London Welsh suffer promotion blow - Westmidlands.com
London Welsh have failed to meet the minimum standards criteria for entry into the Aviva Premiership, English rugby chiefs have announced.
The Rugby Football Union’s board of directors ratified findings of a report carried out by independent auditors that identified various failures, including not having primacy of tenure at their nominated Premiership ground – Oxford United’s Kassam Stadium.
The RFU verdict was announced just six hours before London Welsh contest Wednesday night’s Championship final first leg against Cornish Pirates in Penzance, and means that Premiership bottom club Newcastle will retain their top-flight status next term subject to any successful London Welsh appeal.
The Exiles, who seem certain to appeal, must lodge any protest within 14 days.
The Pirates did not choose to have an independent audit of their Mennaye Field ground, so with London Welsh also failing to satisfy demands it means there will be no promotion from the Championship this term.
Newcastle propped up the Premiership by a point despite winning their final game of the 22-game regular league season against fellow strugglers Wasps earlier this month.
But the Falcons have now survived and they can look forward to the 2012-13 campaign when Dean Richards will take charge as rugby director. Newcastle have already made seven new signings.
The minimum standards criteria are set by the Professional Game Board (PGB) – a joint group from the RFU, Premiership Rugby, RFU Championship clubs and the Rugby Players’ Association.
London Mining starts the year well - stockmarketwire.com
He said: "Turning to each of our assets, at Marampa, we are pleased to say that the plant is successfully processing tailings and weathered ore to a consistent high quality and we are on track to achieve our full year target of 1.5Mtpa of iron ore concentrate. The logistics from mine to ship have been proven to work as designed and over the first quarter we produced 300,000 dry metric tonnes of iron ore and shipped over 230,000 dry metric tonnes to Europe and China.
"This was shipped in five Supramax vessels, four of which went to China and one to Europe. Since the end of the quarter, we have successfully reached an average run rate of 4,300 tonnes per day which is in line with our ramp up plans and puts us firmly on track to reach the 2012 production target.
"Expansion works at the first plant continues apace, and we have commenced works for the second plant which when combined together will ensure we continue to grow capacity at Marampa and reach our production targets of 1.5Mt in 2012, 4.2Mt in 2013 and 5Mt in 2014.
"Work on the Bankable Feasibility Study for a further expansion to 9Mtpa is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year, with completion of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessments expected after that sometime in the fourth quarter.
"In Colombia, construction of the coke ovens continues although we were severely hampered by the unexpected rains caused by La Nina. None the less we produced 5,800 tonnes over the quarter. We have caught up some lost ground and we continue to aim for our target of 200,000 tonnes production capacity in the first phase. We are also exploring and undertaking feasibility studies on nearby coking coal concessions.
"Briefly turning to Isua, as we announced on 29 March, we have now completed the BFS for a 15Mtpa operation. The BFS defined a three year construction period to begin producing 70% Fe premium grade iron ore pellet feed with a payback period of 3.5 years. Since the BFS, we have commenced the permitting process.
"To realise our growth plans we know we must continue to attract and retain talented people and also ensure that the communities and countries in which we operate are able to see tangible and long-lasting benefits from our activities. We are particularly proud to provide employment and training for over 2,000 Sierra Leoneans.
"2012 is significant as we will contribute directly to the economy of Sierra Leone through payments of royalty and taxes to the Government of Sierra Leone; and indirectly through our social development royalty, local employment and local supply chain initiatives.
"As we enter a new phase of operations, construction and development we are ever more appreciative of the need to minimise the impact of our operations to the surrounding environment and communities and to keep our employees safe."
At 10:46am: (LON:LOND) share price was -3.62p at 242.63p
Story provided by StockMarketWire.com
London 2012: First Look At An Olympic Lane Outside London - Huffington Post
London 2012: Remaining Olympic tickets released for general sale - BBC News
About 500,000 tickets for events at the London 2012 Olympic Games have been released for general sale, organisers Locog have said.
There are some £20 tickets left for sports such as volleyball, table tennis, weightlifting, taekwondo, boxing and fencing.
But several sports have sold out, and there are only higher-priced tickets left for most medal events.
