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london 2012 olympics
Zara Phillips, Queen Elizabeth II’s granddaughter, and her husband, rugby player Mike Tindall, are expecting their first baby in the new year, Buckingham Palace has announced.
Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall married at Canongate Kirk, in Edinburgh, in July 2011.
The birth will follow the arrival of Kate Middleton and Prince William’s baby, which is due this month.
In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “Mr. and Mrs. Mike Tindall are very pleased to announce that Zara Tindall is expecting a baby in the new year.”
It went on: “The Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips, Mr. Phillip and Mrs. Linda Tindall, and members of both families are delighted with the news.
“This baby will be the first child for Mike and Zara and the third grandchild for the Princess Royal.”
British PM David Cameron’s official spokesman described the announcement as “quite terrific news”.
He told reporters: “The prime minister will send his very, very best wishes to the happy couple.”
The new baby will become 16th in line to the throne and the fourth great grandchild to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
The others are Savannah and Isla Phillips, daughters of Zara’s brother, Peter, and the Duchess of Cambridge’s expected baby.
Zara Phillips is currently 14th in line to the throne, but does not hold a royal title and is not an HRH.
Her children will be titled Miss or Master Tindall.
Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall are expecting their first baby in the new year
The couple met during England’s Rugby World Cup-winning campaign in Australia in 2003.
Former England rugby star Mike Tindall is now a player-coach at Gloucester.
Miss Zara Phillips has achieved sporting success in her own right, winning individual gold in three-day eventing at the World Equestrian Games in Germany in 2006.
As a member of the Great Britain eventing team, Zara Phillips won a silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics.
New line of the British royal succession:
1. Prince Charles
2. Prince William
3. “Baby Wales” (Kate Middleton and Prince William’s first child)
4. Prince Harry
5. Prince Andrew
6. Princess Beatrice
7. Princess Eugenie
8. Prince Edward
9. Viscount Severn (James -Edward’s son)
10. Lady Louise (Edward’s daughter)
11. Princess Anne
12. Peter Phillips
13 & 14. Savannah and Isla Phillips (Peter’s daughters)
15. Zara Tindall (nee Phillips)
16. “Baby Tindall”
South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, aka blade runner, has been arrested over the fatal shooting of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, at his home in Pretoria, local media say.
Police said a 26-year-old man, who they have not named, was in custody and a case of murder was being investigated.
The precise circumstances surrounding the incident are unclear. Reports say he may have mistaken her for a burglar.
Oscar Pistorius, 26, is known as the “blade runner”, and was the first double amputee to run in the Olympics.
The suspect is expected to appear in court later on Thursday, reports say.
The news that he may have killed his girlfriend will shock the country as Oscar Pistorius is regarded as one of South Africa’s national icons.
The incident is said to have taken place between 04:00 and 05:00 local time.
South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, aka blade runner, has been arrested over the fatal shooting of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, at his home in Pretoria
A police statement said that a 30-year-old woman was “fatally wounded” in the early hours of Thursday morning at a home in the Silverlakes complex in the Boschkop area of the capital.
Reeva Steenkamp had been wounded in her head and upper body. Paramedics were at the house when police arrived, but she died at the scene. A 9 mm pistol was recovered.
Police gave no further details about the woman’s alleged relationship with Oscar Pistorius.
Reeva Steenkamp, 30, a former FHM model who has been dating Oscar Pistorius for two months.
Reeva Steenkamp, 30, a former FHM model who has been dating Oscar Pistorius for two months
South Africa has among the highest rates of crime in the world and many residents keep weapons to protect themselves against intruders.
But the country also has a careful vetting process before awarding gun licences, said Erika Gibson of Beeld newspaper.
Oscar Pistorius races wearing carbon fibre prosthetic blades after he was born without a fibula in both legs and had both legs amputated below the knee before his first birthday.
He reached the 400 m semi-finals in the London 2012 Olympics. At the Paralympics he won silver in the T44 200 m, gold in the 4×100 relay and gold in the T44 400 m, setting a Paralympic record.
For years he dominated in his category at successive Paralympic Games.
In 2008 Oscar Pistorius won a legal battle over his blades with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) for the right to compete in able-bodied competitions.
The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee said it had been inundated with questions over the incident, but was in no position to comment.
The International Paralympic Committee also declined to comment on the matter as a police investigation was under way.
