Git your Monaco on

Source: Setanta Sports ()

Here is Setanta’s review of the best race of the 2007 season, based on racing quality, overtaking and incidents value, and impact on the championship race. We’ve gone for…

Round 6 - The Canadian Grand Prix: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal – June 10, 2007.

Formula 1 hit the North American continent in mid-summer on the back of a Monaco Grand Prix that arguably displayed the first real signs of trouble between McLaren’s drivers – double-world champion Fernando Alonso and super-quick rookie Lewis Hamilton.

Around the streets of Monte Carlo, the McLarens had waltzed home to a one-two finish, as Alonso took victory. However, Hamilton could and should have won the race if not for the team changing his race strategy to end his chances of overtaking Alonso, who Ron Dennis – at that stage – clearly felt still had the best chance of championship glory.

Following testing in France on a circuit set up to mimic that of Montreal’s, Ferrari had looked to have the best package for the Canadian event. However, it was McLaren who edged the practice sessions ahead of qualifying.

The grid-deciding day was entirely McLaren’s, as Hamilton took his first ever F1 pole, ahead of his team-mate. Ferrari’s chances were further depleted when their title challengers Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa both qualified behind the third-placed BMW of Nick Heidfeld.

The first few corners of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve always throw up some surprises on race day, but few could have envisaged quite what an eventful race we were in for, then the latest part of what had already been an intriguing and exhilarating start to the season.

Hamilton showed coolness as the lights went out – an attribute that had already become familiar – and held the business line into the first complex. Alonso had made a poor getaway from and attempt an audacious, and hugely misjudged, pass around the outside of the tight second turn, …

Source: Seattle Times ()

In Broadmoor, the mystery of the Holiday Martini Glass continues. Each year around Thanksgiving, the 4-foot-tall martini glass — complete with glowing red swizzle stick — goes up on the lawn of the Mehls’ home on Parkside Drive. It’s a tradition that began 15 years ago in Sahalee, where it was once stolen from the Mehls’ front yard and returned a week later. Intrigue followed the martini glass to Broadmoor, where one night each December, the glass mysteriously migrates next door and winds up on the neighbor’s Christmas tree.

“No one quite knows how it gets there. It’s on their house, and then suddenly it’s on our tree,” says Lisa Turnure. “It just kind of happens in the middle of the night.”

There, it becomes a beacon for the annual Turnure Martini Party — known in the pre-martini-glass years as the Turnure Christmas Party — a sign that the holiday party season has begun. The end. …

WHAT TO GET THE MAN who has everything? An e-mail circulated by the wife of a Seattle icon — no spoilers, but he makes frequent appearances in this column’s “celebrity sightings” — asked for book and DVD recommendations for a Christmas basket she is putting together for her husband, a voracious reader. No word on whether book-club queen Oprah was on the e-mail recipient list. …

IT’S NOT EXACTLY “Dancing with the Stars,” but some of the city’s movers and shakers get limber at the Pacific Northwest Ballet in open-to-the-public Pilates classes, occasionally working out alongside PNB dancers like Ariana Lallone or James Moore. Who knew? Regulars include socialite-philanthropists Cathi Hatch, Kim Richter and Patty Barrier. “I used to get a kick working with Susan Brotman while PNB hunk Stanko Milov would be off to the side working with a different trainer,” says program director Marjorie Thompson. “It made me think King Kong.” …

MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO: “Evening Magazine” host John Curley mentioned on a recent show …

Source: BBC News ()

By Oluwashina Okeleji

BBC Sport, Lagos

Nigeria’s Lukman Haruna has signed for French club Monaco

French first division side Monaco have won the race to sign the Nigerian under-17 captain Lukman Haruna.

Haruna signs for the French club from Global Crystal Academy in Nigeria for an undisclosed fee, on a four-year contract and will join them in January.

The 17-year-old has helped Nigeria win the African and World Under-17 titles this year.

He is understood to have also attracted interest from Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Porto and Benfica.

He will begin his first season as an apprentice, with the hope of breaking into the Monaco first team by January 2009.

The player’s agent, John Ola Shittu, said: “He was watched by several clubs but has worked very hard to get here.”

“Despite interest from other clubs, we consulted with the family and agreed that Monaco would be a good step to develop his game.

“The deal is good for his career and financially too. He is focused on breaking into the first team as soon as possible, we’re confident he will.”

Haruna, who has been included in Nigeria’s provisional squad for the 2006 African Nations Cup in Ghana, is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

“I’m excited about the opportunity of signing for a big club like Monaco,” Haruna told BBC Sport.

“I have a big task ahead of me and I cannot afford to let my family and friends down.

“This is where I’ve wanted to be and I am confident of proving myself because my target is to be a successful footballer.”

