Source: Jamaica Observer
South Korea to begin exercises near border with North
The South Korean military will begin live-firing exercises on an island close to the border with North Korea in the coming hours, its military says.
The move comes despite repeated threats of retaliation from Pyongyang.
Four people were killed when the North shelled the island during an earlier drill last month.
The UN Security Council has been discussing the situation in New York, but has failed to reach any agreement.
Speaking to reporters after more than eight hours of discussions, Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin called on South Korea to cancel its plans.
"It's better to refrain from doing this exercise at this point in time," he said.
He said the UN had failed to reach an agreement on the crisis, but contacts would be pursued between the main powers.
The issue has threatened to divide permanent members of the Security Council - with China and Russia urging South Korea to put off the exercise, but the US saying its ally is entitled to make sure it is "properly prepared in the face of... ongoing provocations".
The US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said it was "safe to predict that the gaps that remain are unlikely to bridged."
Residents on the island of Yeonpyeong have been told to move into air-raid shelters - part of regular procedure ahead of military exercises in the area.
Initially, it was reported that the exercise would begin at 0200 GMT, but it has now been put back to 0400 GMT, because of fog, according to a Defence Ministry spokesman.
The drill is expected to last for two hours.
Pyongyang has said it will retaliate if the South goes ahead with the exercise on Yeonpyeong - which is close to the two countries' disputed sea border, the Northern Limit Line, and within view of the North Korean mainland.
It says it will deal an "unpredictable self-defensive blow" at the South Koreans, "deadlier" than when the North shelled the island during similar live-fire exercises on 23 November.
Two civilians and two marines were killed in that clash.
For its part, South Korea will "immediately and sternly" deal with any North Korean response, said an officer at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
An unofficial US envoy - New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson - is in North Korea and has held several meetings with senior officials there. The situation is "very, very tense, a crisis situation", he told CNN.
He was speaking after meeting North Korean Maj Gen Pak Rim-su, who leads North Korean forces along the border with the South.
That meeting was "very tough", but "some progress" was made, Mr Richardson said.
"They said there would be a response, but at the same time they hope a UN Security Council resolution would tamp down the situation. It was very clear they were very upset by the potential exercise," he told CNN from Pyongyang.
He suggested a military hotline be set up to address incidents along their border.
The BBC's Jane O'Brien in Washington says the Obama administration is in a tough spot, as the US has 28,000 troops stationed in the South and it would almost certainly be drawn in if hostilities erupt
The US is walking a diplomatic tightrope, trying to avoid that unfavourable option while remaining a strong ally to the South, our correspondent adds.
The JCS has said that artillery guns on Yeonpyeong will be aimed south-west and away from North Korea for the drill.
But the North claims any ammunition fired would inevitably land in its territorial waters.
In the event of an attack from the North, the South's Air Force would put its F-15K and KF-16 fighters on emergency standby, Yonhap quoted the JCS as saying.
The island is normally home to some 1,300 residents along with hundreds of marines, but most civilians have fled to the mainland, leaving only about 100 remaining, Yonhap said.
Deadly blast on oil pipeline in Mexico's Puebla state
At least 28 people have been killed and many others injured in an oil pipeline explosion in central Mexico, officials say.
The blast in a town in Puebla state was apparently caused by thieves attempting to steal fuel from the pipeline.
Oil gushed through the streets and caught fire, destroying homes and cars and forcing hundreds of people to flee.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon has visited the scene and promised to launch an investigation.
Puebla State Secretary Valentin Meneses said the explosion injured 52 people as well as destroying 32 houses and damaging scores more in San Martin Texmelucan - a small community about 80km (50 miles) east of Mexico City.
He said that according to early indications, a criminal gang had punctured the pipeline.
"They lost control because of the high pressure with which the fuel exits the pipeline. The streets began to flood, then came a spark and we saw rivers of fire in the streets," he said.
One local resident said she awoke at about 0530 local time to a strange, overpowering smell, like petrol.
