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New Zealand Cricket deny Howard snub over ICC vice-president role

March 24, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Mar 24 (ANI): New Zealand cricket chief Justin Vaughan has said that there are plans to invite former Australian premier John Howard as a special guest at the NZC meeting in May, and refuted reports about snubbing the ICC vice-president nominee.

The Dominion Post report claimed on Tuesday that New Zealand Cricket rejected an approach last month from Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland for Howard to meet Kiwi cricket executives during the first Test in Wellington, which ended yesterday.

Vaughan replied that Howard’s visit would be pointless in an official capacity because the NZC board could not be convened to meet him.

It is understood the request was aimed at easing tensions between Australian and Kiwi cricket powerbrokers after respected New Zealand official Sir John Anderson lost the presidency vote to Howard.

Vaughan denied that the NZC had snubbed Howard. He said plans were afoot to invite the former politician to the organisation’s next board meeting in May to help iron out any differences.

“Some people have jumped to conclusions. It”s a long bow to suggest we have snubbed John Howard,” The Daily Telegraph quoted Vaughan, as saying.

“We have a good relationship with Cricket Australia. John Howard has a bit of learning to do to get up to speed [with cricket administration] and hopefully we can help him in that regard,” he added.

Former Kiwi Test bowler Simon Doull captured the sentiment of many New Zealanders when he said Anderson was a superior choice to Howard.

“In my eyes, Sir John has far more cricket knowledge and background, whereas John Howard has more of a political background,” he said. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Australian cricket, board meeting, cricket australia, daily telegraph, dominion post, first test, good relationship, james sutherland, John Anderson, John Howard, Kiwi Test, Long Bow, new zealand cricket, new zealanders, Political Background, Powerbrokers, President Nominee, Sir John, snub, test bowler

British PM admits to Iraq inquiry blunder

March 19, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

British prime minister Gordon Brown admits he gave incorrect evidence to the Iraq inquiry in London.

Mr Brown told the Chilcot Inquiry that as the head of the UK treasury, he had made real increases in the defence budget every year.

But official figures from the ministry of defence show that, allowing for inflation, military spending actually fell in five of Mr Brown’s nine years as chancellor.

“I do accept that in one or two years defence expenditure did not rise in real terms,” he said.

He says he will write to Sir John Chilcot at the Iraq inquiry to correct the error.

The mistake is a blow to Mr Brown, coming just weeks before a general election is due to be held.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: blunder, british prime minister, british prime minister gordon brown, Chancellor, defence budget, Defence Expenditure, England, general election, Gordon Brown, government-and-politics, Iraq, London, military spending, ministry of defence, mistake, mr brown, nine years, prime minister gordon brown, Sir John, Uk Treasury, United Kingdom, World Politics

6 in 10 Brits believe Brown lied about Iraq war funding

March 19, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

London, Mar. 20 (ANI): Six out of ten Britons believe that Prime Minister Gordon Brown lied to the nation about forces” funding.

According to a Sun News/YouGov poll, they thought the PM knew the truth but presented the twisted version to the Iraq War Inquiry panel and MPs.

The poll also found that just one in five – 22 per cent – think Brown made a genuine mistake, while 17 per cent don’t have any opinion on it.

On Wednesday, Brown admitted he misled Sir John Chilcot”s inquiry when he said defence cash went up every year in real terms under Labour.

However, a Commons watchdog found the budget went down for four years while he was Chancellor.

The embarrassing admission fuelled calls for Brown to be recalled to the inquiry to “clarify” his evidence.

The paper quoted Shadow Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox as saying: “Labour”s credibility on defence has been shot to pieces.

“Right up to the election we will remind Labour they denied troops vital body armour, cut the helicopter budget in the middle of two wars by 1.4billion pounds and did not provide sufficient armoured vehicles,” he added.

However, Brown”s official spokesman said: “I don”t think he has ever had anything to hide on this.” (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: armoured vehicles, body armour, britons, brits, Chancellor, credibility, defence secretary, Genuine Mistake, Gordon Brown, helicopter, Inquiry Panel, iraq war, labour, liam fox, Poll Also Found That, prime minister gordon brown, Sir John, spokesman, Sun News, watchdog

MI6 chief’s beach pics on Facebook ‘no state secret’, says UK Foreign Secretary

July 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 6 (ANI): Reacting on the headlines grabbed by new MI6 head Sir John Sawers’ photographs, which appeared on Facebook, UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said that it is “not a state secret” that the spy chief wears Speedos.

John’s wife Shelley Sawers had posted beach photos of her husband on facebook site the day after he was appointment head of MI6.

Information on her profile revealed the couple’s friendships with actors Moir Leslie and Alister Cameron.

According to The Mail, Shelley had disclosed details on Facebook, including the location of the London flat used by the couple and the whereabouts of their three children and of Sir John’s parents.

Senior politicians said that the security lapse raised concerns about John’s ability to take up his post as chief of the Secret Intelligence Service this November, giving him responsibility for Britain’s overseas spying operations.

However, while talking on BBC1′s Andrew Marr Show, Miliband dismissed allegations of recklessness and asked people to “grow up”.

He said that John was an “outstanding professional”, and denied that the details on the social networking website, which have since been removed, would compromise his career.

“What are you leading the news with that… The fact that there’s a picture that the head of the MI6 goes swimming. Wow that really is exciting,” the Telegraph quoted Miliband as saying.

“It is not a state secret that he wears Speedo swimming trunks, for goodness sake let’s grow up.

