All Blacks squad announced.

The All Blacks selector announced their first squad of the season at 4pm today.

Graham Henry picked a squad of 30 players to take on Fiji on July 22 and take part in the Tri Nations starting a week later.

Here's how the announcement played out...

Forwards:

John Afoa - Auckland

Corey Flynn - Canterbury

Ben Franks - Tasman

Owen Franks - Canterbury

Jarrad Hoeata - Taranaki

Andrew Hore - Taranaki

Jerome Kaino - Auckland

Richie McCaw (capt) - Canterbury

Keven Mealamu - Auckland

Liam Messam - Waikato

Kieran Read - Canterbury

Adam Thomson - Otago

Brad Thorn - Canterbury

Samuel Whitelock - Canterbury

Ali Williams - Auckland

Tony Woodcock - North Harbour

Backs:

Daniel Carter - Canterbury

Jimmy Cowan - Southland

Israel Dagg - Hawke's Bay

Andy Ellis - Canterbury

Hosea Gear - Wellington

Zac Guildford - Hawke's Bay

Richard Kahui - Waikato

Mils Muliaina - Waikato

Ma'a Nonu - Wellington

Colin Slade - Canterbury

Conrad Smith - Wellington

Isaia Toeava - Auckland

Piri Weepu - Wellington

Sonny Bill Williams - Canterbury

Junior All Blacks win World Champs.

The New Zealand under-20 rugby team withstood the challenge from England to land their fourth successive junior world championship title with a 33-22 victory in the final in Padova, Italy this morning.

It took a try to fullback Beauden Barrett six minutes from time to secure the win for New Zealand who were pushed hard by an England side that were willing to spread the ball and determined to end their unbeaten run in the competition's four-year history. Beauden Barrett's try and two others to winger Charles Piutau and prop Ben Tameifuna and 18 points from the boot of first five-eighths Gareth Anscombe were enough to earn them the title.

Both sides scored three tries each, but it was the boot of man of the match Gareth Anscombe, who was successful with all seven shots at goal, which proved to be the difference. Captain Luke Whitelock, a member of the winning side last year, was proud to retain their 100 percent record in the tournament.

Coach Mark Anscombe paid tribute to the way his side defended in the second half when they came under pressure from England "That's a very good England team and they really took it to us they beat us in a lot of areas today but we showed a little bit of character out there today and hung in there," he said.

England started the better of the two sides, pinning the defending champions deep in their own territory for the opening quarter and were ahead after electric winger Christian Wade avoided halfback TJ Perenara to cross for the opening try in the seventh minute.

It was a struggle for New Zealand to make any headway as England first five-eighths George Ford, at 18 the youngest player at the tournament, kept driving the ball behind them. But when New Zealand did break out they looked threatening and winger Mitchell Scott was denied a try in the corner before Anscombe got them on the board via a penalty midway through the half.

Wade's second try after a kick and chase narrowed the gap to a point, and, with England's set-piece dominating, New Zealand's hold on the trophy looked shaky at best. But another Anscombe penalty extended the lead to four points before Barrett kicked through a pass from Piutau to finally end England's hopes and Anscombe, fittingly, added the conversion.

A350-900 delays

A350-900 first flight pushed back to end-2012

Airbus has pushed back the first flight of the A350-900 to the end of 2012 and is aiming for certification and service entry by the end of 2013 because of a delay to final assembly.

While Airbus planned a mid-2012 maiden flight, this seemed at odds with its intention to maintain a lead time of about nine months between final assembly and first flight.

Airbus's new timetable appears to provide a potential assembly lead time of a year, and offers a change of tone regarding entry into service - parent EADS had previously said the A350 would arrive in the second half of 2013. Pre-final assembly line initiation is being prepared at several plants - St Nazaire for the forward and center section, Getafe and Hamburg for the fin and tail, and Broughton for the wings. All major component assembly will be under way this summer to ensure delivery to the final line at the end of this year.

The first large aircraft parts are now manufactured and the focus is moving to pre-final assembly start. Airbus has orders for 574 A350s including 359 for the -900 variant.

Flying Jetpack.