Source: PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung) ()

LONDON (AP) - John Collins has emerged as the leading candidate to take over at Fulham after the struggling Premier League club fired Lawrence Sanchez on Friday.
Collins, a former Celtic and AS Monaco midfielder who ended his playing career with Fulham, quit as manager of Hibernian on Thursday.
Sanchez, who achieved spectacular results as Northern

Ireland coach before walking out of the team in April to join the Cottagers, became the seventh manager to leave his Premier League club this season.
Fulham is in 18th place in the Premier League after losing its last three league games, and the club owners decided on a change with the transfer window looming in January.
«Following a run of disappointing results the club is languishing in the relegation zone of the Premier League table, and losing its Premiership status is a proposition that simply cannot be contemplated at this stage in the club’s ongoing development,» Fulham said in a statement. «The club is confident that it will find the right replacement to increase its chances of remaining in the Premiership, which is of vital importance.
Fulham said Ray Lewington and Billy McKinlay would be in charge of the team for its game against Wigan on Saturday and until a replacement is found.
But Collins is the overwhelming favorite among the bookmakers to take the job. He quit Hibernian saying he had taken the Scottish club as far as he could using limited financial resources. However, he said on Thursday he has had no contact with Fulham.
Frank Clark, the vice chairman of the League Managers Association, said the transfer window _ which restricts the movement of players to one month in midseason _ put too many managers at risk.
«We do know that most of our members, certainly in the Premier League, are against the transfer window and the whole principle of it,» he said. «It makes things difficult. If things are not going well in October, November and you might have a few …

Source: InTheNews.co.uk ()

Collins resigns as Hibs boss

Thursday, 20 Dec 2007 16:08

John Collins resigns as manager of SPL side Hibernian

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John Collins has handed in his resignation as the manager of Scottish Premier League club Hibernian with immediate effect.

The former international midfielder, who played for French side Monaco during a distinguished playing career, took over at Easter Road in October 2006 for his first full-time management job.

He won the League Cup north of the border in March 2007 but has also endured his fair share of trouble after a well-publicised dressing room spat with his players over team selection.

Today Collins has called time on his period in charge of the club, saying he feels he has taken them as far as he can given the financial restrictions in place.

"I have resigned today with immediate effect from my role as manager of Hibernian Football Club," Collins said.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Hibernian FC, the players, staff and backroom staff, Tommy Craig in particular, for their support during my time as manager.

"As a former player of Hibs it has been a great honour for me to be manager during this period when we won the CIS Cup, Hibs’ first trophy for 16 years, and have developed so many excellent young players."

Collins added that he would fondly look back on time with the Edinburgh club, but tempered this attitude by hitting out at the distinct lack …

Source: Sportinglife.com ()

Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius’ hopes of competing as an able-bodied athlete appeared to be in the balance on Wednesday night.

Athletics’ governing body, IAAF, are currently carrying out a full scientific analysis of the prosthetic limbs the 21-year-old South African uses, to see whether he gains an unfair advantage.

But his chances of being cleared to race against the world’s best at the Beijing Olympics next year appear to have been hit by comments from the man in charge of the research.

Professor Peter Bruggemann supervised the tests on the ‘Blade Runner’ at the German Sport University in Cologne - and he believes they do offer assistance.

“He has a considerable advantage compared with athletes without prosthetic limbs who have undergone the same tests,” Bruggemann told Die Welt newspaper.

“The difference is several percentage points, and I did not think the findings would be so conclusive.”

The IAAF received Bruggemann’s report on Tuesday but at present do not plan to discuss its contents, or make any public announcement, until January 10.

Now Pistorius’ dreams of in next year’s Olympic Games in Beijing hinge on the IAAF giving him the all-clear to race against able-bodied opponents.

Source: Easier (press release) ()

Luxury travel show set to hit screens in January

18 December 2007

Inside Luxury Travel with Varun Sharma will premier in 95 countries – including the United Kingdom – from 8th January, 2008. To be shown on The Travel Channel here in the UK, this iconic travel series will seek to inform and inspire independent travellers who are seeking the ultimate travel experience.

In the past seven months, the team has travelled to Monaco, London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Los Angeles and Miami, filming the finest hotels, resorts, restaurants and experiences that only money can buy.

Executive producer and presenter Varun Sharma says, “From the Hotel de Paris in Monaco to The Beverly Wilshire (Four Seasons) in Los Angeles and from The Milestone in London to The Peninsula in Hong Kong – we have gained unprecedented access to 25 of the most famous hotels & resorts in the world, all with one major factor in common – faultless service”.

The team filmed in many famous international restaurant kitchens like Zuma in Hong Kong and CUT in Los Angeles and with the Michelin-starred chefs - Joel Robouchon, Christophe Cussac and Atul Kocchar.

