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Moscow names British diplomat Chris Bowers as spy
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev smiles as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown passes by behind him
The Russian claim follows a frosty meeting between Gordon Brown and President Medvedev at the G8 summit
Image :1 of 2
Tony Halpin, Moscow Correspondent
Russia triggered a new spying row with Britain last night when a senior diplomat in Moscow was accused of working for British Intelligence.
The allegation against Chris Bowers, the British Embassy’s acting director of trade and investment, follows weeks of antagonism and growing tension between London and Moscow.
Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed source within Russia’s intelligence services, who claimed that Mr Bowers was a high-ranking secret service officer who had also worked under cover in the 1990s as a BBC reporter in Uzbekistan. “The activities of Christopher Bowers, a counsellor at the British Embassy in Russia, and probably, simultaneously a senior officer with British Intelligence, are giving rise to questions among Russian intelligence services,” the agency reported its source as saying.
It was claimed that Mr Bowers had been engaged in “suspicious” meetings with what it called Russia’s radical opposition and human rights activists from the North Caucasus, including Chechnya. An embassy spokesman confirmed that Mr Bowers was a diplomat responsible for trade and investment but declined to say more.
This week Gordon Brown used his first meeting with President Medvedev to confront Moscow over a list of British grievances. They include the failure to extradite the chief suspect in the murder in London of Alexander Litvinenko, amid fresh accusations linking Russia to his death.
Mr Brown also raised the threats to oil executives working for the Anglo-Russian oil giant TNK-BP in the power struggle between its four Russian shareholders and BP. Britain regards the threats, which were made by Russian state agencies and include a warning that some expatriates may lose their visas, as unjustified.
Separately, British security officials have voiced fears that Russia’s intelligence services may have flooded London with agents, and that Russia represents the third most serious threat facing Britain behind al-Qaeda terrorism and Iranian nuclear proliferation.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) in Moscow refused to comment last night on the naming of Mr Bowers.
However, the decision to single him out may be linked to the TNK-BP affair.
As the embassy’s senior trade official, Mr Bowers has been heavily engaged in dealing with the company. In March the FSB charged one of TNK-BP’s Russian employees with spying on behalf of foreign companies.
TNK-BP began in 2003 as a joint venture blessed by the Kremlin. It produces a quarter of BP’s oil output and last year posted a net profit of $5.7 billion. This year the Russian co-owners rebelled against BP, accusing the joint venture’s chief executive officer of playing mainly the hand of the British side.
Yesterday’s anonymous allegation against the diplomat came on the heels of a BBC Newsnight report in which an unnamed senior British security officer accused the Russian State of involvement in the killing of Mr Litvinenko with radioactive polonium-210 in 2006. The official said that Whitehall believed “there are very strong indications that it was a state action”.
The allegation infuriated the Kremlin because it came on the day of the Prime Minister’s first meeting with Mr Medvedev, at the G8 summit in Japan. Mr Medvedev had said that Russia was keen to improve relations, but wanted “corresponding steps” from Britain.
Yesterday Mr Brown told MPs that he had made clear to Mr Medvedev “that the Litvinenko issue would not be closed. We have justice to do on the part of someone who was murdered on British soil and it is not an acceptable position to be where we are.”
Russia has refused to extradite Andrei Lugovoy, a former KGB officer, to stand trial in London for the murder of Mr Litvinenko. Mr Lugovoy, now a deputy in the Russian parliament, denies the charge and claims that he is being framed by British Intelligence. Britain reacted last year by expelling four Russian diplomats, and Moscow retaliated by ordering four envoys to leave the British Embassy.
Russian prosecutors are conducting their own investigation into Mr Litvinenko’s murder.
“The investigation has made significant progress and does not possess information that any intelligence service was involved in the crime,” the Investigative Committee of the Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office said in a statement on Tuesday.
Mr Brown said that he had also told Mr Medvedev that it was “completely unfair” for Russia to have forced two British Council offices to close in January.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev smiles as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown passes by behind him
The Russian claim follows a frosty meeting between Gordon Brown and President Medvedev at the G8 summit
Image :1 of 2
Tony Halpin, Moscow Correspondent
Russia triggered a new spying row with Britain last night when a senior diplomat in Moscow was accused of working for British Intelligence.
The allegation against Chris Bowers, the British Embassy’s acting director of trade and investment, follows weeks of antagonism and growing tension between London and Moscow.
Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed source within Russia’s intelligence services, who claimed that Mr Bowers was a high-ranking secret service officer who had also worked under cover in the 1990s as a BBC reporter in Uzbekistan. “The activities of Christopher Bowers, a counsellor at the British Embassy in Russia, and probably, simultaneously a senior officer with British Intelligence, are giving rise to questions among Russian intelligence services,” the agency reported its source as saying.
It was claimed that Mr Bowers had been engaged in “suspicious” meetings with what it called Russia’s radical opposition and human rights activists from the North Caucasus, including Chechnya. An embassy spokesman confirmed that Mr Bowers was a diplomat responsible for trade and investment but declined to say more.
This week Gordon Brown used his first meeting with President Medvedev to confront Moscow over a list of British grievances. They include the failure to extradite the chief suspect in the murder in London of Alexander Litvinenko, amid fresh accusations linking Russia to his death.
Mr Brown also raised the threats to oil executives working for the Anglo-Russian oil giant TNK-BP in the power struggle between its four Russian shareholders and BP. Britain regards the threats, which were made by Russian state agencies and include a warning that some expatriates may lose their visas, as unjustified.
Separately, British security officials have voiced fears that Russia’s intelligence services may have flooded London with agents, and that Russia represents the third most serious threat facing Britain behind al-Qaeda terrorism and Iranian nuclear proliferation.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) in Moscow refused to comment last night on the naming of Mr Bowers.
However, the decision to single him out may be linked to the TNK-BP affair.
As the embassy’s senior trade official, Mr Bowers has been heavily engaged in dealing with the company. In March the FSB charged one of TNK-BP’s Russian employees with spying on behalf of foreign companies.
TNK-BP began in 2003 as a joint venture blessed by the Kremlin. It produces a quarter of BP’s oil output and last year posted a net profit of $5.7 billion. This year the Russian co-owners rebelled against BP, accusing the joint venture’s chief executive officer of playing mainly the hand of the British side.
Yesterday’s anonymous allegation against the diplomat came on the heels of a BBC Newsnight report in which an unnamed senior British security officer accused the Russian State of involvement in the killing of Mr Litvinenko with radioactive polonium-210 in 2006. The official said that Whitehall believed “there are very strong indications that it was a state action”.
The allegation infuriated the Kremlin because it came on the day of the Prime Minister’s first meeting with Mr Medvedev, at the G8 summit in Japan. Mr Medvedev had said that Russia was keen to improve relations, but wanted “corresponding steps” from Britain.
Yesterday Mr Brown told MPs that he had made clear to Mr Medvedev “that the Litvinenko issue would not be closed. We have justice to do on the part of someone who was murdered on British soil and it is not an acceptable position to be where we are.”
Russia has refused to extradite Andrei Lugovoy, a former KGB officer, to stand trial in London for the murder of Mr Litvinenko. Mr Lugovoy, now a deputy in the Russian parliament, denies the charge and claims that he is being framed by British Intelligence. Britain reacted last year by expelling four Russian diplomats, and Moscow retaliated by ordering four envoys to leave the British Embassy.
Russian prosecutors are conducting their own investigation into Mr Litvinenko’s murder.
“The investigation has made significant progress and does not possess information that any intelligence service was involved in the crime,” the Investigative Committee of the Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office said in a statement on Tuesday.
Mr Brown said that he had also told Mr Medvedev that it was “completely unfair” for Russia to have forced two British Council offices to close in January.
posted by Happo at
5:37 PM
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Monday, July 7, 2008
Europe's 20 best hotels under €100
Everything's more expensive this year, but you can still find a cracking hotel for less than £83 a double
Couple driving convertible car in countryside,
1 ENCLOS DE L’EVECHE
Boulogne
Boulogne? Fish and ferries, right? Certainly — but also a stirring coastline, bucolic hinterland and, up the hill in the town itself, a sinuous, historic centre. Hard by the cathedral, the Enclos has the swish of 19th-century townhouse style, spiced up with a courtyard and five bourgeois-sized rooms. With a warm family welcome and an excellent associated restaurant, Les Terrasses de l’Enclos, time spent here could seriously change your view of the Channel port.
Doubles from £71; 00 33 3 91 90 05 90, www.enclosdeleveche.com
2 HOTEL DES MINES
Paris
What Europe's best hotels should really cost
How much is a top hotel in a great location worth? We've worked out the 'sweet spot' which reveals the market rate
* Europe's coolest hotels
* Our 20 top continental hotels
* 20 top European hotels
Europe's top 10 boutique hostels
A former monastery in Naples to a Polish hostel with futuristic showers: Europe's cool budget bolt holes
* Britain's top 10 hostels
The 40 hottest villas in Europe
We've hunted down Europe's most popular villas, but don't worry, we've also found 20 stunning alternatives
* Europe's top 10 boutique hostels
Related Internet Links
* More ideas in our Where to Stay section
Sitting at a cafe in the Latin Quarter, with the sun tickling your toes and a sprightly white toying with your tongue, you’ll think Paris is the most wonderful city in the world. And, when you get the bill, the most expensive — which is where the two-star Hôtel des Mines comes in. No, it’s not flash, sexy or even quaint, but, mon Dieu, it’s well located: one minute’s amble from the Jardin du Luxembourg, the city’s most beautiful park; 10 minutes from the shops and bars of St Germain and Notre Dame; and 10 minutes on the RER from the Gare du Nord. If you book one of the rooms overlooking the courtyard, you get all that and peace and quiet, too.
Doubles from £78; 00 33 1 43 54 32 78, www.desmineshotelparis.com
3 HOTEL LES ORANGERIES
Poitou-Charentes
Oh crumbs. An eco-hotel. So we’re in for no-watt bulbs, raw root veg and ear-bashings because we came in a car. Well, no. Here, in the lovely Vienne village of Lussac-les-Châteaux, is a homely 18th-century mansion restored with astonishing class, leaving integrity — wonky wooden floors, big windows, heavy furniture — intact. There’s no proselytising, just the gentle hum of life lived ethically. If you don’t want to hear about recycling, then relax like a squire in the lounge, walk the vast garden or roam the nearby, and little-known, Gartempe and Anglin valleys.
Doubles from £75; 00 33 5 49 84 07 07, www.lesorangeries.com
4 OUSTAU DE LA FONT
Provence
People are always going on about the undiscovered Provence and here, lost in the lee of Mont Ventoux, you have found it. The Oustau is, primarily, an alarmingly good restaurant (menus from £30), but light and simple bedrooms ramble around the core. Seated on your little private terrace, you have stone walkways climbing through the tiny village of Reilhanette (population: 120) behind. In front, the hill-hemmed Toulourenc valley opens like a sigh. With great food just a few steps away, and the rugged riches of the landscape beyond, you need nothing more.
