Welcome to Newslip. I'm Wesley Gerrard and today's date is Sunday, 3rd May 2009. Here are the stories making this week's news.
A five day shutdown of parts of the Mexican economy is in operation to help prevent the spread of the Swine Flu which originated there. Non-essential public services have halted and many public buildings like restaurants and cinemas have also closed their doors. There are over 300 cases of Swine Flu in Mexico. It is believed that the epidemic is on the decline in Mexico now though it is feared that it could resurface during a cold spell. Mexico’s economy is already ailing and will be badly hit by the outbreak of this virulent disease.
The six year British military mission to Iraq has ended in an official ceremony at Basra. The 20th Armoured Brigade lowered the Union Jack and handed over the reins to the US Army. There was a total of 179 British deaths during the conflict and subsequent occupation. Prime Minister Gordon Brown hailed the UK troops' efforts as a ‘success story’. Opposition called for an immediate postwar inquiry to be held into why British troops were there in the first place. Other voices of criticism included the Stop the War Coalition who have always regarded British troop presence in Iraq as pointless. The BBC's John Simpson says many ordinary Iraqis in Basra are worried that the Americans who will replace the British will be much more aggressive.
A Royal parade for Holland’s ruling family ended in chaos when an assassination attempt was made resulting in the deaths of five people. A 38 year old man driving a black Suzuki Swift went at high speed through police barriers, narrowly missed the royal family’s open top bus and crashed into a memorial column, having taken out several spectators during his efforts. The Royal family looked on in shock as the incident unfolded. The incident occurred at Apeldoorn, a small town 90km south-east of Amsterdam. The event marked celebrations of Queen’s Day, for Queen Beatrix’s birthday. Queen Beatrix addressed the nation to express her dismay. The driver was badly injured but survived and faces a life sentence in jail for the attempted assassination.
The good news is that we can, according to weather forecasters, expect a British summer heatwave this year with temperatures soaring to 40 degrees centigrade. The bad news is that as many of 10000 deaths are predicted due to the intense heat and the government are preparing to put people on high alert. Up to 35000 people were killed across Europe during the 2003 heatwave, 2000 from Britain. The erratic climatic conditions look set to heat things up though as ever with long range forecasts there is a high degree of speculation at work. A hot one this year would certainly make up for last year’s non-event of a summer.
The McCann family marked the second anniversary of the loss of their daughter, Madeline, who went missing during a family holiday at Praia da Luz in the Portuguese Algarve. They published a photo of how she might now look two years on from when the four year old was taken from her parents. They also made a high profile appeal on the Oprah Winfrey show in America. Detectives in Portugal are now concentrating their efforts on the immediate vicinity of the town where Maddy disappeared after corroborated reports suggest a man was seen carrying a small girl similar in appearance to Madeleine near the McCann’s holiday apartment.
The government has won a series of votes on planned MPs' expenses reforms, after it agreed to delay a decision on controversial second homes allowances. Gordon Brown backed down on his original decision made during his episode on Youtube which claimed that he would be scrapping the second homes allowance in favour of a non-receipted attendance allowance. There has been much controversy recently over MPs claiming taxpayers’ money for silly expenses such as for adult films or patio heaters. The proposed changes are believed by the PM to be the most significant changes to expenses in 25 years. His opposition see his climbdown as another sign of weakness.
The trial of a pregnant Briton in Laos has been brought forward. Samantha Orobator, 20, faces charges of heroin trafficking which carries a potential sentence of death by firing squad. The woman who is originally Nigerian but who lived in Britain for twelve years and is a British citizen was found last August at Wattay Airport allegedly with 600g of the drug after a holiday in Thailand and the Netherlands. She became pregnant in December during her stay at the notoriously harsh prison. Her lawyers claim that the bringing forward of legal proceedings makes her defence difficult to arrange.