Kiwi ingenuity is alive and well and flying a Jetpack 5000 feet above sea level.

No longer the stuff of comic stories, the Martin Jetpack is soaring to incredible heights, and could go even higher, according to its inventor Glenn Martin.

The Jetpack, which relies on two powerful fans to get airborne, is attracting international interest, including from the US military, but its potential uses are wider.

Japanese authorities dealing with the earthquake-damaged Fukushima nuclear power station even looked into using it to take test samples above the plant.

The flight near Ashburton on the Canterbury plains in New Zealand was piloted by remote control, with a crash-test dummy in the pilot's position. The machine flew to 5000 feet, then down to about 2000 feet before firing a rocket-propelled parachute. From there it sailed safely to the ground without damage.

A dummy was flown first for safety reasons and a real person will be second.

The jetpack can go places where helicopters can't, such as the sides of cliffs and between trees and buildings.

The next step would be to develop a parachute similar to those used on jet pilot ejector seats which opened faster than the rocket-propelled type.

To develop the jetpack to this point had cost $12 million in savings and venture capital and 30 years of Martin's life. And the intention was to float the company on the sharemarket, to raise capital to get the jet pack into mass production. Early estimates were that one might retail for about $60,000.

Alonso and Hamilton handed penalties.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso have been handed down a 20 second time penalty by the Malaysian stewards following their clash during the Sepang formula one GP event.

Lewis Hamilton was penalized for making more than one change of direction as he tried to defend his position from Fernando Alonso on the lap before he was hit by Alonso. The Spaniard, meanwhile, received the same penalty for causing a collision with Hamilton during the fight.

Hamilton's penalty promotes Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi to seventh in the race results and drops Lewis Hamilton to eighth. Alonso retains his sixth-place finish due to a large gap back to seventh place.

RNZAF Skyhawks going to museums.

The 10 year long saga of the Royal New Zealand Air Force's 17 mothballed Skyhawk fighter-bombers has finally come to an end, with nine being given away to museums and some being sold as spare parts.

The Skyhawks have been up for sale since 2001, when the previous government scrapped the Air Force's strike wing. The asking price for the 17 skyhawks was $155 million. In the past 10 years it has cost approximately $34 million just to store and maintain since they were decommissioned by the Labour government in 2001.

New Zealand minister of defence said he would offer eight of the jets to public museums in New Zealand and one to Australia as pieces of our aviation history for future generations.

The remaining airframes, engines, spares, ground support equipment, role- specific equipment, and documentation and publications will be sold separately through a request for proposals process.

In December, Dr Mapp said the Skyhawks and 17 Aermacchis had cost $34m to store and maintain

Christchurch to lose Rugby world cup games.

The Rugby world cup games that were to be played in Christchurch have been cancelled due to the damage at AMI Stadium following last month's earthquake.

AMI Stadium was supposed to be hosting five group matches and two quarterfinals during the World Cup which runs through September and October, However Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully announced this afternoon that all games will have to be moved to other venues around the country.

Auckland will now host the two quarter final matches while as many of the pool matches as possible will be kept in the South Island, All existing ticket holders will be offered refunds or tickets to the reallocated matches.

The Mayor of Christchurch Bob Parker said the decision would be a further blow for a city still reeling from the February 22 earthquake, but he accepted it had been made after long consideration and with the best interests of the Rugby World Cup in mind for players and spectators.

Although complete replacement of the turf at AMI Stadium is required, there were also concerns about the amount of accommodation available for those travelling to see the Christchurch games.
Australia, England and Argentina were all set to play twice at AMI Stadium while the fourth quarterfinal would mostly feature the All Blacks if they finished top of Group A.

Matches scheduled for Christchurch:
Saturday September 10 - Argentina v England
Sunday September 11 - Australia v Italy
Sunday September 18 - England v Georgia
Sunday September 25 - Argentina v Scotland
Sunday October 1 - Australia v Russia
As many as possible will remain in South Island

Saturday October 8 - Quarterfinal 2
Sunday October 9 - Quarterfinal 4

Are to be moved to Auckland

League legends match to aid earthquake appeal

Former rugby league internationals from New Zealand and Australia will take the field in Auckland next week to raise funds for victims of the Christchurch earthquake last week.

