Tottenham Finds Reason To Believe After Four Goal Victory
The recent four goal victory over Burnley has given Tottenham reason to believe that they will be back at Wembley defending the League Cup. The first leg semifinal took place at White Hart Lane on Tuesday ended with Tottenham on four and Burnley managing to score only one goal.
All of Tottenham’s four goals came in the second half as Burnley’s goal keeper Brian Jenson failed to stop the shots from a fired up Tottenham side. The ? 15 million signing of Jermain Defoe was being celebrated well before the kick off. With Martin Paterson scoring the only goal for Burnley in the first 15 minutes of the game Tottenham fans were quieted in an instant.
Burnley’s previous performances have been spectacular with the team managing to eliminate top teams like Chelsea, Arsenal and Fulham. The Spurs managed to make a spectacular come back in the second half ruining Burnley’s dream to add another super team to their defeated list.
David Bentley was replaced by Jamie O’Hara after being ineffective during the game. Within two minutes of getting on Jamie supplied Michael Dawson the ball from a corner, who posted it through for the team’s first goal. Hardly five minutes had passed that the midfielder scored Tottenham’s second goal through the legs of Brain Jensen. Roman Pavlyuchenko maintained his record of scoring in every round by securing the third goal for Tottenham.
Three minutes later Burnley defender Micheal duff managed to score an own goal by heading the ball shot through by O’Hara into his own goal post. This unfortunate event completed the misery for Burnley who could hardly believe what was going on.
The final score was not something that Burnley would have expected after ending the first half one up on the winning team. The former Manchester United forward Chris Eagles had made one attempt shot wide of the post before supplying the ball for Paterson to score the only goal for Burnley.
Another cross was headed by Robbie Blake right past Tottenham’s goal keeper in just nine minutes after the goal. Despite making a few good attempts in the first half Burnley failed to capitalize on their position. The Spurs came back as a totally different team in the second half managing to secure the win and becoming the favorites to meet Manchester United or Derby at Wembley.
Russia-Ukraine gas dispute flares up as Europe bears the impact
The recent disputes between Russia and Ukraine over the supply of natural gas flared up this Tuesday. Ukraine lashed out at Russia saying that it had cut the supply of natural gas to Europe. Nine countries reported having their gas supplies cut off or reduced by Russia.
The Russian energy Giant Gazprom has cut three of four of its export pipelines. These are the pipelines through which Europe receives its gas supplies and hence such an act has had a significant impact on a number of nations.
Gazprom places the blame on Ukraine for giving rise to the current situation. The deputy chief of Gazprom, Alexander Medvedex said “Ukraine is in obvious breach of obligations as a transit country.”
Following the reduction of gas supply at least nine countries reported to be experiencing a shortage in their gas supply through the Ukraine channel. The countries that have been impacted include Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania and Turkey. These nations however did not blame either side for the problem but expressed their concerns for the issue.
Ukraine has been receiving natural gas from Russia for many years but this latest twist in their dealings is becoming grimmer by the day. Ukraine’s natural gas supply was cut off last week when the country failed to meet the dead line for past payment. Ukraine on the other hand has denied that it owes the money that Russia is demanding. At the moment Ukraine is being able to meet its needs due to supplies decked up in the storage facilities.
A meeting between the two countries has been scheduled for Thursday where they will discuss the issue at hand. Gazprom has stated that it will be filing suit against Ukraine accusing the country of siphoning gas from the export pipelines.
The Romanian and Bulgarian Ministry of Economy and Energy have reported that their countries have experienced a 75% reduction in gas supply as a direct result of the dispute. Turkey is one of the nations that has been severely impacted by the dispute as the supply of gas that reached it through Ukraine has been completely cut off. A number of countries have over 50% percent of their gas supply cut off due to the Russian blockade whereas some nations like Greece and Turkey are not receiving any gas at all.
The Bazaar set to be a successful recession era restaurant
For two and a half years the celebrity chef of Spanish origin Jose Andres has been working on his restaurant project in Beverly Hills set to be launched as “The Bazaar”. With the global economic crisis shaping up to be the worst ever experienced in recent history there could have been a better time for the launch.
The irony is that Jose Andres is actually quite optimistic about launching his restaurant. Of course Andres is no fool, he knows that the economy is plundering and people don’t have the kind of money that they used to have to spend on fancy food but he also believes he has the recipe for success.
Jose Andres is adamant on making “The Bazaar” one of the most successful recession era restaurants by giving customers a menu that is extremely diverse in nature along with having truly unique items that they will not be able to find anywhere else.
