Ian Holloway takes his Tangerine side to White Hart Lane. Watch Tottenham v Blackpool Live with GetSport.TV Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone and defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto will both miss the visit of Blackpool due to injury. Croatia international Vedran Corluka is unlikely to play after suffering a hamstring injury in last week’s defeat by Chelsea. Blackpool [...]

Azamara Club Cruises just added South America to its long list of serviced destinations, ranging from Borneo to Croatia. To celebrate the new ports of call, such as locales in vibrantly cultured Brazil and wildlife-filled southern Argentina, Azamara Club Cruises is offering a savings of up to 50 percent and $1,000 in air credit, depending [...]

Dredging Today

IHC Merwede Confirms Panamanian Backhoe Dredger Deal (The Netherlands) Dredging Today IHC Merwede has over 3000 employees based at various locations in The Netherlands, China, Croatia, France, India, the Middle East, Nigeria, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. ... and more »

Filed under: Stories, Europe, Italy, Cruises

Continue reading Sicily in a day

Sicily in a day originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 06 May 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Irish Sailing Association has confirmed the youth sailors that will travel to Zadar, Croatia for the ISAF Youth World Championships in July.

The plan is basically the same as our last stop of Dubrovnik, Croatia on what we call our "sampling of the Med" tour that started in Venice, Italy and will end nine days later in Barcelona.

Let me first day, your prayers in the wee hours of your morning were were very much needed today, and very much felt!

Today we drove from Belgrade, Serbia to Kostajnica, Republika Srpska. You can see Beograd (Belgrade) to the right side of the picture, and Kostanjnica (which is not shown because it's TINY) is marked with the pin.


It was a beautiful day for the drive! Of course, I have to take pictures of some "stuff" along the way!

Like the memorial to the Jasenovac Concentration camp in Croatia. Between the day it opened in 1941, and it's evacuation in 1945, between 45,000-52,000 resident Serbs, between 12,000-20,000 Jews, 15,000-20,000 Roma (gypsies) and between 5,000-10,000 ethnic Croats and Muslims were murdered. Additionally, the Croation authorities murdered between 320,000-340,000 ethnic Serb residents of Croatia and Bosnia. This memorial, sitting on the site of Jasenovac,  represents those lives lost.

We crossed where the Una an Slava rivers come together. It's a beautiful area.

And stork nests. These are huge! For those watching the Decorah, Iowa eagles, this is about the same size.

When we arrived in Kostajnica, we met up with some of Mary's extended family. This is her 1st cousin Gloria. Mary, (left) is Eastern European coordinator of COCI, and is who I've spent the last week with.

While walking to Gloria's apartment, Mary took me

This is Mary's aunt. Isn't she lovely? She lives on the 5th floor of her apartment building, and can no longer leave. There is no elevator, and while she can go down all the flights of stairs, she can't get back up them. The laws have recently changed here, and they are now required to install an elevator in any building more than three floors. Hopefully this will allow Mary's aunt considerably more freedom.

This is her aunt's sister. She couldn't get over the fact I didn't understand Serbian, and kept asking me things, then laughing when I didn't answer. LOL


This is the NADA school in Kostajnica. The original school was bombed out during the Bosnian war. COCI offered to rebuild the school, but only if they would give space to a special needs classroom. NADA (which means Hope) was started by parents of children with special needs to give them a place to learn. It is called Some of the children do not attend school, others attend but are never accepted by their peers. NADA...Hope School... is where the children love to come and are accepted.

 The grounds in font of the school are all torn up because the city has just installed new drainage systems. In the foreground you see pavers, these will be placed to make a beautiful playground for the children.

When I was here in December, COCI donated this car to the school. This allows staff to drive children who's families would not otherwise be able to get them to and from the school.

The workshops meet in the evening from 5:00-7:00. This allows those who attend school to come to the NADA school afterward. Today they were working hard making luminaries. All of the children in this program have mild-moderate cognitive delays.



This little girl is actually a sibling to one of the NADA students. Just an adorable little thing!


This young man WANTED my camera in the worst way! He did get a little carried away while posing with his scissors and just about cut his hair. LOL



All of the children wanted to make SURE I took a picture of their tree! This was a fine motor activity and is made of rolled up papers.




 Mary Borojevic (left) Dr. Zoran Popovic (with the sachel) and NADA staff.
We left Kostajnica about 6:30 and started the four hour drive home. COCI is doing amazing things here, all over the Balkan region.

Although the clinic did not take place, COCI has a staff member, Dr. Zoran Popovic, who is a dentist and today (Friday) he will start seeing some of the children COCI serves who live in and around Belgrade. He is donating his time and talents to start getting the dental needs of the children with special needs met. Most of these children are shut-ins, and without help from COCI would never make it to a doctor, dentist, or school. So, the toothbrushes you donated were going to instead be used for this program. They're a great training tools since they have a built-in timer in them. Instead they're sitting in a customs office at the airport, and who knows what will happen to them from there?

More great stuff happening today!

The Irish Sailing Association has confirmed the youth sailors that will travel to Zadar, Croatia for the ISAF Youth World Championships in July.

Source : ISAF News

Incredible retro-futuristic monuments from former Yugoslavia (now Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.).

SAILING:FOLLOWING LAST weekend’s ISA Mitsubishi Youth National Championships on Dublin Bay, the line-up for the Irish team at the ISAF Youth Worlds at Zadar in Croatia in July have been confirmed by the Irish Sailing Association.

Training held in order to verify readiness and capability of operating and rescue forces to carry out tasks in the domain of their[...]

Susan Magrino Agency has two new clients. The firm has been selected by the Hyatt Regency New Orleans Hotel, which is reopening this fall and the agency has added Smashburger to its roster. The “better burger” chain is opening 85 restaurants this year. The firm will be working with its first Brooklyn restaurant, opening next month.

Hanna Lee Communications has been selected to promote the first-ever Wines of Croatia tasting in New York this summer. More than 30 wine producers will be at the event.

LivingSocial has chosen Fleishman-Hillard as its U.S. AOR after a review, PRWeek reports. Work began on April 1. Atomic PR was working with social e-commerce site from July 2008 until recently.

Nancy J. Friedman PR has three new clients. It will handle all the PR surrounding the opening of the Z Hotel in Long Island City, New York. The Body Holiday/Le Sport and Rendezvous properties in St. Lucia have also selected NJFPR for their relaunch. The firm had worked with the island of St. Lucia for a decade. And finally, the firm has been chosen as the U.S. AOR for The Charles Hotel in Boston.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Filed under: Europe, Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Iceland, Slovenia, United Kingdom

Before Facebook--hell, before mobile telephones and email--it wasn't all that easy to keep in touch with people you might meet on the road.

You could exchange addresses and telephone numbers, of course, but by the time you were in a position to make a call or scribble a letter, the immediacy of the connection you'd shared while staying up all night on that Sardinian beach would probably be gone. Just like that, your travel friends would become lost travel friends.