Minutes later, her street looked as if it was flowing in tar, and then it erupted in flames. Her husband knocked down a wall, allowing them to escape from the back of their home.
"It was like we were living in an inferno. Everything was covered in smoke," she said, quoted by AP news agency.
The fire was brought under control by midday, and the state oil monopoly Pemex said it had shut the pipeline down.
President Calderon arrived in the town later on Sunday to survey the damage and visit the injured.
He offered his condolences to the victims' families and said those responsible for the incident would be brought to justice.
Pemex says that theft of oil from its pipelines is a chronic problem, costing it hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Snow at Heathrow and Gatwick ruins plans of thousands
The Christmas travel plans of thousands of Britons are in disarray after snow left Heathrow Airport all but shut.
Thousands remained in terminals for hours as few flights departed on Sunday. Knock-on delays hit most UK airports, including Gatwick.
The Met Office warns of more heavy snow in Yorkshire, north-east England and eastern Scotland, advising essential travel only in the Edinburgh area.
Icy roads affect much of the rest of the UK. There is some rail disruption.
An extreme weather warning is in place for Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders, with some 15 to 20cm (6-8in) of snow expected between 1100 and 1800 GMT.
Up to 10cm (4in) are expected in other snow-affected areas, with up to 20cm on high ground.
Edinburgh airport was closed until 1430 GMT and then opened for departures only on Sunday.
Temperatures struggled to get above -5C (23F) overnight and BBC forecaster Matt Taylor said there were lows of -19C (-2F) in parts of Worcestershire and Shropshire. They are likely to stay below freezing throughout the day.
The Met Office also issued warnings of heavy snow in parts of Sussex, East Sussex and Kent on Sunday.
Trains between London and Peterborough were suspended late on Sunday due to problems with overhead wire problems, train company East Coast said.
No trains are running between Oxford and Hereford, while some Chiltern Railways, South West Trains and First Capital Connect services have been weather-affected.
With France also suffering severe weather, Eurostar said it had cancelled some trains and switched to a contingency timetable, with last-minute cancellations possible. Speed restrictions were adding an additional 90 minutes to journeys.
Drivers are facing queues of up to eight hours on the A34 in Oxfordshire, where more than 80 cars were abandoned on Saturday night and several jack-knifed lorries were blocking the route. The nearby Cherwell Valley services on the M40 has run out of fuel.
The M25 has re-opened after being closed in both directions between junctions five and six, causing long delays following a liquid petroleum gas tanker overturning at 0900 GMT.
But airports were worst hit, on a weekend when travel association Abta said hundreds of thousands of Britons were due to fly.
The BBC has received hundreds of e-mails from stranded passengers, with many saying they have no idea where they will be spending Christmas.
BA said "several thousand" of its stranded passengers were being put up in hotels but when asked if the company was confident of getting everyone to their festive destinations, a spokeswoman said: "We are in the hands of the weather."
People are advised against travelling to Heathrow Airport, which said "a few thousand" spent the night in the terminals. Just four short-haul and three long-haul flights left on Sunday morning.
By late on Sunday night, BAA said three flights had landed at Heathrow, with more maybe due later.
The airport earlier said it hoped to be operational on Monday, but warned of more cancellations and delays "in the days that follow" as airlines move diverted aircraft and crew back to their normal positions.
Austria child porn suspects held after nationwide raids
More than 100 people have been charged with child pornography offences in Austria after police seized material from computers across the country.
Those arrested were aged 18 to 70 and included five teachers, officials said.
The 107 people arrested are accused of downloading images of child sex abuse from a server in Luxembourg.
A spokesman for Austria's federal investigations office told the BBC one of the suspects had collected more than 20,000 photos and 300 videos.
Alexander Marakovits said the investigation began a year ago after a tip-off from police in Luxembourg.
They informed Austria that more than 160 internet addresses traced to Austria were downloading material from a server being monitored by detectives.