The tickets went on sale at 11:00 BST, with a 24-hour window for purchases.
Organisers Locog say there is a good number of tickets at the cost of £45 to £450 in sports including archery, badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, canoe sprint, diving, handball and hockey.
A list of sports available as of 11:00 can be viewed on the 2012 ticketing website.
Only a limited number of tickets are available in race walk, mountain biking, artistic gymnastics and rowing.
Up to four tickets can be purchased per session, and up to four sessions in one transaction for all available sports apart from football - where more tickets are available to encourage groups to attend.
A London 2012 spokesman said the site had been "busy" and people were being put in a queue for tickets as they went through the process.
"The site has been working well and we are delighted that more people have been able to get Olympic tickets", he added.
Colin McKinnon in Haslemere, Surrey, told the BBC: "We have just got tickets to sailing in last general release of tickets. The system seemed to work well with only minimal wait time."
'Delivered on promise'All tickets have been sold in some sports, including athletics, cycling, equestrianism, rhythmic gymnastics and swimming, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies.
Locog commercial director Chris Townsend said: "Our priority has been to get as many people who missed out in the sales process last year to the Games.
"We have delivered on our promise and now another 150,000 people have successfully purchased up to four tickets each."
He warned: "Wednesday's sale is a live sale, and, like other high-demand events including pop concerts, we expect the website to be very busy and customers may well be held in queues for over 30 minutes at peak times."
Dominic Foster in London told BBC News the application process had been the "easiest so far".
"The website held me for 10 minutes, I bought some tickets and then made another application - both of which were successful."
But other users reported problems with the site and unsuccessful attempts, including Londoner Andrew McManus.
He told the BBC: "At 11:00 I selected the two events I wanted and was advised that the wait was 10 minutes.
"The first six minutes counted down normally, and then it got stuck at four minutes for an hour."
And Ian Waldie in Wakefield said: "After spending three hours trying to get tickets today from 11:00 I've given up. Not once did I find any available tickets."
The online ticketing system sparked criticism last year after it crashed under high demand.
In some cases, the system reportedly informed potential buyers they had secured tickets, and then later told that they had failed.
Meanwhile, plans have been unveiled for a 10,000-spectator area with a giant screen showing live events in the Olympic Park during the Games.
"Park Live" will be open from early morning until late evening for fans without tickets for the sport venues.
London Welsh denied chance of promotion to the Premiership - The Guardian
Newcastle will be playing in the Premiership next season after the Rugby Football Union today ruled that London Welsh, who play the first leg of their Championship play-off final against Cornish Pirates in Penzance tonight, did not meet the entry criteria for the top flight.
London Welsh, who have never been in the Premiership, proposed playing at Oxford United's Kassam Stadium, the venue of next week's second leg, because their Old Deer Park ground did not have a big enough capacity or floodlights.
The RFU's board of directors this morning considered a report from the auditors, PMP Legacy, which found that "various failures" of the minimum standards criteria demanded of clubs who win the Championship meant that London Welsh should not be promoted.
The Pirates did not subject themselves to the criteria test so the ruling means the Championship winners will not be going up, reprieving the Falcons who finished at the bottom of the Premiership despite a late rally, one point below Wasps.
That will mean a return in the top flight for the club's director of rugby, Dean Richards, whose three-year ban for masterminding the Bloodgate affair while he was in charge of Harlequins ends in August.
The main failure of London Welsh cited by the auditors was that they did not have primacy of tenure at the Kassam Stadium, raising concerns that they would not be able to play their home matches at a time demanded by Premiership Rugby or the tournament's broadcasters.
Under the regulations, teams who share grounds must nominate a second stadium. It is understood that Welsh's nominated fallback was Brentford's Griffin Park, which is more than the stipulated 30 miles away from the Kassam Stadium.
London Welsh have 14 days in which to appeal and they have indicated they will take up that option. The Exiles have maintained throughout that they met the primacy of tenure clause, pointing out that in the history of the Premiership, no club has been forced to use its nominated second ground.
