World Vignettes

No minister: Oxford not to award Blair degreeLONDON: Oxford University has decided not to award British Prime Minister Tony Blair an honorar...

No minister: Oxford not to award Blair degree

LONDON: Oxford University has decided not to award British Prime Minister Tony Blair an honorary degree 8211; for the time being, media reports said on Sunday. He was considered by the University8217;s Honorary Degree Committee but his name was not recommended to the University8217;s Parliament because the timing was considered wrong. Sensitivity over the issue of college fees is thought to have been the most likely reason. The Government is currently holding discussions with Oxford and Cambridge about the future of 35 million funding 57 million dollars in college fees, which some ministers believe can no longer be justified. Lobbying to keep the grants has included personal appeals to Blair, who is an Oxford graduate. Insiders at the University denied that Blair had been quot;snubbedquot;.

Faking rescue

OTTAWA: Canadians struggling through the ice storm aftermath in rural eastern Ontario have another problem to face 8211; fake emergency workers. In Hawkesbury, northeast of Ottawa, two men dressed as military police tried to take a generator from some homes. The thieves said they needed the generator for other areas without power but when asked for identification, the pair fled. Five people claiming to be United Nations personnel in Alexandria, south of Hawkesbury, were arrested for impersonating military officers after police found them picking ice off a roof. quot;One of them was posing as a Colonel and he was seen doing manual labour,quot; said a police man. quot;The witness knew that Colonels don8217;t do manual labour, they get someone else to do it, so the police were called.quot; Another man went into a Hawkesbury car dealership and demanded a car for an urgent rescue effort. The man fled when the car salesman called police.

Mum wants share

WASHINGTON: A New Jersey woman has taken her son to court claiming that he owed her half of the two million dollars won by him in a lottery. Michael Klingebiel and his mother Phyllis had been spending 20 dollars each for the last 10 years on lottery tickets, Phyllis8217;s lawyer said on Thursday. Michael had been doing the tickets purchasing, he added. Though he won a jackpot from last year8217;s October draw, he refused to share the money with his mother. Phyllis8217;s lawyer claimed that she had been greatly hurt by the fact that her own son would cheat her like this.

Around the world

LONDON: Two Britons, Brian Milton and Keith Reynolds, will set out next month-end, to recreate Julves Verne8217;s famous adventure Around the World in Eighty Days with a slight difference 8211; they will be making the first-ever attempt by microlight.