Last Updated,7 July, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ London beats Paris to host 2012 Olympics
It is the biggest prize in sport and after an almost unbearable wait IOC President Jacques Rogge announced London will host the 2012 Olympic Games. The news was greeted with screams of joy from the London bid team in Singapore, who have spent years working up to this moment. They had brought in the big guns over the last couple of days, Tony Blair spoke - in English and French - before flying to the G8 summit in Scotland. A galaxy of sporting stars including England football captain David Beckham, Olympians Steven Redgrave, Denise Lewis and more were part of the London group. In the capital itself, Trafalgar Square erupted in celebration. There had been some scepticsm in the city over the Games, with early surveys putting support from Londoners at around two third - because of concerns over costs and congestion - but enthusiasm for the bid has grown hugely over the last few months. The plan for 2012 will focus on the regeneration of 500-acres of land in Stratford in the East End. Lord Coe and his team want to transform it into a futuristic Olympic Park.There will be an 80,000 seater stadium, an athlete's village - which will be turned into affordable housing after the Games - and a string of other sporting venues. This lasting sports legacy may have been one of the factors which swung it for London. The city is also playing to its real strengths, history and tradition, by using some of its most famous landmarks to stage various events - beach volleyball in Horse Guards Parade, Wimbledon for tennis and the Millenium Dome for gymnastics and football ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bush promises new climate plan
Speaking just hours before the start of the G8 summit, US president George W Bush, promised a new strategy to help control global warming. The United States is the world's biggest polluter but it is the only G8 member not to have signed the Kyoto accord on emissions reduction. During a visit to Denmark, Bush said he had a new plan which he said he "couldn't wait" to share with other world leaders at the summit. He also answered criticism concerning suspects held at Guantanamo Bay. "Prisoners are well treated in Guantanamo. There's total transparency - the International Red Cross can inspect any time, any day and you are welcome to go. The press are welcome to go down there. "Secondly we've been sending many home." During his stay in Denmark Amnesty International issued an open letter, co-signed by two Danish political parties, questioning the treatment of prisoners at the military base. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Last Updated, 6 July, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Violence rocks Edinburgh ahead of G8
Genoa 2001. Evian 2003. Edinburgh 2005. Violence has once again hit the G8 summit. Anarchist protests have broken out in Scotland's capital ahead of the gathering of the world's richest nations. Several people were detained during clashes with police, and around 20 were injured. On the political front, the US president has signalled that Britain should not expect favours in return for backing the Iraq war. George W Bush told a British television channel he did not see the relationship with Tony Blair as a 'quid pro quo.' G8 officials have drafted a text on climate change but it is said to be a tame document as America's allies are anxious to secure US support. Britain has made poverty relief a central plank of its year-long presidency of the G8. London's bid to double aid to Africa received a boost when Germany backed that goal. The G8 meeting, due to begin tomorrow, has attracted a rare degree of international attention. On Saturday 'Live 8' concerts were held around the world to raise awareness of developing world issues. They were attended by more than a million people. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hamas declines offer to join Abbas's cabinet
The Islamic militant group Hamas has rejected an invitation to join the Palestinian cabinet. It is a snub to President Mahmoud Abbas, who wants a national unity government to help him control the Gaza Strip after Israel's pullout. Hamas said elections should determine the makeup of a Palestinian cabinet and called for a quick parliamentary vote, in which it is likely to mount a serious challenge to Abbas's Fatah faction. A Hamas spokesman called the offer by the Palestinian Authority's government a ploy to avoid a commitment to hold quick elections for parliament. Originally set for July 17, they are now expected to be held after the pullout, due to start in mid-August. Bringing in Hamas, a grassroots faction with considerable influence in Gaza, would help the Palestinian Authority preserve a fragile ceasefire by militant groups. Israel considers Hamas a terrorist organisation and fears it will try to seize control of the Gaza Strip after the evacuation of all 21 Jewish settlements there. It has condemned the idea of including Hamas in the Palestinian cabinet. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NASA elation at Deep Impact success
NASA is on a high after the success of the Deep Impact mission. "Our experiment went very, very well. We touched a comet and we touched it hard," said Pete Schultz, co-investigator at Brown university. The first pictures showed a small fireball followed by a much bigger incandescent flash. The collision marks the first time a spacecraft has come into contact with a comet. It is hoped Deep Impact will give valuable insights into what lies in store for the European mission Rosetta which aims to orbit and land on a comet for the first time. It was launched last year on a 10-year journey --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Last Updated, 5 July, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ African Union's message to G8
It is not just the G8 which is focusing on fair trade and debt cancellation. Those issues are also high on the agenda of the African Union. The organisation is meeting in Libya and it is expected member states will agree on a message to send to the G8 group of the rich nations. They begin their own summit in Scotland on Wednesday. It is thought the AU will support a British-backed motion for more aid for Africa to be discussed at the G8 conference. World leaders including EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan are attending the AU gathering. They are keen to hear what delegates have to say about war and democracy on the continent. There was no mention on the agenda of Zimbabwe. The AU has previously avoided discussing the regime of President Robert Mugabe. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last Updated, 4 July, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ al-Qaeda commander killed in Saudi Arabia