The Bazaar is set to the theme of a Middle Eastern souk that is bustling with activity. It offers people the chance to drink and dine in various hang out spots such as a cocktail bar, traditional tapas spot, a modern tapas space along with a complete patisserie full of deluxe candy jars.
The restaurant gives customers the chance to move about from one section to another in order to experience the ambiance of the environment along with the flavor of the food. The Bazaar also gives customers the opportunity to stroll into the design boutique in order to buy some souvenirs such as replicas of the Titanic or paparazzi celebrity photos.
There is no doubt about the fact that the majority of people are on a tight budget these days. Andres says you can get delicious food in a few small plates for under ten dollars.
The celebrity chef who made it big with his cooking show “Made in Spain” says regarding the economic crisis “Of course, I am worried. You can only not be worried if you are a multimillionaire not invested in anything and with cash in the bank.”
Last Friday however The Bazaar was bustling with a crowd much like the actual Mideast Souk is during the holiday season. But naturally Andres was extremely pleased by the crowds that came in to experience the Bazaar amidst the economic crisis.
A persistent cold is actually sinusitis
A common cold that lingers on for more than a week may very well have transformed into sinusitis. The cold is accompanied with a stuffy nose and a persistent headache.
Statistics revealed by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology show that around 31 million Americans develop the disease of sinusitis each year. This results in over 18 million visits to the physician and raises the over all health costs to $5.8 billion. Generally it is the people that suffer from allergies that develop sinusitis over time. Such people are most vulnerable during the winter season.
Dr. Anju Peters, Chairman of the academy’s rhino-sinusitis committee stated in a news release that “Early on, the symptoms of colds and sinusitis are similar, but if symptoms are worsening after three to five days, or if they are present for more than 10 days, then sinusitis is the likely culprit.”
The hollow areas situated behind the forehead and cheeks are known as sinus cavities. When these areas become blocked due to inflammation that results from a cold or allergy then sinusitis develops. The blockage of the sinus cavities hampers the routine draining of mucus which can lead to infection. Sinusitis has a number of symptoms which include greenish gray nasal discharge, bad tasting nasal drip, fever and facial pain.
If sinusitis is not treated with the proper treatment then it can last for years. Generally doctors prescribe the use of antibiotics in order to eradicate the infection along with decongestants that give the patient relief from stuffiness.
One of the things that can help prevent sinusitis from the start is longer breast feeding. Even if Children are breast fed up to four months they will develop much better lungs which will prevent sinusitis from developing in the future. Bottle feeding however weakens the development of the lungs thereby making children vulnerable to develop sinusitis, asthma and other allergies.
The doctors gave their reasoning for the increase in lung strength for babies that are breast fed saying “The physical exercise caused by suckling at the breast – about six times daily on average for more than 4 months — may result in increased lung capacity and increased airflow in breast-fed children compared with bottle-fed children.”
In the case of grown ups who are suffering from a persistent cold it is highly advised to seek proper treatment without which sinusitis is likely to remain for quite some time.
Israel commences ground operation in Gaza
The Israeli government had made its goal clear prior to starting the military offensive. It said it would do whatever was necessary to eradicate Hamas from its roots irrespective of how long it would take. Yesterday Israel commenced the ground operation it had been preparing to launch since the past couple of days.
With troops moving in on foot the risk of civilian casualties increases. As it is the confrontation has cost over 430 Palestinian lives along with the death of four Israelis up till now.
Gaza is a densely populated region and a ground operation aimed at hunting down Hamas targets is bound to give rise to civilian casualties. At the same time however the Israeli military will also be exposed to new threats. Hamas has been in the region for almost two years within which it has managed to accumulate a considerable amount of ammunition. The world has been witnessing the kind of fire power that Hamas is equipped with in the recent rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli territory. Hamas has been making use of sophisticated long range missiles amidst the Israeli air strikes.
Hospitals in Palestine reported three civilian deaths overnight whereas the Hamas run television channel Al Aksa reported that five Israeli soldiers had been killed. The Israeli military did not confirm the claims made by Al Aksa and dismissed the effort as being a tactic to lower the military’s morale.
International pressure has mounted in the past couple of days urging both the sides to accept an immediate cease fire but such efforts have been shunned completely. Many European cities witnessed protests appealing to Israel to stop the bloody campaign against the Palestinians.
The White House has been rather conservative in restricting Israel from wreaking the havoc that it has been amongst the civilian population of Gaza. The most it could do was issue a statement urging Israel to “be mindful of the potential consequences to civilians.”
The Israeli military is however determined to continue its campaign until it gains control over the missile launching sites Hamas has been using to target southern Israel. Military officials have stated that their aim is not to reoccupy Gaza yet it is engaged in a grueling operation that has resulted in heavy loss of civilian lives.