Ice dancers overcome horrifying wardrobe malfunction during performance

By quarrell | The Sochi Network – 3 hours ago

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American ice dancers Maia and Alex Shibutani explained what happened with the embarrassing wardrobe malfunction that disrupted their long program at the Winter Olympics on Monday night.

Maia's dress somehow became attached to her brother's costume during a lift midway through their free dance, causing her tights to snag and rip apart.

She showed reporters in the interview zone afterward the extent of the damage – the tights were torn virtually the entire way around her right leg.

The Shibutanis had to improvise in order for her to come free without needing to be set down on the ice, which would have incurred another deduction.

"When I tried to come down again, it got stuck," Maia said. "We had two options: put the lift down and wait four seconds or do what we did and get through it."

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Alex had to quickly come up with a way to get his sister loose without interfering with the performance.

He managed to do so to earn them a score of 90.70 for a total of 155.17, good for ninth place.

Fellow Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White won gold, with Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir claiming silver and Russia's Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov capturing bronze.

With the amount of training and preparation that goes into making it to the Games, the unexpected mishap was heartbreaking for the siblings, who live and train in Ann Arbor, Mich.

"Up until that point everything was good," Alex said. "We just had to get through it rather than just stopping and putting our hands up and starting over, which wasn't an option.

"We wish we could have performed better, but nothing about this performance changes our impression of ourselves.

"That's life and that's sport. That's what makes us sports fans. You have to go out there and compete and perform.

"We are fierce in that regard. Today, unfortunately, things didn't shuffle up the way we wanted to."

GO TO:http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/thesochinetwork/ice-dancers-overcome-horrifying-wardrobe-malfunction-during-performance-074459828.html FOR MORE INFORMATION

Nick Clegg: Britain must join debate on new approach to war on drugs

Nick Clegg has dragged the case for reforming the drugs laws to the centre ground of British politics, saying that blanket prohibition has seen cocaine use triple in less than 20 years, a trend that has helped perpetuate conflict and violence in South America.
Writing in today's Observer, after a week in which he visited Colombia to learn first-hand the devastating effects that Europe's enthusiasm for cocaine has had on the country, Clegg said the UK needed to be at the heart of the debate about potential alternatives to blanket prohibition and that he wanted to see an end to "the tradition where politicians only talk about drugs reform when they have left office because they fear the political consequences".
The deputy prime minister said such an approach "has stifled debate and inhibited a proper examination of our approach. Put simply, if you are anti-drugs, you should be pro-reform".
His comments will be seen by some observers as politically expedient, designed to distance the Lib Dems from the Tories in the runup to the next election. In his article, Clegg expresses his frustration "at my coalition partner's refusal to engage in a proper discussion about the drugs problem".
In some of the most outspoken comments on the issue by a serving British politician, Clegg laments the current situation in which "one in five young people have admitted taking drugs in the last year", and "cocaine use has more than trebled since 1996" and claims that "every time someone dies of an overdose it should shame our political class".
Looking to 2016, when the UN is due to hold a meeting to discuss potential reform of its prohibitionist drug conventions, Clegg states: "The UN drug conventions badly need revising. I want European countries to work together to agree a common position in favour of reform to take to that discussion in 2016. The UK can lead the debate in Europe and Europe can lead the debate in the world. But we must be prepared to start afresh with a new mindset and be prepared to do things differently."
His intervention comes as a growing number of US states move towards a regulated trade in marijuana, and at a time when increasing numbers of Latin American countries have stated that the war on drugs doesn't work and are demanding that the world consider alternative approaches.
During his visit, Clegg met the country's president, Juan Manuel Santos, as well as former paramilitaries, guerrillas and human rights representatives. "All were clear about the central role of the drugs trade in perpetuating conflict and violence and the need to build a better future," Clegg says. "Many people in Britain and the rest of Europe will be unaware of the impact drug use in western nations has on countries on the frontline of the drugs trade." Reiterating his call for a royal commission on Britain's drugs laws, Clegg says future legislation should be based on "what works, not guesswork". The Lib Dems are conducting a review of international alternatives which will produce what Clegg claims is "the first proper UK government report examining different approaches in other countries".
It is clear the deputy prime minister believes there is a need for politicians of all parties to confront an issue in a non-partisan way if the harm caused by drugs is ever to be tackled successfully.
"If Britain were fighting a war where 2,000 people died every year, where increasing numbers of our young people were recruited by the enemy and our opponents were always a step ahead, there would be outcry and loud calls for change," Clegg says. "Yet this is exactly the situation with the so-called "war on drugs" and for far too long we have resisted a proper debate about the need for a different strategy."
His comments, which will dismay those who believe change will encourage drug taking, were warmly received by pro-reform campaigners."Bad drug policies have an international impact, whether it's black market related violence or borderless health crises," said Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch, director of the Open Society Global Drug Policy Foundation. "So charting a new course is the job of every country. A number of European countries developed great health services for people who use drugs but far less attention has been paid to the issues faced by producer and transit countries."

*THIS CAME FROM THE GUARDIAN

Tributes To Child Who Died In Flood-Hit Town

The boy, named locally as Zane Gbangbola, was declared dead at nearby St Peter's Hospital.
Police were called to the property at around 3.30am on Saturday following a request for assistance by the ambulance service.

His father, named locally as Kye Gbangbola and aged in his 40s, and his mother, in her 30s, remain in hospital in serious conditions. They are not thought to be life threatening.
Fifteen people, including two Surrey Police officers, were also taken to hospital as a precaution.
The boy's taekwondo instructor, Anoop Hothi, posted a message on Facebook: "My neighbours' little boy passed away ... He was such a lovely little boy, lovely parents. It was a joy to teach you martial arts little man."Police refused to comment on speculation the death was related to carbon monoxide poisoning, but advised anyone in the Thameside area in Chertsey who showed signs of vomiting, diarrhoea and fever to seek medical assistance.
Access to the family's home was hindered by floodwaters covering nearby roads. Friends have described the seven-year-old as a "lovely little boy" who was looking forward to getting a new puppy.
A specialist team from the fire service was deployed to the scene to investigate the circumstances.
Nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution and people were advised to go to hospital to be checked.
Chief Superintendent Dave Miller told a news conference: "It is very sad that a young child has died earlier today - our thoughts are with his parents who are currently ill in hospital.
"Police officers are currently with them and we will continue to offer our support during this difficult time.
"The cause of the illness is currently unknown but what I can confirm is that the people who were taken ill are from a very localised area.
"We cannot rule out that there may be a link to flooding in the local area and whilst the investigation is ongoing local residents should follow sensible precautions."
Sky's Siobhan Robbins said: "Many of those properties have been flooded over the last few weeks, they have been pumping out and because of that the local community have been gathering at the Kingfisher pub just across the bridge.
"They saw the family last night, they were chatting and they were in good spirits.
"Many local people are extremely shocked and saddened to hear of the death of a seven-year-old boy."
IT worker David North, who works in Chertsey, said he saw a yellow hose hanging from a ground floor window of the property at the centre of the alert.
He said: "I saw a yellow hose coming from the front window on the ground floor. Whether it was pumping out water or something else, I don't know.
"My understanding is that this incident was found out while evacuations were being carried out due to the flooding."

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