In some instances, the fact that connections were more difficult to establish was a positive thing. Only connections of consequence would outlast the original encounter. The rest would fade away in a pleasant swirl of nostalgia, and you'd never be confronted by vile comments on your Facebook wall from that faint blast from the past who doesn't belong in your future.

Nonetheless, there's a little bit of sadness associated with all those lost travel buddies. The kinds of connections forged on the road are quite special--immediate, often effortless, involving snap decisions to trust, share, and engage.

Here's my own hall of fame of fascinating people met on my travels over the years with whom I either immediately lost touch or failed to remain in contact.

Elke. I think that was the name of the soft-spoken anarchist who alighted from my Berlin-bound train at the final pre-border station in West Germany in the summer of 1989. We'd talked for hours and eaten each other's food. I think she wanted to write children's books. She was deeply alienated by consumerism and dressed quite shabbily, yet she seemed cautiously happy. I remember that she waved goodbye as she left the train.

The countess. She had a von in her name and lived in a super rich suburb of Munich, on a lake. I was 17. We took the overnight train from Paris to Munich and stayed up the entire time talking and smoking a million cigarettes. Where are you now, countess? Living with your five children and count husband in a Bavarian castle? Doing drugs with your Romanian bodybuilder boyfriend in Mallorca?

The French couple who drove my father and me from Rijeka to Ljubljana in their miniscule car. We met on the Jadrolinija ferry from Dubrovnik. He was portly; she was tiny. They spoke very little English and our French was execrable but we laughed the entire way.

The East German man. Lars? It was 1992. I was stuck at a hostel in Oostende for a few days waiting for a ferry to England. He was a mad traveler, driving off every few weeks to explore another corner of Europe until recently forbidden to him. He told me how much he wanted to visit Iceland, and several months later I received a postcard from him from Reykjavik. I wonder sometimes if this fellow now works in the travel industry.

Carol Ann, the American nun. She shared a regular compartment with me and my sister, which we tried to turn into a makeshift couchette by drawing the shades and pretending to be asleep. Whenever someone would open the door looking for a place to sit, my sister, 14 at the time, would sit up in a fake stupor and ask them to be quiet so that we could remain sleeping. Sister Carol Ann would giggle whenever this happened.

[Image: Flickr | fazen]

Lost travel friends originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 05 May 2011 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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by Goran Supraha At “Sredisce field” in Zagreb, 21st & 22nd April was held a tryout for the Croatian cadet national team. There were 28 players from all Croatian clubs, being been tested and scouted by Mike Hartley and Matija Grofelnik through two days. They chose 20 players to represent Croatia at Qualifier European Championship [...]

Incredible retro-futuristic monuments from former Yugoslavia (now Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.). The tricky engineering structures were commissioned by former Yugo

Ms. Clinton stressed that the United States supports Croatia's aspirations not only for EU membership, which of course is critical, but the role that Croatia is playing in Europe and the region.

• Lambert, Mackay and Bilic also admired at Upton Park
• Grant could face sack even if Hammers stay in Premier League

West Ham have drawn up a shortlist of seven names to replace Avram Grant should they decide to dispense with the manager's services at the end of the season – Neil Warnock, Paul Lambert, Malky Mackay, Chris Hughton, Slaven Bilic, Ian Holloway and Martin O'Neill.

Who could succeed the Israeli will depend, in part, on whether the club are in the Championship or Premier League in August. As West Ham are currently bottom and three points from 17th place with three games left the most likely scenario is that they will be relegated. That would almost certainly result in Grant being sacked.

When appointed last summer Grant was given the remit of maintaining the club's Premier League status during his first term in charge while David Gold and David Sullivan, the co-owners, focused on reducing the £110m debt. That figure is now down to around £80m but during a troubled season West Ham have rarely been out of the relegation zone.

It is understood that Gold and Sullivan never envisaged such a struggle, with the owners hoping West Ham would be 15th or 16th for the majority of the campaign and that Premier League status would be secured in March.

Grant has said that seven points may be enough to avoid the drop but West Ham may need to defeat all of Blackburn Rovers, Wigan Athletic and Sunderland to have any chance of survival. Even then he may not keep the job, as Gold and Sullivan may still decide he has not comprehensively fulfilled his remit.

Relegation would cause the "£40m hole" in the club's finances Sullivan spoke of last week, meaning the owners would have to recruit a manager capable of lifting the club back into the Premier League on reduced finances.

Warnock, who has won the Championship with Queens Park Rangers pending the ongoing FA hearing into the signing of Alejandro Faurlín, has also taken Notts County and Sheffield United into the top division during his career. He was wanted by West Ham to replace Gianfranco Zola when the Italian was in charge last season. The then Crystal Palace manager is thought to have rejected those advances as he had agreed to join QPR.

Karren Brady, the West Ham vice-chairman, has a good relationship with him after her husband, Paul Peschisolido, played for Warnock during his eight years as Sheffield United's manager.

Lambert is an attractive candidate after taking Norwich City into the Premier League, his second consecutive promotion as their manager. He managed this with Norwich in a precarious financial position and Mackay, who played for West Ham in 2004-05, has also impressed this season for similar work in making Watford credible playoff contenders from December until early spring, when a minuscule budget that allowed him to spend only £500,000 on transfers finally caught up with the club.

Hughton, a lifelong West Ham fan, has been in the directors' box for the last three games at the Boleyn Ground and is a candidate after guiding Newcastle United into the Premier League last season. His stock is high after being dismissed from the Tyneside club in December despite the team being 11th.

Bilic has been offered the position previously but failed to become the manager after he asked for a sizable transfer kitty that was beyond the club's means. The Croatia coach was a Hammers defender in 1996-97 and is a fan favourite. His lack of experience of club management in England may count against him.

Holloway is arguably the most intriguing option. His success at winning Blackpool promotion via last season's playoffs, and the club's attractive style this season, both achieved on a limited budget, have won him admirers within the West Ham hierarchy.

O'Neill may appear the least likely candidate due to his reported refusal to take over from Grant in January had the latter been sacked. But if O'Neill were given assurances regarding team matters and budget, he could be tempted back into management.

Scott Parker, meanwhile, remains a serious doubt for West Ham's critical game against Blackburn on Saturday as the midfielder continues to require intensive treatment on a long-standing achilles complaint.

The 30-year-old has missed the last three matches and he is understood to be receiving a course of injections in an attempt to see him through the fixture and the campaign's two final games.

Eva Mendes for Peek & Cloppenburg Fashion Campaign

by BecomeGorgeous.com
Bombshell Eva Mendes stars in the summer 2011 campaign called "Summer Styles With Eva Mendes" for the European department store Peek & Cloppenburg. From Las Vegas to Rio de Janeiro and from Sydney to Coney Island, the gorgeous actress takes us on a trip around the world in one day, revealing her unquestionable sex-appeal and femininity.
Fashion and Style / Fashion News

"Summer Style with Eva Mendes" is the latest campaign for summer 2011 coming from the European department store Peek & Cloppenburg. And obviously it was Eva Mendes the sultry beauty to model for the retailer's catalog and online campaign. Photographed by Norman Jean Roy alongside male models Ben Hill and Tyson Ballou, the 37-year-actress proves she's not just sensual and uber-sexy, but also spontaneous and fun.