The Championship clubs met earlier this year and considered whether to mount a legal challenge against the minimum standards criteria, arguing that they amounted to a restraint of trade. London Welsh's chairman, Bleddyn Phillips, is a senior partner at the law firm Clifford Chance and in recent weeks has expressed his confidence that the club met the criteria.
The last time a club from the second tier was denied promotion was Rotherham 10 years ago. They were rebuffed because the RFU ruled the club had not signed a legally binding agreement to play at Rotherham United's ground and received £720,000 in compensation, cash that had been earmarked as a parachute payment for the bottom club in the Premiership, Leeds, in the event of relegation.
The RFU board today felt it had no option under the minimum standards criteria but to reject London Welsh's bid. It is open-minded about whether they are too restrictive, but that will be a matter for the professional game board, a body made up of members from the union, Premiership Rugby and the Professional Rugby Players' Association.
Newcastle's commercial director Duncan Edward said: "To be given the lifeline of playing in the Aviva Premiership next season and keeping top-class rugby in the region is unbelievable."
London 2012: Heathrow Airport in numbers - BBC News
Heathrow in numbers - how the UK's biggest airport is getting ready for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Some 500,000 people will be flying into London for the Olympics and Paralympics this summer.
That includes 100,000 athletes, 20,000 members of the media and 150 heads of state. Most of them will arrive via Heathrow.
It will be the start and finish line for the bulk of visitors, giving the country's biggest airport its busiest day ever.
That day will be Monday 13 August, the day after the closing ceremony and the day 65% of visitors are planning to leave.
Some 203,000 bags will be squeezed on to the baggage system - that's 35% more than on a normal day and about 13,000 more than it is designed to handle.
Of those bags, 15,000 will be oversized - full of canoes, javelins, bikes and poles for the pole vault. There will also be more than 980 firearms to check, plus ammunition.
'Heavily-congested skies'A special temporary terminal is being built just for the "Games family" - athletes and coaches to you and me.
It will be open for three days, snuggled between terminals four and five, and will boast 31 check-in desks and seven security lanes.
Meanwhile, hundreds of extra border staff - they will not give an exact figure - will be on hand to try to keep passport queues down.
Sixteen mobile teams of 10 guards each will be available to target trouble spots if, or should that be when, the queues build up.
It is not just Heathrow of course.
Air traffic control is facing its biggest ever challenge, coping with heavily-congested skies, the threat of a terror attack and possible bad weather. Twenty-five controllers are practising in the simulator every day.
In all, 400 have been specially trained over the past four years to deal with the extra workload.
Any rogue planes should be spotted within two to three minutes, after which military controllers take over that zone and a decision is made whether or not to scramble fast jets.
Extra plane?The Paralympics is a third of the size of the main event but it is still a huge challenge.
“Start Quote
End QuoteThe Chinese team are arriving on 27 different planes and they'll probably need an extra plane at the end to carry all their medals”
Heathrow will have to deal with a month's worth of wheelchair users in just a week - about 1,800 in total.
Thirteen new scissor lifts and 100 new ramps have been deployed to load and unload wheelchairs while there are six new powered stair climbers to move large electric wheelchairs.
Two-hundred extra staff will welcome the Paralympians and help with the biggest challenge of all - making sure every athlete is reunited quickly with their chair.
As one Paralympian put it, you wouldn't expect able-bodied athletes to leave the plane in someone else's trainers would you?
The Chinese team are arriving on 27 different planes and they'll probably need an extra plane at the end to carry all their medals. I made that last bit up.
Finally, 1,000 local volunteers will greet athletes off the plane, help with their luggage and welcome them to London.
Then a few weeks later, as the Olympic flame dies, those volunteers will wave them off again as they head for home.
One thousand people will be standing there waving goodbye at planes, so if you happen to be going on holiday that day, you might want to wave back.
The Olympic and Paralympic Games will be the biggest sporting event in the UK this year. Will you be travelling to the UK to see the Games? Please send us your comments and experiences.
London 2012 Olympics torch passes over Clifton Suspension Bridge - Daily Telegraph
The Grade I listed structure, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was opened in 1864 and is considered to be the symbol of the city of Bristol.
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