“This allegation that there’s great secrets and then you find out it’s about his swimming trunks and the fact that his family’s getting dragged into it.

“He was appointed 10 days ago to be the head of MI6; he’s an outstanding professional who will do a really good job in an outstanding organisation that does a huge amount for this country.

“The newspapers have gone on to Facebook and got pictures of him in his swimming trunks – the fact that you’re leading on it when we’ve got Iran, Afghanistan and the other issues,’ he added.

Sir John Major, the former Conservative Prime Minister, said that the issue had been “overblown”. (ANI)

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New MI6 chief’s wife blatantly breaches secrecy by posting ‘plenty’ on Facebook

July 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 5 (ANI): The credibility of Britain’s new chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, Sir John Sawers, is being questioned after his wife published family holiday photographs and other personal details on Facebook.

Currently Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations, Sir John will take up his post as MI6 head, in charge of Britain’s spying operations abroad, in November.

But his wife Shelley Sawers’s posting on the social networking site has breached secrecy, by exposing about where they live and work, their friends and where they go on holiday.

Senior politicians said the security lapse raised serious doubts about Sir John’s suitability to head the intelligence service, and raised questions over whether an outsider should have been appointed to such a sensitive role, The Telegraph reports.

Edward Davey, the Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesman, called on Gordon Brown to launch an inquiry into whether the Facebook disclosures had compromised Sir John’s ability to take up his MI6 post.

Shelley put no privacy protection on the account, meaning that any of Facebook’s 200 million users in the ‘London’ network could see the entries.

Shelley posted photographs of the family’s holidays and gave details of the location of the family’s flat in London and the whereabouts of their three children and of Sir John’s parents.

On June 16, the day Sir John’s MI6 appointment was announced, she posted 19 pictures of the couple on holiday with their friends in the West Country earlier that month.

The lapse revealed the couple’s friendship with senior diplomats and actors.

Among those who joined the Sawers on a break were the actors Moir Leslie and Alister Cameron. Shelley also revealed that the intelligence chief’s brother-in-law is an associate of David Irving, the controversial Right-wing historian.

The material was wiped from the site after the newspaper alerted the Foreign Office to the extraordinary lapse. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Affairs Spokesman, alister, ambassador to the united nations, David Irving, facebook, family holiday, flat in london, foreign office, Gordon Brown, holiday photographs, intelligence chief, John Sawers, liberal democrat, mi6, Secret Intelligence Service, Security Lapse, Sir John, social networking site, telegraph reports, West Country, wife shelley

Invisibility cloak ‘to be unveiled within months’

April 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Sydney, Apr 4 (ANI): Your dream of possessing a Harry Potter invisibility cloak could be just months away, at least that’s what a British scientist claims.

Sir John Pendry, who pioneered the concept, believes that the cloak that can make an object disappear could be unveiled within next six months.

“The first man-made cloak will be more like an invisibility “carpet”, the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Pendry as saying.

As a tiny object is placed underneath it, it will seemingly disappear because the bump the object makes will be hidden from view with an artificial mirage.

Pendry said that the new development would also prove the potential of metamaterials that have an unusual property to interact with light and electronic waves.

These materials could be, in future, used for developing barriers to prevent waves damaging the shore, acoustic cloaks to reduce noise, stealth systems for the military, and faster telecommunications.

They can be designed to hide things by bending radiation around an object as if it were not there, “like water flowing around a stone”, said Professor Pendry.

Pendry had discussed about the new materials in a lecture in the US, backing it with the example of Harry Potter.

“I said one of the interesting things they could do is hide things,” said Pendry.

The example prompted David Smith of Duke University to build an invisibility cloak.

“They went back and built the darn thing,” Pendry added.

In 2006, he unveiled the first cloak, which steered radiation around a copper cylinder, making it invisible to microwave detection.

“I am optimistic work in progress will produce an optical cloak in the next six months,” said Pendry. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: British Scientist, bump, cloaks, copper cylinder, david smith, duke university, electronic waves, first man, harry potter invisibility cloak, Interesting Things, john pendry, metamaterials, mirage, morning herald, new materials, Sir John, stealth systems, sydney morning herald, tiny object, Work In Progress

Sir John Major secretly penned poetry to beat 10 Downing Street stress

March 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, March 7 (ANI): Former British Prime Minister Sir John Major used to secretly write poetry to relieve himself of stress, it has emerged.

The 64-year-old, who lost the 1997 general election to Tony Blair, penned verse during his time in 10 Downing Street, including rhyming couplets honouring former England Test captain Lord Colin Cowdrey.

“Throughout my time in Downing Street and office I had always jotted down poems,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

“They were about cricket subjects and about politics and about characters. With some of my political poems it is probably best they are never seen in public!

“But in the case of Colin l am pleased to share it. We were very close friends and used to get together for whiskies almost on a weekly basis,” he added.

Judith Palmer, director of the Poetry Society, dubbed his “Lord Colin Cowdrey – A Cricketing Gentleman” as a “heartfelt elegy”, stressing the cultural contribution made by Sir John.

She said: “It would be great if we had more politicians actively participating in our cultural life.

“To write poetry you need to have an attentiveness to life and a wish to communicate – skills that are also good in a politician.’” (ANI)

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New Zealand Cricket deny Howard snub over ICC vice-president role

British PM admits to Iraq inquiry blunder

6 in 10 Brits believe Brown lied about Iraq war funding

Invisibility cloak ‘to be unveiled within months’

Sir John Major secretly penned poetry to beat 10 Downing Street stress

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