Speaking about Eva in the video, Ulrike Holtschlag, Peek & Cloppenburg stylist, said that the actress exudes femininity and perfectly embodies their vision when it comes to women's fashion. "She truly stands for a feminine touch and emphasizes the trend we are pursuing in ladies' fashion".

The campaign takes us on a journey to different corners of the world such as Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Las Vegas, and Coney Island. In fact, Eva poses against impressive backdrops that remind us of these incredible places. The actress wears a series of summer outfits, from laid-back tops and pants to elegant dresses and blazers, showing that you can look stylish and chic even while traveling and with the minimum amount of effort.

Peek & Cloppenburg is an international chain of fashion department stores in several countries including Austria, Belgium, Serbia, Slovakia, Croatia, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and Switzerland. For summer 2011, the brand's style is characterized by a classic vibe brought by flowing dresses and the timeless blazer. In fact, the old faithful blazer is considered as being this season's must-have due to its huge versatility that allows us to create an array of looks.

In the campaign for Peek & Cloppenburg, Eva Mendes shows us why she is so loved by designers and her fans. Eva is not just an attractive women, but she is also extremely open, she laughs a lot, looks relaxed, and chats with the stylists and the photographer.

Eva was also named the new face of Angel by Thierry Mugler and the company said that, "Ms. Mendes mesmerized Mugler with her independence, determination and humor". Besides, she became global ambassador and a part of Reebok and the Reetoners for the EasyTone spring/summer 2011 collection, a footwear and apparel toning line.

Photos courtesy of Peek & Cloppenburg

Filed under: Europe, Croatia, Italy, Monaco, United States, Transportation, Cruises

Continue reading Dubrovnik in a day

Dubrovnik in a day originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 04 May 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just concluded an international trade with Igor. Croatia and Singapore. I sent first and Igor sent after. No problems and all is good. Igor is easy to deal with and communication is buttery smooth. Highly recommended to all!

Vice President Biden met today with President Ivo Josipovic of Croatia to emphasize continued U.S. engagement in promoting progress and stability in Europe.  The Vice President commended President Josipovic for Croatia’s progress on domestic reforms, especially in strengthening the rule of law and fighting corruption.  The U.S. is confident that these reforms are irreversible, and strongly supports Croatia’s aspiration to conclude its European Union accession negotiations in the near future.  The Vice President noted that Croatia’s further European integration would send a positive message to the rest of the region of the value of undertaking reforms and supporting reconciliation.  The Vice President also expressed U.S. appreciation for Croatia’s important work as a NATO ally, including its contributions to the International Security Assistance Force, where its military and police are helping train Afghan forces, and playing a leading role at the Afghan Military Police Academy in Kabul.  The two leaders also discussed the political situation in southeast Europe.  The Vice President praised President Josipovic’s leadership in healing wounds and building bridges in that region.

Continue reading Ten things Ugly Americans need to know before visiting a foreign land

Ten things Ugly Americans need to know before visiting a foreign land originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 03 May 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SLAYER bassist/vocalist Tom Araya was interviewed by the "Metal Eye" show on Z1 TV when the band performed in Zagreb, Croatia on April 6, 2011 during the "European Carnage" tour with MEGADETH.

So here is how i made my foot pedal used to start Linux terminal using an Arduino. It's made because I am board of pressing the terminal icon with my mouse.  P.S. Sorry for my English. I am from Croatia. Tools needed: -Soldering iron and some solder -Wire clippers or any other cutting tool...
By: bkovac

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Notre Dame WR Floyd pleads innocent
to DUI charge

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Suspended Notre Dame star wide receiver Michael Floyd hopes to have a plea deal in place on his misdemeanor drunken driving charge before his next court appearance in June, his attorney said Monday.

Magistrate Brian Steinke entered a not guilty plea on Floyd's behalf early Monday. Floyd was not present and a status hearing was scheduled for June 7.

Authorities say Floyd was arrested at 3:18 a.m. March 20 after running a stop sign a block from the school's main entrance. Prosecutors say a breathalyzer test showed Floyd had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than double Indiana's legal limit for driving. If found guilty of the Class A misdemeanor, Floyd faces a maximum sentence of a year in jail.

Sharapova beats Makarova in 3 sets
at Madrid Open

MADRID -- Maria Sharapova beat Ekaterina Makarova 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in an all-Russian match on Monday to advance to the third round at the Madrid Open.

The eighth-seeded Sharapova broke Makarova three times and dropped serve only once in the match.

On the men's side, ninth-seeded Gael Monfils of France downed Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 6-3, 7-6 (6) and France's Michael Llodra beat Sam Querrey of the United States 6-2, 6-3.

Flavio Cipolla of Italy defeated 12th-seeded Andy Roddick of the United States 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-3. Cipolla broke Roddick twice early in the deciding set before closing out the match.

'Bad rule' that
hurt Webb Simpson under review

BETHESDA, Md. -- Webb Simpson called it a "bad rule." He was penalized a stroke because the ball moved as he was addressing it on the green, costing him one stroke and perhaps his first PGA Tour victory.

The U.S. Golf Association appears to agree. Vice President Thomas O'Toole said Monday there will be talks to modify the rule, with any change taking place at the start of 2012.

"If some other agency -- wind or gravity -- is known to cause that ball to move, no penalty would be applied," O'Toole said at the U.S. Open media day at Congressional Country Club.

Simpson, leading by one shot, was less than a foot from the cup at the 15th hole on Sunday at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans when the ball moved. Simpson said it was probably caused by wind, combined with relatively dry and hard greens.

Regardless, the rule as currently written offers no leeway, and the one-stroke penalty proved vital when he finished tied with Bubba Watson after 72 holes. Watson then won in a playoff.

Titans' Simms on NY pot count: 'I was misunderstood'

NEW YORK -- A defense lawyer said Tennessee Titans backup quarterback Chris Simms got charged with driving while high on marijuana because a New York City police officer misunderstood Simms telling him a passenger had smoked the drug.

Simms went on trial Monday.

He was stopped at a police sobriety checkpoint July 1. A prosecutor told jurors an officer found Simms slurring his speech, moving slowly and saying he'd smoked marijuana.

Simms lawyer Harvey Steinberg told the jury Simms actually told the officer that a friend in the back seat had been smoking the drug.

The 30-year-old Simms could face up to a year in jail if convicted in the misdemeanor case.

Simms started his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003. His father is former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms.

Brazilian soccer match marred by supporter death

SAO PAULO -- Police say a supporter has been shot dead following a Brazilian soccer game that was interrupted by a swarm of bees and ended with a brawl between players on the field.

A 19-year-old Goias fan was killed outside Serra Dourada stadium following Sunday's semifinal between Goias and Vila Nova in the Goiania state championship. The match was stopped for 20 minutes in the first half to allow firefighters to remove a swarm of bees around Goias' goal.

