Two a penny

.A French parliament report called for a ban on the full Islamic veil in all schools, hospitals, public transport and government offices, saying the burqa was an affront to French values.
“The wearing of the full veil is a challenge to our republic. “We must condemn this excess. .
The commission called on parliament to adopt a formal resolution stating that the burqa was “contrary to the values of the republic” and proclaiming that “all of France is saying ‘no’ to the full veil.”
After six months of hearings, the panel of 32 lawmakers recommended a ban on the face-covering veil in all state-run institutions and offices, the broadest move yet to restrict Muslim dress in France.
The panel however stopped short of proposing broad legislation to outlaw the burqa on the streets or in shopping centres after cautioning that such a move would have to be reviewed by the courts to establish its legality.”
Women who turn up at government offices wearing the full veil should be denied services such as a work visa, residency papers or French citizenship, the report recommended.
“There are scandalous practices hidden behind this veil,” said Mr Gerin who vowed to fight the “gurus” seeking to export a racial brand of fundamentalism and sectarianism to France.
“The wearing of the full veil is the tip of the iceberg,” said communist lawmaker Andre Gerin, the chair of the commission.
President Nicolas Sarkozy set the tone for the debate in June when he declared the burqa “not welcome” in France and described it as a symbol of women’s “subservience” that cannot be tolerated in a country that considers itself a human rights leader.
Home to Europe’s biggest Muslim minority, estimated at about six million, France is being closely watched at a time of particular unease over Islam, three months after Swiss voters approved a ban on minarets.
-

.Extremely cold weather across northern Europe has left scores of people dead and caused widespread transport chaos.
Temperatures as low as minus 22 degrees Celsius have led to the deaths of 122 people in Poland, with the main river, the Vistula, now frozen over and resulting in fears of flooding.
In the Swiss Alps, avalanches have killed at least seven people, while in western France, 14 regions have been hit by heavy snow.
In the past two days Britain’s national grid issued only its second warning in history about supplies.
Severe weather warnings are still in place across the UK, which is in the grip of its longest cold snap in 30 years.
The military was called in after around 1,000 vehicles were stranded when more than 40 centimetres of snow blocked the A3 highway in southern England.
More snow was expected in London and the forecast for Scotland was for an overnight low of minus 20 degrees Celsius.
Authorities in southern Britain have warned motorists to only use their vehicles if absolutely necessary.
“If you do have to go out take some warm clothes etc,” he said.
Richard Westman, from the special response team at the roads authority, says people need to listen more carefully to the warnings. .
“But people don’t.
Around 5,000 homes in Sussex are still without power as the country suffers through the cold snap, which is expected to last at least another week.”
Thousands of schools have been closed and around half the UK workforce stayed home, which is said to have cost the economy $1 billion in lost output.

.Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has taken a break from the rough and tumble of Italian politics, shopping for nudes on the French riviera. .
Art gallery spokesman Loic Deltour described the works as “sensual nudes” worth “several tens of thousands of euros”.
Witnesses said security was visibly tight around Mr Berlusconi during his shopping trip.
The billionaire media magnate, 73, has been mostly out of the public eye since December 13, when a man, said to have a long history of psychiatric troubles, hit him in the face with a miniature model of Milan cathedral.
-

.The Eiffel Tower was transformed into a glittering jewel and fireworks lit up the London sky as millions of revellers welcomed the New Year across Europe.
A spectacular light show and fireworks display lit up the Paris sky as revellers partied in the streets below.
In the Scottish capital Edinburgh up to 80,000 people turned out in Edinburgh for the annual Hogmanay outdoor street party, some sporting furry horned tartan helmets against the bitter cold as they gathered to watch fireworks by Edinburgh Castle. .
In Russia, more than 120,000 crowded onto Moscow’s Red Square to toast 2010 as President Dmitry Medvedev thanked his nation for bearing with the economic crisis and evoked family values.
In Berlin more than 1 million revellers were expected to have thronged onto the boulevard leading to the Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of German unity, with live bands and DJs cranking up the party.
“Our success in the new year depends on what each of us will do for his family and his country,” he said.
“The past year was not a very easy one for our country, and I want to thank you all for bearing up together,” a smiling Mr Medvedev said in a traditional New Year address.
But after security jitters rekindled by a Christmas Day bomb plot against a passenger jet claimed by Al Qaeda, undercover police, surveillance cameras and radiation and biological detection equipment were to monitor the crowds.
In New York, a downpour of confetti was to mark midnight at a traditional mass celebration in Times Square in the heart of Manhattan.

