Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Sexist Olympics boss should face the high jump...
Celebs who want the world to clock just how rich they are...
LOG on to their website and it will hit you slap bang in the face.
The mission statement of the International Olympic Committee – not only are they determined to ensure a successful Games this summer but also to promote “the regular practice of sport by all people in society, regardless of sex, age, social background or economic status”.
Except if any of those people happen to be a woman with an opinion. In which case the head of the Tokyo Olympics, Yoshiro Mori, has a bit of an issue with you.
Mori, 83, is quoted as moaning at a meeting of the Japanese Olympic Committee last week that women talk too much.
And that meetings with an increased number of female board directors would “take a lot of time”.
Unsurprisingly, more than 130,000 people at the time of writing have signed a petition calling for him to stand down. Predictably, he has so far refused. Men like Mori tend to say and do pretty much what they like.
Here’s what he said in that meeting: “If we increase the number of female board members, we have to make sure their speaking time is restricted somewhat. They have difficulty finishing, which is annoying.
“We have about seven women at the organising committee but everyone understands their place.”
The female members of the IOC certainly know where they stand with Mr Mori, a man with an air of one who doesn’t iron too many of his own shirts or cook his own dinner that often.
He is also the latest in a long line of high-profile figures telling us to think one way but conducting themselves in another.
Last November Greg Clarke - then chairman of England’s Football Association - stepped down after somewhat undermining the push to grow the women’s game by claiming the lack of female goalkeepers was down to “girls” not “liking the ball kicked at them hard”.
Meanwhile, Mori even felt empowered enough to argue at the weekend that his comments weren’t completely baseless. So much for his initial apology.
If the Japanese Olympic Committee actually does intend to limit anyone’s speaking time, then perhaps it could start with him.
He has the air of a man who doesn’t iron too many of his own shirts
BEING famous means it’s time to splash out... like Amir Khan buying son Muhammad a £30,000 Rolex for his first birthday.
It might be a while before the youngster can wear it, but his proud dad will be on hand to help teach him how to tell the time.
The boxer, 33, is a big fan of bling, buying a £100,000
Richard Mille
RM 032 dive
TRUE GLOVE
Amir, son and watch gift watch last year. And he is not the only celeb to have invested in a walletbusting chrono collection...
HOLIDAYS in the UK have never been so popular – just imagine owning a luxury Haven holiday home to visit whenever you needed a break.
We’re continuing with Day 9 of this fantastic competition and, thanks to Haven, one lucky reader will win an Atlas Mirage holiday home worth more than £44,000 in one of their 38 fabulously located British holiday parks.
And if that wasn’t enough, we will also cover the winner’s site fees until the end of 2022!
Light, airy and spacious with the choice of two or three bedrooms and a living and dining area, it’s ideal for the whole family. Haven holiday home ownership opens up all kinds of possibilities, because it’s more than just a caravan, it’s a whole way of life, with the freedom to choose your holiday time. Plus, we have two fabulous runner-up prizes of £500 vouchers to use on your next Haven holiday. Don’t miss out – it’s so easy to enter.
Two ways to enter…
Online: Each day until tomorrow (Wednesday February 10, 2021), we will print a codeword in your Daily Mirror. Today’s word is RELAXATION. You will need three different codewords to enter the prize draw. Once you have three, visit
holidayhomecomp to submit them with your name and email.
By post: Collect your three different codewords – final one printed tomorrow, Wednesday, February 10, 2021. Today’s is
RELAXATION. Once collected, write them on the entry form, left, and send it to Mirror Competition, c/o SKU Logistics, Blacknest Road, Blacknest, Hants, GU34 4PX. The closing date for all entries is 4pm, Friday February 19, 2021.
Terms and conditions: Please see terms and conditions on page 38. Full terms and conditions can also be found at mirror.co.uk/holidayhomecomp
DITCHED A car left the road in Suffolk
TEESSIDE
MOTORISTS were trapped by huge snowdrifts yesterday as Storm Darcy continued to batter the UK.
Hundreds of schools closed after roads along the east coast were left impassable due to windblown snow.
The treacherous conditions caused by the “Beast from the East II” also forced 10 vaccination centres to shut.
Weather warnings remain in place until midnight tomorrow meaning the vaccine drive could be further affected.
Steve Lawrence was freed by a tractor after snow piled up around his car in Southrepps, Norfolk. Wife Victoria said: “Thankfully a friend dug him out and he had a much-needed cup of tea.”