A fight involving several players erupted after the game, apparently caused by Goias' celebrations at reaching the final after the match was drawn 2-2.

It took police officers 15 minutes to break up the brawl.

The stadium is the venue for Brazil's exhibition against the Netherlands in June.

By wire sources

In a bit of a surprise move, rather than allowing us to discover new imagery in Google Earth, Google has pre-announced an imagery update that is due out later this week.

Part of the update will include some high-quality imagery from Abbottabad, Pakistan, which was captured in May, 2010. They're offering a preview of that imagery via this KML file.

In addition, the very new GeoEye imagery of Abbottabad that we mentioned yesterday will be available in the historical imagery feature of Google Earth soon. Remember, historical imagery is sometimes newer than the base imagery.

It sounds like it's quite a major update, and we'll be sure to let you know when it goes live. Here is the full list of areas that will be getting fresh imagery:

High Resolution Aerial Updates: USA: Brookshire, TX; Brownsville, TX; Dallas, TX; Ft Stockton, TX; Hebbronville, TX; Houston, TX; Laredo, TX; McAllen, TX; Milwaukee, WI; Padre Island, TX; Wharton, TX; Zapata, TX;
Australia: Central Coast, New Castle, and Salamander Bay
Norway: Buskerud, Fredrikstad, and Oslo

Countries/Regions receiving High Resolution Satellite Updates:
Algeria, Angola, Antarctica, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Svalbard, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, The Gambia, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, West Bank, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Since I left Venice on Sunday evening, I’ve been sort of AWOL from the internet. While the ship does have internet, it is slow and expensive and yesterday it had some problems. I’m taking a bit of time from my sightseeing in Dubrovnik, Croatia to put up the links I wasn’t able to do on [...]

What: Harley Davidson Rally Where: Biograd Na Moru, Croatia When: 26 to 29 May 2011 The end of May is set to be a noisy time for residents of Biograd Na Moru in Croatia, as the Harley Davidson Riding club hits town for a rally. Biograd Na Moru, Croatia. Photo Credit: CLI This 4-day event [...]

nwhyte: March Books 27) Contested Will, by James Shapiro Yet more bizarre and somewhat pointless discussion. How do these guys find my blog entries? (tags: shakespeare) Nick Denton: What I Read - Entertainment - The Atlantic Wire Dealing with the information overload. (tags: internet) Tweeting Fishy Minister makes it a Twitter election after all? « Slugger O'Toole The First Minister and the fishpond. (tags: northernireland) 25 Abandoned Yugoslavia Monuments that look like they're from the Future | Crack Two Extraordinary images; takes me back... (tags: bosnia croatia serbia kosovo)

Also referred to as “very tasty" and "with a character that has Bodog written all over her," the 26-year-old Pasalic (@Tattytats on Twitter) has been around the online poker industry since her early 20s as a player, TV presenter and reporter.

Her debut tournament in Bodog colours will be the 2011 WSOP Main Event.

Said Pasalic:

"Bodog's brand is the one that fits me best … from the photo-shoot onwards everybody at Bodog has had a wicked sense of fun which is what I am about too so the synergy is obvious.

“They've all shown me great support already so it's now just up to me to take down the World Series!"

Pasalic was born in Bosnia Herzegovina but brought up in Zagreb, Croatia and discovered online poker when she moved to Denmark at 19.

According to the release, she is also a "passionate cook,” “prides herself in personally answering every question sent to her Facebook page” and, at night, “tends to wear Chanel No.5 though currently is sporting Jean Paul Gaultier.”

Pasalic's signing comes in the wake of last week’s re-signing of current Bodog pro Evelyn Ng.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

The Google Earth and Google Maps Imagery Team will be publishing the latest batch of imagery in our next update, and as always, there are numerous fascinating and notable areas around the world.

One of the areas that was already slated for this regular update is Abbottabad, Pakistan, which is of particular interest given yesterday’s news. The imagery of this area that is currently available in Google Earth and Maps is from 2005. Higher resolution imagery taken in May 2010 has been prepared for our next imagery update release. However, given the number of inquiries we have received about this area, and to help users better understand recent events, we’ve published an advanced preview KML of the new imagery for viewing in Google Earth. This imagery will be pushed live in Google Earth and Maps as part of our next periodic imagery update.

In addition, as part of our continued effort to provide up-to-date imagery, we’ve worked with our provider again to obtain even fresher satellite imagery of Abbottabad, Pakistan from this morning local time. We have provided this imagery, which is of lower resolution than the scheduled update, to the media. This imagery will be accessible in the near future through the Historical Imagery feature of Google Earth.



This round of imagery also includes many other interesting sites, a few of which are shown below.

Here’s an image of the Harris County Court House of 1910, located in downtown Houston, Texas. Here you can see the ongoing restoration of the building, returning to glory its halls of justice. It is one of the most important historical buildings in Houston, and is often considered one of the best examples of historic courthouses in Texas.



Below is an image of part of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In it you can see two industries that are part of the might of Milwaukee: the Harley Davidson factory (right hand side of image) and the Miller Brewing Company (left hand side of image).



Now here’s a colorful sight: the Clipsal 500 Adelaide race, a four-day event consisting of two 250 km races of V8 Supercars. The race is often attended by well over a quarter million people. This photo shows the race in March 2010.



These updates will be made available soon in both Google Maps and Google Earth.

High Resolution Aerial Updates:
USA: Brookshire, TX; Brownsville, TX; Dallas, TX; Ft Stockton, TX; Hebbronville, TX; Houston, TX; Laredo, TX; McAllen, TX; Milwaukee, WI; Padre Island, TX; Wharton, TX; Zapata, TX;
Australia: Central Coast, New Castle, and Salamander Bay
Norway: Buskerud, Fredrikstad, and Oslo

Countries/Regions receiving High Resolution Satellite Updates:
Algeria, Angola, Antarctica, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Svalbard, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, The Gambia, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, West Bank, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Posted by the Imagery Team

Croatia´s herbalists fearful of EU directive on alternative medicine Croatian Times 2004/24/EC bans teas and other herbal remedies to be sold as medicine but rather as food or food supplements, regulated by Codex alimentarius. The Codex has been accepted by 120 countries around the world including Croatia, and prescribes that these ...

Frosch Leisure Travel offers a 7-night cruise to the Mediterranean for 2 with prices starting at $2,198, as seen on Travelzoo. (Double occupancy is required.) Plus, receive a $50 onboard credit for free. At $1,099 per person and assuming you use the credit, it's the lowest current price we could find for this cruise by $50. This roundtrip cruise departs from Venice, Italy on October 1 with stops in Koper, Slovenia; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Corfu, Greece; Katakolon, Greece; Mykono, Greece; and Athens, Greece. Additional taxes and fees may apply. Deal ends May 6.

The seemingly inevitable has occurred, with several more teams confirmed as pulling out of the 2011 International Cup. Every 3 years the list of hopefuls shrinks as the event draws near, and we watch on hoping that the final number is at least higher than the previous tournaments. That still looks reasonably safe at this stage, especially as Timor-Leste are apparently back in contention, a surprise given their position in February.