.France has comprehensively outmuscled world champion South Africa 20-13 to continue its 12-year home run of victories over the recently crowned Tri-Nations winners. .
Julien Dupuy kicked four penalites from six and Morgan Parra one, with winger Vincent Clerc bagging a try for the home side.
The Springboks repeatedly paid the price for ill-discipline, Morne Steyn and Ryan Kankowski both sin-binned as referee Wayne Barnes cracked down on collapsing the rolling maul and rucks.
“Everyone said you can’t play the Boks at their own game, in the same physical way,” France coach Marc Lievremont said.
Morne Steyn hit a penalty and drop-goal as well as converting an opportunist’s try by South African captain John Smit. We won the contest and had the extra physical edge to win the game.
“But we did.”
South Africa coach Peter de Villiers said: “You can’t play the game without the ball.
“It’s very satisfying. They were the strongest side.
“They won the contest on the floor and we lost too much ball in contact.
But Dupuy and Damien Traille both failed to find their range with box kicks into a strong wind, to grant a flustered-examining Boks side some relief.”
The French matched the physicality offered by the Springboks in the opening quarter, young centre pairing Yann David and Maxime Mermoz resulting in the visiting midfield some problems, with flanker Imanol Harinordoquy and hooker William Servat prominent around the field.
France: V Clerc try, J Dupuy 4 penalties, M Parra penalty
South Africa: J Smit try; M Steyn conversion, penalty, drop goal
–

.
South Africa’s famed second row pairing of Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield had a torrid opening 20 minutes, the former conceding the first penalty, while both had to temporarily leave the field after heavy knocks to the head

.World road cycling champion Cadel Evans is confident a combination of his rainbow jersey and several high-profile team-mates will be enough to earn his new BMC Racing Team a wildcard to next year’s Tour de France.
Evans, who today confirmed he will compete at next January’s Tour Down Under, shocked the racing fraternity earlier this week when he quit powerhouse Belgian outfit Silence-Lotto to join second-tier US team BMC.
But the 32-year-old says the move will better his chances of future success on the Tour and says Tour de France organisers should give his team a wildcard to next year’s race.

.
REUTERS – New Caledonian union protesters and authorities have signed an accord ending a week of violent clashes sparked by an airline labour dispute in the South Pacific archipelago, a French government official said on Thursday.

The dispute at Aircal, owned by the government, had escalated over the past week with unionists calling for a general strike and with clashes between police and protesters. Police arrested 13 protesters.

The clashes, which began over the sacking of a flight attendant, left 28 gendarmes injured.

&raquo The worst bit is that an extramarital affair has caused all of this- Franck Theriaux, New Caledonia, Web developer

The situation is completely back to normal. Television images over the past week showed burning barricades along a main road into the capital, Noumea.

There are no more roadblocks or barricades, the French government official said. A protocol has been signed during the night, said Michele Lajus, spokeswoman at the Haut Commissariat in Noumea.

New Caledonia, a major nickel exporter, is one of several overseas French territories that have experienced unrest this year. . Guadelupe, in the Caribbean, and the Reunion in the Indian Ocean have also been hit by strikes and clashes.

France – Overseas France – strike

.Australian golfer Karrie Webb is three shots off the lead after the second round of the Evian Masters in France.
Webb hit a second round of six-under-par 69 to be sitting in equal 10th place.
The trio lead by one from South Korea’s Kim In Kyung (69), with France’s Karine Icher producing a fine 69 to stand in the group of five players tied for fifth place on seven under par.
There is a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard, with Japan’s Ai Miyazato, Welshwoman Becky Brewerton and defending runner-up Na Yeon Choi all at 9-under.
“It took a while but I feel quite settled now and can concentrate 100 percent on my game,” she said. . I holed from about 20 feet at the third for my first birdie and that got me going.
“Today my putting was really good. She picked up another shot at the 11th but then bogeyed the 16th and 17th.”
Brewerton, one of three first round leaders broke free of the field with three birdies and a long eagle putt at the seventh in an outward nine of 31.
“I’ve been working with a new coach, Stewart Craig, for about eight months.
“It was a pity to make a couple of bogeys, but I played really well and felt I just carried on from where I finished off yesterday,” said Brewerton, who only got into the elite 90 player field thanks to her win in Spain last week.
“I also recently spent time with a sports psychologist and I really feel that every part of my game, and my mental attitude, are coming together at the right time. He has helped both my long and short game.”
– ABC/AFP

