Newslip Episode 4 01.02.09

http://www.newslip.co.uk

Welcome to Newslip. I'm Wesley Gerrard. Today is Sunday, 1st February 2009 and here are this week's news stories...

The funeral took place of Bill Stone, the last British serviceman to have seen active duty in both world wars. Mr Stone lived to be 108 and during the wars, served in the Royal Navy, which he originally joined in 1918 on his eighteenth birthday. He died peacefully in a care home surrounded by his family.

Brazil and Manchester City striker, Robinho, who recently was fined by his club for walking away from an international training camp, was charged on Tuesday for an alleged sexual assault on a girl in a Leeds nightclub. Robinho, whose £32.5 million pricetag makes him the most expensive player in Britain, has strenuously denied any wrongdoing and is making no further comment as the investigation continues.

The coldest winter in thirteen years is ongoing as icy winds threaten to plunge Britain into subzero temperatures. Snow from Russia will be falling Sunday night and will become more widespread across England & Wales by Monday with drifts between 5 and 10 cm to be expected.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom warned at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, that financial protectionism is a greater danger than trade protectionism in the current global economic crisis. He told participants that cooperation between major powers and global financial institutions is vital to ensure a continued flow of credit to developing and smaller countries, which are likely to be the biggest victims of the recession.

Steelmaker Corus has announced that it is to cut 3500 jobs worldwide, including 2500 in the UK. Corus' plans include 'mothballing' part of their site at Llanwern in Newport meaning the loss of 600 jobs. They hope that they will be able to implement a voluntary redundancy scheme. Global steel demand has fallen 40% from its peak last year and Corus' orders have hence fallen by a third.

An Iraqi sculpture of a shoe at an orphanage in Saddam Hussein's hometown, Tikrit, has been dismantled after being unveiled last Thursday. The sculpture, a homage to the Iraqi journalist who launched his shoes at Mr Bush, was taken down on the orders of local authorities. Muntadar al-Zaidi is still being held, awaiting trial for his actions for which he faces a possible 15 year jail term.

Up to 2.5 million people took part in demonstrations in France on Thursday as the nation ground to a halt through strike action. People were angered by the government's failure to deal with the current economic crisis. In Paris, police met protestors with repeated baton charges, and after fires were lit on some of the capital's best-known boulevards, they used tear gas on the minority of protesters who were violent.

The House of Lords has fallen into disrepute after a secret Sunday Times investigation revealed Lord Truscott to offer an undercover reporter the opportunity for him to hire the peer to change legislation in the house, in return for a cash payment. Three other lords were also revealed to be operating similar bribe schemes. Calls have been made for the House of Lords to be subjected to similar laws as affect the lower House of Commons.

Communist North Korea has accused Seoul of hostile intent and as a result has scrapped all military and political agreements with its Southern neighbour. The North, angry with new South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, says that it is at the brink of war. The two Korean states are still technically at war because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953.

And this week's top story...

US President Barack Obama has reacted angrily to reports that US bank executives paid themselves $18 billion in bonuses last year. At a time when American unemployment figures are at the highest level ever recorded and when taxpayers money is being used to bail out the financial services industry, he said that bonuses were shameful.

Thanks for tuning into Newslip. See you all next week. Goodbye.

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