WFN spoke to AFL Multicultural and International Coordinator Peter Romaniw and he confirmed that Croatia have pulled out due to the large financial challenge. Also missing from the last list we saw are Iceland, Finland and Indonesia. As a very young footy nation and a developing country the absence of Indonesia is no surprise.

The current list now stands at 21, including an Australian-based multicultural team. 2008 saw 16 nations in the main draw. Question marks remain over some candidates, su ...

Famagusta Gazette

Düsseldorf: Malta, San Marino, Croatia, Iceland rehearse esctoday.com The rehearsals today will go on until 17.20 CET and the schedule is as follows: Malta, San Marino, Croatia, Iceland, (break) Hungary, Portugal, Lithuania, (break) Azerbaijan and Greece. The first country on stage today is Glen Vella from Malta with his ... . 16.40 - 17.20: Greece: Loukas Giorkas ft Stereo Mike - Watch My DanceBelgovision.com Day 1 - Press ConferencesEuroVisionary all 28 news articles »

Dragan Varagić published his analysis of the most influential Twitter users [sr] from Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Montenegro, done through manual selection and consulting ratings services. Written by Filip Stojanovski · comments (0) Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

General Dynamics Electric Boat receives $1.2 billion to begin construction of the 14th Virginia-class submarine, SSN-787, part of Block III with a revised bow design. Russia lays out its vision of European missile defense. Saab sees potential Gripen jet fighter orders in Brazil, Romania, Croatia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. Pentagon looks to [...]

With the original list of hopeful IC11 attendees having shrunk somewhat, some positive news has come out of Europe with the AFL Switzerland stating that they are still planning on making the trip Down Under this August.

At this point, it looks likely that France and Switzerland will be the only new European nations at the 2011 International Cup, with other nations including Croatia and the Netherlands keen early, but unable to clear financial or logistical hurdles to make it to Australia this time around. Italy were originally hoping to send both men's and women's teams, but eventually decided to only bring their women's side.

Peta Lowry, who is working with both the Swiss men's side and the Italian women's side, says that the Swiss are still very much focussed on getting to Australia in August, with a number of initiatives underway to source funding for the trip.

"Unlike AFL Italia, who have decided to focus on growing the ...

Image: http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/pict/310315556749_0.jpg ...

Do Americans realize that we are not the only country with beautiful women? Is there another land overloaded with talent? If so, where is this magical land of hotties? I will give you a hint, Royal Wedding. If you guessed Croatia, you might need to put the bong down and grab a globe, I am talking about England. With most of the country set to attend the wedding of a c…

You don't see much Hungarian wine around these days, which is a shame because there are some cracking bottles out there somewhere

Back in the early 1990s, when I started writing about wine, Hungary was a reliable source of bargain drinking. It did passable rip-offs of cheap Italian whites such as pinot grigio and Loire sauvignon blanc, as well as its own more distinctive varieties. Remember Hungarian "country whites" and irsai oliver (a not very catchy name for a rather dull gewürztraminer drinkalike)?

These days, however, you hardly ever see Hungarian wine, the grand dessert wine tokaji apart. Which is odd given that it is part of the EU and its neighbours Austria, Croatia and Slovenia are all rather cool at the moment. So I decided to see what I could track down.

There's nothing wildly impressive at the lower end of the scale, though it's hard to complain at the cost of Eva's Vineyard Chenin Blanc/Pinot Grigio/Királyleányka 2009 (10.5% abv) and Merlot/Kékfrankos 2009 (12% abv), both at £3.99 from Waitrose, or £3.79 if you buy online through Waitrose Wine Direct. They'd be good for a bank holiday barbecue to which you've impulsively invited the entire neighbourhood.

But there were some real gems from a couple of specialist importers, Astrum Wine Cellars and Cozzi & Boffa (which is run from a shop on an organic farm just outside Cambridge). The two whites I especially liked, both made from indigenous grape varieties, came from one of Hungary's star winemakers, Zoltan Demeter, in Tokaj: a seductively musky, dry furmint (the grape used to make tokaji), Birtokbor Dry Tokaji 2009 (£16.99, Cozzi & Boffa; 13.5% abv), which I thought would be great with fresh crab; and a simply stunning 2008 single-vineyard harslevelu called Szerelmi (£29.95; 13.5% abv), which is shot with tropical fruit that felt as if it were dancing on your tongue. I took a bottle along to a Vietnamese BYO restaurant and it was perfect with the food, so I guess it would go with similar subtly spiced dishes.

So far as reds are concerned, the grape to look out for is kékfrankos, (also known as blaufränkisch and lemberger). A good example is the Weninger Kékfrankos Sopron 2008 (£10.50, Astrum Wine Cellars, £10.99, The Butlers Wine Cellar, Brighton; £12.70, Vinoteca, London; 13% abv), a deliciously fragrant, natural-tasting red that's not unlike a cabernet franc and that you could equally well drink with fish such as seared tuna as with grilled lamb or chicken.

I guess if you asked most wine merchants, they would say that these days there isn't much call for Hungarian wine, so if we want to be able to drink it, it's up to us to create a demand.

fibeckett@live.com
Photographs: Full Stop Photography

Since the long term injury to Serena Williams and the demise, through injury of Maria Sharapova and with the final retirement of Justine Henin, there is currently no female player who absolutely dominates world tennis. Currently the top three are Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters and Vera Zvonareva, who will hold those positions when the French Open Championship begins in Paris in May.

The latest world rankings tell us that the best player in the world right now is Wozniacki from Denmark, a gifted 20-year-old but has yet to win her first “Grand Slam” title. However, she has won plenty of tournaments, resulting in her lofty position. But as the French Open approaches, the pressure is on her to prove her position.

Wozniacki has won three times on tour this season—Dubai in February, then came victory at Indian Wells in March and earlier this month she took the title in Charleston. Before these victories she had played well at the opening “Slam” of the year in Australia, where she reached the semifinal before going down to Li Na.

It was her second consecutive Grand Slam semifinal after reaching the same stage at the US Open last September; that time she went out to the eventual runner up, Vera Zvonareva. Twelve months earlier she made the final at Flushing Meadows only to be beaten by Kim Clijsters. Those efforts suggest she’s got the ability to once again reach the latter stages in Paris and is entitled to make her presence felt.

Many followers of female tennis will maintain that winning Grand Slams is the only real proof of a player being the best in the world. For many, being number one without a Grand Slam title to your name is the equivalent of being a “Queen without a Crown.” It will be a concern to the Dane, but no one can accuse her of doing anything wrong. She is winning ranking tournaments, doing so in fact more often than any of her rivals. She is only 20-years-old with plenty of time to claim a few ‘crowns’ yet, possibly starting at Roland Garros!

Clijsters, who openly admits is “Grand Slam” hungry, will come to Roland Garros for the French Open next month, ranked second in the world and looking to add to the Australia title she won in January. That win in Melbourne was her fourth Grand Slam title, adding to the three she has won at the US Open. Interestingly and possibly proving the point that the ladies game is short of a dominant factor, three of those victories have been achieved since she came back into the game in 2009 after retiring two years earlier to have a child.