Doubles from £58, but go for a bigger room at £74; 00 33 4 75 28 83 77, www.oustaudelafont.com
Everything's more expensive this year, but you can still find a cracking hotel for less than £83 a double
Couple driving convertible car in countryside,
1 ENCLOS DE L’EVECHE
Boulogne
Boulogne? Fish and ferries, right? Certainly — but also a stirring coastline, bucolic hinterland and, up the hill in the town itself, a sinuous, historic centre. Hard by the cathedral, the Enclos has the swish of 19th-century townhouse style, spiced up with a courtyard and five bourgeois-sized rooms. With a warm family welcome and an excellent associated restaurant, Les Terrasses de l’Enclos, time spent here could seriously change your view of the Channel port.
Doubles from £71; 00 33 3 91 90 05 90, www.enclosdeleveche.com
2 HOTEL DES MINES
Paris
What Europe's best hotels should really cost
How much is a top hotel in a great location worth? We've worked out the 'sweet spot' which reveals the market rate
* Europe's coolest hotels
* Our 20 top continental hotels
* 20 top European hotels
Europe's top 10 boutique hostels
A former monastery in Naples to a Polish hostel with futuristic showers: Europe's cool budget bolt holes
* Britain's top 10 hostels
The 40 hottest villas in Europe
We've hunted down Europe's most popular villas, but don't worry, we've also found 20 stunning alternatives
* Europe's top 10 boutique hostels
Related Internet Links
* More ideas in our Where to Stay section
Sitting at a cafe in the Latin Quarter, with the sun tickling your toes and a sprightly white toying with your tongue, you’ll think Paris is the most wonderful city in the world. And, when you get the bill, the most expensive — which is where the two-star Hôtel des Mines comes in. No, it’s not flash, sexy or even quaint, but, mon Dieu, it’s well located: one minute’s amble from the Jardin du Luxembourg, the city’s most beautiful park; 10 minutes from the shops and bars of St Germain and Notre Dame; and 10 minutes on the RER from the Gare du Nord. If you book one of the rooms overlooking the courtyard, you get all that and peace and quiet, too.
Doubles from £78; 00 33 1 43 54 32 78, www.desmineshotelparis.com
3 HOTEL LES ORANGERIES
Poitou-Charentes
Oh crumbs. An eco-hotel. So we’re in for no-watt bulbs, raw root veg and ear-bashings because we came in a car. Well, no. Here, in the lovely Vienne village of Lussac-les-Châteaux, is a homely 18th-century mansion restored with astonishing class, leaving integrity — wonky wooden floors, big windows, heavy furniture — intact. There’s no proselytising, just the gentle hum of life lived ethically. If you don’t want to hear about recycling, then relax like a squire in the lounge, walk the vast garden or roam the nearby, and little-known, Gartempe and Anglin valleys.
Doubles from £75; 00 33 5 49 84 07 07, www.lesorangeries.com
4 OUSTAU DE LA FONT
Provence
People are always going on about the undiscovered Provence and here, lost in the lee of Mont Ventoux, you have found it. The Oustau is, primarily, an alarmingly good restaurant (menus from £30), but light and simple bedrooms ramble around the core. Seated on your little private terrace, you have stone walkways climbing through the tiny village of Reilhanette (population: 120) behind. In front, the hill-hemmed Toulourenc valley opens like a sigh. With great food just a few steps away, and the rugged riches of the landscape beyond, you need nothing more.
Doubles from £58, but go for a bigger room at £74; 00 33 4 75 28 83 77, www.oustaudelafont.com
posted by Happo at
8:02 PM
0 Comments
Never has a free-trade deal been more vital
Failure in the world trade talks would be disastrous for rich and poor alike
George Mitchell
When Sir Robert Peel offered Gladstone the vice-presidency of the Board of Trade in 1841, Gladstone complained that while “the science of politics deals with the government of men, I am set to govern packages”.
If Gladstone were alive today, I suspect that he would not hold a similar view. Trade is once again near the top of the political agenda.
Seven years after the Doha Declaration, talks continue at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva. The need for a successful conclusion has never been more urgent and the Director-General of the WTO, Pascal Lamy, has called a meeting of ministers on July 21 for what may be the last throw of the dice.
Negotiations focus mainly on agricultural and industrial goods, with potential progress in the liberalisation of commercial services, anti-dumping regulations and fishing subsidies. The main issues centre on the proposed reduction by developed countries of subsidies and levels of protection enjoyed by their farmers, in exchange for freer access to developing country markets for their industrial goods and services.
The WTO operates, however, on the principle of “a single undertaking” by which nothing is agreed until everything is. But there are clear signs of fatigue in Geneva, putting all the progress made to date at risk. Reaching agreement on the Uruguay Round in the early 1990s was similarly protracted but most experts agree that it helped to create millions of jobs and increased world income by hundreds of billions of dollars. We must not risk failure in Geneva - ministers should redouble their efforts to reach agreement when they meet later this month.
At a time of growing financial uncertainty, the trading system established by the WTO provides an important source of economic stability for governments, business and consumers.
It is vital that international trade in goods and services keep flowing. In 1930 the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act helped to turn a stock market crash into a large-scale depression as sharply increased US tariffs provoked retaliation around the world. Only in 1945, with the end of the Second World War, was there a determined international attempt to reopen markets. Erecting new tariff barriers now would do little to protect jobs and improve living standards.
The worldwide escalation in food prices in recent months has badly hit developing countries that are net food buyers or rely on imports. Completion of the Doha Round would help to mitigate the impact of high prices by tackling systemic distortions in the international market for food, in particular by lowering barriers to trade in agricultural products and by reducing subsidies in many developed countries.
If agreement is not reached in the coming weeks, the talks may collapse with little prospect of revival. In January there will be a new Administration in Washington and a new EU Trade Commissioner in Brussels. This could lead to a further period of review when the need to conclude this round is becoming more critical by the day.
There is a danger that, if this round fails, the future of the multilateral trade system itself will be at risk. Countries could revert to more restrictive policies, shutting out others to the detriment of the global economy. The multilateral trading system embodied in the WTO has contributed significantly to economic growth and employment throughout the past 50 years and must continue to do so.
Along with the benefits of increased trade there are, of course, some dislocations. They are a legitimate source of concern and justify remedial action, both in the context of future agreements and in reaction to their effects. But the answer is not to reduce or restrict trade.
The proper response is to expand and increase trade, reaping its many benefits, while making appropriate adjustments to remedy the dislocations of the past and to minimise them in the future.
Finally, there is a moral dimension to trade. Because it is based on mutual need and the ability of each party to make the other better off, trade, unlike aid, confers dignity and self-respect to both sides of the exchange.
In 1817 the British economist David Ricardo demonstrated how poor countries can become richer by trading with wealthy ones. Ricardo's view was essentially optimistic - that economic interchange between people has the potential to improve the human condition and relations between countries. This can bring hope of a better future to the poor - and can benefit developed nations.
During my time in the US Senate I was closely involved in the establishment of both Nafta and the WTO. I know first hand how difficult it can be to reach agreement between so many parties and such diverse interests. In light of the global economic slowdown, however, it is essential that we maintain policies that encourage free and fair trade, thus promoting recovery, growth and economic development.
Agreement is a prize worth fighting for - ministers cannot afford to fail.
Senator George Mitchell is chairman of the law firm DLA Piper; from 1989 to 1995 he was Democratic leader of the US Senate
Failure in the world trade talks would be disastrous for rich and poor alike
George Mitchell
When Sir Robert Peel offered Gladstone the vice-presidency of the Board of Trade in 1841, Gladstone complained that while “the science of politics deals with the government of men, I am set to govern packages”.
If Gladstone were alive today, I suspect that he would not hold a similar view. Trade is once again near the top of the political agenda.
Seven years after the Doha Declaration, talks continue at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva. The need for a successful conclusion has never been more urgent and the Director-General of the WTO, Pascal Lamy, has called a meeting of ministers on July 21 for what may be the last throw of the dice.
Negotiations focus mainly on agricultural and industrial goods, with potential progress in the liberalisation of commercial services, anti-dumping regulations and fishing subsidies. The main issues centre on the proposed reduction by developed countries of subsidies and levels of protection enjoyed by their farmers, in exchange for freer access to developing country markets for their industrial goods and services.
The WTO operates, however, on the principle of “a single undertaking” by which nothing is agreed until everything is. But there are clear signs of fatigue in Geneva, putting all the progress made to date at risk. Reaching agreement on the Uruguay Round in the early 1990s was similarly protracted but most experts agree that it helped to create millions of jobs and increased world income by hundreds of billions of dollars. We must not risk failure in Geneva - ministers should redouble their efforts to reach agreement when they meet later this month.
At a time of growing financial uncertainty, the trading system established by the WTO provides an important source of economic stability for governments, business and consumers.
It is vital that international trade in goods and services keep flowing. In 1930 the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act helped to turn a stock market crash into a large-scale depression as sharply increased US tariffs provoked retaliation around the world. Only in 1945, with the end of the Second World War, was there a determined international attempt to reopen markets. Erecting new tariff barriers now would do little to protect jobs and improve living standards.
The worldwide escalation in food prices in recent months has badly hit developing countries that are net food buyers or rely on imports. Completion of the Doha Round would help to mitigate the impact of high prices by tackling systemic distortions in the international market for food, in particular by lowering barriers to trade in agricultural products and by reducing subsidies in many developed countries.
If agreement is not reached in the coming weeks, the talks may collapse with little prospect of revival. In January there will be a new Administration in Washington and a new EU Trade Commissioner in Brussels. This could lead to a further period of review when the need to conclude this round is becoming more critical by the day.
There is a danger that, if this round fails, the future of the multilateral trade system itself will be at risk. Countries could revert to more restrictive policies, shutting out others to the detriment of the global economy. The multilateral trading system embodied in the WTO has contributed significantly to economic growth and employment throughout the past 50 years and must continue to do so.
Along with the benefits of increased trade there are, of course, some dislocations. They are a legitimate source of concern and justify remedial action, both in the context of future agreements and in reaction to their effects. But the answer is not to reduce or restrict trade.
The proper response is to expand and increase trade, reaping its many benefits, while making appropriate adjustments to remedy the dislocations of the past and to minimise them in the future.
Finally, there is a moral dimension to trade. Because it is based on mutual need and the ability of each party to make the other better off, trade, unlike aid, confers dignity and self-respect to both sides of the exchange.
In 1817 the British economist David Ricardo demonstrated how poor countries can become richer by trading with wealthy ones. Ricardo's view was essentially optimistic - that economic interchange between people has the potential to improve the human condition and relations between countries. This can bring hope of a better future to the poor - and can benefit developed nations.
During my time in the US Senate I was closely involved in the establishment of both Nafta and the WTO. I know first hand how difficult it can be to reach agreement between so many parties and such diverse interests. In light of the global economic slowdown, however, it is essential that we maintain policies that encourage free and fair trade, thus promoting recovery, growth and economic development.
Agreement is a prize worth fighting for - ministers cannot afford to fail.
