| The man who makes the tennis world nervous
Davydenko denies any wrongdoing, but the episode exposed a world apart from the glitz and glamour of big-time tennis, in which vast reservoirs of international cash move on obscure matches. The biggest events on the tennis calendar are the four Grand Slam tournaments. Roughly $30 million was wagered on the Australian Open final in January -- much of it while the match was in progress. The Slams also account for most of the championship points that are awarded on the Tour. (Novak Djokovic received 1,100 points for his win Down Under.) But the life blood of professional tennis is the 65 tournaments the ATP hosts each year. These far-flung events give unsung players a chance to move up the rankings ladder. But because the early rounds are usually played away from the cameras, they have become prime entry points for a gambler who wishes to insinuate himself.
Doorway to disaster: Garage door is where a storm's danger comes home
We know you'd rather forget the trauma of last year's hurricane season and pray we never have another one like it.
Keep praying, and welcome to another season.
This week hurricane forecaster William Gray predicted 15 named storms, including eight he expects to swirl into hurricanes. He says 59 percent of the storms are likely to hit the U.S. East Coast, including Florida.
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Corps off hook for N.O. canal lapses
Millions of dollars were squandered in building a levee system with respect to these outfall canals which was known to be inadequate by the corps' own calculations." Duval's decision leaves the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board and Orleans Levee District as defendants in the lawsuit. As of the beginning of January, the corps had received 489,000 claim forms, including a number of duplicate forms, a spokeswoman said Jan. 7. The forms provide notice to the corps that a person plans to participate in a damage lawsuit against the agency. At times, blocks-long lines of New Orleans residents lined up outside the New Orleans District headquarters on Leake Avenue as deadlines for filing the forms loomed. .
Nick Robinson's Newslog
If you ladle it out, you've got to take it, as the old saying goes. My post yesterday has provoked 52 MPs (and counting) to sign the following Early Day Motion tabled by Peter Kilfoyle: "THE REPORTING OF MR NICK ROBINSON That this House deplores the innuendo of the blog of Nick Robinson, the BBC's lobby correspondent; calls upon him to substantiate the imputations he makes in his blog concerning the Speaker and hon. Members; and also calls upon the BBC to publish a full, itemised account of the expenses of Mr Robinson, in the name of transparency and accountability of public funds." Mr Kilfoyle posted his comments below yesterday's blog in which he describes as "outrageous" the suggestion that some MPs are too afraid to condemn the Speaker because he'd abuse his position in the chair to punish those that did.
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