Just 107 of the suspects could be traced, as some of those accessing the server attempted to cover their tracks, including by using internet cafes.
Mr Marakovits said one of the suspects was a nursery school teacher, and described the arrests as the second largest strike against users of child pornography in Austria.
In their biggest operation, last year, Austrian police charged nearly 190 men after breaking up a ring that spanned 170 countries.
Lions win 23-20 in OT, end long road losing streak
The Detroit Lions erased some painful memories by ending the longest road losing streak in NFL history.
Dave Rayner 's third field goal, a 34-yarder with 9:51 left in overtime, gave Detroit a 23-20 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and stopped a three-year skid at 26 games on Sunday.
"It's really not a relief, but it's important for this team to win on the road," second-year coach Jim Schwartz said.
"What's happened two years ago, what happened last year, three years ago, whatever it was, isn't important to this football team right now," Schwartz added. "Winning is important to this football team right now. Winning on the road is a step that we needed to take."
Rayner kicked a 28-yarder as time expired in regulation to force the extra period. The Lions took the overtime kickoff and drove 63 yards - covering most of the distance on two big runs and a 12-yard reception by Calvin Johnson on third-and-8 - to set up the game-winner.
The Lions (4-10) triumphed on the road for the first time since Oct. 28, 2007, when they won 16-7 at Chicago.
"It feels great to be on the road, get a win and go back on the plane and have a good week," Johnson said. "It's definitely good to bury that."
At the same time, Detroit dealt a blow to Tampa Bay's playoff's hopes.
The Bucs, who had been 5-0 in games decided by three points or fewer, failed to take advantage of a loss by the New York Giants - one of the teams they're chasing in the wild-card race - by losing for the first time in nine tries against an opponent with a losing record.
"It hurts just to know what we had in front of us," Tampa Bay running Cadillac Williams said. "We need a lot of help, but I've seen a lot of weird things in this league."
The Bucs (8-6) kicked the second of two fourth-quarter field goals to go ahead 20-17 with 1:39 remaining left in regulation.
"Are they still in the playoffs?" said Lions center Dominic Raiola , whose younger brother, Donovan, is a backup center with Tampa Bay. "Are they getting ready, making vacation plans now, like us? I hope so."
Drew Stanton completed 23 of 37 passes for 252 yards, one touchdown for the Lions. Johnson finished with 10 receptions for 152 yards, becoming the first Detroit player with two seasons with at least 1,000 yards and 12 or more TD receptions.
Maurice Morris rushed for 109 yards, including a 26-yard burst on the first play of overtime. Jahvid Best ran for 14 on the next play for a first down at the Bucs 39.
Three plays later, Johnson reached high to make his last catch of the day, barely keeping his feet inbound on the sideline at 25.
"I can't help but think that this is a game that we maybe don't win early in the season," Schwartz said. "We're becoming a battle-hardened team. This is a franchise that hasn't been used to playing a lot of close games, and this year we have. We've learned from a lot of those."
Stanton threw a 10-yard TD pass to Nate Burleson in the first quarter and Morris scored on a 10-yard run early in the third quarter to give Detroit a 17-14 lead that held until Josh Freeman brought Tampa Bay back with what seemed like would be another successful fourth-quarter rally.
The Lions forced the Bucs to settle for a field goal that made it 17-17 after Freeman led his team to a first-and-goal at the 1.
Tampa Bay hurt itself with Kellen Winslow drawing an offensive pass interference penalty that nullified what would have been a go-ahead 2-yard TD reception by the tight end.
Undeterred, Freeman led the Bucs to another field goal on their next possession, handing a 20-17 lead to a defense that suddenly was unable to slow down Stanton, who was making his third start in place of the injured Matthew Stafford .
Johnson also figured prominently in both of Detroit's first-half scoring drives with receptions of 20 and 16 yards to set up Stanton's TD pass to Burleson.