Senator George Mitchell is chairman of the law firm DLA Piper; from 1989 to 1995 he was Democratic leader of the US Senate
posted by Happo at
8:02 PM
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The witch-hunt against politicians is the real scandal
The resignation of Boris Johnson's deputy isn't just bad for the Tories. It's bad for politics and fighting youth crime
David Aaronovitch
There is a superficially pleasing symmetry about the resignation of mayoral appointments in the Great Wen. A few months ago the right-wing press scalped Ken Livingstone's black man, Lee Jasper, and last week the liberal press bagged Boris Johnson's, Ray Lewis. Major tales of minor Labour scandals are to be replaced by overblown stories of Tory ones, for the moment at any rate. The score is Labour 1, Conservatives 1. Or press 2, politicians 0.
Weeellll, we told you so, didn't we? Didn't you read in this very column that Boris was an entertaining cove, but not a serious politician? I could be forgiven for coming over all smug. I could join in with the BBC early-morning radio correspondent and the chairman of the Fabian Society in describing this as a blow for the entire Cameroonian project.
“Given that Boris is Boris,” the latter said, “this failure of due diligence reflects directly on Project Cameron.”
But the little, awkward internal voice peeps, as it so often does, and asks: “Is that what matters here?” It seems to be true that the Bishop of Chelmsford at some point wrote Mr Johnson a letter and somewhere in it - the first sentence of paragraph six, or something - allowed that Mr Lewis was no longer permitted to hold public ministry in the Anglican Church. Boris, for once cloth-eared to the nuances of the Establishment, failed to realise that, in terms of the understated Church of England, such a reference amounts to a fatwa. Until 2005 Mr Lewis, had indeed been on the feared Lambeth and Bishopthorpe Register, the Church's equivalent of Devil's Island. “This,” explained his Grace, “was because a misdemeanour of such seriousness had been committed that in the opinion of the Archbishop, the person concerned should not exercise his ministry for the time being.”
But what had Mr Lewis done? It doesn't seem to have been anything illegal, for he wasn't prosecuted. Tales of vulnerable parishioners entrusting their wealth to him are doing the rounds, but somehow were not thought to be any impediment to his working in the prison service or later starting up his Eastside Young Leaders Academy in Newham, the project that so impressed new-style Conservatives when they came looking for magic answers to the problem of disaffected youth.
This point was made by Mr Johnson in an initial defence of his deputy. If you're moral enough to be allowed to set up something like Eastside (which the Church must have seen Mr Lewis doing) you are probably moral enough to help the mayor. But then came the second part of Mr Lewis's degringolade, his claim to have been a magistrate. “I have never knowingly done anything that would be inconsistent with my position as a Justice of the Peace,” he had said, before the world learnt that nothing could be consistent with that non-existent position.
It was at this point that BJ tossed Mr Lewis overboard, pronouncing his confidence in his deputy “shaken”.
So Mr Lewis had bigged himself up. It is possible that, before signing on with Team Johnson, he had not read Andrew Gimson's forgiving but revealing biography, Boris, a book perhaps revealing precisely because it was forgiving. Mr Lewis may have been shocked by the many tales of cut corners and deliberate journalistic inaccuracies that accompanied his leader's rise to the heights. Some of them are rather shocking; the electorate, however, chose not be shocked. Why could not Boris show the same latitude towards Mr Lewis, given the importance of the job he had given him? Didn't that transcend these accusations?
You probably know where I am with this argument by now. The laying low of political figures (and some others) through non-scandals, is becoming something of a scandal itself. Far from leading to good government and good politics, it is in danger of creating neutered government and supine politics. On every programme that I saw and heard, Mr Lewis's departure was discussed as an “embarrassment” for the Tories, not as a possible setback for the fight against youth crime. Mr Lewis should have stayed with his academy; once he had stepped into politics, he was doomed.
Elected politicians - a necessity in a democracy - are routinely rubbished and abused by press and public in this country, despite being no worse (and usually much better) than those in other nations. And they collude in this treatment, offering their tormentors the same kind of ordure-eating grin that savaged contestants in The Weakest Link try to hide behind. Or worse, by joining in the abuse when it's the other side that is getting slaughtered. Try this idiocy from Ken Livingstone: “I suffered only one enforced resignation of any of my most senior officials - and that only after seven years. This extreme contrast shows vividly the incompetence of Boris Johnson and his administration.”
In Scotland a couple of weeks ago Labour's leader, Wendy Alexander, bowed out of the bear pit of Edinburgh politics, because some small donations were not declared on the MSP's register, on the advice of the clerks. As soon as she knew that they had to be registered, they were. Technically it was a breach of rules. The three Scottish National Party members of the Scottish Parliament's Standards Committee, together with a Lib Dem voted, despite Ms Alexander's clear lack of malintention, to suspend her from Parliament for a day.
Her position impossible, Ms Alexander beamed herself out of office with these words: “My pursuers have sought the prize of political victory with little thought to the standing of the Parliament. Some may feel they have achieved a political victory but wiser heads will ask, at what price.” Yah! said the Scottish press. Alex Salmond smirked.
No wonder Labour's preferred candidate for Glasgow East took a rain-check, deciding not to replace the retiring MP who, himself, is suffering from that political unmentionable, depression. One day soon, it will be Mr Salmond himself. We don't know what for, but it need not be anything serious, and his bloodied (though still smirking) visage will adorn a media pike. Better by far (as Boris may soon recall) to wield the pike than to supply the head. Worse, though, for Britain.
The resignation of Boris Johnson's deputy isn't just bad for the Tories. It's bad for politics and fighting youth crime
David Aaronovitch
There is a superficially pleasing symmetry about the resignation of mayoral appointments in the Great Wen. A few months ago the right-wing press scalped Ken Livingstone's black man, Lee Jasper, and last week the liberal press bagged Boris Johnson's, Ray Lewis. Major tales of minor Labour scandals are to be replaced by overblown stories of Tory ones, for the moment at any rate. The score is Labour 1, Conservatives 1. Or press 2, politicians 0.
Weeellll, we told you so, didn't we? Didn't you read in this very column that Boris was an entertaining cove, but not a serious politician? I could be forgiven for coming over all smug. I could join in with the BBC early-morning radio correspondent and the chairman of the Fabian Society in describing this as a blow for the entire Cameroonian project.
“Given that Boris is Boris,” the latter said, “this failure of due diligence reflects directly on Project Cameron.”
But the little, awkward internal voice peeps, as it so often does, and asks: “Is that what matters here?” It seems to be true that the Bishop of Chelmsford at some point wrote Mr Johnson a letter and somewhere in it - the first sentence of paragraph six, or something - allowed that Mr Lewis was no longer permitted to hold public ministry in the Anglican Church. Boris, for once cloth-eared to the nuances of the Establishment, failed to realise that, in terms of the understated Church of England, such a reference amounts to a fatwa. Until 2005 Mr Lewis, had indeed been on the feared Lambeth and Bishopthorpe Register, the Church's equivalent of Devil's Island. “This,” explained his Grace, “was because a misdemeanour of such seriousness had been committed that in the opinion of the Archbishop, the person concerned should not exercise his ministry for the time being.”
But what had Mr Lewis done? It doesn't seem to have been anything illegal, for he wasn't prosecuted. Tales of vulnerable parishioners entrusting their wealth to him are doing the rounds, but somehow were not thought to be any impediment to his working in the prison service or later starting up his Eastside Young Leaders Academy in Newham, the project that so impressed new-style Conservatives when they came looking for magic answers to the problem of disaffected youth.
This point was made by Mr Johnson in an initial defence of his deputy. If you're moral enough to be allowed to set up something like Eastside (which the Church must have seen Mr Lewis doing) you are probably moral enough to help the mayor. But then came the second part of Mr Lewis's degringolade, his claim to have been a magistrate. “I have never knowingly done anything that would be inconsistent with my position as a Justice of the Peace,” he had said, before the world learnt that nothing could be consistent with that non-existent position.
It was at this point that BJ tossed Mr Lewis overboard, pronouncing his confidence in his deputy “shaken”.
So Mr Lewis had bigged himself up. It is possible that, before signing on with Team Johnson, he had not read Andrew Gimson's forgiving but revealing biography, Boris, a book perhaps revealing precisely because it was forgiving. Mr Lewis may have been shocked by the many tales of cut corners and deliberate journalistic inaccuracies that accompanied his leader's rise to the heights. Some of them are rather shocking; the electorate, however, chose not be shocked. Why could not Boris show the same latitude towards Mr Lewis, given the importance of the job he had given him? Didn't that transcend these accusations?
You probably know where I am with this argument by now. The laying low of political figures (and some others) through non-scandals, is becoming something of a scandal itself. Far from leading to good government and good politics, it is in danger of creating neutered government and supine politics. On every programme that I saw and heard, Mr Lewis's departure was discussed as an “embarrassment” for the Tories, not as a possible setback for the fight against youth crime. Mr Lewis should have stayed with his academy; once he had stepped into politics, he was doomed.
Elected politicians - a necessity in a democracy - are routinely rubbished and abused by press and public in this country, despite being no worse (and usually much better) than those in other nations. And they collude in this treatment, offering their tormentors the same kind of ordure-eating grin that savaged contestants in The Weakest Link try to hide behind. Or worse, by joining in the abuse when it's the other side that is getting slaughtered. Try this idiocy from Ken Livingstone: “I suffered only one enforced resignation of any of my most senior officials - and that only after seven years. This extreme contrast shows vividly the incompetence of Boris Johnson and his administration.”
In Scotland a couple of weeks ago Labour's leader, Wendy Alexander, bowed out of the bear pit of Edinburgh politics, because some small donations were not declared on the MSP's register, on the advice of the clerks. As soon as she knew that they had to be registered, they were. Technically it was a breach of rules. The three Scottish National Party members of the Scottish Parliament's Standards Committee, together with a Lib Dem voted, despite Ms Alexander's clear lack of malintention, to suspend her from Parliament for a day.
Her position impossible, Ms Alexander beamed herself out of office with these words: “My pursuers have sought the prize of political victory with little thought to the standing of the Parliament. Some may feel they have achieved a political victory but wiser heads will ask, at what price.” Yah! said the Scottish press. Alex Salmond smirked.
No wonder Labour's preferred candidate for Glasgow East took a rain-check, deciding not to replace the retiring MP who, himself, is suffering from that political unmentionable, depression. One day soon, it will be Mr Salmond himself. We don't know what for, but it need not be anything serious, and his bloodied (though still smirking) visage will adorn a media pike. Better by far (as Boris may soon recall) to wield the pike than to supply the head. Worse, though, for Britain.
posted by Happo at
8:01 PM
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Twenty20 in disarray as ECB calls off game
Quarter-final at Durham is abandoned ten minutes before the start because Yorkshire used an ineligible player
John Westerby
The most lucrative competition in county cricket history was thrown into chaos last night when the Twenty20 Cup quarter-final between Durham Dynamos and Yorkshire Carnegie was abandoned ten minutes before it was due to start because Yorkshire had fielded an ineligible player in a group match 11 days ago.
David Harker, the Durham chief executive, was incensed that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) called off the game at such a late stage. “It's a sorry state of affairs,” he said. “There's so much at stake in this competition, but the biggest cost is
the reputation of cricket and the competition.” The winners of last night's game would have qualified for the finals day, with the two finalists going through to the £2.5million Champions League tournament in October. Yorkshire, therefore, may have denied themselves a chance of a huge pay day with this administrative error.
