Latest news with #JohnSimpson
Otago Daily Times
05-07-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Obituary: John Simpson, artist
John Simpson, after his investiture as ONZM, for services to art education, by the governor-general, Dame Cindy Kiro, at Christchurch Town Hall, on 7 July 2022. Photo: New Zealand Government, Office of the Governor-General via Wikipedia Fine arts academic and silversmith Harold John Simpson was the first professor of fine arts at the University of Canterbury, and headed its School of Fine Arts from 1961-90. The English-born artist initially came to Canterbury for three years but when the head-of-school role came up he secured it and went on to become a leading figure in the arts world, both in his home province and nationally. He was vice-president of the Canterbury Society of Arts for nine years, and a member of its council for 28 years. Prof Simpson also served on the board of Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council for six years, and was co-founder of the Design Association of New Zealand, serving on its executive board. He had a fine eye for design and created the university coat of arms, as well as serving on design committees for decimal coinage and banknotes and the advisory council for the selection of postage stamps. He was named professor emeritus of fine arts upon his retirement, and made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for his services to art education. John Simpson died on May 18 aged 100. — APL/agencies
BBC News
25-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Ibrahim hits unbeaten 121 as Sussex draw at Durham
Rothesay County Championship Division One, Banks Homes Riverside (day four)Sussex 361 & 322-6 dec: Ibrahim 121*, Simpson 85, Coles 53; Potts 2-44Durham 327: Ackermann 65, Clark 51; Sandhu 5-83Durham (13 pts) drew with Sussex (14 pts)Match scorecard A century from Danial Ibrahim and John Simpson's gritty 85 guided Sussex to a draw on the final day of their County Championship clash with pair were watchful as they looked to protect their position in the match, with a probing opening spell from Matthew Potts the most trouble the visiting batters faced on a sedate final Conners removed Simpson 15 runs short of another century, but Ibrahim remained calm to reach three figures for the second time in his first-class finished on 322-6 declared with the teams shaking hands at 4.50 draw means that both sides have consolidated their position in a congested mid-table, with Sussex hosting Warwickshire in the next round that starts on Sunday, while Durham travel to The Oval to face champions Surrey. Resuming on 111-4 with a lead of 145, Simpson and Ibrahim were tested by Potts and Ben continued their plan of taking time out of the game, with the pair rarely letting their rearguard action slip in the first had a couple of lbw shouts against Ibrahim turned down as the Durham quick searched for a first hour was successfully negated and Ibrahim then brought up his first half-century of the season from 161 deliveries, while skipper Simpson pulled a Conners ball for four to reach his 50 from continued in the same vein after lunch, with the Durham bowlers toiling while Sussex were happy to edge further towards the did punish any freebies offered by the bowlers as he pulled a Will Rhodes short ball for four, but he survived an lbw shout from Raine when Durham took the second new then responded by playing a delightful cover drive off the bowling of Raine, but the Durham man was testing the was also having a difficult time against Potts, with the England man sending a couple past the Sussex captain's outside edge, but he responded by playing a crunching cover drive off Raine for came so close to a breakthrough, but Ollie Robinson dropped Simpson on 77 as the Sussex skipper gloved one down the legside, but Conners got him soon after when he chipped one up in the air and Lees produced an excellent catch at then reached his first century of the season from 264 deliveries with a single on the legside, having recently made a big hundred for the second guided his side to tea alongside Fynn Hudson-Prentice, who tried to be aggressive after the break but Drissell bowled him for 26 as he missed one brought Jack Carson to the crease, who was there with Ibrahim when the two sides settled for a draw. ECB Reporters' Network supported by Rothesay
Daily Mail
23-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Jofra Archer up for England Test call-up after ending four-year wait for first-class wicket - as Sussex fast bowler strikes against Durham
Jofra Archer put himself on the path for a Test call-up after taking his first wicket for four years in first-class cricket. The fast bowler looked sharp against Durham in what was effectively a trial for an England Test recall next month. He finished day two of Sussex's County Championship game at the Riverside with figures of 1-28 from 14 overs and was their most dangerous bowler on a docile pitch. Asked if he feels ready to step up to England, he said: 'I guess so. I just want to get through the game. I'm glad I've finished a day of four-day cricket. The last time I played I made it to tea. I'm glad to go all the way today. 'I guess I looked fine today. You'd have to tell me but I felt fine. 'I guess I'm faced with a different challenge now I know my body can hold up to it - the mental part of the game. So I think over the next couple of days I'm going to have a battle with it but it's all good. I'll keep trucking along. 'When the scoreboard got to 50 overs I was like: "Jesus, it's time to come off now" but we got to the end of day and it wasn't that bad.' Archer struck with the second ball of his eighth over, angling a delivery in from around the wicket to trap Emilio Gay LBW. As umpire Tom Lungley raised his finger, Archer's elation was clear for all to see as he celebrated with wicketkeeper John Simpson and the Sussex fielders. It had been a long time between dinners. His last first-class wicket was that of Jordan Cox for Sussex against Kent at Hove on May 16, 2021. He was tidy without being particularly threatening in his opening spell but his second stint in the afternoon - an extended six-over run which brought a return of 1-8 - saw him step it up. He returned after tea for a slightly slower four-over burst before being put out to grass for the rest of the day. England will have been happy with his workload. While it was good to see him bowling in three sessions, Archer is England's Ming vase and they do not want him broken again. He will look to back it up on Tuesday as Durham resume at 249-5, 112 runs adrift in their first innings.
