Council keeps city on road to nowhere

Councillor Kate Dean states regarding the proposed MarischalCollege conversion, that the city council cannot provide first classservices from a third-rate building already years past its sell bydate.

What a pity she does not employ the same enthusiasm, thinking anddetermination regarding Aberdeen's third-rate road infrastructure andbridges that were built for horse and carts.

She also states in her letter (Evening Express, October 4) thatno one should be in doubt that Aberdeen City Council is committed toproviding the best possible services for the people of this city.

She is perhaps referring to the …

"Kalo dio!" Thousands of years ago, the Talmudic Sages thought about January 1

"Kalo dio!" Thousands of years ago, the Talmudic Sages thought about January 1

The Sages of the Talmud had nothing to say about Christmas, but they were familiar with the Roman festival of the "Kalends", celebrated on January 1 during ancient times. As Prof. Eliezer Segal showed in The Jewish Star at the beginning of this decade, one of the ways in which the Sages attempted to understand the origin and purpose of the day was to suggest that it was a pagan corruption of biblical traditions. The "Kalends", Segal notes, a mentioned in Mishnah Avodah …

ATP-BCR Open Romania Results

Results Wednesday from the US$527,700 (euro374,415) BCR Open Romania, played on outdoor clay at the Progresul BNR Arenas (seedings in parantheses):

Singles

First Round

Ivan Navarro, Spain, def. Paul-Henri Mathieu (4), France 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3.

Second Round

…

Community fund will assist local projects ; In brief

ESSEX: The county council's pioneering Community Initiatives Fundis set to make new pay outs in 2011.

The Pounds 1 million annual fund, run since 2005, gives localprojects a cash boost provided the remaining money is found fromother sources.

For 2011, requests for funding will be subject to a …

Bid would merge Canada airlines

MONTREAL Toronto businessman Gerald Schwartz and American Airlinesparent AMR Corp. offered to invest $669 million to take control ofAir Canada and Canadian Airlines Corp., a proposal that would leaveCanada's struggling airline industry with one major carrier.

Schwartz would make the investment through Onex Corp., a publiclytraded firm that holds stakes in caterer Sky Chefs and CelesticaInc., one of the biggest contract manufacturers of electronics parts.Onex would have a 31 percent shareholding in the combined airlinesand AMR a 14.9 percent stake.

Shareholders of money-losing Canadian Airlines, whose board hasrecommended the bid to stockholders, would get either $2 …

Clive Davis gala is white-hot; Kinks to perform

BEVERLY HILLS, California (AP) — The annual pre-Grammy Clive Davis gala is so hot this year that even Diddy is getting calls from celebrities who are trying to get on the bill — and in the seats.

Diddy will introduce Davis at the event Saturday, one day before the Grammy Awards.

Davis got a call from Diddy on Friday, and Diddy told him, "Everybody is trying to get me to call you."

The music mogul's pre-Grammy …

Sri Lanka protesters lay siege to UN compound

Hundreds of protesters led by a government minister laid siege to the U.N. compound in Colombo, trapping workers inside for hours in an effort to force the world body to cancel its investigation of alleged abuses committed during Sri Lanka's civil war.

More than 125 people were believed in the compound Tuesday when the protesters first descended on the building in the morning after burning effigies of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Police tried to break up the protest in the evening and escorted some of the trapped workers out of the compound, but quickly pulled back after Housing Minister Wimal Weerawansa _ who led the protest _ ordered them …