Britain | SilverScorpio.Com

Stop blaming Pakistan for ‘home grown’ terror plots, Qureshi tells UK

September 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep.19 (ANI): Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has asked Britain to stop blaming Islamabad for the ‘home grown’ terror plots against the UK.

Referring to Britain’s lashing out at Pakistan on the liquid bomb plot issue, Qureshi said it was unfair to criticize Pakistan for every terror plot hatched in Britain.

“It is easy to pass the buck, but they (liquid bomb plotters) were British citizens. They went to school here, they are part of the British system, and they live here. If they do something extraordinary is it fair that Pakistan should be blamed?” The Independent quoted Qureshi, as saying.

Pakistan has been critical of Britain’s accusations and has objected to allegations regarding it not doing enough to counter the expanding reach of the extremists based in the country’s tribal region.

A top Pakistani diplomat recently reacted strongly to Britain’s accusations regarding Pakistan harbouring extremists plotting to attack the UK.

The diplomat charged Britain of not doing enough to tackle home grown terrorists and treating Pakistan as a “whipping boy”.

“Sometimes for our British friends the truth is bitter. We have somehow turned out to be a ‘whipping boy’, there is a long history to that. The British need to search their own house,” the diplomat had said.

It may be recalled that Prime Minister Gordon Brown, during his Islamabad visit earlier this year, had said: “Three-quarters of the most serious plots investigated by the British authorities have links to Al-Qaida in Pakistan.”

Brown’s statement had angered Pakistani leadership and strained relationship between two countries, but things normalized later with President Asif Ali Zardari visit to the UK. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: accusations, al, al-qaida, ali, ANI, asif, asif ali, bomb, bomb plot, boy, Britain, British authorities, british citizens, British Friends, brown, buck, country, diplomat, extremists, foreign, Gordon Brown, harbouring, history, home, house, independent, Islamabad, issue, leadership, London, mehmood, Pakistan, pakistani diplomat, part, plot, plotters, president, prime minister gordon brown, qureshi, reach, region, relationship, Sep, shah, something, statement, stop, Strained Relationship, system, terror, terror plot, the, three quarters, Tribal, truth, U.K, uk london, visit, Whipping Boy, year, zardari

Extremely tough to win a Grand Slams now, says Murray

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep.17 (ANI): World Number three Andy Murray is of the view that winning a Grand Slam title in the present day and age is far more tougher than it was before, given the kind of talent on show in the tennis circuit.

He said that when players are competing against the likes of Roger Federer, Raphael Nadal and now Juan Martin Del Potro, winning a title was not easy.

“It’s really, really tough to win the slams now so Del Potro’s effort was pretty good. There’s no question that Roger (Federer) and Rafa (Nadal) are two of the best ever. Roger’s people say he’s the best of all time; that’s not really up for debate. And Rafa, providing he stays healthy, I’d expect to get to double figures on slam wins,” The Telegraph quoted Murray, as saying.

“That’s better than any two rivals have managed together and then behind them the standard is very high. There are guys like (Andy) Roddick who’s only managed to win one slam right at the start of that career and he’s a great player,” he added.

Murray, who exited from the US Open in the fourth-round, also said that he wanted to take his mind off his disappointment and move on.

For the moment, he is only concerned about defeating a couple of Polish journeymen to provide Britain with the platform for a victory which would ensure they do not get demoted to the Davis Cup’s third tier for the first time in 13 years. (ANI)

Filed Under: Sports News Tagged With: 13 years, age, andy, andy murray, Andy Roddick, ANI, Britain, career, circuit, couple, Davis Cup, day, debate, Del Potro, disappointment, effort, extremely, grand, grand slam title, grand slams, journeymen, Juan, kind, London, Martin Del Potro, mind, moment, move, murray, number, open, platform, player, present day, question, rafa, rafa nadal, Raphael Nadal, right, rivals, roddick, roger, roger federer, Sep, show, slam, Slams, standard, start, talent, Telegraph, Tennis, Tennis Circuit, tier, time, title, US, victory, view, world

Worst Brit footie team ends 90-match losing streak with victory!

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sept 16 (ANI): Harraby Athletic, the worst football team in Britain, has finally tasted victory – after a losing streak of 90 matches.

The side has been on a losing spree since three years and was badly mauled in a 19-0 match in 2006.

The team concedes 10 goals a game on an average and their goalie has seen the ball netted over 400 times in less than three seasons.

The under-14 squad celebrated their first win after beating Edenvale Hawks 3-2 at their home ground, Hammond’s Park.

Sky News quoted coach Brett Preston as saying: “Pure determination has got us there and their faces after the game meant everything.

“All week I’ve had other managers phoning me up to congratulate us on our achievement.

“When we lost our first game 19-0, it could have even been a higher score as the opposing manager tried to help us by swapping players around and telling them to ease off.

