Stone Roses Amsterdam gig ends in confusion - BBC News
Stone Roses fans were left confused after the reformed band failed to play an encore at a gig in Amsterdam on Tuesday, amid reports drummer Reni had left the venue.
Singer Ian Brown appeared on stage alone at the Heineken Music Hall, to tell the crowd the gig was over.
Fans had expected to hear I Am The Resurrection, which the reformed band closed a show with in Spain on Friday.
Brown reportedly said: "I'm not joking, the drummer's gone home."
Many of the fans present then booed the 49-year-old frontman's announcement, according to BBC journalist Peter Shuttleworth, who was at the concert.
"Ian just said something like 'Come on, get all your negative vibes out on me. I can take it'," he said.
However, Shuttleworth claims the jeers were "short-lived" and fans were "more bemused than disappointed".
He added: "People were just looking at each other thinking 'what's going on?'"
He also disputed reports that Reni - real name Alan Wren - had stormed off stage, saying that he and guitarist John Squire had hugged as they left.
The band seemed to have expressed plans to play an encore, telling fans: "If you want us to come back, we're going up four storeys, so you have to cheer loud".
'Not happy'The Stone Roses kicked off their first tour in 16 years in Barcelona last weekend. They have a summer of dates planned, including three homecoming shows in Manchester's Heaton Park at the end of June.
Fans have dismissed speculation that the gig in Holland signals problems for the rest of the tour, calling the show "quality" and the crowd "enthusiastic".
Several reports quote an insider who suggested there had been a problem with the drum kit, but this has not been confirmed.
Paul Roberts was at the gig and emailed BBC 6 Music: "At one point I saw Reni waving his arms wildly at the stage mixer, obviously not happy with something."
Another, Matt Morris, claimed Brown's announcement "was followed by a volley of beer thrown at the stage and booing".
Remaining dates on the Stone Roses tour are expected to go ahead as planned, with the band due on stage in Sweden on Thursday.
RSS chief expresses displeasure at ousting Sanjay Joshi from BJP - Hindustan Times
A senior sangh pracharak, who preferred anonymity, claimed that the recent editorial in BJP mouthpiece ‘Kamal Sandesh’ that no leader should consider oneself bigger than the party was in fact, Bhagwat’s opinion, which he is believed to have echoed before his close lieutenants. That Modi had his way on Joshi’s exit was also considered as the former’s sheer display of arrogance, driven by a clash of egos by the Sangh Parivar.
According to him, the Sangh preferred to keep mum on the whole "drama" in view of the ensuing Gujarat elections and a smooth passage for Nitin Gadkari’s re-election as party president.
Moreover, the Sangh Parivar did not want a message to be sent across that Gadkari’s re-election to the BJP top post by amending the norms in the national executive did not have a powerful leader like Modi’s approval, who also considered a face of ‘Hinduvtava’ and his ever-growing clout in the party.
Joshi, first sent to the BJP by the RSS in 1988 to use his organizational skills in building the party in Gujarat, had to leave in 2005 over a sleaze CD. After taking over as BJP president, Gadkari rehabilitated Joshi -- his childhood friend -- in view of his organizational ability and entrusted him the job of Bihar and UP elections. Joshi was also included in the national executive, which did not go down well with Modi. Joshi’s friend-turned-foe Modi refused to campaign in the UP elections for the party and unofficially boycotted the national executive. Moreover, of late, the Gujarat chief minister was not even taking Gadkari’s phone calls.
When Gadkari rang up Modi on May 23, just before the national executive at Mumbai and requested him to attend, the Gujarat chief minister laid down the condition of Joshi’s axe from the executive.
Gadkari, a darling of Bhagwat, tried to use his good offices in RSS for intervention, but in vain. The BJP president did not dare to take risk when the senior party leader Lal Krishna Advani blogged questioning his leadership and other senior party leaders including Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jetlay were hostile. He narrated the entire things before Joshi who "sacrificed" himself for his friend to pave way for Modi attending the Mumbai meet.
But as pro-Joshi posters appeared in Delhi and some places in Gujarat, Modi made a telephone call to Gadkari, asking the latter to either relieve him from his chief minister’s post or Joshi from the party. Faced with this ultimatum, Gadkari made yet another crafty move by making Joshi to resign as BJP’s election in-charge of UP.
However, the RSS headquarters claimed that Joshi would be honourably re-inducted in the organization after Gadkari’s re-election the December Gujarat elections are over this year. It was said that he would be given an important task of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh elections to be held in October next year, the pracharak claimed.
Given a belief held by section of RSS cadres, it seems that the RSS would not tolerate Modi’s arrogance for a long. The RSS, which is literally directing the BJP affairs, may take on Modi after the Gujarat polls and Gadkari’s re-election by end of this year.
The senior RSS leader and former Buddhik Pramukh of the saffron organization, MG Vaidya, said that the party is bigger than any individual. “The Modi-Joshi tussle is not good for the party,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, neither Gadkari nor Bhagwat was available for comments. Joshi who was here to attend a meeting of RSS said that he was still in the BJP. "I have only relinquished the national executive and UP in-charge. I am still a primary member of the party," he said.