Yahoo
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Downhill From Here For Trump': Senior BBC Reporter's Bleak Prediction After Iran Strikes
It is all 'downhill' for Donald Trump from now onwards after his strikes on Iran, according to the BBC's world affairs editor. The US president announced overnight that America has 'obliterated' three nuclear facilities in Iran, and urged Tehran to come to the negotiating table or face further attacks. The move comes after Israel began a week of exchanging fire with Iran. 'I feel last night was a big change, a major turn of the page,' John Simpson said on BBC News. 'In one major respect, I think it's downhill for President Trump from now on.' The broadcaster continued: 'He's losing the support of the isolationists among the MAGA-supporters, of whom there are a large if not dominant amount. 'He's done something he promised he wouldn't do and he's moving against that, and I think we'll find that his power will start to diminish after this.' In his election campaign, Trump promised to be a peaceful president, and put 'America First' by pulling the States out of other countries' wars. But many of his supporters now question if that is still his thinking, considering he has just pulled the US into a raging war in conflict. Simpson also discussed the likelihood of an Iranian response. He said: 'We shouldn't overestimate Iran's strengths or its abilities.' 'Yes of course it can do asymmetrical attacks,' he noted, but added that these were 'limited small-time' moves which are not 'population-threatening'. 'We shouldn't be too scared about Iran's likely retaliation,' he said. Simpson sent a similar message on X, saying: 'As a result of his bombing of Iran, Trump's presidency has entered new and much more conflicted territory. 'The US isolationist right are already criticising him. Trump could now be involved in precisely the kind of war he blamed his predecessors for.' As a result of his bombing of Iran, Trump's presidency has entered new and much more conflicted territory. The US isolationist right are already criticising him. Trump could now be involved in precisely the kind of war he blamed his predecessors for. — John Simpson (@JohnSimpsonNews) June 22, 2025 Trump Brags Of 'Obliterating' Iran's Nuclear Program, But Top Adviser Is More Cautious Nations React To US Strikes On Iran With Many Calling For Diplomacy Minister Refuses To Say If Britain Believes Trump's Attack On Iran Was Legal
Telegraph
11-06-2025
- General
- Telegraph
John Simpson: I got Frederick Forsyth sacked from the BBC
John Simpson has claimed that he engineered Frederick Forsyth's sacking from the BBC for spreading 'propaganda' about the Biafran War. Forsyth, who died earlier this week, maintained that he quit his job as a BBC foreign correspondent because he was fed up with his bosses, who thought he was biased in favour of the Biafran fight for independence. But Simpson, the BBC's world affairs editor, says he was instrumental in Forsyth's exit, and suggested that Forsyth might never have written The Day of the Jackal were it not for his intervention. He wrote on X, formerly Twitter: 'The Times obit on Freddie Forsyth says he left the BBC in 1967 because he displeased powerful people by his reporting from Biafra. Not quite. 'As a very junior BBC subeditor, I spotted how he was introducing Biafran propaganda into his reports and told my boss. Forsyth was sacked – and went on to write one of the best thrillers ever.' The Times obit on Freddie Forsyth says he left the BBC in 1967 because he displeased powerful people by his reporting from Biafra. Not quite. As a very junior BBC subeditor I spotted how he was introducing Biafran propaganda into his reports and told my boss. Forsyth was… — John Simpson (@JohnSimpsonNews) June 11, 2025 Writing for The Telegraph more than 20 years ago, Simpson said: 'As an extremely lowly subeditor in the BBC radio newsroom, I had to put Mr Forsyth's Biafran dispatches on the air. 'Even at the age of 23, I could see that he had accepted the Biafran line entirely. He was reporting propaganda as fact. 'Eventually he announced, without any qualification, that Biafra had shot down (as far as I remember) 16 federal Nigerian aircraft. 'The newsroom copy of Jane's All The World's Aircraft said that the federal air force possessed only 12.' Forsyth joined the BBC in 1965, first as a radio reporter then as the assistant diplomatic correspondent for BBC Television. When war broke out between Nigeria and the secessionist Republic of Biafra, he was dispatched there for three months. Writing in 2020 to mark the 50th anniversary of the war's end, Forsyth said he realised within days of arriving in Biafra that the BBC had swallowed British government propaganda. Harold Wilson's government supported Nigeria in its fight against the Biafran forces. Forsyth said: 'My brief was to report the all-conquering march of the Nigerian army. It did not happen. 'Naively, I filed this. When my report was broadcast our high commission complained to the CRO [Commonwealth Relations Office], who passed it on to the BBC – which accused me of pro-rebel bias and recalled me to London. 'Six months later, in February 1968, fed up with the slavishness of the BBC to Whitehall, I walked out and flew back to West Africa.' He said that 'every reporter, peer or parliamentarian who had visited Biafra and reported on what he had seen was smeared as a stooge'. Forsyth later wrote a non-fiction book, The Biafra Story (1969), and used some of his experiences there to inform his third novel, The Dogs of War. The conflict officially ended in 1970. It caused an estimated one million civilian deaths from starvation after the Nigerian federal government cut off food supplies to Biafra. Forsyth remained 'haunted' by what he had seen there, saying: 'Sometimes in the wee small hours I see the stick-like children with the dull eyes and lolling heads, and hear their wails of hunger and the low moans as they died. 'What is truly shameful is that this was not done by savages but aided and assisted at every stage by Oxbridge-educated British mandarins… with neutrality and diplomacy from London it could all have been avoided.'