“They just couldn’t help scoring against us. Gradually over time, the scores have come down, but we’re always bottom of the table and we’ve never even won a friendly match.”

Harraby has only one point in the Longhorn Youth Football League after the opponents did not play the game.

It consists of players who are either playing for the first time or have been rejected by other teams.he coach said: “They know that if they leave, they might not get the chance of a game as they might not get into another team.”

However, Preston also praised the determination of his boys.

He said: “The boys have been prepared to stick at it and been willing to learn. They turn up for training in all weathers and really deserve a win at last.” (ANI)

Filed Under: Sports News Tagged With: achievement, ANI, Athletic, ball, bottom, brett, brit, Britain, chance, coach, determination, Edenvale, everything, faces, first game, football, Football team, footie, Friendly Match, game, goalie, goals, ground, Hammond, Harraby, hawks, home, last, league, London, Longhorn, Losing Streak, manager, match, NEWS, opponents, park, point, preston, pure, s park, score, Sept, side, sky, sky news, spree, squad, streak, table, team, three seasons, time, training, Under, victory, Weathers, week, win, youth, Youth Football League

Early man used crude version of ‘sat nav’ system to navigate across England

September 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 15 (ANI): In a new research, a scientist has found that prehistoric man navigated his way across England using a crude version of a satellite navigation system, which was based on stone circle markers.

According to a report in the Telegraph, the research, by historian and writer Tom Brooks, shows that Britain’s Stone Age ancestors were “‘sophisticated engineers” and far from a barbaric race.

Brooks studied all known prehistoric sites as part of his research.

He found that the prehistoric man was able to travel between settlements in England with pinpoint accuracy, thanks to a complex network of hilltop monuments.

These covered much of southern England and Wales and included now famous landmarks such as Stonehenge and The Mount.

New research suggests that they were built on a connecting grid of isosceles triangles that ‘point’ to the next site.

Many are 100 miles or more away, but GPS co-ordinates show all are accurate to within 100 metres.

This provided a simple way for ancient Britons to navigate successfully from point A to B without the need for maps.

“To create these triangles with such accuracy would have required a complex understanding of geometry,” said Brooks.

“The sides of some of the triangles are over 100 miles across on each side and yet the distances are accurate to within 100 metres. You cannot do that by chance,” he added.

“So advanced, sophisticated and accurate is the geometrical surveying now discovered, that we must review fundamentally the perception of our Stone Age forebears as primitive, or conclude that they received some form of external guidance,” he further added.

Brooks analyzed 1,500 sites stretching from Norfolk to north Wales. These included standing stones, hilltop forts, stone circles and hill camps.

Each was built within eyeshot of the next.

Using GPS co-ordinates, he plotted a course between the monuments and noted their positions to each other.

He found that they all lie on a vast geometric grid made up of isosceles ‘triangles’. Each triangle has two sides of the same length and ‘point’ to the next settlement.

Thus, anyone standing on the site of Stonehenge in Wiltshire could have navigated their way to Lanyon Quoit in Cornwall without a map.

According to Brooks, many of the Stone Age sites were created 5,000 years ago by an expanding population recovering from the trauma of the Ice Age.

“The triangle navigation system may have been used for trading routes among the expanding population and also been used by workers to create social paths back to their families while they were working on these new sites,” he said. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: accuracy, age, Ancient Britons, ANI, anyone, Britain, britons, cannot, chance, circle, complex network, cornwall, course, crude, Crude Version, Early Man, England, England London, External Guidance, eyeshot, Famous Landmarks, Forebears, form, geometry, gps, grid, guidance, hill, hilltop, historian, ice, Isosceles Triangles, Lanyon, length, London, man, map, mount, NAV, navigation, need, network, New, norfolk, North Wales, part, perception, point, population, Prehistoric Man, Quoit, Race, report, Research, satellite, satellite navigation system, scientist, September, settlement, show, side, site, southern england, standing, standing stones, stone, Stone Age Ancestors, Stone Circles, stonehenge, system, Telegraph, Tom Brooks, trading, trauma, triangle, understanding, using gps, version, wales, way, wiltshire, writer, Writer Tom

London’s bridges clash over updates, tolls on Twitter

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep 12 (ANI): Britain’s most famous bridges are at loggerheads on Twitter, by teasing each other not only for their updates, but also over toll prices.

The famous London Bridge is relentlessly teasing its neighbour Tower Bridge for the tedium and pomposity of its updates.

On the other hand, the Severn Bridge and Bristol’s Clifton Suspension Bridge have fallen out over tolls.

And it all started when the managers of Tower Bridge set up an official Twitter account to alert Londoners every time it was raised to let ships pass.

It repeatedly posted updates like: “I am opening for the SB Lady Daphne, which is passing upstream. I am closing after the SB Lady Daphne has passed upstream.”

