India wins the cricket series against West Indies by 3-1

- Wikinews

India has won the 4-match Pepsi cricket series against West Indies by 3-1 today in Vadodara.

India won the match by a huge difference of 160 runs. India made 341 runs in 50 overs by losing 3 wickets. Sachin Tendulkar completed his 41st century in only 76 balls. Mahendra Singh Dhoni made 40 runs in just 20 balls, hitting 1 four and 3 sixes.

West Indies played under pressure and lost their wickets in regular intervals. The highest-run partnership of the West Indian innings was of 65 runs between Samuels and Ramdin. The team were all out on 181 runs in 41.4 overs. Agarkar and Kumble took 2 wickets each.

Player of the match as well as player of the series, Sachin Tendulkar, performed well. He made his 41st ODI century which is the highest by any player in the One-Day international. He made 191 runs (avg 63.66) and took 3 wickets (avg 37.33) in 4 matches in the series.

Sweden to open Embassy in Second Life

Sweden is at an advanced stage of planning the opening of the worlds’ first official embassy in Second Life.

The embassy, a copy of Sweden’s embassy House of Sweden, in Washington D.C., will provide visitors with information about Sweden and act as a link between the real and the virtual world. The official portal of Sweden, www.sweden.se, will also be reached through the virtual embassy

- Reaching out internationally, to an increasingly selective crowd, calls for an inventive and progressive way of working with communication. It is of great importance that we find our target groups where they are most likely to be open to our information, in their own context. Second Life is one of many alternative channels we ought to look further into, says Olle Wästberg, Director General of the Swedish Institute.

Second Life is a 3-D virtual world and is built and owned by its residents. Since the opening, in 2003, it has grown explosively and is inhabited by 3,082,561 residents from all over the world.

Experts discuss progress of Caribbean Court of Justice

Commonwealth justices and registrars convene to analyse the court’s first 18 months in action

A Commonwealth meeting of justices and registrars is taking place this week to analyse the achievements of the Caribbean Court of Justice in its first 18 months of operation.

Inaugurated in April 2005, the Caribbean Court of Justice is a unique judicial institution that possesses an original and an appellate jurisdiction. The court was formed after it detached itself from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which is the highest court of appeal for several Commonwealth countries and overseas territories of the United Kingdom.

The workshop, organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Law Development Section, aims to provide an opportunity for officials of regional courts and final appellate courts to observe the procedures of the Caribbean Court of Justice.

“The discussions during the meetings have shown that there is a trend of more people accepting the Caribbean Court of Justice as the final appeal court for the region,” said Cheryl Thompson-Barrow, Adviser and Head of the Law Development Section.

“Public education and awareness play a crucial role in this process. This workshop is therefore timely as it assists in raising the profile of the court.”

The first leg of the meeting was held in Jamaica from 22 to 26 January 2007. It focused on the evolution of the Court and the legal challenges resulting from its detachment from the Privy Council.

From 29 to 30 January, the meeting continued in Barbados - a signatory to both jurisdictions of the court.

The workshop will reconvene in Trinidad from 1 to 2 February, where delegates will tour the court and its library. The delegation includes legal and court officials from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa and the Economic Community of West African States.

Governor-General's Martyrdom of King Charles I day Proclamation

Today, 30 January, is the 358th anniversary of the Darkest Day in the history of the Crown. On this day, HM Charles I, King and Martyr was executed by the will of 'Parliament' so called.

His Majesty's crime was to assert his Right and Duty as Monarch, and to resist those who would use the Power of the State to compel men's Souls.

HM Charles I, was an Anglican, His wife a Roman Catholic. In a time when Europe, Parliament and the people tended towards violence over questions of Religious Practice, His Majesty stands out as an icon of steadfast adherence to one's beliefs, and toleration of those who believe differently.

While he insisted on the maintenance of the Church of England, with its Bishops, as the Established Church of England, he fought worked against religious hatred, especially in his Realms. In a letter to Pope Gregory XV, dated 20 April 1623, His Majesty wrote:

“Be your holiness persuaded that I am, and ever shall be, of such moderation as to keep aloof, as far as possible, from every undertaking which may testify any hatred towards the Roman Catholic religion. Nay, rather I will seize all opportunities, by a gentle and generous mode of conduct, to remove all sinister suspicions entirely; so that, as we all confess one undivided Trinity and one Christ crucified, we may be banded together unanimously into one faith.”

His Majesty also fought to retain the Active Crown in Parliament. His last words addressed his position very well. On the scaffold, he repeated his case: 'I must tell you that the liberty and freedom [of the people] consists in having of Government, those laws by which their life and their goods may be most their own. .... A subject and a sovereign are clean different things. If I would have given way to an arbitrary way, for to have all laws changed according to the Power of the Sword, I needed not to have come here, and therefore I tell you ... that I am the martyr of the people.'

His final words were 'I go from a corruptible to an incorruptible Crown, where no disturbance can be.' “

Being mindful of these things, I feel it proper to proclaim today to be a national day of Prayer for Forgiveness, Steadfastness and Religious Toleration, here and across the globe.

Now therefore, I Robert VII, Duke of Florida, Lord of St. George, GSB, as Her Majesty's Governor-General in and for the Dominion of British West Florida do hereby Proclaim this the 30th day of January in the Year of Our Lord 2007, and of Her Majesty's Reign the 54th, and of our Dominion the 233rd, to be a Solemn Day of Prayers to Almighty God.

Let us pray for Forgiveness of our own Failures to be Steadfast in our Beliefs, Dedicated to our People, and Tolerant of the Beliefs of others.

Let us pray also for the Strength to remain true to our God, and our Fellow man, neither surrendering our own conscience at the alter of the popular will, not seeking to compel others to do so.

Let us pray that we will follow the example of the Good Samaratin, and help those who are placed in our path, with out regard to their Beliefs, out of a True Heart.