Clearly since her comeback, the level of competition has not been as high as it was when she had to compete against the likes of the Williams’ sisters, Henin and Sharapova. Indeed Clijsters reached five Grand Slam finals before her 2007 retirement,  winning just one (US Open 2005) and losing the other four; three of which came at the hands of her once-deadly rival and compatriot, Henin.

Two of those finals came at Roland Garros, which strongly indicate that she has the game to win on the clay court and the principle reason why she should start that tournament as the favourite to win.

Vera Zvonareva is the third ranked player in the world, who has one tournament win under her belt so far this year and reached the semifinal in Australia. Although no Grand Slam wins as yet, the Russian number one has made it a habit in recent times of reaching Grand Slam finals, making both the Wimbledon and US Open finals last year.

Her record in the French Open however is not so good; her best performance coming eight years ago, when she reached the quarterfinal. That said, she has played well on clay in the past, and has even won two clay court tournaments—in Croatia in 2003 and more recently in Prague in 2008. She will therefore be amongst the favourites to win in Paris and certainly has the game to justify her world ranking.

At present, women's tennis is wide open and as competitive as it has been for a long time; a situation that couldn’t be any further removed from the current situation in the men's game. All the leading female contenders will be confident of winning the French Open and building on that for the remainder of the season and beyond. Whilst they all have question marks to answer, it is Kim Clijsters who looks the most likely to be the one to dominate.

Croatia's Dalmatian Coast is famed as an idyllic area of quiet islands and seaside beauty. But it looks a little different if - like Chris Lawrence - you are exploring it by sea-faring kayak.

Pulp's imminent return to gigging has led them to search out the best – or worst – covers of their own songs on YouTube, and some of them make for very entertaining viewing

Next month, Pulp will take the stage at the Isle of Wight festival to perform their first show in almost a decade. The band recently revealed that, to help them learn the old songs again, they'd been consulting cover versions of their work on YouTube. Delighted and amused by what they found, the band have now set up PulpTube, featuring more than 80 of their favourites, which you can view at pulppeople.com. Highlights include a slightly terrifying American goth named Demeana Vandershlut doing a slow-motion version of This Is Hardcore; a man called Kev naked in the shower miming along to Pink Glove; and a very creditable duet of Help the Aged by a man with a beard playing guitar and a woman lying in bed, who turns a light on for her parts. And if all that leaves you feeling inspired, you can upload your own cover to the site.

For more online Lolz, check out the latest episode of Smash, the ongoing film project by electro tunesmith Martin Solveig, more arthouse comedy than music video. The first part, posted in September 2010, featured Solveig's character battling fellow French DJ Bob Sinclar in a tennis match in front of 15,000 fans in Paris. That video, soundtracked by Solveig's delicious pop hit Hello has now had 35m views: watch the full-length version at bit.ly/solvhello. In the new episode, Solveig smuggles himself and his hilarious fictitious manager into the French national football stadium before last month's friendly against Croatia, then storms the pitch to perform his new single with the team's majorettes, while thousands of fans hold up cards spelling Ready 2 Go, the track's title. See it at bit.ly/solvr2go, and join me in wondering whether Wimbledon or Wembley would have been quite so accommodating.

Jack Daniel's is the latest brand to move into corporate patronage of music, funding the JD Set shows in which a musician chooses an act to cover the songs of and invites other musicians to help perform them. Highlights include videos from rehearsals and the resulting show appear at thejdset.co.uk. In the last few weeks, they've enabled Ash's Tim Wheeler to play a night of Pixies covers alongside guests such as Russell from Bloc Party and Emmy the Great, while Neil Hannon was joined by Romeo from Magic Numbers and Cathy Davey to perform Vampire Weekend songs. The results, particularly from the Pixies show, are well worth a look. Keep an eye out, too, for forthcoming footage of Mani and friends playing Smiths songs and, mind-bogglingly, Sharleen Spiteri paying tribute to Bowie.

Send your favourite links to chris.salmon@guardian.co.uk

Going it alone? Follow our experts' recommendations for single travellers, from vegetarian cooking in Turkey to walking the King's Trail in Sweden

Seaside bliss, Vis, Croatia

Vis, the Croatian island furthest from the mainland, is an island for fishermen, fugitives, poets, and solo travellers seeking sanctuary. During the second world war, Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito and his dog slept in a cave on the island's Mount Hum, a summit from which you can now paraglide. When I was there last September, I cycled the island enthralled by its plants – extensive vineyards, palm, pine, olive, oleander, fig, carob and mulberry trees, and more than 300 herbs. Local seafood and wine are cheap and delicious – my favourite is the restaurant at Stoncica Bay. You can fish for squid at Komiza, in the south-west of the island, the sunniest place in Croatia, or swim/dive in the warm, emerald waters of the Adriatic, watching out for Loggerhead turtles and Bottlenose dolphins. As long as you avoid mid-July to mid-August you can easily rent a green-shuttered room in an old stone house looking across the sea. If you want a night out, there's the harbour of Vis town, where the boats come in, and the locals are very friendly.
• Alternatura (+385 21 717239, alternatura.hr) offers paragliding on Vis for €90 a session, and double rooms in Komiza village for €30 a night
James Hopkin, author of Winter under Water and Even the Crows Say Krakow (Picador)

Cycling in Morzine, France

For at least 10 minutes every day, Chalet Musardière in Morzine falls silent, save for the sound of cutlery scraping on plates. The food on a Flow mountain bike holiday is almost as famous as the cycling, and the bursting dinner table in its flagship accommodation is the place where routes are plotted, riding buddies found and tales shared. Morzine in the Portes du Soleil area has long been regarded as the beating heart of European mountain biking, with everything from mellow cross-country trails to vertigo-inducing steeps. Sara and Guy, who run Flow, are both talented mountain bikers and provide guests with everything from route and bike advice to satnavs with the best trails programmed in and a bike workshop for when you need some mechanical help. The atmosphere in the shared lounges is sociable and inclusive: if you don't turn up with friends you'll certainly leave with some.
• Chalet Musardière is available through Flow (+44 (0)8454 742 743, flowmtb.com) from 11 June. A seven-night stay including breakfast, dinner and afternoon tea is €445pp
Susan Greenwood, Been There editor, the Guardian

Climbing the Cala Gonone, Sardinia

If the sign of a good friend is someone who will catch you when you fall, a week rock climbing in Sardinia with Mountaingirl should have you best friends with strangers in no time. Making use of the famous crags surrounding Cala Gonone on the eastern side of the island, this female-only course is suitable for anyone who has wanted to get to grips with rock climbing without any external distractions. "It's not just about climbing," says owner Louise Alexander. "We are also girls who love our Sardinian food and wine." Sore muscles are catered for with yoga and days off at the beach.
• Mountaingirl (+33 632 728 234, mountaingirl.eu) has a seven-day course in self-catering accommodation from €635pp
Susan Greenwood