After a day of frantic negotiations the ECB informed Durham shortly before 5pm that the televised match should not be staged because its result was unlikely to stand. Amid farcical scenes at the Riverside in Chester-le-Street, a crowd of about 7,000, who had paid up to £20 for a ticket, were informed of the abandonment at 5.18pm, eight minutes after the scheduled start, prompting angry scenes.
“It was too late in the day,” Harker said. “We should have played, then the ECB needed to decide what sanction was appropriate for the misdemeanour that Yorkshire have committed.”
In their final group match, against Nottinghamshire Outlaws on June 27, Yorkshire gave a first-team debut to Azeem Rafiq, a 17-year-old from Barnsley, who had captained England Under-15s. It was later discovered that Rafiq, who was born in Pakistan and arrived in the UK in 2001, had not been registered by Yorkshire and did not have a British passport, which technically made him an overseas player.
In the match against Nottinghamshire, which Yorkshire won by nine wickets to qualify for the quarter-
finals, Rafiq bowled two overs and did not bat. There were suggestions last night that comments made by Darren Gough, the Yorkshire captain, on his BBC Radio 5 Live show on Thursday alerted the ECB to the issue of Rafiq's eligibility.
David Collier, the ECB chief executive, defended the decision to call off the game. “Clearly it's not ideal when these situations occur on the day of a major match,” he said. “The worst would have been just to ignore it and let the game go ahead with the knowledge that it may have to be replayed.”
An ECB disciplinary panel will meet on Thursday. They could order a replay of the match or throw Yorkshire out of the competition.
Quarter-final at Durham is abandoned ten minutes before the start because Yorkshire used an ineligible player
John Westerby
The most lucrative competition in county cricket history was thrown into chaos last night when the Twenty20 Cup quarter-final between Durham Dynamos and Yorkshire Carnegie was abandoned ten minutes before it was due to start because Yorkshire had fielded an ineligible player in a group match 11 days ago.
David Harker, the Durham chief executive, was incensed that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) called off the game at such a late stage. “It's a sorry state of affairs,” he said. “There's so much at stake in this competition, but the biggest cost is
the reputation of cricket and the competition.” The winners of last night's game would have qualified for the finals day, with the two finalists going through to the £2.5million Champions League tournament in October. Yorkshire, therefore, may have denied themselves a chance of a huge pay day with this administrative error.
After a day of frantic negotiations the ECB informed Durham shortly before 5pm that the televised match should not be staged because its result was unlikely to stand. Amid farcical scenes at the Riverside in Chester-le-Street, a crowd of about 7,000, who had paid up to £20 for a ticket, were informed of the abandonment at 5.18pm, eight minutes after the scheduled start, prompting angry scenes.
“It was too late in the day,” Harker said. “We should have played, then the ECB needed to decide what sanction was appropriate for the misdemeanour that Yorkshire have committed.”
In their final group match, against Nottinghamshire Outlaws on June 27, Yorkshire gave a first-team debut to Azeem Rafiq, a 17-year-old from Barnsley, who had captained England Under-15s. It was later discovered that Rafiq, who was born in Pakistan and arrived in the UK in 2001, had not been registered by Yorkshire and did not have a British passport, which technically made him an overseas player.
In the match against Nottinghamshire, which Yorkshire won by nine wickets to qualify for the quarter-
finals, Rafiq bowled two overs and did not bat. There were suggestions last night that comments made by Darren Gough, the Yorkshire captain, on his BBC Radio 5 Live show on Thursday alerted the ECB to the issue of Rafiq's eligibility.
David Collier, the ECB chief executive, defended the decision to call off the game. “Clearly it's not ideal when these situations occur on the day of a major match,” he said. “The worst would have been just to ignore it and let the game go ahead with the knowledge that it may have to be replayed.”
An ECB disciplinary panel will meet on Thursday. They could order a replay of the match or throw Yorkshire out of the competition.
posted by Happo at
8:01 PM
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The Times best ever Summer books list
MICHAEL GOVE WAS QUITE RIGHT, in his Times column this week, when he suggested that you should ignore all the newspaper recommendations for summer reading. Well, he was right in every respect but one: except ours, right here.
Gove remarked, correctly, that most beach read round-ups follow fashion as slavishly as the Primark hordes - it's not what you really want to read but what you should be seen reading.
That kind of thing, I'm pleased to say, is not for us here in Books. Like Gove, we decided to ignore the whims of publishers (fond as we are of those good folk) and ask our stellar contributors for something a little different:
Don't tell us the best books for the holidays that have been published this year: tell us, instead, the best books ever to pack in your suitcase. It's only by doing this that we can promise you an unimpeachable selection of absolutely, unequivocally, utterly top-quality reading matter.
Follow our suggestions - whatever your taste, be it biography, fiction, sport or history - and I can guarantee that you won't be disappointed. You won't even damage your back or fall foul of airline weight restrictions - we asked our writers (never mind asked, we told them sternly) to keep their choices to a manageable size. So you can save À la recherche du temps perdu for Christmas.
Asking for choices made with this criteria in mind made me recall some of my own favourite, and sometimes unlikely, summer reads over the years. I recall finding a copy of John Irving's novel A Prayer for Owen Meany at a guesthouse in Thailand: something about the contrast between the setting and the book made me even more enraptured by Irving's tale than I would have been back home, I'm sure.
I revisited my utter misery at summer camp - misery vanquished only by rainy afternoons and the company of Ursula K. Le Guin. The hot New York summer when I first found myself locked in the sea ice of the Antarctic, in company with Roland Huntford's heroic Shackleton.
All great books, of course, are timeless; but readers too often can say that of themselves in quite another way. The days rush by, too crowded to think of turning a page: it's only on holiday when we might have an hour or two to ourselves to disappear into a book. That being the case, there's no point in settling for any less than the best. I wish you all a blissful summer of literary enchantment.
Categories:
Stories, selected by Kate Mosse
Treats, selected by Joanne Harris
Outdoors, selected by Richard Mabey
The Past, selected by Bettany Hughes
The Future, selected by Simon Ings
Laughs, selected by Martin Jarvis
Mysteries, selected by Alexander McCall Smith
Battles, selected by Alan Mallinson
Chillers, selected by Mo Hayder
Lives, selected by Ian Kelly
Sport, selected by Matt Dickinson
Escape, selected by Roty Stewart
Children's books, selected by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Music books, selected by David Hepworth
Audio books, selected by Christina Hardyment
MICHAEL GOVE WAS QUITE RIGHT, in his Times column this week, when he suggested that you should ignore all the newspaper recommendations for summer reading. Well, he was right in every respect but one: except ours, right here.
Gove remarked, correctly, that most beach read round-ups follow fashion as slavishly as the Primark hordes - it's not what you really want to read but what you should be seen reading.
That kind of thing, I'm pleased to say, is not for us here in Books. Like Gove, we decided to ignore the whims of publishers (fond as we are of those good folk) and ask our stellar contributors for something a little different:
Don't tell us the best books for the holidays that have been published this year: tell us, instead, the best books ever to pack in your suitcase. It's only by doing this that we can promise you an unimpeachable selection of absolutely, unequivocally, utterly top-quality reading matter.
Follow our suggestions - whatever your taste, be it biography, fiction, sport or history - and I can guarantee that you won't be disappointed. You won't even damage your back or fall foul of airline weight restrictions - we asked our writers (never mind asked, we told them sternly) to keep their choices to a manageable size. So you can save À la recherche du temps perdu for Christmas.
Asking for choices made with this criteria in mind made me recall some of my own favourite, and sometimes unlikely, summer reads over the years. I recall finding a copy of John Irving's novel A Prayer for Owen Meany at a guesthouse in Thailand: something about the contrast between the setting and the book made me even more enraptured by Irving's tale than I would have been back home, I'm sure.
I revisited my utter misery at summer camp - misery vanquished only by rainy afternoons and the company of Ursula K. Le Guin. The hot New York summer when I first found myself locked in the sea ice of the Antarctic, in company with Roland Huntford's heroic Shackleton.
All great books, of course, are timeless; but readers too often can say that of themselves in quite another way. The days rush by, too crowded to think of turning a page: it's only on holiday when we might have an hour or two to ourselves to disappear into a book. That being the case, there's no point in settling for any less than the best. I wish you all a blissful summer of literary enchantment.
Categories:
Stories, selected by Kate Mosse
Treats, selected by Joanne Harris
Outdoors, selected by Richard Mabey
The Past, selected by Bettany Hughes
The Future, selected by Simon Ings
Laughs, selected by Martin Jarvis
Mysteries, selected by Alexander McCall Smith
Battles, selected by Alan Mallinson
Chillers, selected by Mo Hayder
Lives, selected by Ian Kelly
Sport, selected by Matt Dickinson
Escape, selected by Roty Stewart
Children's books, selected by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Music books, selected by David Hepworth
Audio books, selected by Christina Hardyment
posted by Happo at
7:59 PM
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Porsche 911 Carrera GT2
It takes you to the edge ... and shoves
Porsche GT2
Image :1 of 2
Jeremy Clarkson
Golf is not mysterious. I understand absolutely why someone would play it once . . . and then decide to play it again. It’s not because they have a Rupert Bear fixation or because they dislike the company of women or because they secretly want to be a freemason. No. It’s because they think that if they keep playing, they might get a bit better.
Luckily, I was born with a body that renders me quite incapable of doing anything very well. Which means I never suffer from this.
Chess? I’m rubbish. Tennis? I’m so spectacularly bad, I can only just beat Jimmy Carr. DIY? For me this is simply impossible. Even if I attempt something simple, such as hanging a picture, I end up in casualty, the painting ends up ruined and the wall ends up in the garden.
So when I played golf for the first time, I knew there would never be a second. There would be no point. Even if I played every day for 1,000 years, the ball would still never travel more than 6in. And in all probability I’d end up with a severed jugular vein. That’s what happened when I tried to help my boy make an Airfix model the other day.
* Porsche 911 review
* Porsche 911 GT2 review
* Porsche 911 Carrera 4S review
* Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet review
* Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet review
* Porsche Boxster S review
* Porsche Cayenne review
* Porsche Cayenne Turbo S review
* Porsche Cayman review
* Porsche Cayman S review
* Porsche 911 Cabriolet
* Porsche 911
* Porsche 911 GT3
* Porsche 911 Turbo
* Porsche Boxster
This is a good thing, of course, because it means my life is varied and interesting. I never do the same thing twice whereas someone who has a hobby does exactly the same thing day after interminable day. James May, for instance, enjoys taking old motorcycle engines to pieces and then putting them back together again, as slowly as possible. Consequently, this is all he does.
Chris Tarrant, meanwhile, likes to spend all his free time standing up to his testicles in dirty water trying to outwit a fish; a creature with less brain capacity than a washing machine.
This brings us on to the Porsche 911, a car aimed at people for whom the drive to work every morning is not a chore or a pleasure. It is a pastime, a hobby. Something that can be improved and finessed with practice. Sometimes, I imagine that 911 people go to work, turn round and then go to work again.
