Duran Duran Chosen To Represent England In Hyde Park Concert

Organizers today announced that Duran Duran will "represent  musical talent from England" at the Hyde Park concert coinciding with the start of the London Games. The show will feature other U.K. talent, including Snow Patrol (Northern Ireland), Stereophonics (Wales) and Paolo Nutini (Scotland). The "choice of Duran Duran to open such a high-profile show did not meet with universal approval this morning" (UKPA, 5/1).

Meanwhile, a "nine-day police and military exercise to test the UK's security readiness" for the London Games begins this week. The effort, which begins tomorrow, will deploy "RAF jets and naval helicopters over the capital's skies and surface-to-air missiles at six sites around the Olympic Park" (FT.com, 4/30).