This charity match is to be held at Mount Smart Stadium on March 10 and was being coordinated by the New Zealand Rugby League and a group of former Kiwi internationals.
Gary Freeman, Monty Betham, Nigel Vagana and Tawera Nikau have helped organize the teams for the match with Nikau ready to play despite having an artificial leg.
The New Zealand rugby league chief executive Jim Doyle said it wanted to do its bit to support those affected by the earthquake.

Everyone in the country is trying to find some way of helping the people in Christchurch and the Canterbury region. Staging the Legends of League Charity Match is a way of bringing people in Auckland together to provide some financial support for a community that's been devastated and is in desperate need.

Among the players set to make an appearance are Kurt Sorensen, Olsen Filipaina, Stacey Jones and the Kiwis' 2008 World Cup-winning captain Nathan Cayless. Australians Mario Fenech and David Peachey have also volunteered to play.

Bahrain GP called off

Formula One organizers have called off the season opening Bahrain formula 1 Grand Prix because of anti-government protests.

No new date has been set for the race, which is the kingdom's biggest international sports event. The Bahrain GP has been on the F1 calendar every year since 2004.

The Bahrain GP could be rescheduled later in the season, with speculation it could take place after the Abu Dhabi race on November 13 if the season-finale in Brazil is moved from November 27 into December.
The F1 championship's next scheduled race is the Australian GP in Melbourne on March 27.

F1 Calendar 2011

Dates	Races
13.03.2011	Grand Prix of Bahrain
27.03.2011	Grand Prix of Australia
10.04.2011	Grand Prix of Malaysia
17.04.2011	Grand Prix of China
08.05.2011	Grand Prix of Turkey
22.05.2011	Grand Prix of Spain
29.05.2011	Grand Prix of Monaco
12.06.2011	Grand Prix of Canada
26.06.2011	Grand Prix of Europe
10.07.2011	Grand Prix of Great Britain
24.07.2011	Grand Prix of Germany
31.07.2011	Grand Prix of Hungary
28.08.2011	Grand Prix of Belgium
11.09.2011	Grand Prix of Italy
25.09.2011	Grand Prix of Singapore
09.10.2011	Grand Prix of Japan
16.10.2011	Grand Prix of Korea
30.10.2011	Grand Prix of India
13.11.2011	Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi
27.11.2011	Grand Prix of Brazil

Crazy about Rugby

Air New Zealand showed its dedication to our national rugby team by painting its newest plane all black.

The Airbus A320 which is painted to support the All Blacks' Rugby World Cup campaign 2011, landed at Auckland Airport to a cheering crowd on the 1st of February.

A silver fern motif decorates the tail and the slogan "crazy about rugby" is splashed across the side of the aircraft that is going to be used for the domestic market in New Zealand

On board was All Black captain Richie McCaw who was welcomed by a group of Air New Zealand staff performing the same haka the players do before a game.

Richie McCaw said he was impressed by the plane and said it showed the airline's devotion to supporting the All Blacks during the Rugby World Cup later this year.

The plane's touchdown yesterday marked the end of its three-day journey from the Airbus manufacturer base in Toulouse, France. It then flew through Canada, Denver, Los Angeles, Hawaii and Samoa before arriving in Auckland

It will begin a nationwide tour on February 6.

The aircraft is Air New Zealand's only black plane but is the first of the airline's new jet fleet of 14 Airbus A320s as it replaces its Boeing 737-300 aircraft for domestic routes.

The airline has painted planes black to support previous All Blacks World Cup campaigns.

2011 ferrari F1 named.

Ferrari's new Formula One car that will be unveiled Friday will be called the F150 in honour of the 150th anniversary of Italy's unification.

The Italian flag will also feature prominently on the cars driven by Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.

Ferrari president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo tells the ANSA news agency that all Ferrari workers "share the honor and responsibility of representing our country in the world and it's with this spirit that we wanted to dedicate this car to such an important event for all of Italy."

Italy President Giorgio Napolitano was informed of the decision Tuesday and wished the team good luck for this season, which opens with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 13.

