Sean Martin 5:33pm
Western policymakers may be increasingly concerned about the situation in Pakistan, but the International Cricket Council still want to hold the Champions Trophy there in September. Today the ICC task force ruled that there are sufficient security measures in place. But Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa still have massive worries, and are thinking about not taking part in the tournament. The ICC are employing the Pakistani coach, Geoff Lawson, to convince them otherwise.
Just as it did before the 2003 World Cup, the ICC is acting like cricket is...
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Peter Hoskin 4:38pm
A great post by Mary Dejevsky over at Open House, questioning just what David Miliband has been doing during the conflict between Russia and Georgia. Yes, our Foreign Secretary has issued a statement on the issue, but some of his colleagues - such as Des Browne and Jim Murphy - have been far more prominent on the airwaves. And Miliband's French counterpart has even gone over to Georgia, to witness the situation first-hand.
I've been assured that Brown and Miliband have been in "direct discussion" over the Georgia crisis. But, still,...
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James Forsyth 3:50pm
The Cameroons love their non-electoral milestones and I think they passed a very important one this weekend. The News of the World ran a story on the Camerons’ swimwear which, in gushing terms, told its readers how they too could dress like the Camerons on the beach. The Camerons were being held up as the couple that News of the World readers should aspire to look like.
You really have to read the whole piece, look at the pictures and especially the captions to grasp just how effusive the piece is...
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Peter Hoskin 2:36pm
Many commentators were extremely impressed by the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. And many hoped it represented China showing a new, friendly face to the world. But now details are emerging that all may not have been as it seemed. The latest is that the 9 year old girl who charmed the audience with a performance of "Ode to the Motherland" was miming. The vocal line was actually sung by another girl behind-the-scenes, who was deemed to be less pretty by Chinese officials. Here's what the ceremony's musical director had to say:
"The...
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Peter Hoskin 1:24pm
So, the provisional Key Stage 3 results have been released, and much is already being made of the drop in reading standards from last year. This drop is particularly marked among boys, whose performance in level 5 reading has fallen by 3 percent on 2007's results.
However, if you look back further, the fall in standards is even more dramatic. The boys who took Key Stage 3 tests this year took Key Stage 2 tests in 2005. Back then, 82 percent of them reached the requisite level in reading. But, of those same boys, only 62...
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