Talking to Hindustan Times, he also dismissed the rumours that he would be given the job of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram by the RSS. Joshi met Vaidya during his Nagpur visit and had a long discussion.
King named in GB Olympics squad (From Daily Echo) - This is Southampton
Hamble's Dani King named in Great Britain Olympics squad
1:50pm Wednesday 13th June 2012 in Sport
HAMBLE’S Dani King has been named in the GB cycling squad for the London 2012 Olympics.
Along with Laura Trott, Joanna Rowsell, and Wendy Houvenaghel, she has been chosen for the endurance events.
David Millar was today named in the team alongside Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish.
The 35-year-old in 2004 was handed a two-year suspension for admitting use of banned blood booster EPO, but is now a fervent anti-doping campaigner and was last month officially cleared to compete at London 2012 after the British Olympic Association's bylaw banning drug cheats for life was revoked.
Millar is one of eight riders in the men's road squad long list but played an integral role in Cavendish's World Championships win last September and is likely to fill one of the five spots when the final team is named for the July 28 road race.
There were few surprises in the squad tasked with improving on Britain's haul of eight gold medals in Beijing.
Hoy and Pendleton, for whom the Olympics will mark the end of her career, lead the track squad, Tour de France contender Wiggins is included in the road squad and defending champion Nicole Cooke is among the women's group on the road.
Millar returns to Olympic competition for the first time since Sydney bidding to help a British squad seeking to improve on a haul of eight gold medals in Beijing four years ago.
British Cycling performance director Dave Brailsford said: "We have selected what I believe to be an excellent team going into an Olympic Games and we have a good mix of experienced Olympians alongside young riders who are making their Olympic debut.
"We still have some decisions to make, for example, the road teams will be refined in due course and who will ride in what event on the track will be determined nearer the time.
"Overall, though, the GB Cycling Team has had a strong season across all the disciplines and we are ready to step up again at the Olympics."
The track squad includes the team which scooped five gold medals from 10 Olympic events at April's Track Cycling World Championships in Melbourne.
Hoy is still to discover if he will be granted the opportunity to defend all three of the Olympic gold medals won in Beijing, with 2008 Olympic silver medallist Jason Kenny pushing the Scot hard for the one sprint place.
Hoy said: "The standard in the British Cycling team is so high and the selection process is always going to be tough, but there's a great atmosphere in the team and we just need to keep putting in the hours in training and make sure we're in the best shape possible for race day.
"This is my fourth Olympics, but my first home Games, and it's going to be an amazing experience and a once in a lifetime opportunity for all of us."
Hoy and Kenny are joined in the sprint squad by 19-year-old German-born Philip Hindes, with Olympic champions Ed Clancy and Geraint Thomas in the endurance group - for the team pursuit and omnium - alongside Steven Burke, Peter Kennaugh and Andy Tennant.
Pendleton and Jess Varnish are in the women's sprint squad.
Britain are set to take up their host nation places in the remaining two cycling disciplines, with all eyes on three-time world champion Shanaze Reade in the BMX. Liam Phillips is to be given every opportunity to prove his fitness and take the men's place after suffering a fractured collar bone at last month's Birmingham World Championships.
The mountain bike places have gone to Liam Killeen, who has recorded top-10 finishes at the last two Games, and Annie Last.
TRACK Sprint: Philip Hindes, Sir Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny, Victoria Pendleton, Jessica Varnish.
Endurance: Steven Burke, Ed Clancy, Peter Kennaugh, Andy Tennant, Geraint Thomas, Wendy Houvenaghel, Dani King, Laura Trott, Joanna Rowsell.
ROAD Men (five to be selected): Mark Cavendish, Steven Cummings, Chris Froome, Jeremy Hunt, David Millar, Ian Stannard, Ben Swift, Bradley Wiggins.
Women (four to be selected): Lizzie Armitstead, Nicole Cooke, Katie Colclough, Sharon Laws, Lucy Martin, Emma Pooley.
BMX Liam Phillips, Shanaze Reade MOUNTAIN BIKE Liam Killeen, Annie Last
Amazon, Google lead rush for new Web real estate - Reuters
LONDON |
LONDON (Reuters) - An unprecedented land grab for new Web addresses began in earnest on Wednesday with fierce competition for new internet real estate including .app, .blog and .web from applicants hoping to break the near-monopoly of the .com top-level domain.
The ambitious plan to liberalize internet addresses attracted 1,930 applications, almost half of them from north America, with Web giants Amazon and Google applying for dozens of domains including .cloud, .buy and .book.
The liberalisation of top-level domains beyond the fewer than two dozen in existence - dominated by .com, .org and .net - is intended to stimulate competition and innovation by giving organizations more control over their Web presence.
Critics say the new suffixes are unlikely to catch on, and some trademark owners have complained that the move is causing them unnecessary expense - at $185,000 per application plus running costs - to defend their online turf.
Previous small-scale experiments in liberalizing domains led to low take-up of suffixes such as .museum, .jobs and .travel.
