Prince Harry to marry girlfriend Cressida Bonas
London: Britain’s Prince Harry could wed his girlfriend Cressida Bonas next year, a media report today quoted his friends as saying.
The 29-year-old prince has his eyes set on marrying Bonas and their friends said the wedding could happen soon, according to The Telegraph.
The friends said Bonas, 24, initially thought she was too young to marry Prince Harry but had finally overcome her fears about marrying into the royal family. “Cressie is going to marry Harry,” one of Bonas’s friends told the newspaper. “Harry never stops talking about marriage and children, and she has now got used to the idea. The wedding is likely to take place next year,” the unnamed friend said.
Harry is reportedly ready to the take the plunge like his older brother, Prince William, who recently welcomed his first child with the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton. The prince was introduced to the British socialite in May 2012 by his cousin, Princess Eugenie of York, and was said to be “smitten”.
Harry has previously said he has always wanted to have children, telling American talk show host Katie Couric he is looking for the right person to settle down with. One of Bonas’s friends said: “Cressida has been in floods of tears. (PTI)
Thatcher minister’s resignation note like a love letter
London: A newly released resignation note by Margaret Thatcher’s Defence Secretary John Nott reads more like a love letter in which he gushes about the former British Prime Minister’s looks and charm. John, who led Britain’s forces in the 1982 Falklands War, expressed his admiration for Thatcher effusively when he stood down from the Cabinet in January 1983.
In a private note, John said he could not acknowledge the true nature of his friendship with Thatcher in his public resignation letter. He wrote: “Your greatest triumph as a PM, if I may say so, is that your colleagues actually like you. Some of them even love you, just a little! In the letter, Sir John went on to laud Baroness Thatcher’s femininity as the source of both her allure for her male colleagues and her success in politics.”
“It is inexcusable to say so nowadays but I actually admire you as a woman – your good looks, charm and bearing have always attracted me, as a man,” he told her.
The note goes on: “I’m sorry, but what is wrong with that! I think your emotional, instinctive and unpragmatic approach to most issues – so very unmasculine – is the secret of your success in the male-dominated world of politics.
“Today there is no way that a methodical, rational and consensus approach to the nation’s problems can overcome them. Until you gained the leadership we were a ‘whips party’; I am glad that we are now a ‘gut instincts’ party.” The letter has emerged as part of previously secret personal papers of Thatcher made public here today, with no comments or reply by the late Prime Minister. The former defence secretary signed off the note with “Love – John”. (PTI)
Nine-year-old boy flies to Vegas without
a ticket
Washington: A nine-year-old US boy hoodwinked airport security and managed to sneak into a flight, travelling alone from Minneapolis to Las Vegas without a ticket.
The young boy made it past the security officials at the Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport and flew to Las Vegas alone last week, an airport official said. The boy was screened at security during the initial leg of his trip, said airport spokesman Patrick Hogan. Security camera tapes showed that the child then managed to board a Delta flight undetected, Hogan said.
The boy apparently told a flight attendant that his parents were sitting in the back of the plane, a source close to the investigation told NBC News.
However, the flight crew became suspicious at some point during the flight when they realised the boy “wasn’t on the roster” of children travelling alone, Hogan said. Officials then took the boy into custody and were arranging his return to Minneapolis, the report said. (PTI)
Now, digital wristwatch that tells how long you will live
Washington: Imagine if you had a watch to tell you the exact seconds, minutes, days and years left in your life? A new digital wristwatch can help users determine how long they will live, it has been claimed. Wearers of the watch called ‘Tikker’ are required to fill out a personal questionnaire on their health history and age. This sets a timer which shows the exact seconds, minutes, days and years left in their life, ‘Mashable’ reported.
Designers of the watch say their intention is to help users avoid wasting time in their lives. “I think we can have a better life, and make better choices, if we are more aware of our upcoming expiration. It gives us perspective — the little stuff suddenly doesn’t seem so important anymore. That’s why I see Tikker as a happiness watch,” Fredrik Colting, Tikker’s creator said. The watch also comes with a questionnaire booklet called ‘About Time’ which helps users calculate the time they are left with. (PTI)
Now, a button to switch off digital distractions
Washington: A new device has been developed that lets users disconnect digitally and help them concentrate on more important tasks.
The one-click MyFocus button, compatible with computers and smartphones, once pressed turns either green or red and indicates when one would not want to be disturbed.
According to Mashable, the button plugs into computers, tablets and smartphones to prevent notifications from programs such as Outlook and Skype.
MyFocus CEO Paul Chipperton said that they have written their own code to intersect the codes of the operating and notifications systems from various platforms like Outlook or Skype.
The device or its app version indicates to others in the area whether the user is occupied with work and also changes statuses on other apps to busy and turns off sound notifications but does not support Gmail and Facebook as yet.
The report said that the MyFocus device runs without batteries, takes little power from laptops and comes in a round shape to make it easy to hang on a cubicle and just the right size for others to see. (ANI)
Diver attacked by shark off Australia
Sydney: A commercial diver suffered “substantial” injuries after being attacked by a shark off remote Western Australia, officials said on Tuesday, with reports describing it as his second mauling in a decade.
The man, named in media reports as Greg Pickering, 55, was with a diving crew from the Southern Wild Abalone company when the shark struck off Poison Creek beach, east of the town of Esperance. “Obviously, there has been some substantial injuries (as) with any encounter with a shark, but at this stage (the details are) still quite sketchy,” the firm’s owner Marcus Tromp told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“I understood that he was still conscious and in good hands as far as first aid goes.” Another diver was in the area and came to assist Pickering’s crew with first aid before transporting him to shore for treatment, Tromp said.
The ruggedness and remoteness of the area, in a wilderness park and accessible only by four-wheel drive, complicated his retrieval and transport by ambulance to Esperance, 160 kilometres (100 miles) from the dive site.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service said it had dispatched a plane to collect Pickering from Esperance and take him to Perth for treatment. According to Fairfax Media it was the experienced diver’s second shark encounter in the past decade, having been bitten by a 1.5 metre bronze whaler shark while spear-fishing with a friend in the west coast town of Cervantes in 2004. (PTI)