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London 2012 Olympics closing ceremony has started with a performance charting a journey through a day in the life of the capital city.
After 16 days of competition, the show, said to be a celebration of British people, music and culture, kicked off at 21:00 BST at the Olympic Stadium.
More than 4,100 performers are taking part in A Symphony of British Music.
The climax of the ceremony will see the Olympic flame being extinguished and the baton passed to Rio de Janeiro.
The finale is set to feature the best of British music, including artists such as George Michael, the Spice Girls and rapper Tinie Tempah.
London 2012 Olympics closing ceremony has started with a performance charting a journey through a day in the life of the capital city
Closing ceremony artistic director Kim Gavin has described the closing ceremony as a “mashed-up symphony”.
Kim Gavin said it would showcase “British creativity in the arts” and take people on a musical journey from Elgar to Waterloo Sunset in 30 tracks.
The director explained that while the national flags would process in, the athletes would come in together as “friends” rather than country-by-country as in the opening ceremony.
The Olympic flame will be extinguished and the figurative baton passed to the organizers of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, who will also make a presentation celebrating their multicultural roots.
As the Olympics drew to a close, the US topped the final medal table with 46 golds, followed by China with 38 golds. GB came third with 29 golds – their best tally since 1908.
In all, 44 world records have been set during London 2012, and 117 Olympic records broken.
Among those to have set new world bests included Kenyan David Rudisha in the men’s 800 m and the Jamaican sprint relay team, one of three golds during the Games for Usain Bolt.
US swimmer Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian in history while cyclist Sir Chris Hoy’s two gold medals meant he became the most successful British Olympian of all time.
The International Olympics Committee president Jacques Rogge said he was “very happy” with the Games, and he was a “very happy and grateful man”.
“It has been a dream for sports lovers,” he said, adding that history had been made by many athletes.
The revamped 560-acre (227-hectare) Olympic Park site – to be known as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – is set to reopen in stages starting on the first anniversary of the opening of the Games, on 27 July 2013.
The first gold medal of the London 2012 Olympics has been won by China, which ended the first day on top of the medal table.
Yi Siling’s victory in the women’s 10 m air rifle was the first of six medals for China, including four golds.
Mingjuan Wang took weightlifting gold, Sun Yang won China’s first male gold in swimming and Ye Shiwen, 16, set a world record in the 400 m individual medley.
Yi Siling won first gold medal of the London 2012 Olympics in the women's 10 m air rifle
Italy won five medals including a dramatic gold medal win in archery and a clean sweep in women’s fencing.
The United States have also won five medals after picking up a medal of each colour in the pool.
South Korea, Brazil, Russia, Kazakhstan and Australia were the other nations to claim golds on the opening day.
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Barber Osgerby, the British creative team behind the London Olympic torch, has won the prestigious Design of the Year award 2012.
The aluminum torch is perforated with 8,000 holes, each representing one of the torchbearers.
The winner was chosen from 89 entries and was presented at an awards ceremony at London’s Design Museum, which organizes the annual event.
Another Olympic design triumphed in the architecture category – the Velodrome.
Barber Osgerby, the British creative team behind the London Olympic torch, has won the prestigious Design of the Year award 2012
The Olympic torch relay will run for 70 days ahead of the London 2012 Olympics.
It will journey across the UK, taking in places such as Wells Cathedral, Cardiff Castle, Giant’s Causeway, Forth Rail Bridge, York Minster, Blackpool Tower and Windsor Castle.
Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic said the torch was “a triumph of symbolism and beauty”.
He added that it “demonstrates how design can celebrate traditional qualities in a modern manner”.
However the design has split critics and the public.
Times columnist Carol Midgeley defended the design: “I think it’s rather elegant, actually.”
But the Daily Telegraph asked readers to vote on whether it most resembled a torch, cheese grater, cigarette holder or wastepaper bin.
The fashion award went to Issey Miyake’s 132.5 collection.
Recent RCA graduate Kihyun Kim won the furniture prize for his balsa wood 1.3 Chair.
The 2012 Olympic Torch, along with the other shortlisted designs, is on display at the Design Museum until 4 July.
On the Design Awards jury were newspaper proprietor Evgeny Lebedev, Wallpaper editor Henrietta Thompson, Dutch designer Hella Jongerious and chairman of the Canary Wharf group, Sir George Iacobescu.
The panel was chaired by designer Ilse Crawford.
