Russia and Georgia to reopen border crossing

Russia and Georgia have agreed to reopen a border crossing that has been closed since July 2006, Georgia's foreign ministry says.

The Kazbegi-Upper Lars crossing is likely to reopen next March, deputy foreign minister Nino Kalandadze said.

It is the only crossing that does not go through the Russian-backed breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Georgian forces were driven out of the two regions in a bitter war with Russia in August 2008.

The Russian government has confirmed the border agreement, saying that the checkpoint could "in theory" reopen from 1 March 2010.

But air links could only be re-established if the safety of Russian air crews could be guaranteed, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said.

Diplomatic relations had not been restored since the war, and that was the problem, he added.

The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Moscow says there has been virtually no contact between Moscow and Tbilisi since the war, so the news that they are to reopen their border is a significant move, especially for the many Georgian and Russian families separated by the conflict.

But the hostility between the Russian and Georgian governments is unabated, our correspondent says.

Russia's Sergei Ivanov on Thursday accused Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili of behaving like the Afghan Taliban, after he ordered the demolition of a Soviet-era war memorial.

Pakistani eunuchs to have distinct gender

Pakistan's Supreme Court says eunuchs must be allowed to identify themselves as a distinct gender in order to ensure their rights.

The eunuchs, known as "hijras" in Pakistan, are men castrated at an early age for medical or social reasons.
The court said they should be issued with national identity cards showing their distinct gender.
The government has also been ordered to take steps to ensure they are entitled to inherit property.
'Respect and identity'
There are estimated to be about 300,000 hijras in Pakistan and they are generally shunned by the largely Muslim conservative society.
They tend to live together in slum communities, surviving through begging and by dancing at weddings and carnivals.
A hijra association has welcomed the order, saying it is "a major step giving respect and identity in society".
Indian authorities last month agreed to list eunuchs and transgender people by using the term "others", distinct from males and females, on electoral rolls and voter identity cards, after a long-running campaign by the members of the community.

Ford agrees Volvo sale to Geely

Ford has agreed the terms of the sale of its Swedish business, Volvo Cars, to China's Geely.

Ford said "some work still remains to be completed" but the deal will be finalised early next year ahead of completion soon after Easter.
Ford put Volvo up for sale a year ago to help pay off its debt and make its business more focused.
Geely was named preferred bidder in November. If completed, it will be the largest purchase by a Chinese car firm.
Ford said that while the "substantive commercial terms" had been settled, financing still needed to be completed and government approval was also necessary.
The update on the sale is necessary for Geely to apply for government approval of the deal and with it, it is thought, the firm's financial backing.
No details were given of how much the deal is worth, but it is widely rumoured that Geely will pay Ford $2bn (£1.2bn; 1.4bn euros), less than a third of the $6.45bn Ford paid for Volvo in 1999.
Ford said it expects to continue co-operating with Volvo Cars, but did not intend to retain a shareholding in the business after the sale.
Benefits for all
Industry observers say the sale is good news for Volvo.
"In theory, the Chinese market could be an opportunity for Volvo," Nomura's auto specialist Michael Tyndall said.
"It's a well-known brand, has a good heritage and a range of products that should appeal to the Chinese consumer."
Equally, the deal should help Geely get into the Western market.
It is thought that the main sticking point in the talks between Ford and Geely had been disagreement about how to deal with intellectual property rights - setting the parameters of Geely's use of Volvo's technology, such as its famous safety equipment, and the extent and cost of using any technology needed from Ford's research.
Moving to China
Professor David Bailey from the Coventry Business School said that he expects much of the Volvo production to be moved to China, which recently overtook the US to become the world's largest market for cars.
"I would expect development and research to remain in Sweden, and maybe some production, but the big scale production will probably come from China," he said.
"In the long run the question is whether they can continue to develop Volvo's safety profile and advanced engineering technology" he added.
Geely said that Volvo would continue to lead the trend of world auto technology in safety and environmental protection.
"It will quickly increase its unique competitive status in the Chinese market," the firm added.

Dutch sailor girl Laura Dekker to stay with father

A Dutch court has ruled that 14-year-old Laura Dekker can remain with her father, despite his support for her plan to sail solo round the world.

