LOS ANGELES: International Hockey Federation (FIH) has deferred appointments in its various committees until the next Board meeting in February next year. The newly elected President of FIH Leandro Negre announced that the existing committees, therefore, continue to operate as usual until then. "During the FIH Executive Board meeting in Los Angeles, USA on Sunday, Executive Board announced venues and dates of various FIH world level scheduled events”, said a spokesman of Pakistan Hockey Federation. The Executive Board has awarded the following tournaments: The BDO Men's Champions Challenge I 2009 allocated to Quilmes, Argentina from 6-13 December 2009.The BDO Women's Champions Challenge I 2009 allocated to Cape Town, South Africa from 1-8 November 2009.The Men's Champions Challenge II 2009/2010 allocated to Dublin, Ireland from 5-11 July 2009.The Women's Champions Challenge II 2009/2010 is allocated to Kazan, Russia from 21-27 June 2009.The Men's World Cup Qualifier (3 tournaments) 2009/2010 areallocated to Auckland, New Zealand from 7-15 November 2009 andto Lille (France) from 24 October-1 November 2009. The allocation of the third one is subject to receiving bid details from Malaysia. The Women's World Cup Qualifier (3 tournaments) 2009/2010 allocated to Santiago, Chile from 20-28 February 2010 and toSeville, Spain from 06-14 February 2010. The third one will be announced at a later stage.The ABN AMRO Men's Champions Trophy 2010 is allocated to Mnchengladbach, Germany at dates to be confirmed subject to receiving a formal bid from Germany. The Indoor World Cup 2011 Men and Women are allocated to Poznan, Poland from 08-13 February 2011.
BAGHDAD: Nearly 500 U.S. Army combat engineers who specialize in clearing roads of explosives started shifting to southern Afghanistan."We are probably going to be the beginning of the influx you are going to see to Afghanistan," Lt. Col. Kevin Landers, commander of the Fort Carson, Colo.-based 4th Engineer Battalion, said as crews packed crates and cleaned vehicles for the flight to Kandahar.Obama has ordered 17,000 more U.S. soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan to bolster the 38,000 American troops already battling the resurgent Taliban."We are going to take this footprint out of Iraq," said Landers, whose battalion received word of its reassignment last month just after taking command of clearing roads in Baghdad of bombs and debris.
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