People buy Ferraris and Lamborghinis because cars like this effervesce. They fizz and crackle and they’re as much about style and panache as they are about generating G in the bends. A 911, on the other hand, is not about style at all. It’s fishing, with a steering wheel.
When you buy a normal car, you choose the model, choose the engine size you’d like and then add as many extras as you think you can afford. Then a few you can’t.
It is not so simple with a 911. The range is mind boggling. It starts with the simple Carrera, which has no frills, no spoiler on which the RAF could land a jet, no wide wheelarch-es, no turbocharging. You get a simple 3.6 litre, flat six that drives the rear wheels. This, then, is the starting point. My little pony.
If you go for the 3.8 litre S model, it is the best of the 911s. It offers all of the design’s best features with none of the drawbacks, at a reasonable price. But sadly, once you’ve stuck your toe into the world of the 911, pretty soon you are going to be as hooked as a golfer; believing that if you spend more and more on better equipment, your game will improve.
Pretty soon, then, you’re going to be back at the dealership wondering out loud if perhaps you could take the roundabout outside TGI Fridays a little bit faster if you had four-wheel drive. (You can’t.)
Then you’ll start to wonder about the GT3, which is like the simple Carrera S but with scaffolding in the back and a thin back window. Around a track, this is an incredible car. You’ll like that. You’ll start doing track days. And there you’ll be overtaken by people in turbos, so you’ll think that maybe you should have one of those. Pretty soon, you’ll be subscribing to the 911 magazine for enthusiasts. And then all you’ll be able to do, day in and day out, is dream of the day when you can have a GT2. The £131,070 GT2 is Everest. It has the engine from the turbo but with more power and only two-wheel drive. It has scaffolding in the back. It is light. It is, to Mr Porsche-Man, what the very best woods are to the world of pro-am golf.
It is also immensely fast. The 530 horsepowers feel as though they’re coming from a gigantic muscle rather than an engine. So if ever you feel the need to mash that throttle into the carpet, you’d better be ready . . .
Just yesterday, I pulled out to overtake four cars on a normal A road and by the time the manoeuvre was complete, I was doing 165mph. That is not a boast. That is a fact. And if anyone asks, I shall say I was on the Isle of Man.
I then went to the track, where I discovered that the GT2 can lap more quickly than a Ferrari Scuderia. This is astonishing. A Ferrari has nocarpets, an electronic differential, sophisticated traction control, adjustable suspension and a flappy paddle box that can shift gears in 60 milliseconds. The Porsche has none of these things.Just its big muscle and a basic six-speed manual. And yet it was faster.
This alone would be enough to get the hobby-boys chortling into their G and Ts. And there’s more.
The GT2 handles like an old-school 911. Push it hard into a corner with the traction control turned off and you have yards of nasty understeer which, no matter what you do to correct the problem, results in a violent lurch from the rear: 911 fans love this. They reckon that being able to tame this problem makes them men among men. But for me, as a man who can’t do anything properly, it’s a bloody nightmare.
The grip from a GT2 is biblical. In a bend, you can feel the G-forces peeling your muscles from their mountings. But when you exceed the limits – and what’s the point of a car like this if you don’t at least try – you are almost certainly going to spin.
On a road, the problems are even worse – principally it’s all far too firm. Anyone who knows where the A40 blends, in a nice right-hander, onto the M40 just outside Oxford knows about the bump at the apex of the corner. In most cars it’s nothing to worry about. In a GT2, however, you take off and don’t land till you’re in Hil-lingdon. Good for the fuel consumption, I guess. But bad for your nerves.
It was much the same story last night. There’s a crest on a B road near where I live, and in most cars the traction control light flickers as you go over it. The GT2, however, slewed sideways. Suddenly. It was extremely alarming. I may even have wet myself a bit.
And then there’s the tyre roar. The GT2 has giant 325/30 rear tyres and, boy, do they make a racket. Even on a smooth modern motorway you cannot hear yourself think.
I hated this car. Yes, the speed is mesmerising. Epic. But the price is too high. It’s too difficult, too much like hard work and the only rewards if you push it are a series of terrifying and unpredictable lurches.
Think of it as a carbon fibre fishing rod. It will make you look serious and keen among your peers. But one day, you’re going to snag it on an overhead power line. And as you lie in hospital afterwards, with no face and melted feet, you’re going to wish you’d stuck with a bamboo cane and a piece of string.
THE CLARKSOMETER
Clarkson’s Verdict It’s too hot and too hard to handle
Porsche 911 Carrera GT2
Vital statistics
ENGINE 3600cc, six cylinders
POWER 530bhp @ 6500rpm
TORQUE 501 lb ft @ 2200rpm
TRANSMISSION 6 speed manual
FUEL 22.6mpg (combined) CO2 298g/km
PERFORMANCE 0-62mph: 3.7sec
TOP SPEED 204mph PRICE £131,070
ROAD TAX BAND G (£400 a year)
It takes you to the edge ... and shoves
Porsche GT2
Image :1 of 2
Jeremy Clarkson
Golf is not mysterious. I understand absolutely why someone would play it once . . . and then decide to play it again. It’s not because they have a Rupert Bear fixation or because they dislike the company of women or because they secretly want to be a freemason. No. It’s because they think that if they keep playing, they might get a bit better.
Luckily, I was born with a body that renders me quite incapable of doing anything very well. Which means I never suffer from this.
Chess? I’m rubbish. Tennis? I’m so spectacularly bad, I can only just beat Jimmy Carr. DIY? For me this is simply impossible. Even if I attempt something simple, such as hanging a picture, I end up in casualty, the painting ends up ruined and the wall ends up in the garden.
So when I played golf for the first time, I knew there would never be a second. There would be no point. Even if I played every day for 1,000 years, the ball would still never travel more than 6in. And in all probability I’d end up with a severed jugular vein. That’s what happened when I tried to help my boy make an Airfix model the other day.
* Porsche 911 review
* Porsche 911 GT2 review
* Porsche 911 Carrera 4S review
* Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet review
* Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet review
* Porsche Boxster S review
* Porsche Cayenne review
* Porsche Cayenne Turbo S review
* Porsche Cayman review
* Porsche Cayman S review
* Porsche 911 Cabriolet
* Porsche 911
* Porsche 911 GT3
* Porsche 911 Turbo
* Porsche Boxster
This is a good thing, of course, because it means my life is varied and interesting. I never do the same thing twice whereas someone who has a hobby does exactly the same thing day after interminable day. James May, for instance, enjoys taking old motorcycle engines to pieces and then putting them back together again, as slowly as possible. Consequently, this is all he does.
Chris Tarrant, meanwhile, likes to spend all his free time standing up to his testicles in dirty water trying to outwit a fish; a creature with less brain capacity than a washing machine.
This brings us on to the Porsche 911, a car aimed at people for whom the drive to work every morning is not a chore or a pleasure. It is a pastime, a hobby. Something that can be improved and finessed with practice. Sometimes, I imagine that 911 people go to work, turn round and then go to work again.
People buy Ferraris and Lamborghinis because cars like this effervesce. They fizz and crackle and they’re as much about style and panache as they are about generating G in the bends. A 911, on the other hand, is not about style at all. It’s fishing, with a steering wheel.
When you buy a normal car, you choose the model, choose the engine size you’d like and then add as many extras as you think you can afford. Then a few you can’t.
It is not so simple with a 911. The range is mind boggling. It starts with the simple Carrera, which has no frills, no spoiler on which the RAF could land a jet, no wide wheelarch-es, no turbocharging. You get a simple 3.6 litre, flat six that drives the rear wheels. This, then, is the starting point. My little pony.
If you go for the 3.8 litre S model, it is the best of the 911s. It offers all of the design’s best features with none of the drawbacks, at a reasonable price. But sadly, once you’ve stuck your toe into the world of the 911, pretty soon you are going to be as hooked as a golfer; believing that if you spend more and more on better equipment, your game will improve.
Pretty soon, then, you’re going to be back at the dealership wondering out loud if perhaps you could take the roundabout outside TGI Fridays a little bit faster if you had four-wheel drive. (You can’t.)
Then you’ll start to wonder about the GT3, which is like the simple Carrera S but with scaffolding in the back and a thin back window. Around a track, this is an incredible car. You’ll like that. You’ll start doing track days. And there you’ll be overtaken by people in turbos, so you’ll think that maybe you should have one of those. Pretty soon, you’ll be subscribing to the 911 magazine for enthusiasts. And then all you’ll be able to do, day in and day out, is dream of the day when you can have a GT2. The £131,070 GT2 is Everest. It has the engine from the turbo but with more power and only two-wheel drive. It has scaffolding in the back. It is light. It is, to Mr Porsche-Man, what the very best woods are to the world of pro-am golf.
It is also immensely fast. The 530 horsepowers feel as though they’re coming from a gigantic muscle rather than an engine. So if ever you feel the need to mash that throttle into the carpet, you’d better be ready . . .
Just yesterday, I pulled out to overtake four cars on a normal A road and by the time the manoeuvre was complete, I was doing 165mph. That is not a boast. That is a fact. And if anyone asks, I shall say I was on the Isle of Man.
I then went to the track, where I discovered that the GT2 can lap more quickly than a Ferrari Scuderia. This is astonishing. A Ferrari has nocarpets, an electronic differential, sophisticated traction control, adjustable suspension and a flappy paddle box that can shift gears in 60 milliseconds. The Porsche has none of these things.Just its big muscle and a basic six-speed manual. And yet it was faster.
This alone would be enough to get the hobby-boys chortling into their G and Ts. And there’s more.
The GT2 handles like an old-school 911. Push it hard into a corner with the traction control turned off and you have yards of nasty understeer which, no matter what you do to correct the problem, results in a violent lurch from the rear: 911 fans love this. They reckon that being able to tame this problem makes them men among men. But for me, as a man who can’t do anything properly, it’s a bloody nightmare.
The grip from a GT2 is biblical. In a bend, you can feel the G-forces peeling your muscles from their mountings. But when you exceed the limits – and what’s the point of a car like this if you don’t at least try – you are almost certainly going to spin.
On a road, the problems are even worse – principally it’s all far too firm. Anyone who knows where the A40 blends, in a nice right-hander, onto the M40 just outside Oxford knows about the bump at the apex of the corner. In most cars it’s nothing to worry about. In a GT2, however, you take off and don’t land till you’re in Hil-lingdon. Good for the fuel consumption, I guess. But bad for your nerves.
It was much the same story last night. There’s a crest on a B road near where I live, and in most cars the traction control light flickers as you go over it. The GT2, however, slewed sideways. Suddenly. It was extremely alarming. I may even have wet myself a bit.
And then there’s the tyre roar. The GT2 has giant 325/30 rear tyres and, boy, do they make a racket. Even on a smooth modern motorway you cannot hear yourself think.
I hated this car. Yes, the speed is mesmerising. Epic. But the price is too high. It’s too difficult, too much like hard work and the only rewards if you push it are a series of terrifying and unpredictable lurches.
Think of it as a carbon fibre fishing rod. It will make you look serious and keen among your peers. But one day, you’re going to snag it on an overhead power line. And as you lie in hospital afterwards, with no face and melted feet, you’re going to wish you’d stuck with a bamboo cane and a piece of string.
