Christmas decorations are seen at a traditional Christmas market in Vienna December 21, 2010. 
A boat, the traditional Greek symbol of Christmas, is illuminated in Aristotelous Square in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki, Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010.
A man looks at Christmas decoration in Sin El Fil, northeast of Beirut December 21, 2010.
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 21: Thousands of hoiday tourists visit Rockefeller Center on December 21, 2010 in New York City. With only four shopping days left before the Christmas holiday, many New York businesses are experiencing robust sales as shoppers ease economic concerns to buy clothes, appliances and technology goods.
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 21: Thousands of shoppers converge along 34th St. and Herald Square on December 21, 2010 in New York City. With only four shopping days left before the Christmas holiday, many New York businesses are experiencing robust sales as shoppers ease economic concerns to buy clothes, appliances and technology goods.
Children look at Christmas decoration in Sin El Fil, northeast of Beirut December 21, 2010.
Shoppers walk through a street illuminated with Christmas lights in Valletta December 21, 2010.
A boat, the traditional Greek symbol of Christmas, and a Christmas tree are illuminated in Aristotelous Square in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki, Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010.
Crowds throng to a shopping mall decorated for Christmas in Hong Kong on December 21, 2010. Christmas shopping is now in full swing with restaurants and retail outlets jam packed all over the territory.
People visit a traditional Christmas market in front of the Empress Maria Theresa monument in Vienna December 21, 2010.
A woman looks at Christmas tree ornaments at a traditional Christmas market in Vienna December 21, 2010.
Crowds throng to a shopping mall decorated for Christmas in Hong Kong on December 21, 2010. Christmas shopping is now in full swing with restaurants and retail outlets jam packed all over the territory.
A picture shows the skyline by night with some buildings showing fetive decoration from the Kowloon peninsula in Hong Kong on December 21, 2010. Christmas shopping is now in full swing with restaurants and retail outlets jam packed all over the territory.
A photographer takes pictures outside a shopping mall decorated for Christmas in Hong Kong on December 21, 2010. Christmas shopping is now in full swing with restaurants and retail outlets jam packed all over the territory.
A woman takes pictures of Christmas decoration in Ashrafieh, east Beirut December 21, 2010.
Hundreds of people queue outside St Pancras Station in London for the Eurostar train to France and Belgium Tuesday Dec. 21, 2010. Major delays and cancellations persisted Tuesday at European airports including London's Heathrow, and on the Eurostar train link, leaving thousands stranded across Europe as Christmas approached.
Passengers queue for Eurostar trains on December 21, 2010 at Paris gare du Nord railway station during ongoing delays caused by the weather. Thousands of angry travellers forced to sleep in airports and train stations across Europe faced more misery Tuesday as fresh snowfalls paralysed transport systems just days before Christmas.
Crossing guard Lisa Green dresses as a ginger bread house on the final day of school before the Christmas holiday break, Tuesday, Dec 21, 2010, in Brunswick, Maine. Green wears a variety of hand-made costumes to celebrate a half-dozen holidays each school year.
Pakistani Kaleem Masih paints Santa Claus and a Christmas message on a wall as he and others decorate their colony ahead of Christmas celebrations, Islamabad, Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010.
A girl wearing an Angel costume talks to children at the 16th annual Christmas Celebration for the Homeless at the Estrel convention center on December 21, 2010 in Berlin. German singer Frank Zander founded the event, which offers an evening of Christmas goose dinner, performances and Christmas gifts for the German capital's many homeless.
People enjoy a dinner in Berlin, December 21, 2010. For the 16th time German Musician Frank Zander hosts his annual Christmas dinner for homeless and poor people in the German capital.
A view of Paris' snow-covered roofs on December 19, 2010 after heavy snowfalls. Heavy snow disrupted European air travel this weekend and stranded hundreds of drivers in their cars as far south as Italy as a white Christmas appeared increasingly likely for many places.
People climb snow-covered stairs to the Sacre Coeur basilica on December 19, 2010 in Paris after heavy snowfalls. Heavy snow disrupted European air travel this weekend and stranded hundreds of drivers in their cars as far south as Italy as a white Christmas appeared increasingly likely for many places.
People climb snow-covered stairs to the Sacre Coeur basilica on December 19, 2010 in Paris after heavy snowfalls. Heavy snow disrupted European air travel this weekend and stranded hundreds of drivers in their cars as far south as Italy as a white Christmas appeared increasingly likely for many places.
People enjoy ice skating on the snowcovered Trocadero gardens near the Eiffel Tower, on December, 19, 2010 in Paris. Heavy snow disrupted European air travel this weekend and stranded hundreds of drivers in their cars as far south as Italy as a white Christmas appeared increasingly likely for many places.
