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Bundesliga minnows Augsburg have improbably secured their top flight survival, with a game to spare. Yet Dutch coach Jos Luhukay looks set to depart a year ahead of schedule - the club has promised news by Sunday.

Several German media outlets, perhaps most notably mass-circulation tabloid Bild, reported Friday not just that Augsburg coach Jos Luhukay was set to leave his post with a year remaining on his contract, but also that his replacement had already been lined up.

Current coach of third division side Jahn Regensburg, Markus Weinzierl, is reportedly poised to take over a post that has not yet officially been vacated.

Augsburg's management did not comment directly on the rumors at a Friday press conference ahead of their last Bundesliga game of the season, at home against Hamburg, on Saturday - but they also did little to dispel the talk.

"We won't send the players off on their holidays on Sunday with any uncertainties concerning their coach," club manager Andreas Rettig said.

Luhukay, who has improbably steered the Bundesliga's poorest club to safety in a season buoyed by solid home form, is reported to have an excellent working relationship with Rettig. He has apparently found it increasingly difficult to work with club chairman Walther Seinsch, however, who had pledged earlier in the season to stick with his current coach even if Augsburg faced relegation into the second division.

Luhukay, left, and Rettig were always said to get on very well

"We are still in negotiations. I hope that a decision will be reached in the very near future," Luhukay told reporters in Augsburg Friday. "I have had no contact at all with other clubs."

Stellar season, all things considered

Luhukay took the reins at Augsburg in April 2009, guiding the club into the top flight of German league football for the first time in its history and since securing that position for at least another 12 months.

Read more from the original source:
Augsburg pledge word on coach Luhukay's fate at weekend

Published Friday, 04 May 2012

The stopping of all bmibaby flights at the airport on 11 June is part of a move towards winding up the budget airline by September.

The announcement by International Airlines Group (IAG), BMI's new owners and a parent company of British Airways, comes just ahead of the main holiday season.

Passengers will hear next week if new airlines can be attracted to fill the domestic and international routes to Birmingham, East Midlands, London Stansted, Amsterdam, Geneva, Malaga, Alicante, Palma, Faro, Ibiza, and Menorca, which will be left vacant by the exit.

"While the London Heathrow route remains unaffected, the decision by International Airlines to withdraw bmibaby flights from George Best Belfast City Airport is disappointing news," Ms Foster said.

"Understandably, passengers already booked on a bmibaby flight will be very concerned and wondering what their rights are. I would like to reassure that if they are unable to make suitable alternative arrangements with BMI Baby, they are entitled to a full refund."

It is a worrying time for thousands of customers. It is a worrying time for staff.

Brian Ambrose, Chief Executive of Belfast City Airport

Last year, a total of 420,000 passengers - 20% of the airport's business - flew with the airline.

Ms Foster said: "This decision by IAG is also deeply disappointing for the individual workers who may face redundancy."

Read more:
Shock and questions after bmibaby move - Video

Published Friday, 04 May 2012

The stopping of all bmibaby flights at the airport on 11 June is part of a move towards winding up the budget airline by September.

The announcement by International Airlines Group (IAG), BMI's new owners and a parent company of British Airways, comes just ahead of the main holiday season.

Passengers will hear next week if new airlines can be attracted to fill the domestic and international routes to Birmingham, East Midlands, London Stansted, Amsterdam, Geneva, Malaga, Alicante, Palma, Faro, Ibiza, and Menorca, which will be left vacant by the exit.

"While the London Heathrow route remains unaffected, the decision by International Airlines to withdraw bmibaby flights from George Best Belfast City Airport is disappointing news," Ms Foster said.

"Understandably, passengers already booked on a bmibaby flight will be very concerned and wondering what their rights are. I would like to reassure that if they are unable to make suitable alternative arrangements with BMI Baby, they are entitled to a full refund."

It is a worrying time for thousands of customers. It is a worrying time for staff.

Brian Ambrose, Chief Executive of Belfast City Airport

Last year, a total of 420,000 passengers - 20% of the airport's business - flew with the airline.

Ms Foster said: "This decision by IAG is also deeply disappointing for the individual workers who may face redundancy."

Read the original:
Shock and questions over bmibaby exit - Video

3 May 2012 Last updated at 19:51 ET By Ian Youngs Entertainment reporter, BBC News

Manchester has produced some of Britain's best and most influential bands, and most of them are back this summer. As the oldies lumber back into action, are they threatening to cast a shadow over the next generation of rock 'n' roll stars?

On Saturday night, music fans in Manchester will party like it's 1989, when two of the biggest bands from the "Madchester" music scene, the Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets, play a comeback concert at the city's arena.

Next month, 225,000 people will watch the hotly anticipated return of The Stone Roses at three gigs in the city.

New Order are currently on the road, while their estranged bassist Peter Hook is playing Joy Division albums live, and planning a rave in the car park of the legendary Hacienda nightclub to mark its 30th anniversary.

Meanwhile, The Buzzcocks co-founder Howard Devoto is rejoining his bandmates for the first time in more than 30 years, and 1990s The Charlatans are playing their 1997 album Tellin' Stories in full on tour.

That is not to mention Take That's record-breaking stadium reunion tours.

Of the legendary Manchester bands of the 1970s, '80s and '90s, only The Smiths and Oasis still have hatchets to bury.

"We're proud of what we've achieved over the years and just at a time where we think we should celebrate it," says Inspiral Carpets drummer Craig Gill.

As well as playing with his band, Gill is a tour guide who takes fans to see the city's musical landmarks. Artists like New Order made history, he says.

Read more from the original source:
Can Manchester music escape past?

CLEVELAND - "The Avengers" opened to audiences around the country at midnight and Clevelanders NewsChannel5 spoke with love the film.

"It was epic," said one moviegoer.

"That was the best film I have ever seen," another fan said.

Our crews met up with about 10 to 15 people at Crocker Park as they were leaving the midnight showing and every one of them lauded the film.

Employees at Medical Mutual in downtown Cleveland got the red carpet treatment Friday morning. The building was part of the backdrop when "The Avengers" came to Cleveland last summer to film parts of the movie. On Friday, employees were greeted by Captain America and Black Widow as they showed up to work, to help celebrate the movie opening. The front lobby of Medical Mutual was decorated with balloons and pictures of the film.

Michael King,a security guard at Medical Mutual, got into the superhero spirit. He dressed up as Captain America.

"They greeted me with hugs and I mean the employee from the bagel company asked to take a picture with me," King said.

Bay Village resident David Goebel, 50, played an extra in the movie. He's an internet marketer by day and had never been in a film before. Goebel had a chance to see the film when it premiered in Los Angeles in April. He said he caught a glimpse of himself several times in the movie where he portrayed a distressed businessman and an EMT.

"We helped people that were injured in a couple of scenes on Walnut Avenue and that was fun and actually the last day of shooting in Cleveland and I actually got to drive a car in the scene," said Goebel.

Goebel gave the movie an A+.

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The Avengers opens to rave reviews