second-degree assault, one count of unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of menacing.
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