People enjoy ice skating on the snowcovered Trocadero gardens near the Eiffel Tower, on December, 19, 2010 in Paris. Heavy snow disrupted European air travel this weekend and stranded hundreds of drivers in their cars as far south as Italy as a white Christmas appeared increasingly likely for many places.
Christmastime in New York City 2010
Hong Kong Harbour City 2010 Christmas
Hong Kong Harbour City 2010 Christmas
Christmas in Vienna 2010
Snow Eiffel Tower
Snow Eiffel Tower
PARIS SOUS LA NEIGE #23 (Snow Eiffel Tower)
PARIS SOUS LA NEIGE #3 (Snow Eiffel Tower)
source: Daylife
photo: AP photo, Gettyimages, Reuters
Christmas celebrations
The £1.5bn freeze: As travel chaos continues, the country counts economic cost
By SEAN POULTER and RAY MASSEY
Cars on the A413 road near Amersham in Buckinghamshire first thing this morning
The economy has suffered a £1.5billion ‘big freeze’ shock from travel chaos, lost production and savaged High Street sales.
The cost is 50 per cent higher than a normal winter and has prompted a string of cut-price offers from shops desperate to lure back lost Christmas trade.
Yesterday the freezing weather meant tens of thousands of airline passengers remained stranded at major airports, with many huddled in tents outside Heathrow’s terminal buildings. 
Snow gathers on canal boats moored along the frozen Kennet and Avon Canal in Bath
But Heathrow bosses snubbed an offer from transport secretary Philip Hammond to use troops to help clear snow and ice which has crippled a runway since the weekend.
He said the airport’s Spanish-owned operator BAA told him they already had the manpower they needed.
It also emerged that the airport has slashed its snow defence budget by two-thirds to £500,000, compared with Gatwick’s £8million investment.
Passengers queue for Eurostar as a train leaves at St Pancras station today. Anyone without a ticket was told 'not to bother' turning up
The £1.5billion lost to the economy would buy 9,247,842 grit bins or 75,000 snow ploughs.
Hundreds of supermarkets and shopping malls will open late today and tomorrow as shoppers try to catch up.
Not just Britain: Ireland is suffering from freezing conditions too as this picture taken in Dublin shows
Heathrow’s second runway was finally cleared last night, but the number flights leaving will remain far lower than scheduled until at least early tomorrow morning.
There were also flight disruptions at Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as Gatwick, London Luton and London City airports yesterday.
Meanwhile, about 200 passengers were evacuated from stricken trains following damage to overhead power lines at Huntingdon near Peterborough. Eurostar was operating a reduced service with the company asking customers not to travel unless essential.
Crash: A Waitrose lorry struck a farmhouse in Newton Poppleford, East Devon, after skidding on ice
Frozen poet: Frost clings to the cobweb-covered statue of Lord Alfred Tennyson at Lincoln Cathedral
A swan struggles to break free of the ice on a frozen lake at the Fairburn Ings Bird Sanctuary near Castleford
Snow angel: Photographer Alison Parsons-Smith captured this heavenly image on the Isle of Wight
Not all bad: A baby elephant enjoys a frolic in the snow at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire
Enough now: The youngster is led back to the warmth of an indoor enclosure by adult elephants at the zoo
National scandal: Despite Heathrow's importance to the UK economy, the government is powerless to intervene because of its foreign ownership
It will have hardly helped his cause that the Chancellor was held up in New York – unable to return to London – for nearly two days while pictures of the Third World conditions at London’s premier airport (which ironically boasts a ‘world class service’) filled American television screens.
This was as far as it is possible to get from the image of the efficient, modern, bustling commercial centre that the Chancellor was seeking to promote.
But who is to blame? Step forward the dopey, inefficient BAA (the former British Airports Authority) who own Heathrow.
The real scandal is that despite Heathrow’s economic and strategic importance to Britain, the Government is virtually powerless to do anything because the Authority is owned by a foreign company.
Powerless: While in other countries there has been investment ministers have been unable to get BAA to buy adequate snow-clearing and de-icing equipment
And it is a scandal that goes back to 2006, when the Labour government stood idly by while a little-known, family-controlled Spanish construction group called Ferrovial was allowed to buy all of Britain’s airports at the knockdown price of £10.3billion.
What’s more, the purchase was made despite the firm already having huge debts.
This was just the latest squalid example of a British government selling key parts of this country’s infrastructure to foreign buyers. For example, control of our ports passed from one of the nation’s great historic companies, P&O, into the hands of Dubai World; and most of our power utilities have been sold to continental giants EDF of France and E.ON of Germany.
