The Dakar Rally was hit by another death "as a French motorbike rider was killed following a collision with a Chilean police car." Thomas Bourgin, 25, "was on his way to start the seventh stage of the race when he was hit by the vehicle, which was traveling in the opposite direction." An inquiry "has been launched into the incident, which comes after the deaths of two people following a crash between a taxi and a team support vehicle in the town of Tacna, close to the Chilean border" (CNN, 1/11). ... With four days to go until the second one-day int'l between India and England, the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Kochi "is buzzing with activity." Kerala Cricket Association officials said that tickets worth Rs 78 lakh ($142,300) "have been sold for the match." KCA expects to sell tickets worth Rs 1.50 crores ($274,000) by match day. More than 250 cricket enthusiasts from England "have already booked tickets online" (TNN, 1/12). ... The head of the Russian Curling Federation said that "workers are putting the finishing touches to the Sochi 2014 Olympic curling arena just four days before it hosts its first int'l test event." The Ice Cube Curling Center "was supposed to be finished last month, but delays have left little room for error" ahead of the start of the world wheelchair curling championships on Wednesday (R-SPORT, 1/12).