The court in Utrecht met on Wednesday to consider whether the girl should go into foster care.
Miss Dekker returned from the Dutch Caribbean island of St Maarten on Tuesday. By going there she violated a court order blocking her sailing trip.
Her lawyer has now said that she went there to buy a boat to start her trip.
She appeared in court with her parents, who separated when she was six.
The Dutch child welfare agency had asked for Miss Dekker to be taken into care.
Secret flight
She was discovered on St Maarten after disappearing last week. It is still unclear how she managed to make the journey unaccompanied.
Miss Dekker has been under state supervision since October, when the Utrecht court blocked her bid to become the youngest person to sail the globe solo.
The order remains valid until the end of her school year in July 2010.
A seasoned sailor, Miss Dekker was born on a yacht off the coast of New Zealand during a seven-year world trip. She had her own yacht by the age of six and began sailing solo when she was 10.
While her father, Dick Dekker, supports her attempt at the record, her mother has expressed some concerns.
Miss Dekker had planned to spend about two years aboard her 8m (26ft) boat, Guppy, to break the record set in August by a 17-year-old British boy.

Eurostar travel chaos leads to marathon Brussels trip

At St Pancras International station weary strings of travellers stood and sat forlornly at lunchtime on Saturday.

Eurostar workers stood in little knots, or clustered around police officers, looking for safety either in numbers or in a firm truncheon and a pair of handcuffs.

The normally slick and cheery Eurostar PR machine had collapsed into near silence. But one thing was clear: High Speed 1, as the British end of the network calls itself, was going nowhere.

With two children in the care of a friend who thought he was looking after them for just a few hours, getting back to Brussels was an imperative.

So I abandoned the worthy carbon-neutrality of Eurostar and booked myself onto an American Airways flight to Brussels the next morning.

At 0700 on Sunday Heathrow was bustling, the skies blue, aeroplanes already lifting off into the sunshine. What could go wrong?

"I'll not pick you up from the airport," texted my friend. "The streets are blocked with snow."

An alarm bell started ringing faintly as I trudged towards the departure gate.

The flight was delayed. Plucky Brussels airport had been buried in snow; de-icers were working on the runway.

Beginning to panic

"Brussels should be open by 1100," came the announcement. But it wasn't.

"It is bucketing snow here," came another text. And so came another announcement: "We have a takeoff slot for 1500." I wandered off. By the time I returned to the gate, it was empty, my bag the object of suspicion.

The flight had been cancelled, and instructions were given to retrieve checked baggage and go to the sales desk.

Heathrow must be a strong contender in the "Worst Sign-Posted Airport in The World" competition. I pelted round seemingly identical corridors searching for the luggage carousel. I was beginning to panic.

My friend hadn't signed up for this. My children might forget me. And they would very soon run out of underwear.

I rocked up to the airline's sales desk; what they made of the sweating, wild-eyed man, muttering crazily about children's underwear I do not know. But they secured me a flight to Paris, which looks on the map pretty close to Brussels. Via Dublin.

By 1900 I was in Dublin airport, which is a truly charming place to be on a Sunday night. As I dashed across the entire length of the terminal in search of someone who might give me a boarding pass for Paris, I realised that the sign-makers of Dublin airport had been carefully tutored by their colleagues at Heathrow.

"The plane is delayed," said the lovely woman who re-opened check-in for me and my new best friends, the two businessmen and the two ladies-with-the-baby who were caught up in the fever of trying to get to Paris.

"But that means that your luggage will have time to be transferred."

Disappointed customers

How wrong she was.

By 2340 I was marvelling at the bulk of a 747, shrouded with fog and snow, as the airport bus drove us round the strange jumble of buildings that makes up Charles de Gaulle airport. By 0130 I was filling out missing luggage forms with the two ladies-with-the-baby.

The regional railway to Paris was closed. I took a taxi, pondering on how very expensive being stranded could be.

At 0230, in the seedy neighbourhood around Paris' Gare du Nord, a prostitute propositioned me as I sucked on a cigarette in the freezing night air.

"Ca va monsieur?" she twinkled.

"Ca va, merci," I laughed, amused at the prospect of anything other than travel, before stumbling to bed for a magnificent three hours sleep.

At 0625 I was in Gare du Nord. A long queue of very disappointed Eurostar customers slunk around the station.

The first high-speed train to Brussels sat in the station for 40 minutes, nudged forward about five metres and then gave up.

I changed to another train. It slid through the snowy landscape of northern France and Belgian at around half of its normal super-speed.

As a long-time devotee of the flawed glory of British Rail, it was good to see the French succumbing to the 'malaise Anglaise'.

At 0930 the train glided into the fantastically ugly Gare du Midi in Brussels.

My luggage was in Dublin, my wallet was lighter by several hundred pounds and I didn't smell too good.

But I was home.