THE CLARKSOMETER
Clarkson’s Verdict It’s too hot and too hard to handle
Porsche 911 Carrera GT2
Vital statistics
ENGINE 3600cc, six cylinders
POWER 530bhp @ 6500rpm
TORQUE 501 lb ft @ 2200rpm
TRANSMISSION 6 speed manual
FUEL 22.6mpg (combined) CO2 298g/km
PERFORMANCE 0-62mph: 3.7sec
TOP SPEED 204mph PRICE £131,070
ROAD TAX BAND G (£400 a year)
posted by Happo at
7:59 PM
0 Comments
G8: Africa will suffer if Robert Mugabe stays in power
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
(Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images)
African leaders at the G8 summit are under increasing pressure to act
Image :1 of 2
Philip Webster and Richard Lloyd Parry, Lake Toya, Japan
World leaders are expected to threaten tougher sanctions against Zimbabwe today unless African nations take a stronger role in negotiations to remove President Mugabe.
The G8 told seven African leaders yesterday that unless they acted to deal with the “illegitimate” President, trade and investment on the continent could be hit, officials disclosed.
President Mbeki of South Africa had an uncomfortable time during the session as several leaders, including President Bush, expressed dissatisfaction at his failure to bring Mr Mugabe to book. Mr Bush called last month’s election a sham and Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, said that she would back more sanctions.
Gordon Brown told reporters: “There is growing support for sanctions against the Mugabe regime being stepped up.”
Mr Bush said that Zimbabwe was discussed extensively at the meeting but, according to President Kikwete of Tanzania, African leaders and the G8 differed over how to respond to the crisis.
“The only area that we may differ is on the way forward,” Mr Kikwete, who is also head of the African Union, said.
“You see differently but for us in Africa we see differently, but I think again there is still room for us for discussions.”
Calling again for a unity government in Zimbabwe, he added: “I want to assure you that the concerns that you have expressed are indeed the concerns of many of us in the African continent.”
His words masked deep divisions in yesterday's meeting and growing frustration among Western governments, including the British, at the role played by Mr Mbeki.
Mr Brown hopes that the G8 will today call for tougher UN and EU sanctions and will back his call for a UN envoy to go to Zimbabwe.
Mr Mugabe was the only candidate in the run-off election after Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, pulled out because of state-sponsored violence against his supporters.
British officials came close last night to saying that Mr Mugabe should go, insisting that his election was not legitimate and pointing to the first poll in which the MDC leader finished ahead.
In an attempt to show his continued leadership in regard to Zimbabwe, Mr Mbeki flew to Harare at the weekend for a meeting between Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai. Mr Tsvangirai boycotted the meeting, saying that Mr Mbeki could no longer be trusted and that a new mediation mechanism was needed to tackle the crisis in his country. British officials believe Mr Tsvangirai's refusal to meet with Mr Mbeki shows that the South African President is no longer the appropriate mediator between the two sides.
The United States also highlighted the divergent views on Zimbabwe. "There were differences. It is fair to say that, you know, not all African leaders are in a position to support sanctions at this time,” Dan Price, presidential assistant for international economic affairs, said.
Dana Perino, spokesman for the White House, said that there was discussion among some African leaders about a power-sharing agreement for Zimbabwe and how it would be composed.
Asked how the White House would view a such a deal, Ms Perino said: “We’re waiting to see what it would look like.”
It appeared, however, that the patience of the G8 was running out.
A Canadian official quoted G8 leaders as telling their African counterparts: “The Mugabe regime is an illegitimate regime and it should not be tolerated. A number of G8 leaders drew attention to the fact that if Africa were to develop, more than just official development assistance was needed. It required trade, it required investment, and the image of Africa was suffering because of what was going on in Zimbabwe.”
An African Union summit issued a resolution last week calling for talks leading to a national unity government in Zimbabwe.But despite heightened African criticism, Mr Mugabe, who attended the AU summit, seemed unchastened.
Mrs Merkel said she was willing to ramp up pressure on Mr Mugabe, while José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission President, urged a quick solution.
"I have made very clear that I see the presidential election as illegitimate,” Mrs Merkel said. "I do not rule out further sanctions against Zimbabwe.”
Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission President, urged a quick solution. “There was an especially frank discussion underlining the damage that the current situation in Zimbabwe is making to the overall image of Africa and the need to find a quick solution for that very appalling and dramatic situation,” he said.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
(Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images)
African leaders at the G8 summit are under increasing pressure to act
Image :1 of 2
Philip Webster and Richard Lloyd Parry, Lake Toya, Japan
World leaders are expected to threaten tougher sanctions against Zimbabwe today unless African nations take a stronger role in negotiations to remove President Mugabe.
The G8 told seven African leaders yesterday that unless they acted to deal with the “illegitimate” President, trade and investment on the continent could be hit, officials disclosed.
President Mbeki of South Africa had an uncomfortable time during the session as several leaders, including President Bush, expressed dissatisfaction at his failure to bring Mr Mugabe to book. Mr Bush called last month’s election a sham and Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, said that she would back more sanctions.
Gordon Brown told reporters: “There is growing support for sanctions against the Mugabe regime being stepped up.”
Mr Bush said that Zimbabwe was discussed extensively at the meeting but, according to President Kikwete of Tanzania, African leaders and the G8 differed over how to respond to the crisis.
“The only area that we may differ is on the way forward,” Mr Kikwete, who is also head of the African Union, said.
“You see differently but for us in Africa we see differently, but I think again there is still room for us for discussions.”
Calling again for a unity government in Zimbabwe, he added: “I want to assure you that the concerns that you have expressed are indeed the concerns of many of us in the African continent.”
His words masked deep divisions in yesterday's meeting and growing frustration among Western governments, including the British, at the role played by Mr Mbeki.
Mr Brown hopes that the G8 will today call for tougher UN and EU sanctions and will back his call for a UN envoy to go to Zimbabwe.
Mr Mugabe was the only candidate in the run-off election after Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, pulled out because of state-sponsored violence against his supporters.
British officials came close last night to saying that Mr Mugabe should go, insisting that his election was not legitimate and pointing to the first poll in which the MDC leader finished ahead.
In an attempt to show his continued leadership in regard to Zimbabwe, Mr Mbeki flew to Harare at the weekend for a meeting between Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai. Mr Tsvangirai boycotted the meeting, saying that Mr Mbeki could no longer be trusted and that a new mediation mechanism was needed to tackle the crisis in his country. British officials believe Mr Tsvangirai's refusal to meet with Mr Mbeki shows that the South African President is no longer the appropriate mediator between the two sides.
The United States also highlighted the divergent views on Zimbabwe. "There were differences. It is fair to say that, you know, not all African leaders are in a position to support sanctions at this time,” Dan Price, presidential assistant for international economic affairs, said.
Dana Perino, spokesman for the White House, said that there was discussion among some African leaders about a power-sharing agreement for Zimbabwe and how it would be composed.
Asked how the White House would view a such a deal, Ms Perino said: “We’re waiting to see what it would look like.”
It appeared, however, that the patience of the G8 was running out.
A Canadian official quoted G8 leaders as telling their African counterparts: “The Mugabe regime is an illegitimate regime and it should not be tolerated. A number of G8 leaders drew attention to the fact that if Africa were to develop, more than just official development assistance was needed. It required trade, it required investment, and the image of Africa was suffering because of what was going on in Zimbabwe.”
An African Union summit issued a resolution last week calling for talks leading to a national unity government in Zimbabwe.But despite heightened African criticism, Mr Mugabe, who attended the AU summit, seemed unchastened.
Mrs Merkel said she was willing to ramp up pressure on Mr Mugabe, while José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission President, urged a quick solution.
"I have made very clear that I see the presidential election as illegitimate,” Mrs Merkel said. "I do not rule out further sanctions against Zimbabwe.”
Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission President, urged a quick solution. “There was an especially frank discussion underlining the damage that the current situation in Zimbabwe is making to the overall image of Africa and the need to find a quick solution for that very appalling and dramatic situation,” he said.
posted by Happo at
7:58 PM
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Simon Mann sentenced to 34 years for Equatorial Guinea coup plot
British mercenary Simon Mann
(Rodrigo Angue Nguema/AFP/Getty Images)
British mercenary Simon Mann (1stRowR) sits with co-accused of Equatorial Guinea are pictured on July 7, 2008 at Malabos courthouse. Mann was sentenced on July 7 by Malabo court to 34 years and four months in prison for leading an abortive coup in Equatorial Guinea.
Martin Fletcher
Simon Mann, the Old Etonian mercenary, was sentenced last night to 34 years in one of Africa’s most infamous prisons for attempting to oust the President of Equatorial Guinea in a 2004 coup.
The former SAS officer did not flinch as the sentence was delivered, although it was even longer than the 31 years requested by the prosecution at his five-day trial last month. He was also fined the equivalent of £119,000.
Mann, 56, will serve his sentence in Black Beach prison in the Equatoguinean capital of Malabo, and will almost certainly die there if he has to serve it all. He has already served nearly four years in Zimbabwe’s equally notorious Chikurubi prison.
Mann apologised during his trial and admitted his guilt but Carlos Mangue, head of the three-judge panel, said that he had failed to show sufficient regret.
Mr Mangue also ordered José Olo Obano, the Equatoguinean Attorney-General, to bring Sir Mark Thatcher and the reclusive London tycoon Ely Calil to justice. Mann alleged in his testimony that Mr Calil was the plot’s mastermind and chief financier, something that Mr Calil has always denied. He said that Sir Mark was part of the “management team” and not the “unwitting” financier, as the former Prime Minister’s son has claimed.
Another defendant sentenced yesterday, Mohamed Salaam, a Lebanese businessman, received a jail term of 18 years, while four Equatoguineans were given terms of six years each.
Mann led a group of more than 60 predominantly South African mercenaries that was planning to seize control of the West African state by replacing President Teodoro Obiang Nguemo with Severo Moto, an exiled opposition leader living in Madrid.
The coup failed when the Zimbabwean authorities arrested Mann and his soldiers of fortune after they landed at Harare airport in March 2004.
When he was released from Chikurubi in January, Mann was spirited across Africa to Malabo - the Equatoguineans having presumably bribed President Mugabe’s regime with oil.
The mercenaries’ plan was lamentably executed, but not totally hare-brained. Had Mann’s team caught Mr Obiang’s guards by surprise he would now be kingpin in Malabo. Instead, he is to live in a prison renowned for its brutality and barbarity, away from his wife and seven children, the youngest of whom he has never met.
Mann was a man who had everything, a scion of the Mann brewing family, son and grandson of England cricket captains, a member of White’s and owner of a 20-acre Hampshire estate. He had been to Eton and Sandhurst, and served in Northern Ireland and the Gulf War with the Royal Scots Guards and SAS.
It would be nice to think that his motive was to help Equatorial Guinea’s wretched natives.
British mercenary Simon Mann
(Rodrigo Angue Nguema/AFP/Getty Images)
British mercenary Simon Mann (1stRowR) sits with co-accused of Equatorial Guinea are pictured on July 7, 2008 at Malabos courthouse. Mann was sentenced on July 7 by Malabo court to 34 years and four months in prison for leading an abortive coup in Equatorial Guinea.