.Spain’s Mikel Astarloza was the big winner, Cadel Evans was the big loser and Team Astana emphatically showed why they have owned this Tour, following a merciless trek through the Alps.
Today’s stage featured the highest peak (“the roof”) of this year’s Tour- the Col du Grand Saint Bernard, with an altitude of almost 2,500 metres. The peloton then descended on to Italian soil, before circumnavigating the Alps to reach the Petit-Saint Bernard. And it was where today’s stage really took shape.
The second pass may have been the little brother in both size and name but it was far steeper, precarious and packed a greater punch. Alberto Contador went with him – Lance Armstrong and Cadel Evans couldn’t.
When Andy Schleck launched a violent attack halfway up the mountain, the main peloton splintered.
For a brief moment, the Texan looked one-paced and perhaps too old for this caper. . He was almost 50 seconds off the pace and seemingly gone.
And Evans? He was several minutes off the main pack as he approached the 30-kilometre descent to the finish. The attack was aborted, the Astana trio were glued to Schleck’s wheel and Contador was safe in the lead.
It was somewhat mystifying to see his team-mate Jurgen Van Den Broeck spearheading the four-man lead group, as he probably should have been back helping the Aussie. He finished almost four minutes off the winner and is now 7:23 minutes down on Contador in 17th place. But Evans has become accustomed to limited support from his Silence Lotto team. But Evans has become accustomed to limited support from his Silence Lotto team. They withstood everything thrown them, defended perfectly and attacked at the opportune moments.
Conversely, Astana controlled today’s stage like the well-oiled machine that they are. Armstrong, Contador and co must surely be the most drug-tested athletes of all time and as usual they were asked to provide a sample this morning.
Off the bike however, it’s not all rainbows and butterflies for the Kazakh team. No incriminating evidence was found.
Furthermore, a vehicle belonging to the team was stopped and searched for several hours by customs agents at the Swiss/French border. He broke away early, descended effortlessly and was tactically superior to those around him.
The battle up front had no bearing on the General Classification, but Astarloza was a courageous and worthy winner.
Spare a thought for this year’s Lanterne Rouge, the dubious honour bestowed upon the slowest rider in the peloton. Remarkably, it was his first stage win in a professional bike race. And poor old Kenny Van Hummel of Holland is about to join the honour roll. And poor old Kenny Van Hummel of Holland is about to join the honour roll. He’s half an hour behind the next slowest rider and at the time of filing this report, he is presumably still out there.
Another rider who had a stinker was Jens Voigt, one of the cult figures of the peloton and a popular figure with the press contingent.
On a terrifying descent, poor Jens came flying off his bike at high speed and landed flat on his face.
“I OK,” he told reporters with a straight but bloodied face, en route to the close toest hospital. Looking at him close up, a trip to the dentist would be appropriate as well.
He would be well advised to stay there and put his feet up. Because if Satan concerned himself with bike course planning, tomorrow’s stage would be one of his signature efforts.
Saturday’s Mont Ventoux stage is getting all the press but the slog to Grand Bornand, with five category climbs on the cards, is the one that the riders are dreading most.

.Russia’s Sergei Ivanov, riding for Katusha, has won the 14th stage of the Tour de France with yellow jersey-holder Rinaldo Nocentini narrowly retaining the overall lead.
The Russian national champion made a stage-winning breakaway move 11 kilometres out to hold off Ireland’s Nicolas Roche, who came in 16 seconds behind. .
Aside from Ivanov the day’s big winner was George Hincapie, the American rider who set off from Colmar in the morning over five minutes behind but now lies just five seconds off Nocentini in second place in the overall standings.
Ivanov was adding this to his first stage victory on the Tour de France eight years ago.
However, after an earlier 13-man breakaway was reduced to 12 and went on to build a significant lead on the peloton it was Hincapie who came through to almost replace Nocentini, of AG2R, as the new race leader.
Ahead of the first day of three in the Alps the battle for overall victory was again put on the back burner as the teams so far devoid of stage success went on the hunt.
With Irish team-mate Roche in the front group, which held a seven-minute lead at the summit of the day’s second and last climb 87km from the finish, AG2R were not obliged to chase the leaders down.
That signalled the chase was on, but with 40km to race and the peloton at 7:40 behind Hincapie, who started the day in 28th position, the American was still in the virtual yellow jersey.
But after some prompting by Nocentini, and the Astana team of Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong, AG2R finally put three riders on the front of the chasing bunch with a little under 50km to race.
Hincapie, however, reaffirmed his intentions with a brief acceleration with 35km to race.
Because of Hincapie’s presence Columbia were under no pressure to help in the chase meaning, theoretically, they could keep their riders fresh for leading out Mark Cavendish for the win if it came to a bunch sprint.
With 30km to go AG2R’s efforts with Astana on their wheels appeared to be making progress, but the determination of the frontrunners kept their advantage steady and with 13km left it was still 6:30.
His gesture looked designed to try to shake off some of the group’s sprinters, like Gerald Ciolek, but it was also to signal his belief the group was not going fast enough.
A kilometre further on the front finally lost patience and attacks came and went before Ivanov’s stage-winning surge.
A kilometre further on the front finally lost patience and attacks came and went before Ivanov’s stage-winning surge.
Race officials later disqualified Cavendish, the winner of four stages on the race so far, for the infringement.
The Norwegian, who is duelling with Cavendish for the race’s green jersey for the points competition, accused Columbia rider Cavendish of trying to barge him into the barriers.
–

.
The decision meant Hushovd reinforced his lead in the points competition for the green jersey