“The show also sees me sky-diving, trying aerobatics, playing golf on the Old Course at St Andrews and my favourite part of every location meeting the animals. The team has been lucky enough to get up close & personal with penguins, dolphins, sea-lions, kangaroos, orang-utans and even a cassowary – one of the most dangerous animals in the world” says Varun.

“We are not trying to portray luxury travel as elitist but instead showing what is out there in a very non-pretentious way… if you can’t really justify the expense of the hotel, then maybe trying one of the activities would ‘make’ the trip”.

“One of my favourites for this year must be The Club in Beverly Hills – a 5-Star hotel for dogs! It has a spa, a masseur and a chef that hand prepares every meal …

Source: Bizjournals.com ()

Monaco Coach Corp. is buying back $30 million of its stock.

The board of directors of Coburg-based Monaco (NYSE: MNC), a manufacturer of motorized and towable recreational vehicles, approved the stock repurchase program.

As of Oct. 31, Monaco had 29,981,477 shares of common stock outstanding.

The duration of the repurchase program is open-ended, the company announced Monday. Under the program, Monaco could purchase shares of common stock through open market and other approved transactions at prices accepted by the company’s management.

timing and amount of repurchase transactions will depend on market conditions and corporate and regulatory considerations, the company said.

Source: Open-Wheel - ESPN ()

LONDON — Formula One veteran David Coulthard is open to the thought of a future move to NASCAR, but not until his F1 days are solidly over. “I would consider something like NASCAR,” Coulthard said just before practice for the Race of Champions. “I don’t think I would consider IRL. The only thing is, America, you have to commit to it absolutely. Which means you move out there, take your family there. “But I’d certainly consider it. This will be my 15th season in Formula One. After that … I’ll do this as long as I’m having fun, as long as they keep saying ‘Would you like to continue?’”Coulthard said NASCAR’s lengthy 38-week schedule is of no concern to him. He said he has in the past raced every week but Christmas weekend, “and that wasn’t a problem. It’s not hard to get in private planes.”He also feels the influx of foreign driving talent, like his former F1 mates Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villaneuve, into NASCAR bolsters the perception of stock car racing internationally. “I think it’s checking the box of NASCAR,” he said. “Generally, people in Formula One haven’t really been that aware of NASCAR, and of what we have been aware of we’ve probably higher respect for NASCAR than what we have for the oval racing IRL. “That may come as a surprise, but as a single-seater racer in Europe, the perception in Europe is if you’re fat on a super speedway, yes there’s tactics, but how is that more challenging than driving Monaco? That’s a simplistic view, I know, and I’ve not done it. But [Jacques] Villaneuve’s a friend of mine who’s obviously won over there [in IRL], come over to F1 and won in F1. I just know it’s a different challenge.”As Coulthard’s F1 colleague Jenson Button described it, “it’s like comparing football and cricket.”"NASCAR is so different, and any of us in a touring car would find how difficult they are relative to a single-seater,” Coulthard continued. “So all does is keep checking the boxes [for NASCAR]. “If they keep getting, it doesn’t have to …

Source: Malta Independent Online ()

In a bid to help the public get accustomed to the different faces of eurozone coins, which will be in circulation when the country adopts the euro on 1 January, carpets depicting 45 different euro coins have been laid along Republic Street in Valletta.

In this euro information campaign with a difference, the European Parliament Information Office in Valletta and the National Euro Changeover Committee (NECC),also got together to provide 7,000 euro converters that are set to serve as a useful tool for small businesses during the dual circulation period.

Speaking during a media event in Republic Street yesterday, NECC executive chairman Alan Camilleri said that a recent Eurobarometer survey showed that the Maltese were among the least familiar with eurozone coins.

More than 60 different euro coin faces exist and it is difficult to give an exact number, since commemorative coins are minted by different eurozone countries every so often, said Mr Camilleri, adding that places like Vatican City and Monaco also have their very own euro coins.

However, these can all be used in each of the 13 eurozone countries, as well as Malta and Cyprus, which adopt the single European currency on 1 January.

Mr Camilleri said the 7,000 euro converters, which are larger than the BOV euro converters distributed to all households, will make it easier for retailers during the first month of euro adoption, when they will have to handle cash in both Maltese lira and euro.

Now that e-day is only 16 days away, people are more interested in the practical aspects of euro adoption, said Mr Camilleri.

He added that people were now more interested than ever in the handling of the currency; in fact, last month alone, about 2,800 calls were received on the euro hotline, said Mr Camilleri.

He appealed to the public to pay retailers the amount due during the dual circulation period (lasting until 31 January, 20 and possibly to start …