Cooking in the Taurus Mountains, Turkey

I'd never visited Turkey's coast, but a vegetarian cookery course at the Yediburunlar Lighthouse, a small hotel in a dramatic setting between Fethiye and Kalkan seemed an ideal opportunity. All the guests were travelling on their own, and we quickly bonded over chopping vegetables. Lazy afternoons were spent reading or chatting in shady corners or swimming in the lovely pool. A gulet cruise was included. In the evenings, we sat around a communal table, and the conversation flowed as we compared notes while guessing the names of the stars that twinkled overhead.
• Exclusive Escapes (+44 (0)20 8605 3500, exclusiveescapes.co.uk) has a Turkish vegetarian cookery week from 2 July, for £1,200pp, including flights from the UK, activities and all meals
Lyn Hughes, editor in chief, Wanderlust magazine (wanderlust.co.uk)

Walking the King's Trail, Sweden

Holidaying solo you can either embrace the luxury of time alone, or take comfort in numbers and join a group trip. I've done – and loved – both on the Kungsleden, or King's Trail, in the far north of Sweden. Expertly managed by the Swedish youth hostel association, this wild and remote hiking trail runs for 425km with cosy dorm huts (the deluxe ones have shops and saunas) set an easy day's hike apart. Walking the whole thing takes a month but week-long trips, such as the six days from Abisko to Nikkaluokta, are popular, cresting the highest point of the trail – the 1,150m Tjäktja pass.
• One-week group trips with Nature Travels (+44 (0)1929 463774, naturetravels.co.uk) cost from £672pp, including all meals and transfers but not flights. To go it alone, or for special singles group trips, contact the Swedish youth hostels association (+46 84 63 21 00, stfturist.se)
Rhiannon Batten, travel writer

Yoga in Amorgos, Greece

One of the most inspiring trips I did as a single woman was Sunnah Rose's week-long yoga holiday to the small Greek island of Amorgos a couple of years ago. Led by Sunnah and co-instructor Eunice Laurel, the week ran to a comfortingly regular schedule. Mornings and late afternoons were for yoga. Breakfast was taken as a group and then the days were ours to either hang out with fellow participants or enjoy time alone. On the last morning we hiked around the coast for a final, memorable, yoga lesson on an outdoor platform overlooking the sea. We were calm, nurtured, happy – and a new gang of friends.
• Sunnah's 2011 yoga holiday is held in the Kabac valley, south of Fethiye in Turkey, from 21-26 May and costs from £350pp, including yoga and half-board accommodation but not flights (+44 (0)7941 321772, stretchingpeople.co.uk)
Rhiannon Batten

Sightseeing in St Petersburg, Russia

"You have to be streetwise in St Petersburg," somebody told me before I went. "Not London streetwise – but streetwise." It's the worst piece of travel advice I've ever been given. I visited during the balmy June "white nights" and, standing at 3am in daylight on the gently lapping banks of the Neva, I was enchanted. I never once felt threatened there. It's a great place for solo travel; wherever you go, you'll find friendly locals desperate to practise their English. My personal must-sees: the Hermitage (buy tickets online before you fly – shop.hermitagemuseum.org – to avoid the queues); Peter the Great's summer palace just outside town; and the Yusupov Palace where Rasputin was (or perhaps wasn't) murdered.
• Avoid hotels and contact the Host Families Association (+7 911 766 5464, hofa.ru), who will help with visa paperwork and find a flat or homestay to fit your budget
Maxton Walker, travel writer

Escaping to Durness, Scotland

Durness – a small cliff-top village in Scotland's far north-west corner – feels such a world apart you'll be fumbling for your passport. It's also one of the friendliest places I've ever visited – on both my solo holidays here locals have invited me into their homes for a meal. There's the amazing Smoo cave to explore, puffins to see, an art and craft community, sandy beaches and the dramatic Cape Wrath lighthouse. Stay at Mackay's Rooms and Restaurant for boutique comfort, the Lazy Crofter bunkhouse to meet fellow travellers, or Sango Sands campsite for lush sea views. But be warned: re-entering civilisation afterwards is not for the fainthearted.
• Doubles from £100 B&B; at Mackay's Rooms and Restaurant (+44 (0)1971 511202, visitmackays.com); bunks £14pp per night, Lazy Crofter Bunkhouse (+44 (0)1971 511202, durnesshostel.com); camping £6.20pp per night at Sango Sands campsite (+44 (0)1971 511726, sangosands.com)
Dixe Wills, author of Tiny Campsites (punkpublishing.co.uk)

Chilling in Tarifa, Spain

Tarifa is known for two things: kitesurfing and partying. Single travellers are welcome: book yourself on to a kitesurfing course and you'll have an instant group of mates, but even if you're more of a spectator, it's easy to meet people. I was there last May, eating pan con tomate for breakfast and grilled seafood kebabs for lunch, drinking mojitos to the sound of Argentine-Tarifan band Freko Malakka at the Café del Mar. Stay at the Hotel Arte Vida on the beach, where the rooms are sweet and simple with swinging bamboo chairs and loungers, and idling on the sloping lawn feels like an afternoon at a music festival.
• Doubles at the Hotel Arte Vida Tarifa (+34 956 68 52 46, hotelartevidatarifa.com) cost from €100 B&B;
Lisa Johnson, travel writer

Summer music, Montreal, Canada

Non-stop festivals and (almost) non-stop sunshine make Montreal an ideal place to settle in for the summer. Bypassing hotels will give your stay a more "local" feel. Last July I got my own set of front door keys to an archetypal Montreal townhouse, complete with twisting external staircase, for a two-month stay in the Plateau area, like a Francophone Greenwich Village. Many students rent out their rooms over summer – see Craigslist and the rental forum on Couchsurfing.com. If you want to meet locals, Couchsurfing is an easy place to start. One Quebecois/El Salvadorian Couchsurfer invited me to escape the heat at one of the city's free open-air pools, while I joined another at the Osheaga festival (osheaga.com). There's a thriving live music scene and festivals for all tastes, including jazz, circus, comedy and fireworks.
• For apartment rentals try AirBnB.com, and for home swaps 1sthomeexchange.com has its headquarters in Montreal. For Twitter tips on local life in Montreal, follow @midnightpoutine, @chefdeck and @viewfromalake.
Vicky Baker, travel writer

I was casting around for a positive story to put up today. And found this article online from the Egyptian IOC. Council member Rania El-Wani did an interview with Around the Rings yesterday, and said she thinks the revolution will be positive for sport in the country.  El-Wani competed for Egypt in three Olympics, 1992, 1996 and 2000 in swimming. And won numerous medals at the World, African and Mediterrean games. Rania El-Wani pic Al-AhramOptimistically (?) she says she doesn't see any further disturbances, pointing to the resumption of the country's football league as a sign of normality returning. And no, it's not clear if she means male or female but at a punt I'd say male. And in an interesting sign of how politics can ripple out and effect sport, the article says: "El-Wani expects Tripoli in Libya to drop out of the bid race for Mediterraean games due to unrest in the country, leaving the Egyptian bid facing competition from Rijeka in Croatia and Tarragona, Spain."