Martin Fletcher
Simon Mann, the Old Etonian mercenary, was sentenced last night to 34 years in one of Africa’s most infamous prisons for attempting to oust the President of Equatorial Guinea in a 2004 coup.
The former SAS officer did not flinch as the sentence was delivered, although it was even longer than the 31 years requested by the prosecution at his five-day trial last month. He was also fined the equivalent of £119,000.
Mann, 56, will serve his sentence in Black Beach prison in the Equatoguinean capital of Malabo, and will almost certainly die there if he has to serve it all. He has already served nearly four years in Zimbabwe’s equally notorious Chikurubi prison.
Mann apologised during his trial and admitted his guilt but Carlos Mangue, head of the three-judge panel, said that he had failed to show sufficient regret.
Mr Mangue also ordered José Olo Obano, the Equatoguinean Attorney-General, to bring Sir Mark Thatcher and the reclusive London tycoon Ely Calil to justice. Mann alleged in his testimony that Mr Calil was the plot’s mastermind and chief financier, something that Mr Calil has always denied. He said that Sir Mark was part of the “management team” and not the “unwitting” financier, as the former Prime Minister’s son has claimed.
Another defendant sentenced yesterday, Mohamed Salaam, a Lebanese businessman, received a jail term of 18 years, while four Equatoguineans were given terms of six years each.
Mann led a group of more than 60 predominantly South African mercenaries that was planning to seize control of the West African state by replacing President Teodoro Obiang Nguemo with Severo Moto, an exiled opposition leader living in Madrid.
The coup failed when the Zimbabwean authorities arrested Mann and his soldiers of fortune after they landed at Harare airport in March 2004.
When he was released from Chikurubi in January, Mann was spirited across Africa to Malabo - the Equatoguineans having presumably bribed President Mugabe’s regime with oil.
The mercenaries’ plan was lamentably executed, but not totally hare-brained. Had Mann’s team caught Mr Obiang’s guards by surprise he would now be kingpin in Malabo. Instead, he is to live in a prison renowned for its brutality and barbarity, away from his wife and seven children, the youngest of whom he has never met.
Mann was a man who had everything, a scion of the Mann brewing family, son and grandson of England cricket captains, a member of White’s and owner of a 20-acre Hampshire estate. He had been to Eton and Sandhurst, and served in Northern Ireland and the Gulf War with the Royal Scots Guards and SAS.
It would be nice to think that his motive was to help Equatorial Guinea’s wretched natives.
posted by Happo at
7:57 PM
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Madonna blamed in Alex 'A-Rod' Rodriguez divorce case
Madonna and Guy Ritchie
Madonna has denied rumours she plans to divorce Guy Ritchie
Image :1 of 2
James Bone in New York
The wife of baseball's highest-paid star filed for divorce today, blaming his "soul mate" Madonna for the collapse of her marriage.
Alex Rodriguez's wife Cynthia claimed in court papers that the $275 million New York Yankees player had been unfaithful and "emotionally abandoned his wife and children".
"The marriage of the parties is irretrievably broken because of the husband's extramarital affairs and other marital misconduct," her divorce petition said.
The divorce battle landed in court in Miami just days after it was reported that Rodriguez was paying late night visits to Madonna's New York flat.
A lawyer for Mrs Rodriguez said her husband's relationship with "The Material Girl" was "the straw that broke the camel's back".
Friends say the baseballer has been "brainwashed" by the pop star's mystical Kabbalah religion.
"This all started with Kaballah," one friend told the New York Daily News. "Alex told Cynthia that he'd discovered that he'd been looking for his soul mate. And now, he said, he'd found her."
The friend said Mrs Rodriguez had found a letter in which her husband told Madonna: "You are my true soul mate."
Madonna is herself battling reports of trouble in her marriage to "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" director Guy Ritchie.
Her brother Christopher Ciccone will reportedly claim in a new tell-all book that her seven-year marriage is only held together by a trusted rabbi who makes house calls to act as counsellor.
Nevertheless, Madonna, 49, and Ritchie, 39, attended Kabbalah services together in New York on Saturday.
The singer later took the unusual step of issuing a statement to people.com to deny she was romantically involved with Rodriguez, nicknamed "A-Rod".
"My husband and I are not planning on getting a divorce," Madonna said. "I know Alex Rodriguez through Guy Oseary, who manages both of us. I brought my kids to a Yankee game. I am not romantically involved in any way with Alex Rodriguez. I have nothing to do with the state of his marriage or what spiritual path he may choose to study."
As news of the break-up hit the tabloids in New York, Mrs Rodriguez fled the media frenzy to the Paris mansion of rocker Lenny Kravitz.
Mr Kravitz issued his own statement denying he was part of any love quadrangle.
"There is absolutely no affair between Cynthia Rodriguez and myself," he said. "It is unequivocally 100-per-cent not true. Cynthia is friend and is here (in Paris) with the godfather of her baby, who is also Alex's trainer, his wife and their baby girl. She came here to escape from everything happening in New York City. I opened my home to her as friend and it's extremely hurtful that I am now being referred to as an adulterer."
Rodriguez became the highest-paid player in baseball last year when he signed a 10-year deal worth $275 million with the Yankees.
He recently equalled the 536 home run mark set by Yankees icon Mickey Mantle, putting him in 13th place on the all-time home run rankings.
Rodriguez, 32, married Cynthia, 35, in 2002 and they have two children - Natasha, 3, and Ella, 3 months.
Their marriage hit the headlines last year when A-Rod was photographed entering a Toronto strip club with an exotic dancer, earning him the nickname "Stray-Rod."
Friends of Mrs Rodriguez say A-Rod announced the marriage was over just three weeks after the birth of their second child.
The Rodriguezes have been living in a $12 million home in the Miami suburb of Coral Gables and A-Rod also has a $7.4 million flat in New York's Trump Park Avenue.
Mrs Rodriguez wants to keep the Coral Gables house and is asking for primary custody of their two children, as well as child support and alimony. The couple signed a prenuptial agreement, but she is reserving the right to argue it is invalid.
Madonna and Guy Ritchie
Madonna has denied rumours she plans to divorce Guy Ritchie
Image :1 of 2
James Bone in New York
The wife of baseball's highest-paid star filed for divorce today, blaming his "soul mate" Madonna for the collapse of her marriage.
Alex Rodriguez's wife Cynthia claimed in court papers that the $275 million New York Yankees player had been unfaithful and "emotionally abandoned his wife and children".
"The marriage of the parties is irretrievably broken because of the husband's extramarital affairs and other marital misconduct," her divorce petition said.
The divorce battle landed in court in Miami just days after it was reported that Rodriguez was paying late night visits to Madonna's New York flat.
A lawyer for Mrs Rodriguez said her husband's relationship with "The Material Girl" was "the straw that broke the camel's back".
Friends say the baseballer has been "brainwashed" by the pop star's mystical Kabbalah religion.
"This all started with Kaballah," one friend told the New York Daily News. "Alex told Cynthia that he'd discovered that he'd been looking for his soul mate. And now, he said, he'd found her."
The friend said Mrs Rodriguez had found a letter in which her husband told Madonna: "You are my true soul mate."
Madonna is herself battling reports of trouble in her marriage to "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" director Guy Ritchie.
Her brother Christopher Ciccone will reportedly claim in a new tell-all book that her seven-year marriage is only held together by a trusted rabbi who makes house calls to act as counsellor.
Nevertheless, Madonna, 49, and Ritchie, 39, attended Kabbalah services together in New York on Saturday.
The singer later took the unusual step of issuing a statement to people.com to deny she was romantically involved with Rodriguez, nicknamed "A-Rod".
"My husband and I are not planning on getting a divorce," Madonna said. "I know Alex Rodriguez through Guy Oseary, who manages both of us. I brought my kids to a Yankee game. I am not romantically involved in any way with Alex Rodriguez. I have nothing to do with the state of his marriage or what spiritual path he may choose to study."
As news of the break-up hit the tabloids in New York, Mrs Rodriguez fled the media frenzy to the Paris mansion of rocker Lenny Kravitz.
Mr Kravitz issued his own statement denying he was part of any love quadrangle.
"There is absolutely no affair between Cynthia Rodriguez and myself," he said. "It is unequivocally 100-per-cent not true. Cynthia is friend and is here (in Paris) with the godfather of her baby, who is also Alex's trainer, his wife and their baby girl. She came here to escape from everything happening in New York City. I opened my home to her as friend and it's extremely hurtful that I am now being referred to as an adulterer."
Rodriguez became the highest-paid player in baseball last year when he signed a 10-year deal worth $275 million with the Yankees.
He recently equalled the 536 home run mark set by Yankees icon Mickey Mantle, putting him in 13th place on the all-time home run rankings.
Rodriguez, 32, married Cynthia, 35, in 2002 and they have two children - Natasha, 3, and Ella, 3 months.
Their marriage hit the headlines last year when A-Rod was photographed entering a Toronto strip club with an exotic dancer, earning him the nickname "Stray-Rod."
Friends of Mrs Rodriguez say A-Rod announced the marriage was over just three weeks after the birth of their second child.
The Rodriguezes have been living in a $12 million home in the Miami suburb of Coral Gables and A-Rod also has a $7.4 million flat in New York's Trump Park Avenue.
Mrs Rodriguez wants to keep the Coral Gables house and is asking for primary custody of their two children, as well as child support and alimony. The couple signed a prenuptial agreement, but she is reserving the right to argue it is invalid.
posted by Happo at
7:56 PM
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David Cameron tells the fat and the poor: take responsibility
David Cameron
(Danny Lawson/PA)
The Conservatives retain a commanding 13 point lead over Labour
Francis Elliott, Peter Riddell, Lorraine Davidson and Sam Coates
David Cameron declared yesterday that some people who are poor, fat or addicted to alcohol or drugs have only themselves to blame.
He said that society had been too sensitive in failing to judge the behaviour of others as good or bad, right or wrong, and that it was time for him to speak out against “moral neutrality”.
In a conscious shift of strategy, the Tory leader said he would not shirk from discussing public morality and claimed that social problems were often the consequence of individuals’ choices. “We talk about people being ‘at risk of obesity’ instead of talking about people who eat too much and take too little exercise,” he said. “We talk about people being at risk of poverty, or social exclusion: it’s as if these things — obesity, alcohol abuse, drug addiction — are purely external events like a plague or bad weather.
“Of course, circumstances — where you are born, your neighbourhood, your school and the choices your parents make — have a huge impact. But social problems are often the consequence of the choices people make.”
The Conservatives retain a commanding lead over Labour — 13 points — according to the latest Times poll.Mr Cameron travelled to Glasgow — a city that he said had inspired his party’s crusade for social justice — to make his boldest appeal yet on restoring personal responsibility.
Ending an era in which politicians have fought shy of judging personal behaviour, he blamed such sensitivity for eroding responsibility over decades.
Mr Cameron attacked the notion that public figures should refuse to use concepts such as right and wrong and, signalling a harder edge to Tory policy making in the months to come, declared he would criticise people who brought misfortune on themselves.
