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Big freeze halts Europe THE CHILL FACTOR: A man clears snow from a car in Epsom, south England, on Thursday. — Reuters |
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Berlusconi ‘profited from secret deals’ with Putin
Two US-based Indians in Grammy nomination list
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Big freeze halts Europe
London, December 2 Days of sub-zero temperatures and snow in Britain, beginning in Scotland and northern England and moving south, have halted flights and trains and could be costing the economy £1.2 billion a day, according to insurer RSA. Commuters struggled to get to work as Britain’s worst early winter weather in almost two decades showed no sign of easing. Gatwick, Britain’s second busiest airport, said it would remain closed until at least 0600 GMT on Friday. Edinburgh airport, operated by BAA, was expected to reopen by 1600 GMT on Thursday after closing all day on Wednesday. Amid widespread criticism of Britain’s inability to cope with bad weather, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond ordered a review of how transport operators had responded this week. “Complacency is not an option. There are lessons to be learned from our performance in every bout of bad weather and it is important that we learn those now,” Hammond said. British wholesale gas prices rose to their highest level since early 2009 on Thursday on high demand for heating which is draining limited stocks and increasing fears over supplies for the rest of winter. Last winter was the coldest in Britain for three decades and the authorities had hoped to avoid a repeat of the disruption to travel and businesses that had caused. Eurostar, which runs train services connecting Britain to France and Belgium, said it would be operating a “significantly reduced timetable on Thursday”. Services would be subject to delays of up to 90 minutes and some would be cancelled, it said. France’s state rail company told travellers to expect delays of an hour or so on many services and cancellation of two in 10 trains between Paris and the south-east. In Germany, scores of flights were cancelled and many delayed at airports in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin. Berlin suffered road and rail disruptions and temperatures were forecast to fall as far as -20 degrees Celsius in parts of the country on Thursday. Motorists were stranded for several hours on one motorway in the western state of Hesse overnight. Geneva’s Cointrin airport reopened on Thursday after the heaviest snowfall in decades closed its only runway for nearly 36 hours. An airport spokesman said losses were running at about 500,000 Swiss francs a day during the closure. The heaviest snowfall was in western Switzerland, which disrupted rail and road traffic, creating chaos for commuters. The Interior Ministry said 18 people had died in Poland over the past two days due to the severe weather, which has also disrupted air, road and rail traffic. Wintry weather kills dozens of homeless or drunk people in Poland each year. — Reuters
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Berlusconi ‘profited from secret deals’ with Putin
Rome, December 2 According to a report in the Guardian, exasperated by Berlusconi's pro-Russian behaviour, American embassy staff detail allegations circulating in Rome that the Italian leader has been promised a cut of huge energy contracts. The two men are known to be personally close, but this is the first time allegations of a financial link have surfaced. Hillary Clinton's state department in Washington sent a special request to the Rome embassy this year, asking for extra intelligence-gathering on the allegations about the men: "What personal investments, if any, do they have that might drive their foreign or economic policies?". The cable says Berlusconi sidelined Foreign Minister Franco Frattini almost entirely, going directly to Putin with whom he exchanged "lavish gifts" and considered he had a personal bond. "The basis of the friendship is hard to determine but many interlocutors have told us that Berlusconi believes that Putin, a fellow 'tycoon', trusts Berlusconi more than any other European leader," the cable from Ambassador Ronald Spogli read. It said the Italian prime minister's advisers were reluctant to challenge him over his relationship with the Russian leader but even some members of his own PDL party had expressed concern over Berlusconi's "giddiness about Putin." Hillary has this week gone out of her way to placate Berlusconi, described in an earlier leaked diplomatic cable as "feckless, vain and ineffective as a modern European leader". It alleged he was exhausted by "partying hard". On the sidelines of a summit meeting in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, she said: "We have no better friend." But the leaked document shows serious concern that Berlusconi, who irritated Washington with his support for Moscow during the 2008 Georgian war, was working "overtime" within the European Union on Moscow's behalf. "His overwhelming desire is to remain in Putin's good graces, and he has frequently voiced opinions and declarations that have been passed to him directly by Putin," the cable said. — Reuters
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Two US-based Indians in Grammy nomination list
Los Angeles, December 2 “Soul Call” takes the listener on a healing journey with Sanskrit slokas and an important chant from ancient Indian texts - eight phonemes, Om Na Mo Na Ra Ya Na Ya. While the vocals and the composition are by Tandon, the complex orchestral arrangements are by Tejendra Narayan Majumdar assisted by Snehasish Majumdar. Tandon, who hails from Chennai, is the chairman of Tandon Capital Associates. “Historicity” is a trio album combining Iyer’s searing originals with a surprising batch of covers - Bernstein’s “Somewhere,” Andrew Hill’s “Smoke Stack,” MIA’s “Galang” and others. Featuring his longtime collaborators, Marcus Gilmore (drums) and Stephan Crump (bass), this album became one of the most acclaimed jazz works of the decade. US-born son of Indian immigrants, Iyer is a self-taught creative musician grounded in American jazz and popular forms and drawing from a wide range of Western and non-Western traditions. Most recently, in the Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards, he was named the 2010 Musician of the Year. — PTI
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ondon, December 2
Rome, December 2