Arab media reports a senior al-Qaeda operative in Saudi Arabia has been killed in a gunbattle in the capital Riyadh. Moroccan-born Younis-Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hayyari is the presumed leader of the terrorist network in the country. He features on a new list of 36 suspected al-Qaeda activists wanted for crimes in Saudi Arabia published last week. Two other people were wounded in the fire fight. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ambassador latest victim of Iraqi kidnappers
Egyptian diplomatic sources say Cairo's ambassador in Iraq has been kidnapped. However the report has yet to be confirmed by Egypt's Foreign Ministry. Only last week Iraq announced Ayheb al-Sherif was taking up full ambassadorial rank, making him the first Arab diplomat to hold that status there since the fall of Saddam Hussein. The diplomatic source said al-Sherif was buying a newspaper last night when two BMW cars full of armed man sandwiched his car, and abducted him. Last year a senior Egyptian diplomat was seized in Baghdad and held for several days before being released unharmed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Anti-poverty show Live 8 rocks the world
It took a special occasion and a passionate cause to reunite one of the biggest rock bands of all time. Members of Pink Floyd put aside past differences to join the star-studded line-up that made Live 8 such a success. Appearing in London, the group added its talent to what has been billed the greatest music show ever. Pink Floyd joined stars like Robbie Williams, Madonna and U2 at one of ten concerts across four continents aimed at putting pressure on world leaders to do more to alleviate global poverty. Twenty years after Live Aid, Bob Geldof had once again inspired music legends to come together in solidarity. Some, like Sting and Sir Elton John, had taken part in the original event. The extravaganza had kicked off in Tokyo hours earlier. It took in venues including Johannesburg, Moscow, Paris, Berlin and Philadelphia. Those taking part and the crowds listening hope that such an enormous effort will be enough to influence the upcoming G8 summit. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Blasts raise tension in Kosovo
The capital of Kosovo has been rocked by three loud explosions. The blasts shook Pristina within minutes of each other, targeting an area housing parliament and the international agencies: the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the United Nations. No-one was hurt. The UN has run the southern Serbian province since 1999 when NATO bombers drove out Serb forces accused of atrocities against ethnic Albanian civilians. Kosovo's 90-percent Albanian majority is demanding independence - something Belgrade rejects outright. The blasts come as the UN assesses whether Kosovo is ready for negotiations on its final long-term status. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Last Updated, 3 July, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tight election race in Albania
Albanians vote today in a parliamentary poll that will be closely watched outside the Balkan nation's borders. With the two main parties neck and neck, the country is keen to meet election standards the West has tied to its future in Europe and NATO. Isolated under a Stalinist dictatorship for decades, Albania has travelled a rocky road to democracy. But the last few years have been relatively stable, bringing Tirana's dreams of European Union and NATO membership closer to reality. The Democratic Party of ex-President Sali Berisha hopes to return to power after years in opposition. He resigned in 1997 amid popular unrest sparked by the government's failure to rein in shady savings schemes that bankrupted many people. Ever since, the Socialists have ruled, with current Prime Minister Fatos Nano at the helm for the last four years. Under their tenure, real incomes have doubled and the economy is growing. However, many in Albania appear ready for change. And that could be expressed in the vote for another party - the recently-formed Socialist Integration Movement, which opinion polls put in third place with 10 percent of the vote. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Abbas invites militants into Palestinian government
Islamic Jihad has rejected an offer by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to join his government. However Hamas said it was considering the proposal. Abbas invited the groups to discuss the formation of a unity government, whose prime agenda would be Israel's Gaza pullout plan. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie made a similar invitation but Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they failed to respond because he had made his comments to reporters, rather than to them directly. Israel has condemned the idea, which, if it comes to fruition, will mark the first time armed groups form part of a Palestinian cabinet. Islamic Jihad said it would not be part of a Palestinian government while Israel's occupation continued. Hamas' popularity has grown during more than four years of violence, especially in Gaza, where it had a strong showing in local elections earlier this year. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 20 killed by bomb in Baghdad crowd
Venti le persone rimaste uccise in un primo attacco suicida, decine i feriti. L'attentato è stato messo a segno sabato mattina da un kamikaze. L'uomo indossava una cintura esplosiva che ha azionato nei pressi di una base di reclutamento della polizia, nel centro della capitale, già obiettivo di altri attacchi in passato. Qualche ora dopo, a un posto di blocco, un'autobomba è esplosa facendo cinque morti e una decina di feriti. Le forze Usa e quelle irachene cercano di piegare la guerriglia sunnita, che sta mettendo a dura prova il nuovo governo insediatosi lo scorso aprile. Nella capitale irachena si sono poi svolti i funerali di Kamal al-Din, ucciso ieri, collaboratore del Grande Ayatollah al-Sistani, massima guida spirituale sciita dell'Iraq. At least 20 people have been killed and as many again have been wounded in a suicide bomb attack in Iraq. The victims were police recruits queueing outside an interior ministry building in west Baghdad. A man walked up to the group before detonating his explosive device in the middle of the crowd. A car bomb also exploded in the south of the city near a police station, killing five and wounding 12. Two police colonels were also gunned down in their cars, one in Mosul and another in Musayyib just south of Baghdad. A leading aide to Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric, Ayatollah Sistani was buried on Saturday amid emotional scenes. Thousands of people flooded the streets of the capital to say farewell to Kamal al-Dine al-Ghoreifi, who was murdered yesterday along with two colleagues as they went to Friday prayers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Edinburgh anti-poverty march draws 200,000 onto streets