"At the highest level, this is all about creating competition to .com," said Jonathan Robinson, non-executive director of internet registry services company Afilias, which has applied for more than 100 new domains on behalf of clients.
"That's where short, memorable, distinctive three-letter type terms become very interesting," said Robinson, whose organization already provides key infrastructure for .org, .info and .mobi.
Competing applications were received for 231 domain names. The most popular were .app with 13 bids, .home with 11, and .inc with 12.
Technology giant Apple's claim to .apple was uncontested by the Apple music label or anyone else.
"The big names of the Internet have either invested massively or not at all," said Stuart Durham, European sales director for Melbourne IT, which has handled 150 applications on behalf of clients.
"There appear to be no applications from Facebook or Twitter. There are different strategies in play here and some big gambles."
Just 17 applications were received from Africa, and 116 for names in non-Latin alphabets. Expanding the Internet beyond the Latin alphabet was one of the original reasons behind the liberalisation drive, which began seven years ago.
ICANN will now spend the rest of the year assessing the applications, with contested domains going to auction where more than one party has a legitimate claim. The first new domains are likely to come online in the first half of 2013.
Some critics, including senior figures at Google, have warned that the liberalisation risks effectively privatizing the Internet by giving already powerful Web players more scope to control portions of it.
"Our concern is that this could lead to more Facebook-style walled gardens as big brands seek to keep you in their own areas of the Internet," said Stephen Ewart, marketing manager for Names.co.uk, a British domain-name registrar.
"Make no mistake, this change to the domain name world will lead to more competition and consumer choice, but it could also be viewed as a silent privatization of the Web - for better or worse," he said.
The project is a key test for U.S. non-profit organization the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), whose authority to administer the Web's naming systems is being challenged by emerging nations who say it is too U.S.-centric.
"The plan we have delivered is solid and fair," ICANN Chief Executive Rod Beckstrom told journalists at a news conference in London. "It is our fundamental obligation to increase innovation and consumer choice."
Nations including China, Russia and Brazil are pushing for ICANN's functions to be transferred to a body such as the United Nations, in which governments would have more control.
ICANN is set to net some $350 million from the liberalisation project - about five times its annual budget.
Beckstrom said the organization had priced the applications to cover its costs and that the use of any surplus would be decided by its community - which includes Internet companies, governments and ordinary citizens.
(Editing by David Cowell)
UK sees Games under budget, transport working - Reuters
LONDON |
LONDON (Reuters) - Cash-strapped Britain has almost half a billion pounds ($775 million) left unspent in its Olympic budget, the sports minister said on Wednesday, adding that London's transport system would cope with huge crowds during the Games.
Public funding for the Games has increased to 9.3 billion pounds, more than double the figure anticipated when London was awarded them in 2005. The Olympics are being held at a time of deep spending cuts by the Conservative-led government.
"We are becoming increasingly certain that we can deliver these Games for under 9 billion and if we could do that, that would be a remarkable achievement," Sports Minister Hugh Robertson told reporters on Wednesday.
The government has made an additional 19 million pounds available to help manage crowds at venues and revelers in central London during the July 27-August 12 Games after the success of last week's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
"Nobody knows how many people are simply going to turn up. London is going to be the place this summer - if the rain holds off - to come and have a party," Robertson said.
The numbers of visitors to central London during last week's celebrations to mark Queen Elizabeth's 60 years on the throne had "surprised on the upside", Robertson said, noting enthusiasm for the Olympic torch on its relay through the British isles.
TRANSPORT STRAIN
The minister said that London's much criticized public transport system would not buckle under the strain. Londoners are being encouraged to work from home or change their working hours to help ease the pressure.
"We are confident that the transport plan absolutely will hold," he said, adding that there would inevitably be queues at bottlenecks on the underground and other rail systems.
Robertson ruled out using any of the remaining contingency funds to pay off London bus drivers who are threatening to strike in a dispute over bonuses for work during the Games.
"The hope and expectation is that this will be sorted out before the Games start. Most people realize this is a great national moment and they don't want to mess it up," he said.
Mired in recession, Britain sees the Games as a showcase for its business potential. However, credit ratings agency Moody's said last month that hosting the world's biggest sporting event would give the economy and British companies only a short-term boost.
Robertson said Britain's success in winning the right to host future sports events was a tangible economic benefit.
"If you look at the number of major sports events that are now coming to this country in the period after 2012, British sport has never had a period like this," he said.
"There is at least one major competition and a series of other world championships to come here every year, running through pretty much until 2020."
Glasgow will stage the Commonwealth Games in 2014, England hosts the rugby union World Cup in 2015 and the world athletics championships will be held at the Olympic Stadium in east London in 2017.
Security fears around the Games were heightened when a protester jumped into the Thames in April during the annual Oxford-Cambridge university boat race.
Seeking to deter a repeat, Robertson stressed the sheer physical danger of stepping into the path of speeding Olympic cyclists.
"If any idiot runs out in front of the road race, they are risking committing suicide," he said.
($1 = 0.6432 British pounds)
(Editing by Alison Wildey)
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