But, soon someone set up a rival account under the name “I’m London Bridge”, and it’s first words on the site made it clear that it was at a war of words with Tower Bridge.

“Certain other bridges in London think they’re so cool getting a Twitter account. Well they’re not. I’m the coolest bridge in London. Official,” the Telegraph quoted it as saying on Twitter.

While London Bridge’s attempts to get a reaction from its more admired rival have so far proved unsuccessful, but it is still continuing the taunting.

In fact, its witty posts have attracted a decent audience – it has 1,400 followers, compared to Tower Bridge’s 1,900 – and spawned a host of imitators.

Last month, two of the bridges in West Country- the Severn Bridge and the Clifton Suspension Bridge- crossed swords over toll charges.

The Severn mocked the Clifton Suspension for its inability to accept 5p coins, provoking responses like-”You aren’t in Bristol so don’t get all uppity with me young pup” and “FIVE PENCE PIECES ARE EVIL AND NOT WORTH MY TIME.” (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: account, ANI, audience, bridge, bristol, Britain, certain, clash, Clifton, Clifton Suspension, Clifton Suspension Bridge, closing, coolest, country, Daphne, evil, fact, Famous Bridges, hand, host, imitators, inability, lady, Lady Daphne, like, Loggerheads, London, london bridge, London Bridges, London Telegraph, londoners, month, MY TIME, name, neighbour, NOT, official, opening, pence, pieces, pomposity, Pup, reaction, Sep, Severn, Severn Bridge, site, someone, taunting, tedium, Telegraph, time, toll, Toll Charges, Tolls, tower, Tower Bridge, twitter, uppity, war, war of words, West Country, Witty Posts, worth

Guy Ritchie often forgets the movies he has made

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 12 (ANI): Brit filmmaker Guy Ritchie has revealed that he often forgets the movies he has made.

Ritchie, 41, has directed a number of pictures, including gangster movies ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ and ‘Snatch’.

He says that he often has to reacquaint himself with his classics.

“I forget I’ve done them. So if ever they’re on, I’m unaware I had anything to do with them. If I were now to watch Snatch or Lock, Stock… I couldn’t tell you what scene was coming next,” Contactmusic quoted him as having told Britain’s GQ magazine.

“It’s embarrassing to say this but I’d probably really enjoy watching them. I’d be sitting there at the end, like a mug, clapping my own film,” he added. (ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: ANI, anything, brit, Britain, contactmusic, end, film, filmmaker, gangster, Gangster Movies, Guy Ritchie, lock, Lock Stock, magazine, Movies 12, mug, number, reacquaint, Ritchie, scene, Sep, smoking, Snatch, stock, Washington

US accepts Iranian offer to hold discussions

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep. 11 (ANI): The United States has accepted Iran’s proposal to hold talks, despite the Islamic republic announcing that it would not bring its future nuclear programs on the discussions table.

The decision to engage directly with Iran would put a senior representative of the Obama administration at the bargaining table, along with emissaries from five other nations, for the first time since Obama took office, the New York Times reports.

The decision is bound to raise protests from conservatives and human rights groups.

Earlier on Friday, senior administration officials said that their expectations from the talks were extremely low.

“We’ll be looking to see if they are willing to engage seriously on these issues. If we have talks, we will plan to bring up the nuclear issue,” paper quoted US State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley, as saying.

They added that the United States could make a case for imposing far stronger sanctions on Iran if diplomatic engagements fail.

Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany are going to be present on the discussion table, who in the past have negotiated with Iran even without the presence of an American representative.

Iran made its offer to meet in a five-page letter delivered to several nations on Wednesday.

But the letter said nothing about Iran’s nuclear program. However, this week Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed never to halt the fuel production.

Within less than 48 hours the Obama administration said they would consider the offer to meet.

Even though it is unclear who will represent the US on the discussion table, but most probably William J. Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs, will lead America.

Earlier, Burns was quoted as saying that the Obama administration had begun preparing sanctions against Iran, so that it would be ready to implement them at the end of the year. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: (Iran, administration officials, administration., Ahmadinejad, america, American Representative, ANI, bargaining, Bargaining Table, Britain, Burns, case, China, crowley, decision, department, discussion, emissaries, end, France, Friday, fuel, fuel production, Germany, human rights groups, iranian, iranian president mahmoud, iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad, Islamic, issue, J Burns, letter, Mahmoud, mahmoud ahmadinejad, New, nothing, nuclear issue, nuclear program, Nuclear Programs, Obama, offer, office, paper, Philip J, political affairs, presence, president, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, production, program, proposal, representative, republic, Russia, Sanctions Against Iran, sanctions on iran, secretary, senior administration, Sep, Sep 11, spokesman, state, state department spokesman, table, time, times, United States, US, Washington, Wednesday, week, william, year, york