The Icelandic national team in men’s ice hockey won the bronze in the second-league World Championship in Zagreb, Croatia last weekend. The Icelandic national team in women’s ice hockey also claimed the bronze in the fourth-league World Cup in Reykjavík earlier this month.

There is plenty of Canadian content at the womens' event in Dothan, Alabama this week.

It's a $50,000 tournament played on Har-Tru.

Sharon Fichman, who has to travel to Alabama from Koper, Slovenia to Dothan (quickest itinerary we could find was a 17-journey from Trieste, Italy to Rome to Atlanta to Dothan), faces top seed Anna Tatishvili in the first round.

Heidi El Tabakh gets No. 8 seed Michelle Larcher de Brito.

Stéphanie Dubois (who also had to make the long trip) gets a qualifier.

The doubles draw features Fichman and Marie-Eve Pelletier as the top seeds, fresh off their win in Jackson, Mississippi the week before the Fed Cup.

As well, El Tabakh is playing with American Alison Riske, and Gloucester, Ont.'s Gabriela Dabrowski with American Whitney Jones.

Dabrowski won her first-round qualifying match 6-3, 6-1 against Erin Stephens, while Pelletier won hers 6-0, 6-1 against Kim Kermet and then defeated Whitney Jones to get Roxanne Vaisemberg in the final round Tuesday.

Dabrowski had Vivian Segnini of Brazil, a player the Canadians know from zonal Fed Cup competition, Monday, and beat her. She faces former Bell Challenge camp Melinda Czink, who is returning from a long injury layoff, in the final round Tuesday. (Dabrowski lost, 6-0, 6-3).

All three doubles tandems involving Canadians also are in action on Tuesday.

The tournament has a camera on the main court, with livestreaming. We'll check into the quality of it throughout the week

 

In Naples, Italy, Peter Polansky is in the main draw of both the singles and doubles of a Challenger event. He gets No. 2 seed Filippo Volandro in the first round of singles, and has a wild card into the doubles with Antonio Veic of Croatia, where they meet No. 2 seed Colin Fleming and David Martin.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has again used superlatives when speaking of midfielder Luka Modric.

The Spurs manager is a huge fan of the Croatia international and says there is no price that he would want for his services.

Modric has again been linked with the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea but in Redknapp’s eyes, the 25-year old be going nowhere.

"I wouldn't want to sell him for £100million, not even for a billion,” he told Croatian newspaper Sportske Novosti.

"He's the hub of the team."

Modric only recently signed a six-year deal with Spurs and according to all parties involved, is not about to up and leave White Hart Lane.

 

Click here for the No1 coverage of all the gossip and transfer news around Tottenham.

Now, with respect to our national interests, the American people and the United States have an interest, first of all, in making sure that where a brutal dictator is threatening his people and saying he will show no mercy and go door-to-door hunting people down, and we have the capacity under international sanction to do something about that, I think it’s in America’s international — in America’s national interest to do something about it.

Barack Obama on why we’re bombing Libya

To hear it from a wide variety of unlikely allies, the rather blatant effort engineered by the Obama Administration to oust the perpetual colonel, Muammar Qaddafi, from power in Tripoli will result in a dangerous tyrant being removed from power. This doesn’t seem to be playing out on the ground where the famous aphorism by Mather Byles, “Which is better - to be ruled by one tyrant three thousand miles away or by three thousand tyrants one mile away?” can be witnessed in all its glory.

Apparently mobs of US supported rebels are happily slaughtering Africans living in cities under their control.

About the time the Obama administration was making nervous noises about military intervention, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees was reporting:

“Yesterday a UNHCR team at the Egypt border interviewed a group of Sudanese who arrived from eastern Libya who said that armed Libyans were going door to door, forcing sub-Saharan Africans to leave. In one instance a 12-year-old Sudanese girl was said to have been raped,” Edwards said.

“They reported that many people had their documents confiscated or destroyed. We heard similar accounts from a group of Chadians who fled Benghazi, Al Bayda and Brega in the past few days,” he added.

These atrocities were not being carried out by an evil dictator, rather they were the work product of the people with whom the world’s greatest democracy has aligned itself.

My colleague RMJ has more details on this but is looks as though that the “rebels” being cheered on by Obama and al Qaeda are hardly a step up from the current regime.

From the LA Times:

Reporting from Benghazi, Libya-

The rebels of eastern Libya have found much to condemn about the police state tactics of Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi: deep paranoia, mass detentions, secret prisons and tightly scripted media tours.

But some of those same tactics appear to be creeping into the efforts of the opposition here as it seeks to stamp out lingering loyalty to Kadafi. Rebel forces are detaining anyone suspected of serving or assisting the Kadafi regime, locking them up in the same prisons once used to detain and torture Kadafi’s opponents.

For a month, gangs of young gunmen have roamed the city, rousting Libyan blacks and immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa from their homes and holding them for interrogation as suspected mercenaries or government spies.

Because of these pogroms directed against Africans living in Libya have started a deluge of refugees to flee into Niger, a country uniquely unready to accept them.

My objections to a Libyan intervention have been based on the total lack of any reason for us to do so. Libya has been a non-player on the world stage since about 1987, after getting thrashed in the Toyota War. He voluntarily relinquished his nuclear program. As to the ridiculous statement that “he has American blood on his hands” he is only a bit player in that regard.

Not only was there no reason for our intervention from any reason of national strategy we knew nothing about the people who we had decided to help. But none of that is important when you’re involved in a shooting war to prove that your predecessor was wrong:

One of the strongest voices in America for the idea of collective action to prevent war crimes is Samantha Power, a senior director at the National Security Council. In late 2006, Power told me that international humanitarian intervention had been “killed for a generation” by the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Then a professor at Harvard best known for her Pulitzer prize-winning history of America’s response to genocide (a book she wrote after covering the wars in Bosnia and Croatia and studying the genocide in Rwanda) Power was a strong believer in international intervention to prevent war crimes. Like many others, she was frustrated that the cause of preventing genocide had been undermined by George W. Bush’s unilateral intervention in Iraq, which discredited U.S. military action abroad and made building coalitions to stop war crimes seemingly impossible.

But the Libyan uprising gave the humanitarian interventionists an unexpected reprieve. The universal hatred of Gaddafi in the Arab world, Europe’s energy interests, fears of regional instability and the backdrop of Arab democratic uprisings provided interventionists in Washington unlikely allies at home and abroad. Power has argued from the start of the Libyan uprising that the U.S. needed to be prepared to intervene to prevent humanitarian atrocities. She was joined in this argument by Susan Rice, Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations who was in the Clinton administration during the Rwanda genocide. As early as February, a senior official told me, supporters of intervention were “laying the predicate” for military force.

Well, now we do know something about the people we are helping. They are brutal. They practice systematic rape and oppression as a means of expelling blacks from Libya - one of the many charming things about the Arab world. They are supported by al Qaeda. In fact, they are demonstrably worse than the man we’re struggling to depose.

Now explain, again, why we are helping them.