Johnson also had receptions of 30 yards and 17 yards to help the Lions get into position for Rayner's 41-yard field goal that trimmed Tampa Bay's lead to 14-10.
At 6-foot-6 and nearly 250 pounds, Freeman is one of the biggest and strongest quarterbacks in the NFL. The Lions sacked him three times, but the second-year pro also used his strength and mobility to turn potential negative plays into positive ones.
Tampa Bay's LeGarrette Blount broke a tackle and rambled for 39 yards for a second-quarter touchdown, one play after Freeman somehow managed to get off a pass with Lions rookie Ndamukong Suh draped around him and fullback Earnest Graham turned it into a 14-yard gain into Detroit territory.
Freeman, who has led an NFL-leading five fourth-quarter comebacks this season, completed 21 of 32 passes for 251 yards and one touchdown - a 24-yard throw to Mike Williams , who set a franchise record for rookies with his eighth TD.
Blount finished with 110 yards rushing on 15 attempts.
"It's rough to lose a close game like that, to lose a game that we felt like we definitely should have won," Freeman said. "But it's not a death blow, I guess, from a mathematical standpoint."
Pierce's triple-double leads Celtics over Pacers
The Boston Celtics showed they can still keep the ball moving even without the NBA's assist leader, getting a triple-double from Paul Pierce while holding off the Indiana Pacers 99-88 on Sunday to extend their winning streak to 13 straight.
Pierce had 12 assists and Ray Allen added six more as the Celtics played their second straight game without Rondo, who is out for a couple of weeks with a sprained left ankle.
"That's the point we make with this team. When the ball moves, there's assists," coach Doc Rivers said. "Guys are going to get assists and they're getting that."
Pierce added 18 points and 10 rebounds to go with his dozen assists. It was the sixth regular-season triple-double of Pierce's career and seventh overall. He last accomplished the feat March 8, 2006, against Philadelphia, which visits Boston on Wednesday.
"I pride myself in trying to be a complete player," Pierce said. "Throughout the course of my career I've worked on a lot of things on both sides of the ball."
Nate Robinson started for Rondo and scored 18 points. Allen finished with 17 points and Shaquille O'Neal, who had missed four straight games with a sore right calf, returned with 11 points, including a monster dunk off a long lob from Pierce.
"Shaq is a big guy. When he looks up, I get his head nod and he says 'throw it to the rim' - that's what I try to do," Pierce said. "He doesn't have to jump too high to dunk the ball, so I just try to put it right next to the rim."
The only Boston starter not to score in double figures was Kevin Garnett, and he had a solid nine points and nine rebounds.
The Celtics, who improved to 12-1 at home, are looking pretty deep.
"They can be beat, but you have to play a near perfect game," said Indiana's Danny Granger, who led the Pacers with 19 points. "I think the Celtics are more talented than those other teams across the board. They probably have 40 years of All-Star games between (them)."
Roy Hibbert had 17 points and 14 rebounds for the pesky Pacers, who hung with the Celtics until the final few minutes. Indiana made just 34 of 96 shots, but only committed 13 turnovers to Boston's 18 and was almost able to keep up with the bigger Celtics in rebounding.
"They're a heck of a basketball team and they're stingy in the fourth quarter," Indiana coach Jim O'Brien said. "We didn't stop them enough times to give us our chance to make a run."
Boston finally broke it open with a spurt late in the fourth quarter after Indiana pulled within 85-81. Davis and Allen each hit jumpers, then Allen made one of the plays of the day to wilt any hopes the Pacers may have had about another comeback.
Darren Collison burned Robinson with a crossover in the lane, passed it back outside and Allen was there to pluck it away and break for the basket. He crossed up Mike Dunleavy in the lane and banked in a reverse layup that gave the Celtics a 91-83 lead with 3:11 left.
The Celtics were playing their second straight game without Rondo, who is out indefinitely with a sprained left ankle.
Late di Maria strike keeps Madrid in touch with Barca
Real Madrid kept up the pressure on La Liga rivals Barcelona on Sunday with a 1-0 win over Sevilla at the Bernabeu.