787 test program nears an end

Boeing has a revised third quarter target for the delivery of the 787′s service entry now looks to be achievable given all of the delays and setbacks experienced during the testing program – although this comes at a huge financial cost in writing off the first three test airplanes, (ongoing) compensation to customers and a hugely embarassing three year delay to the program.

With just several hundred hours of flight testing yet to be completed, Boeing has, with this revised entry into service schedule, provided the first realistic target of getting the airplane delivered.

Delivering the first 787 earlier will make better headlines, but as with the 777 program, Boeing is aiming to ensure ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standard) capability out-of-the-box for 787 customers.

Delivering the first 787′s will alleviate near-term pressures, but the bigger question remains of how long it will now take Boeing to reach its former target of ten airplanes a month – 2013 is now out of the question.

Motorsport icon dies

Former Formula One team boss of Arrows, V8 Supercars personality and Gloucester rugby club chairman Tom Walkinshaw has died at age 64.

Tom Walkinshaw, who had been suffering from cancer, was a former racing driver whose Formula 1 career began with Benetton after successes at Le Mans and in touring cars with Jaguar.

The Scotsman brought Ross Brawn along with him and then helped lure Michael Schumacher to the team from Jordan.

Walkinshaw moved to Ligier after Schumacher's first of seven championships in 1994 before taking over the top position at Arrows two years later.

Arrows - which first raced in 1978 - eventually folded in 2002 after 382 Grand Prixs without a single victory, although Damon Hill almost did in Hungary in 1998.

In 2005 the Scotsman returned to V8 Supercars, re-establishing relationships with the Holden Racing Team and Holden Dealer Team.

In 2006 his efforts helped Rick Kelly to the teams' first series win since 2002. The feat was repeated the following year with Garth Tander.

He owned Aussie smalltime manufacturer Elfin Cars, and his Walkinshaw Peformance company bought a half share of HRT from Skaife Sports in 2007, buying the balance in 2008.

Qantas problems continue.

A pilot of a Qantas 747 flight was forced to turn back to Sydney today (15/11/10) during a flight from Sydney to Buenos Aires, Argentina, The pilot reportedly told passengers there was smoke coming from the instrument panel in the cockpit.

On Friday, a Qantas Boeing 767 turned back on a domestic flight in Australia after pilots detected abnormal vibrations in one of the plane's two General Electric engines. A week earlier, a Sydney-bound Qantas Boeing 747 landed safely in Singapore after an engine caught fire minutes after takeoff.

Both 747 planes were fitted with Rolls-Royce RB211 engines.

The fault on the A380 two weeks ago was in the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine. Leaking oil caught fire in the motor of a four-engine Qantas A380, heating metal parts and causing the disintegration over Indonesia before the jetliner returned safely to Singapore. Chunks of flying metal damaged vital systems in the wing of the Sydney-bound plane, causing the pilots to lose control of the second engine and half of the brake flaps on the damaged wing in a situation far more serious than originally portrayed by the airline.

Qantas grounded its six A380s within hours and said four days later that the checks had revealed suspicious oil leaks on three engines on three different grounded A380s. Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa, which both use A380s with Trent 900 engines, have conducted checks on their superjumbos and all but one have returned to service, the airlines say.

Carter moving to millions...

Dan Carter is set to leave the All Blacks next year and become the world's highest paid Rugby player.

Carter has signalled to the New Zealand Rugby Union that he is likely to accept one of three multimillion-dollar offers from French clubs after the World Cup in 2011.

The New Zealand Rugby Union were desperate for Carter to extend his contract and stay on until at least 2012 but they are now resigned to the likelihood that their star player will be leaving.

Unfinished business is understood to be the principal reason Carter is heading back to France - although offers of €1 million to €1.2 million ($1.8m-$2.2m) per season will hardly be discouraging him.

At that level, he will likely supersede the man who is currently supposed to be the best-paid player in rugby - Frenchman Sebastien Chabal who plays in Paris for Racing Metro for $1.8m a season.

Former All Black prop Carl Hayman signed for Toulon for a reported deal worth €620,000 ($1.13m) a season while Bayonne bid for Australia's Matt Giteau at the end of 2008, offering him a four-year deal worth an estimated $9.6m (or $2.4m a season).