The county is among the UK’S worst hit areas as 350 schools shut yesterday. Cars were also covered by drifting snow in Harwood, Co Durham. Up to 30cm fell along the east coast, from Yorkshire to Kent.
Snow showers moved west leaving swathes of the country covered.
London saw a good dusting and Trafalgar Square’s fountains were covered in ice.
Police in Suffolk, Essex and Norfolk warned drivers in some areas not to travel due to “impassable” roads.
A man in his 50s was found dead in Suffolk on Sunday after he went kite surfing off a beach. Highways officers in the county compared conditions to
the 2018 “Beast from the East”. The AA warned of “lethal” road conditions. Bedfordshire council renamed its gritting lorries after pop stars such as Snowtis Spreadin and Sleetwood Mac. Trains were affected for a second day, with cancellations in South East London, Essex and Kent. Snow is expected until Thursday, with temperatures on the east coast to stay below 0C until then.
The Met Office said: “Strong easterly winds will make it feel bitterly cold across much of the UK.”
Police at scene
BORIS Johnson has said “absolutely everything” is being done to fight knife crime after a former Tory campaigner urged him to take action following the murder of her son.
Sven Badzak, 22, and a friend were chased and stabbed by a gang of thugs after he went out to buy orange juice for his mother.
His mum, Jasna, has told of her devastation at the loss of her only son.
She said: “I can’t believe it’s happening to me, that it happened to my child who was so far away from those kind of things [violence].”
Police called the attack “barbaric”. Sven was photographed with Mr Johnson during his London mayoral campaign in 2008.
Asked what she would say to Mr Johnson, Jasna said: “This is a child and his mother who helped you get elected. You knew Sven. You were high-fiving him as your mate. I want to hear from him [Boris Johnson].”
The PM said there has been “some success” tackling violent crime, adding: “That’s no consolation to a grieving mother, but we are doing absolutely everything we can to fight those gangs.” Sven was stabbed in Kilburn, North West London, on Saturday afternoon.
Police said they think the aspiring lawyer, who lived nearby, and his 16-yearold friend became involved in an “altercation with a group of males”. Sven, who was privately educated before attending Roehampton University, in South West London, would not have been involved in an altercation, his mother said.
His friend was last night in a serious but stable condition in hospital.
A MEETING between Sinn Fein and the chief constable following a controversial operation at a commemoration of a loyalist atrocity was “forthright” and “frank”.
The party’s vice president Michelle O’neill said she told Simon Byrne of “unprecedented anger” over the arrest of Mark Sykes, a victim of the Sean Graham bookmakers shootings.
It came days after police officers were seen standing by as dozens of masked loyalists walked around in East Belfast.
Ms O’neill said the series of events has created a “crisis in public confidence in policing”.
She added: “I left the chief constable in no doubt that the events of recent days are a watershed moment for policing and public confidence in policing.”
DUP leader Arlene Foster has blasted the republican party’s
criticism of the force as “ringing utterly hollow”. She criticised a “trial by social media” of officers over their response to a gathering to mark the anniversary of the 1992 attack.
Mrs Foster added: “We have met the chief constable and articulated our serious concerns as to the damage of these decisions and told him we want to be furnished with the facts.
“The matter has been referred to the Police Ombudsman.
“Decisions about the matter should have been made at the completion of that investigation.
“Given the antics of Sinn Fein at the Storey funeral and their disregard for Covid-19 rules, their criticism of the police rings utterly hollow.”
The First Minister said there is a duty on the organisers of commemorations to act in compliance with the law.
She added: “While we understand the need for a proportionate and sensitive policing response, operational decisions must be fair and balanced. “There should be no apology for enforcing the rule of law.” The chief constable is meeting with representatives of all the main parties.
Speaking ahead of his party’s meeting with Mr Byrne, UUP MLA Mike Nesbitt said the incident on the lower Ormeau Road on Friday was “very unfortunate” but “no excuse for any politician to use it to question or undermine confidence in the police service”. Earlier, the DUP
said the officers sanctioned over the incident were being scapegoated. Policing Board member Thomas Buchanan claimed the force may have been pressurised by Sinn Fein into taking disciplinary action.
He said: “Two young officers are being made scapegoats by the chief constable.
“That is not acceptable and questions have to be answered.
“Where is the protection for police officers going out to do a job that they have been trained to do and then subjected to trial by social media?”
Sinn Fein Policing Board member Gerry Kelly told the Assembly: “People demand that the police be impartial.”
Mr Byrne responded to the criticism by saying: “We have been bashed, frankly, by recent events and it just seems sometimes we can’t seem to win.”