Some 200,000 people have marched through Edinburgh in a bid to make poverty history. Men, women and children from all corners of Europe flocked to the Scottish capital to demand that the heads of the world's richest nations end the triple scourge of debt, disease and poverty. Next week's summit will take place at a luxury hotel northwest of the historic city, where activists today hold their own alternative G8 gathering. Speaking in Edinburgh after the march, Britain's finance minister issued a rallying call to all those who have taken part in the anti-poverty campaign. Let this be the generation of which it is said: 'we had the vision, we had the courage, we had the moral strength to do the right thing,'" Gordon Brown told a Christian Aid rally. Let us have the moral strength to make poverty history." He pledged to work for more debt relief, aid and trade reform for poor nations. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Last Updated, 2 July, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Berlusconi demands respect as CIA row rumbles on
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has called on the US to show Italy the "fullest respect for its sovereignty" - something that Washington's ambassador promised him it had and always would do. The meeting comes amid a political row over the alleged kidnapping of a terrorism suspect in Milan by the CIA. Last week an Italian judge issued arrest warrants for 13 people implicated in the affair which includes allegations of torture. Meanwhile justice authorities in Genoa say they have broken up an illegal group which had been formed to hunt down Islamic militants. "This group was highly structured with an internal hierarchy," explained prosecutor Domenico Porcelli. "It tried to win the trust of government officials in the US, Israel and Nato." Those leading the investigation say the group was founded in the wake of the train bombings in Madrid last year and included members of the Italian police force and prison guards. The group called itself the Department of Strategic Anti-Terrorism Studies and the suspected leaders are claimed to be members of a far-right group. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Schroeder faces wait to see if early German poll will go ahead
It is so far so good for German leader Gerhard Schroeder in his bid to bring about an early general election.Just as the Chancellor intended, he lost a parliamentary vote of confidence - paving the way for polls a year ahead of schedule. But whether they go ahead now depends on the German president who will decide if sufficient grounds exist to call a national ballot. Angela Merkel would win any such election, according to opinion polls. The conservative oppostion leader would then step into Schroeder's shoes, becoming the first woman to take on the job of Chancellor. Surveys indicate 70 percent of Germans support early elections. One man interviewed on the streets of Berlin criticized the Social Democrat Chancellor and applauded his defeat in the parliamentary vote of confidence. "He said years ago: 'with me everything will be better,' but things are getting worse." Another man was unenthusiastic, whatever the outcome of any fresh ballot."Nothing will change with another person," he said. Under pressure over high unemployment, unpopular reforms and a string of local election defeats, Gerhard Schroeder says he needs a new mandate. But even if the president decides to dissolve parliament, setting the stage for a poll in September, the final say could rest with Germany's Constitutional Court. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Last Updated, 1 July, 2005 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- German government falls, Schroeder happy
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has got what he wanted from the German parliament this morning: a defeat that suits him just fine. He engineered a vote of no-confidence in his SPD-Green coalition government that, in principle, should allow him to go the country in September, a year early. The logic behind his seemingly suicidal decision, as the government trails the opposition by some 20 per cent in opinion polls, is that a campaign will galvanise his troops, and allow him to fight on his economic reforms. He insists German revival is only possible if he is allowed more time to push them through. However the strategy could be derailed. It is constitutionally difficult for a German government to call a snap election, so the president must decide if it is legal. But even if he does, the decision can be challenged in the constitutional court. There was more than a hint of election campaigning in the confidence vote debate, with Chancellor Schroeder defending the record of his SPD-Green coalition government. "I trust in the strength and bravery of my party, which throughout its long and proud history has always stood for justice, the involvement of the people, and democracy. It is on the basis of these values that I will continue to fight", he said. The defiant speech, flying in the face of those opinion polls that suggest the SPD will crash to a heavy defeat in any early general election, brought resounding applause from his party. It was then the turn of the opposition Christian Democrat leader Angela Merkel. She is on course to be Germany's first female leader and also the first from the former East Germany. She saw statesmanship in Schroeder's snap election decision, but a slip of the tongue drew laughter... "In taking this step I owe you my personal respect, as we will avoid a long and inevitable period of political battles that would damage the country, thanks to the capacity of the red-green coalition to governor, I mean incapacity, of course...don't laugh too soon", she said, "We'll see who has the last laugh".
|