In Carter's "sabbatical" season with Perpignan in 2008 (from which he was permitted to return and play for the All Blacks), he was reportedly paid €600,000 for his six months. However, he was injured and played only four matches for them.

Perpignan won the French championship that year but Carter has since spoken of his desire to return and play a full role for the club in a championship he enjoyed; in a region and country he particularly relished.

So Perpignan are thought to be in the best position to win Carter's services. Both Toulon and Racing Metro have also made offers.

Tesla in Tokyo

Tesla, the US maker of electric sportscars, has opened its first Asian showroom in Tokyo.

The Palo Alto, California-based Tesla Motors has globally sold only 1,400 of the electric cars - which start at $101,500 in the US (and 1.5 times that in Japan).

And while the price for electronic vehicles is likely to come down, a major drawback remains the lack of recharging stations, which make them risky for long distance driving.

Toyota is a shareholder in the American company, recently investing $50 million in Tesla stock, and signing a $60 million contract to have Tesla help develop an electric version of Toyota's RAV4 crossover vehicle. Japanese electronics maker Panasonic also supplies the cars' batteries.

In Japan, electric vehicles are tax-free and eligible for government incentive cash payments that can reduce the price tag by a quarter of the retail price.

More affordable electric vehicles are on the market already, such as the iMiEV from Mitsubishi Motors Corp., although sales at about 4,000 vehicles, mostly in Japan, still make a tiny fraction of overall auto sales.

Already showing wider appeal is Nissan's Leaf electric car, set for delivery in December. Its price in Japan is about 3 million yen with incentives, and about $25,000 in the US with federal tax credits. Nissan has received 20,000 orders for the Leaf in the U.S, and 6,000 in Japan.

Rugby sevens gold again.

New Zealand increased their streak to 23 wins and 0 loses at the Commonwealth Games, wrapping up gold again with a heart-stopping win over trans-Tasman arch-rivals Australia.

Whatever opposition teams throw at them it's almost as if the Games sevens title is now New Zealand's by right.

With four bit-part All Blacks in his ranks - Ben Smith, Liam Messam, Hosea Gear and Zac Guildford - ironically it was Gordon Tietjens' sevens specialists who delivered the winning tries. Final score, New Zealand 24 - Australia 17.

Sevens will be on the Olympic program for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens said that now had to be the goal for New Zealand. He had an inkling Delhi would bring deliverance after a disappointing year in the sevens tournament, plumping his squad with All Blacks.

All Blacks take Tri-Nations .

Two tries in the final two minutes saw the All Blacks capture their 10th Tri Nations title with a thrilling 29-22 win over South Africa in Soweto.






New Zealand 29
Tries: Tony Woodcock, Richie McCaw, Israel Dagg. Pens: Dan Carter 4. Con: Carter.

South Africa 22
Try: Schalk Burger. Pens: Morne Steyn 5 Con: Steyn

Tri-nations standings:

New Zealand. 23 points
Australia. 4 points
South Africa. 1 point

There are 3 games left in the tri-nations series, Two games between South Africa and Australia. And 1 game between New Zealand and Australia.

Boobs on Bikes 2010

After lifting itself into the news over the past years, the annual Boobs on Bikes parade down Auckland's Queen Street fell a bit flat this year.

Fewer boobs, fewer bikes and fewer bystanders. The top half of Queen St had very few spectators whereas in the past it had been extremely busy.

Even the central shopping area lower down had fewer camera-wielding enthusiasts than in previous years.

The estimated crowd attendance was at around 3000 which is about a 10th of the number who in May marched down the same street to protest against the Government's plans to mine in national parks.

Huge crowds watched in 2007, after it was opposed by lobby group Family First NZ and Auckland Mayor Dick Hubbard, who called the parade "morally repugnant".

Queen St was also packed for the 2008 and 2009 events.

The event will continue through New Zealand over the coming weeks but the future of the annual event is greatly under threat of dying off.

The parade helps promote 2010 Erotica Lifestyles Expo, and raises money for breast cancer awareness.