Ricky ‘The Hitman’ Hatton fought Filipino, Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas. Before the fight Hatton commented ‘This fat, beer-drinking Englishman is going to shock the world again’. Shock the world he did. He was downed twice in the first round, displaying a lack of defence. In the second round, the hard, fast-hitting Filipino caught the celebrity Brit with a perfect left hand knockout punch which sent Hatton unconscious to the ground where he lay dazed for a good couple of minutes. He spent the night mourning the loss of his world title in the local hospital and it is predicted tthat he will be forced into retirement after the worst defeat in a 45 and 2 professional career.
The family of Baby P who we now know as ‘Peter’ have hit headlines again. Baby P was the baby that social services critically failed to protect when he died of neglect at the hands of his mother and stepfather. His stepfather, Steven Barker, was found guilty in court over the rape of a two year old girl. The girl, who is now four, gave evidence to the Old Bailey becoming the youngest ever witness before the court. Her video evidence confirmed the sickening incident to the jury as she used a teddy bear and a doll to demonstrate the trauma she had been forced to endure. The jury were unaware of the man’s relation to the Baby P case. The results of the trial draw into question again the activities of social services who failed to protect the youngster in a similar way to how they failed to protect Baby Peter. It is believed that either Steven Barker or his paedophile brother are being held at Belmarsh prison where they are given round the clock protection from vigilantes.
And this week's top story...
The World Health Organisation announced that it was no longer possible to contain the spread of Swine Flu. Emitting from Mexico the disease has spread to sixteen countries across the world as travellers returning home have started to affect local people with human to human transmission of the deadly virus. The H1N1 strain known as Swine Flu has emerged previously in recent history. The worst medical holocaust since the Black Death killed between 20 and 100 million people in 1918-1919. This was twice as many who died during the First World War. At that time half of the world’s two billion people were infected. In Western Samoa 90% of the population was wiped out. The flu at this time was called Spanish flu but an alternative name was the Swine Flu with which it is now being tagged. Governments across the world have been put on high alert and are stocking up on medical supplies should the crisis worsen.
That's all for Newslip. Thanks for tuning in. See you again next week. Goodbye.
A five day shutdown of parts of the Mexican economy is in operation to help prevent the spread of the Swine Flu which originated there. Non-essential public services have halted and many public buildings like restaurants and cinemas have also closed their doors. There are over 300 cases of Swine Flu in Mexico. It is believed that the epidemic is on the decline in Mexico now though it is feared that it could resurface during a cold spell. Mexico’s economy is already ailing and will be badly hit by the outbreak of this virulent disease.
The six year British military mission to Iraq has ended in an official ceremony at Basra. The 20th Armoured Brigade lowered the Union Jack and handed over the reins to the US Army. There was a total of 179 British deaths during the conflict and subsequent occupation. Prime Minister Gordon Brown hailed the UK troops' efforts as a ‘success story’. Opposition called for an immediate postwar inquiry to be held into why British troops were there in the first place. Other voices of criticism included the Stop the War Coalition who have always regarded British troop presence in Iraq as pointless. The BBC's John Simpson says many ordinary Iraqis in Basra are worried that the Americans who will replace the British will be much more aggressive.
A Royal parade for Holland’s ruling family ended in chaos when an assassination attempt was made resulting in the deaths of five people. A 38 year old man driving a black Suzuki Swift went at high speed through police barriers, narrowly missed the royal family’s open top bus and crashed into a memorial column, having taken out several spectators during his efforts. The Royal family looked on in shock as the incident unfolded. The incident occurred at Apeldoorn, a small town 90km south-east of Amsterdam. The event marked celebrations of Queen’s Day, for Queen Beatrix’s birthday. Queen Beatrix addressed the nation to express her dismay. The driver was badly injured but survived and faces a life sentence in jail for the attempted assassination.