He sought to pre-empt comparisons with John Major’s “back-to-basics” speech, when the former Prime Minister called for a return to traditional values but was portrayed as embarking on a disastrous moral crusade. Speaking of politicians, Mr Cameron said: “Our relationships crack up, our marriages break down, we fail as parents and as citizens just like everyone else. But if the result of this is a stultifying silence about things that really matter, we redouble the failure.”
Aides said that Mr Cameron’s speech was a deliberate toughening of his stance at a time of acute concern over issues such as knife crime. The Tory leader was seeking a mandate to take tough action against those making the wrong choices, they said.
The Conservatives have already unveiled a package of radical welfare reform to strip the workshy of benefits. Mr Cameron backed up his rhetoric yesterday with a commitment to jail anyone convicted of a knife crime.
Some charities expressed concern at the prospect of returning to a more judgmental society. Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, said: “It is always positive to talk around individuals taking responsibility for their actions as long as we accept there also has to be support to help them. Berating individuals because they are in a situation through no fault of their own is not helpful.”
Hugh Thornbury, strategic director of the children’s charity NCH, said: “It’s fine for politicians to judge, but one does need to see the behaviour he’s talking about.”
In the latest Times poll, published today, the Conservatives have suffered a fall over the past month, but retain a commanding lead. They are now on 41 per cent, down four points. Only one of the last 21 published polls, going back to April, has put them below 40 per cent. Labour has gained three points since early June to 28 per cent.
But Mr Cameron enjoys a substantial lead over Gordon Brown in the personal ratings of being strong, a winner and being up to the job of prime minister. Similarly, the Tories have increased their advantage as the best party on key issues, such as managing the economy, crime and taxation.
Mr Cameron’s speech came during a campaign visit to Glasgow East, where Labour is defending its thirdsafest seat in Scotland in a difficult by-election this month.
Labour spent the first weekend of the fight without a candidate after the Glasgow councillor lined up to contest the seat withdrew. Senior party figures were forced to embark on a desperate search for an alternative after George Ryan pulled out.
Margaret Curran, a former minister in the Scottish Parliament, was finally persuaded to stand and last night won the official backing of the local party at a selection meeting.
However, she will face questions at Labour’s campaign launch, amid suggestions that she plans to stay on as an MSP until 2010 even if she is elected to Westminster.
She is likely to be forced to fend off accusations of hypocrisy after she criticised Alex Salmond for retaining his Westminster seat until the next general election despite being elected to Holyrood last year.
The First Minister of Scotland predicted a “political earthquake” in the Glasgow East by-election. The SNP leader made his forecast as he launched his party’s campaign. The Nationalists will need a 22 per cent swing to overturn Labour’s majority of 13,507.
David Cameron
(Danny Lawson/PA)
The Conservatives retain a commanding 13 point lead over Labour
Francis Elliott, Peter Riddell, Lorraine Davidson and Sam Coates
David Cameron declared yesterday that some people who are poor, fat or addicted to alcohol or drugs have only themselves to blame.
He said that society had been too sensitive in failing to judge the behaviour of others as good or bad, right or wrong, and that it was time for him to speak out against “moral neutrality”.
In a conscious shift of strategy, the Tory leader said he would not shirk from discussing public morality and claimed that social problems were often the consequence of individuals’ choices. “We talk about people being ‘at risk of obesity’ instead of talking about people who eat too much and take too little exercise,” he said. “We talk about people being at risk of poverty, or social exclusion: it’s as if these things — obesity, alcohol abuse, drug addiction — are purely external events like a plague or bad weather.
“Of course, circumstances — where you are born, your neighbourhood, your school and the choices your parents make — have a huge impact. But social problems are often the consequence of the choices people make.”
The Conservatives retain a commanding lead over Labour — 13 points — according to the latest Times poll.Mr Cameron travelled to Glasgow — a city that he said had inspired his party’s crusade for social justice — to make his boldest appeal yet on restoring personal responsibility.
Ending an era in which politicians have fought shy of judging personal behaviour, he blamed such sensitivity for eroding responsibility over decades.
Mr Cameron attacked the notion that public figures should refuse to use concepts such as right and wrong and, signalling a harder edge to Tory policy making in the months to come, declared he would criticise people who brought misfortune on themselves.
He sought to pre-empt comparisons with John Major’s “back-to-basics” speech, when the former Prime Minister called for a return to traditional values but was portrayed as embarking on a disastrous moral crusade. Speaking of politicians, Mr Cameron said: “Our relationships crack up, our marriages break down, we fail as parents and as citizens just like everyone else. But if the result of this is a stultifying silence about things that really matter, we redouble the failure.”
Aides said that Mr Cameron’s speech was a deliberate toughening of his stance at a time of acute concern over issues such as knife crime. The Tory leader was seeking a mandate to take tough action against those making the wrong choices, they said.
The Conservatives have already unveiled a package of radical welfare reform to strip the workshy of benefits. Mr Cameron backed up his rhetoric yesterday with a commitment to jail anyone convicted of a knife crime.
Some charities expressed concern at the prospect of returning to a more judgmental society. Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, said: “It is always positive to talk around individuals taking responsibility for their actions as long as we accept there also has to be support to help them. Berating individuals because they are in a situation through no fault of their own is not helpful.”
Hugh Thornbury, strategic director of the children’s charity NCH, said: “It’s fine for politicians to judge, but one does need to see the behaviour he’s talking about.”
In the latest Times poll, published today, the Conservatives have suffered a fall over the past month, but retain a commanding lead. They are now on 41 per cent, down four points. Only one of the last 21 published polls, going back to April, has put them below 40 per cent. Labour has gained three points since early June to 28 per cent.
But Mr Cameron enjoys a substantial lead over Gordon Brown in the personal ratings of being strong, a winner and being up to the job of prime minister. Similarly, the Tories have increased their advantage as the best party on key issues, such as managing the economy, crime and taxation.
Mr Cameron’s speech came during a campaign visit to Glasgow East, where Labour is defending its thirdsafest seat in Scotland in a difficult by-election this month.
Labour spent the first weekend of the fight without a candidate after the Glasgow councillor lined up to contest the seat withdrew. Senior party figures were forced to embark on a desperate search for an alternative after George Ryan pulled out.
Margaret Curran, a former minister in the Scottish Parliament, was finally persuaded to stand and last night won the official backing of the local party at a selection meeting.
However, she will face questions at Labour’s campaign launch, amid suggestions that she plans to stay on as an MSP until 2010 even if she is elected to Westminster.
She is likely to be forced to fend off accusations of hypocrisy after she criticised Alex Salmond for retaining his Westminster seat until the next general election despite being elected to Holyrood last year.
The First Minister of Scotland predicted a “political earthquake” in the Glasgow East by-election. The SNP leader made his forecast as he launched his party’s campaign. The Nationalists will need a 22 per cent swing to overturn Labour’s majority of 13,507.
posted by Happo at
7:55 PM
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Sunday, July 6, 2008
Ingrid Betancourt is to return to Colombia shortly to begin work on a play about her harrowing experience being held for six years in the jungle by Marxist rebels.
After receiving a heroine’s reception in France, where she became a cause celebre during her long ordeal, Ms Betancourt told Le Journal du Dimanche: "I shall return to Colombia in a few days. Meanwhile I want to see France, all of France. But I also want to be alone with my children ... I want to give this time to my family, to the father of my children whom I adore, who fought an extraordinary fight for me."
Asked whether she would write a book about her experience, the French-Colombian politician surprised everyone by saying: "I'll write a play."
Despite suffering from ill-health during her captivity, Ms Betancourt got a clean bill of health from doctors examining her for the first time since the operation to rescue her and 14 other hostages from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).
"The doctors showered me with good news,” she said after tests at the Val-de-Grace hospital in Paris. “I have had a number of concerns all these years. Now, I'm completely happy."
She said she was "very, very surprised" not to have any physical side-effects after more than six years of captivity.
Doctors have warned of the severe psychological problems that former hostages can suffer. The initial euphoria of freedom, they say, can be followed by long-lasting depression and a lack of self-confidence.
This weekend, Ms Betancourt told how she had already suffered a moment of “dread” in her Paris hotel on Friday night when her son inadvertently turned off the bathroom lights.
"I found myself in the bathroom, without any light, in the pitch black, and I lost track of where I was. I had this dread and told myself 'my God, they're back. The Farc have returned.' I was in a nightmare," she said.
Responding to recent claims by Swiss radio and some French newspapers, Ms Betancourt said she did not believe a ransom had been paid for her freedom or any of the other 14 hostages.
"Enrique", her jailer at the time of her capture, was a man "of special cruelty," she said, recalling his look of horror when he realised he had been tricked into placing his most valuable hostages aboard an army helicopter.
"When I saw him on the ground with his hands and feet tied and his eyes blindfolded, the expression on his face, on his mouth, it was not of someone who had been bought. He was mortified," she said.
After receiving a heroine’s reception in France, where she became a cause celebre during her long ordeal, Ms Betancourt told Le Journal du Dimanche: "I shall return to Colombia in a few days. Meanwhile I want to see France, all of France. But I also want to be alone with my children ... I want to give this time to my family, to the father of my children whom I adore, who fought an extraordinary fight for me."
Asked whether she would write a book about her experience, the French-Colombian politician surprised everyone by saying: "I'll write a play."
Despite suffering from ill-health during her captivity, Ms Betancourt got a clean bill of health from doctors examining her for the first time since the operation to rescue her and 14 other hostages from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).
"The doctors showered me with good news,” she said after tests at the Val-de-Grace hospital in Paris. “I have had a number of concerns all these years. Now, I'm completely happy."
She said she was "very, very surprised" not to have any physical side-effects after more than six years of captivity.
Doctors have warned of the severe psychological problems that former hostages can suffer. The initial euphoria of freedom, they say, can be followed by long-lasting depression and a lack of self-confidence.
This weekend, Ms Betancourt told how she had already suffered a moment of “dread” in her Paris hotel on Friday night when her son inadvertently turned off the bathroom lights.
"I found myself in the bathroom, without any light, in the pitch black, and I lost track of where I was. I had this dread and told myself 'my God, they're back. The Farc have returned.' I was in a nightmare," she said.
Responding to recent claims by Swiss radio and some French newspapers, Ms Betancourt said she did not believe a ransom had been paid for her freedom or any of the other 14 hostages.
"Enrique", her jailer at the time of her capture, was a man "of special cruelty," she said, recalling his look of horror when he realised he had been tricked into placing his most valuable hostages aboard an army helicopter.
"When I saw him on the ground with his hands and feet tied and his eyes blindfolded, the expression on his face, on his mouth, it was not of someone who had been bought. He was mortified," she said.
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10:17 AM
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Be Diferent
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I just wanted... no, had to tell you how much you mean to me. I don't know what I would do without a great friend like you. You are the number one best buddy I have ever had. Without you my pathetic life would not be worth living. I would climb the highest mountain, swim the deepest sea, walk across the hottest desert just to tell you how incredibly special your friendship is to me.
Carol =D
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9:57 AM
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Saturday, July 5, 2008
posted by Happo at
10:58 AM
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