Shocking: Neither the Coalition government nor its Labour predecessor has taken proper responsibility for Heathrow and Britain's other airports
The problem with our airports is that the Government is powerless to force the foreign owners to ensure there are the necessary systems to prevent flights being grounded in bad weather. While sensible investment is made in other countries’ airports, ministers have been unable to get BAA to buy adequate snow-clearing and de-icing equipment.
Equally culpable is the regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, which has been supine in its refusal to raise any serious objections over Ferrovial’s behaviour.
source: dailymail
Wait years for a Royal wedding... 'Shocked but very happy' Zara to marry England rugby star Mike Tindall after seven-year romance
all after seven-year romance
Understated: Zarah Phillips and her fiance Mike Tindall after they announced their engagement
Zara Phillips is to marry her rugby player boyfriend Mike Tindall in a move that could make 2011 the year of royal weddings.
The Queen’s 29-year-old granddaughter said she was astonished by Monday evening’s proposal – despite a seven-year courtship.
And the level of her surprise was evident as she and Tindall, 32, posed for hastily arranged photos outside their Gloucestershire home. 
'Very happy': The 29-year-old daughter of the Princess Royal showed off her diamond engagement ring
As she showed off her diamond and platinum engagement ring, it was painfully clear that Zara had not even had time to have her nails done in preparation for the big announcement.
But while it seems a trip to the manicurist might be on the cards for the second royal bride to be – their engagement comes five weeks after that of Prince William and Kate Middleton – many were asking last night whether the couple would sell the rights to the ceremony in a deal that could be worth up to £1million.
Juniper Sport, the company which rather than Buckingham Palace handles Zara’s PR and her sports sponsorship deals, refused to rule out the possibility.
Loving support: Zara and boyfriend Tindall sharing a kiss at the Badminton Horse Trials in 2007
The spokesman said: ‘With regards to the selling of the rights to the wedding – it hasn’t even been discussed. They’ve only just got engaged and we’re not even at the when and where stage yet.’
Zara’s brother Peter Phillips and his Canadian-born wife Autumn Kelly were paid £500,000 by Hello! magazine for the exclusive rights to their ceremony at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in 2008.
The intimate pictures were taken without the Queen’s full knowledge and Buckingham Palace later made clear it regarded the sale as a serious error of judgment.
If Zara, who is 12th in line to the throne, copied their decision it would not be the first time she has taken advantage of the fees offered by celebrity magazines.
In 2002, the international event rider and her then live-in boyfriend, the jockey Richard Johnson, invited the Hello! cameras into their Cotswolds home for a £125,000 fee.
And in August, Tindall – who is 16st and 6ft 1in – gave an interview to the same magazine.
Any money from a magazine might be welcomed by Zara. Her mother Princess Anne declined a royal title on her behalf, so she has never been entitled to any money from the Civil List.
Love of racing: Zara and Mike Tindell pictured together at the 41st British Grand Prix at Silverstone Motor Racing Circuit
Zara makes hundreds of thousands of pounds a year in lucrative commercial deals with firms such as Rolex, Land Rover and the sportswear label Musto.
But the cost of caring for her 12 horses is thought to be up to £500,000 a year, and she and Tindall have spent £250,000 doing up their Regency townhouse in Cheltenham.
The Queen is expected to chip in by offering a venue for their reception, such as Frogmore, near Windsor Castle. And Zara’s parents are likely to cover much of the costs.
Public appearances: Tindall was by Zara's side at the Cheltenham Festival in 2005
Magazine deal: Zara, pictured far left, front row, as bridesmaid at the 2008 wedding of her brother Peter Phillips to Autumn Kelly. The couple sold the picture rights to the event for £500,000
Red carpet moments: Zara with Tindall at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards in 2007 (left) and at a celebrity charity poker tournament in Monaco in 2009 (right)
THEY TWEETED WITH DELIGHT
It was a very modern way to announce an engagement.
Shortly after 11am, a ‘tweet’ on the British Monarchy’s Twitter page revealed: ‘The Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter Zara Phillips to Mr Mike Tindall.’
The news will have gone out to more than 89,000 people who follow the feed, which was also used to announce Prince William and Kate Middleton’s engagement five weeks ago.
The same message was posted on the Royal Family’s Facebook site, while the news was released to the media by an email from Buckingham Palace.
The Queen joined Facebook last month in what one aide called ‘the final frontier of the Royal Family’s foray into digital technology’.
Meeting the in-laws: Tindall with Zara and her mother Princess Anne and step-father Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence at Buckingham Palace in 2007 
Lovenest: In 2009 the couple bought an £800,000 regency townhouse in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Zara Phillips to marry Mike Tindall
source: dailymail