The good news is that we can, according to weather forecasters, expect a British summer heatwave this year with temperatures soaring to 40 degrees centigrade. The bad news is that as many of 10000 deaths are predicted due to the intense heat and the government are preparing to put people on high alert. Up to 35000 people were killed across Europe during the 2003 heatwave, 2000 from Britain. The erratic climatic conditions look set to heat things up though as ever with long range forecasts there is a high degree of speculation at work. A hot one this year would certainly make up for last year’s non-event of a summer.
The McCann family marked the second anniversary of the loss of their daughter, Madeline, who went missing during a family holiday at Praia da Luz in the Portuguese Algarve. They published a photo of how she might now look two years on from when the four year old was taken from her parents. They also made a high profile appeal on the Oprah Winfrey show in America. Detectives in Portugal are now concentrating their efforts on the immediate vicinity of the town where Maddy disappeared after corroborated reports suggest a man was seen carrying a small girl similar in appearance to Madeleine near the McCann’s holiday apartment.
The government has won a series of votes on planned MPs' expenses reforms, after it agreed to delay a decision on controversial second homes allowances. Gordon Brown backed down on his original decision made during his episode on Youtube which claimed that he would be scrapping the second homes allowance in favour of a non-receipted attendance allowance. There has been much controversy recently over MPs claiming taxpayers’ money for silly expenses such as for adult films or patio heaters. The proposed changes are believed by the PM to be the most significant changes to expenses in 25 years. His opposition see his climbdown as another sign of weakness.
The trial of a pregnant Briton in Laos has been brought forward. Samantha Orobator, 20, faces charges of heroin trafficking which carries a potential sentence of death by firing squad. The woman who is originally Nigerian but who lived in Britain for twelve years and is a British citizen was found last August at Wattay Airport allegedly with 600g of the drug after a holiday in Thailand and the Netherlands. She became pregnant in December during her stay at the notoriously harsh prison. Her lawyers claim that the bringing forward of legal proceedings makes her defence difficult to arrange.
Ricky ‘The Hitman’ Hatton fought Filipino, Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas. Before the fight Hatton commented ‘This fat, beer-drinking Englishman is going to shock the world again’. Shock the world he did. He was downed twice in the first round, displaying a lack of defence. In the second round, the hard, fast-hitting Filipino caught the celebrity Brit with a perfect left hand knockout punch which sent Hatton unconscious to the ground where he lay dazed for a good couple of minutes. He spent the night mourning the loss of his world title in the local hospital and it is predicted tthat he will be forced into retirement after the worst defeat in a 45 and 2 professional career.
The family of Baby P who we now know as ‘Peter’ have hit headlines again. Baby P was the baby that social services critically failed to protect when he died of neglect at the hands of his mother and stepfather. His stepfather, Steven Barker, was found guilty in court over the rape of a two year old girl. The girl, who is now four, gave evidence to the Old Bailey becoming the youngest ever witness before the court. Her video evidence confirmed the sickening incident to the jury as she used a teddy bear and a doll to demonstrate the trauma she had been forced to endure. The jury were unaware of the man’s relation to the Baby P case. The results of the trial draw into question again the activities of social services who failed to protect the youngster in a similar way to how they failed to protect Baby Peter. It is believed that either Steven Barker or his paedophile brother are being held at Belmarsh prison where they are given round the clock protection from vigilantes.
And this week's top story...
The World Health Organisation announced that it was no longer possible to contain the spread of Swine Flu. Emitting from Mexico the disease has spread to sixteen countries across the world as travellers returning home have started to affect local people with human to human transmission of the deadly virus. The H1N1 strain known as Swine Flu has emerged previously in recent history. The worst medical holocaust since the Black Death killed between 20 and 100 million people in 1918-1919. This was twice as many who died during the First World War. At that time half of the world’s two billion people were infected. In Western Samoa 90% of the population was wiped out. The flu at this time was called Spanish flu but an alternative name was the Swine Flu with which it is now being tagged. Governments across the world have been put on high alert and are stocking up on medical supplies should the crisis worsen.
That's all for Newslip. Thanks for tuning in. See you again next week. Goodbye.
