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World News This Week |
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Pope expresses wishes for peaceful Games
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy -- Amid concerns of terrorism at the Olympic Games, Pope John Paul II expressed his ardent wish Sunday that the upcoming events in Athens provide a venue for peace, not violence. The pontiff, addressing pilgrims gathered at his summer residence in the hills outside Rome, also sent his warm wishes to all those participating in the Games and to the people of the Greek capital. The Olympics open Friday. I hope with all my heart that in this world, which is today troubled and at times very upset by so many forms of hatred and violence, the important sporting event of the Games produces an occasion of calm meeting and works to promote understanding and peace among peoples," the pope said. |
| THE world-renowned oil-well firefighter Paul Red Adair, famed for controlling the Piper Alpha disaster and putting out burning Kuwaiti wells following the 1991 Gulf war, has died. The 89-year-old died on Saturday night of natural causes at a hospital in Houston, Texas, his daughter, Robyn Adair, said yesterday. He was known in Scotland for controlling the massive fires that raged following an explosion on the North Sea oilrig Piper Alpha on the night of 6 July, 1988. A massive rescue operation, spearheaded by Mr Adair, was launched to quell 200ft flames that engulfed the rig. A total of 167 people were killed in the tragedy before the fires were finally extinguished. Mr Adairs death brought to an end the firefighters legendary heroics, which have been credited with averting global environmental disasters and inspired a Hollywood blockbuster. In 1938, he was hired by the Otis Pressure Control Company, his first oil-related job. After serving in a bomb disposal unit in the Second World War, Mr Adair returned to his native Texas. In 1959, he set up his company Red Adair Co. |
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Athens Ask any experienced traveler about Athens, and youll probably get this advice Its a one-day city, max. Cruise the Archaeological Museum, peer through the scaffolding at the Parthenon and then make haste for the islands before the air pollution, traffic gridlock and incessant strikes do you in. Yet Greeces maddeningly dysfunctional capital has always rewarded the adventurous (and patient) visitor with unexpected delights. Now, on the eve of the Olympics, after years as the worlds most watched, angst-ridden and ridiculed construction site, the city is easier to navigate and more enjoyable for even casual tourists. |
| Fifa prepares for showdown on drugs issue THE two most powerful bodies in world sport, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Fifa, are on a collision course over the handling of drugs cases, just two days before the start of the Olympic football tournament. Fifa is claiming that the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), which is backed by the IOC, is reneging on concessions to doping protocol that Wada agreed in May. The emergency committee of Fifa yesterday issued a statement expressing its disappointment that Wada was still insisting on unconditional acceptance of the code. Footballs world governing body has always wanted the right to handle individual cases, rather than to follow most other sports by having uniform suspensions, such as two years for anabolic steroids. When such famous players as Jaap Stam, Frank de Boer, Edgar Davids and Fernando Couto were found positive for hormone drugs, they received bans only of a few months, with Fifa failing to intervene in any of these cases. |
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PAMMY'S LITERARY STREAK Pamela Anderson has gone above and beyond the call of duty for her first novel. The former Baywatch babe has included a nude photo of herself in her debut book, Star. The Barb Wire actress admitted the book of fiction would not set the literary world on fire. But although it took Anderson just a month to write, she said it was very me. I started writing columns for Jane and Marie Claire, Ananova quoted her as saying. I can sit down in the hair and make-up chair and a topic will come up and I ll write it out on a legal pad. Poor grammar and everything's bad, but I'll send it in and they fix it. The Canadian-born novelist compared her life to that of her heroine. Like Star I had never been on a plane before I came to LA, Anderson explained. Star tells the story of a woman who arrives in Los Angeles in a tight T-shirt. She goes on to appear in a men's magazine, gets a slot on television and ultimately makes it in Hollywood. |
| BA doubles fuel surcharge British Airways today hit customers with a fresh surcharge because of soaring oil prices. The airline is putting an extra £6 each way on long haul journeys to add to a £2.50 fuel levy it had previously charged. The increase comes in on Wednesday. Other airlines are expected to follow. The BA surcharge on short journeys stays at £2.50. |
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Time Warner Center is big Clocking in at a cool 2.8 million square feet, the colossus at Columbus Circle is the largest building to be completed here since the World Trade Center attacks and the most notable example of the mixed-use high-rise trend that is catching on today in American cities. The center, which opened earlier this year, sits at the crossroads of Midtown Manhattan, Central Park and the Upper West Side and includes a staggering array of real estate uses: a headquarters for media giant Time Warner luxury condominiums a Mandarin Oriental hotel a vertical shopping mall two Lincoln Center jazz theaters and the biggest Whole Foods store in the country. You have to always hold your breath in New York, but Im pleasantly surprised at how well weve been received so far,' said Kenneth Himmel, a partner with developer Related Cos. |
| Afghanistan Faces Major Problems OTTAWA/KABUL, 7 August 2004 — Afghanistan faces serious short-term problems and the world would be unwise to lose interest in the war-torn country now, the outgoing head of the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kabul said yesterday. Canadian Lt. Gen. Rick Hillier, who has been in charge of the International Security Assistance Force for six months, said the Afghan government could not cope with the dangers posed by the drug trade, warlords and militants. There are some significant threats in the shorter term, theyre not unexpected, they are manageable I dont underestimate the scale and scope of it, though, and it is going to be a challenge, |
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Berlusconi is serving Italy a brand-new dish ROME In the days and weeks leading to the Italian Parliaments August recess, a battle raged in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's governing coalition that posed the greatest threat yet to his hold on power. The near-collapse suggested that Berlusconi three years in office, the very accomplishment he boasts of most, had dulled his luster and worn thin his onetime invulnerability. Coalition partners hungry for more clout after relatively strong showings in June local elections were also fed up with years of undelivered promises. Italians tired of economic slumps and his international gaffes wanted to see some change. Yet many analysts say that Berlusconi present stint, the longest in Italy postwar era, represents in itself the greatest change and contribution to a country marred by ceaseless government turnover. The prime ministers uncanny survival instincts and political acumen have granted Italy a taste of relative stability. Stability is an important value, said Roberto DAlimonte, a professor of political science at the University of Florence. And there is some virtue to the chance of voting on an incumbent prime minister. |
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Atkins diet study planned |
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