A 77th minute strike by Angel Di Maria strike was enough to see Jose Mourinho's side secure three points.
The win came despite playing the last quarter of the game with ten men, after Ricardo Calvalho was shown his second yellow card for a challenge on Alvaro Negredo.
The Portuguese international was one of twelve players to be cautioned during an ill-tempered match, which also saw Sevilla defender Dabo sent off late in the game.
Sevilla remain in 11th place, while Madrid remain right on the heels of Barcelona in second -- two points behind as La Liga takes its winter break.
Atletico Madrid put the disappointment of this week's Europa League exit behind them as they cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win over Malaga to move up to sixth in La Liga.
Portuguese midfielder Tiago opened the scoring after 22 minutes and bagged a second in the 69th minute after Dominguez had made it 2-0 three minutes earlier.
Malaga have now lost 11 league games this season and remain third from bottom in the table.
The victory moves Atletico above Getafe on goal difference, who came from two goals down to beat Almeria 3-2 at the Estadio Mediterraneo.
Kalu Uche opened the scoring after seven minutes and Leonardo Ulloa doubled the home side's lead in the 24th minute.
Manu pulled a goal back for Getafe five minutes later and three minutes into the second half Venezuelan striker Miku bundled home an equalizer.
Derek Boateng completed the comeback in the 71st minute to extend Michel's men's unbeaten run to six matches.
Osasuna and bottom-of-the-table Real Zaragoza played out a 0-0 draw.
Meanwhile in Germany's Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen missed the chance to close the gap on league leaders Borussia Dortmund to eight points as they were held to a 2-2 draw against Freiburg.
The hosts took the lead after 16 minutes when Arturo Vidal converted a penalty to score his eighth goal of the season.
But a determined Freiburg fought back with goals from Jan Rosenthal after 24 minutes and Stefan Reisinger midway through the second half.
But the visitors' lead didn't last long as substitute Patrick Helmes finished calmly after Stefan Kiessling set up the scoring opportunity in the 75th minute.
Mario Gomez scored his second hat-trick of the Bundesliga season as Bayern Munich hammered Stuttgart 5-3 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
Gomez opened the scoring after 31 minutes and Thomas Muller doubled the lead five minutes later.
Stuttgart's defensive frailties were further exposed when Franck Ribery made it 3-0 with a superb individual goal a minute before half-time.
Stuttgart tried to mount a comeback with substitute Martin Harnik pulling a goal back five minutes after the break.
But any hopes of a lasting revival were immediately snuffed out by Gomez who struck twice in two minutes to complete his hat-trick.
Harnik claimed his second goal on the hour mark, and Christian Gentner made the scoreline slightly more respectable for Stuttgart with a 70th minute strike.
Bayern now lie fifth in the table heading into the winter break. Stuttgart remain in trouble in 17th place with only 12 points.
NBA for Montego Bay, Jamaica
Local fans of the National Basketball Association (NBA) may very well get the chance to see stars from at least two of the league's top teams train in Jamaica ahead of the 2011-2012 season, as Sports Minister Olivia 'Babsy' Grange intensifies discussions with the organisation's bosses.
In fact, two teams were scheduled to stage their pre-season training camps in Jamaica earlier this year ahead of the ongoing season, but things fell through largely because of the Tivoli Gardens incursion on Labour Day.
It was during this time that a site visit and other activities were planned with top NBA officials, but a decision was later taken to move the considerations to the lead-up to next season.
"We have been in discussion with the NBA at the level of the president and the vice-president and we have a proposal from them," said Grange during an exclusive interview with The Sunday Gleaner. "They were scheduled to select two teams to do pre-season training in Jamaica in September/October of this year.
"They had not at that point identified the teams, but they had agreed to take two teams here and they were to come in June to do their site visits. Dates were set and confirmed and then the problems that we had (in Tivoli Gardens) threw everything off," Grange continued.
