Welcome to Newslip, your brief weekly news update. I am Wesley Gerrard. Today is Sunday the 11th of January 2009 and this is our inaugural episode. In this week's news we have ten stories to present to you... If you want to see the site in its original context please visit the main website Also the site can be seen at Youtube and Myspace
A record chill has been felt across Europe with at least seventeen lives being claimed across the region. Most of southern France is blanketed in snow and Milan in Italy has had to shut its two airports. In Eastern Germany, a weather station recorded temperatures dropping as low as minus 27 degrees centigrade. Conversely, temperatures in Australia are soaring, as it experiences an extremely hot summer heatwave. 
The siege of the Saudi oil tanker, the Sirius Star, has finally ended after owners of the plighted ship arranged for a plane to parachute a $3 million ransom to the Somali pirates which have held the crew hostage for the past two months. Two Britons were among the 25 strong crew and reports suggest that they are both safe and well. 
English cricket was hit by a storm on Wednesday when the relationship between captain and coach became untenable. Kevin Pietersen resigned as captain due to the breakdown and coach Peter Moores was sacked. Andrew Strauss has been appointed as the new permanent captain. 
Film star, Patrick Swayze, has been admitted to hospital, suffering from pneumonia. Earlier this week he spoke on an ABC news interview about his battle with pancreatic cancer. The star of Ghost said: 'Am I dying? Am I giving up? Am I on my death bed? Am I saying goodbye to people? No way.' Despite his comments he admitted that he expected to be dead within two years. 
A Tory activist was expelled from the party after boasting to friends on his facebook page how he dressed up as the missing girl, Madeleine McCann, at a New Years Eve Party. Matthew Lewis apologised to Madeleine's incensed parents and his position as branch chairman of Staffordshire's Conservative Future is now listed as vacant. 
The Head of MI5, the British secret intelligence service, Jonathan Evans, warned that the decline in economic power of the West, due to the international recession, could be a watershed moment in the maintenance of domestic security. As the balance of economic power shifted away from the West, Mr Evans predicted that new threats would emerge. As well as the ongoing rise of Islamic fundamentalist activity, the MI5 chief suggested that there has been a rise in spying by growing economic powers such as Russia and China. 
After a dispute over payments by the Ukraine for their gas supplies, Russia cut off all supplies of the raw material to their neighbours. This had a knock-on effect across Eastern Europe as Ukraine is the transit route for gas pipes from Russia to Europe. During the particularly cold spell which has hit the continent, many homes across Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey and Serbia have been left without their energy. An accord has now been reached between the leaders of the disputing countries and the gas supply is expected to be resumed shortly. 
Manchester United and Portugal football star, Cristiano Ronaldo, who, during the summer was branded by FIFA chief, Sepp Blatter, as a wage slave, crashed his Ferrari this week in a tunnel at Manchester airport. As the wreckage of the sports car was cleared from the road, the uninjured Ronaldo went to training with his teammates at the United training ground. Police are yet to decide on whether or not to prosecute the 23 year old for dangerous driving. 
Video footage has emerged of Prince Harry in which he brands one of his colleagues in army barracks as a 'Paki'. In the same video he is heard calling another fellow army cadet a 'raghead'. The third in line to the throne has previously hit headlines after offending Jews when he turned up dressed as a Nazi at a party. Harry has apologised for his comments and claims that they were taken out of context. And this week's top story... 
We have entered the third week of the bloody Israeli invasion of Gaza and the number of dead has dramatically increased since Israel launched the ground offensive against Hamas insurgents. The number of civilians killed, however, has been prolific, especially since the attack on a school as well as an alleged bombardment of a UN aid convoy. The total number of Palestinian fatalities is now in excess of 850 whereas only 13 Israelis have died. Both sides rejected a UN resolution for peace and embassies across the world have been besieged by infuriated demonstrators. 
Of course, the really big news this week is that Newslip has been launched. We hope you enjoyed the program and will continue to support us in the future. We are also available on You Tube, Podomatic, Myspace, Facebook and have several blogs as well as the newslip.co.uk website. We'll be back next week to update you all. Good bye.
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