It is understood that the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC) in Kingston was being considered at the time, given the availability of a hardwood playing surface and regulation ceiling height. However, there were reportedly concerns from the NBA officials that gym facilities were not attached to the venue, and also a noted preference to staging the camps in one of the island's preferred tourism destinations.
Resort environment
"Eventually we all agreed that we would pursue the discussion for next season. To an extent, it will perhaps turn out to be a better decision, because the only place we could take them for the training would have been in Kingston at the NISC, but they also wanted to be in a resort environment for it to also feel like a vacation," Grange explained.
Next month's scheduled opening of the Montego Bay Convention Centre has provided Grange and her team with the perfect opportunity to meet all the requests, and there are already plans to temporarily move the hardwood flooring at the NISC to facilitate the usage of the convention centre.
"We checked the convention centre and we were satisfied that there was enough height, and the ceiling would allow for training sessions to be held there. We also have the (hardwood) floors that we can move down there. They would also want to use a facility that has a gym, or is close to a gym, and so Gymkhana is close by so that wouldn't be an issue either," said Grange. "So we decided that we are going to have them take a look, not only at Kingston and the facilities there, but also go to Montego Bay and have a look so that they would have an option."
There are also plans to have the camps aired on popular US-based sports networks in an attempt to drive the nation's sports tourism thrust.
"Our sports tourism programme is really getting very intense, and this is just one of many things that we have lined up that will play a major role in pushing us along this path," Grange added.
Source: The Sunday Gleaner
Jamaica, Barbados, T&T unbeaten on opening day
Both Barbados women's teams played unbeaten to join Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago's men's and women's sides in winners' row, on the opening day of the Caribbean Zonal phase of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball qualifiers here last Friday.
Playing at Saith Park, the pair of Anthazia Mason and Sharon Bovell, along with Anicia Wood and Shari Matthews, won both their encounters to give Barbados a great start to the tournament, a qualifier for the London 2012 Olympics.
Mason and Bovell beat the Surinamese duo of Pamela Gilds and Xaviera Willems-berg 21-18, 21-16 to open their account, before returning to whip Cheryl Brunings and Kim Karsters also of Suriname, 21-12, 21-19.
Wood and Matthews, meanwhile, kept up Barbados' winning trend when they disposed of Brunings and Karsters 21-10, 21-15 and then shot down Gilds and Willemsberg 21-15, 21-13.
Their men's teams had mixed fortunes, however. Caribbean star Elwyn Oxley and Winston Gittens beat The Bahamas' Renaldo Knowles and Muller Petit 23-21, 21-19 but lost their second game to Princtanique Wilson and Byron Ferguson of The Bahamas, 21-17, 21-19.
Hugh Sealy and Jamal Nedd then beat Wilson and Ferguson 21-17, 21-19 before Omar Sealy and Negus Talma handed Knowles and Petit their second straight loss with a 21-11, 21-18 defeat.
Impressive results
Jamaica were also impressive, with positive results on both sides of the draw. In men's action, Wayne Scott and Andre McLean dismissed the US Virgin Islands' (USVI) Gustavo Cintron and Marc Lomeli 21-9, 21-12 before Dellon Brown and Namarie Gordon claimed easy points against the defaulting Cullen Diehl and Austin Pippen of the USVI.
The women had similar success, with Shanique Green and Cherie Thompson hammering Laval Sands and Tia Wilson of the Bahamas 21-19, 21-16, while Nardrake Hutchinson and Tshai Williams handed Sands and Wilson their second loss, 21-17, 21-10.
Hosts T&T also started well, as the men's teams of Daneil Williams and Fabien Whitfield, and Christian Francois and Kevin Rivers registered victories against Surinamese opposition.
Elki Phillip and Pauline Woodroffe, along with Kelly-Anne Billingy/Ayanna Dyette, ensured there were no hiccups in the women's section with wins over the USVI. (JA Gleaner)