Newslip Episode 7 22.02.09

Welcome to Newslip. Today is Sunday, 22nd of February. I'm Wesley Gerrard and here are the top stories making the news this week.

Civil liberties group Human Rights Watch have released a report claiming that at least ten British citizens have been tortured in foreign countries in collusion with the British security services. In Pakistan it is said that after torture, MI5 has been interviewing terrorism suspects. David Milliband, the foreign secretary is already under pressure after refusing to release documents relating to the treatment of Binyam Mohamed, the British Guantánamo detainee, who is imminently due to return to Britain. A foreign office spokesman claimed "Our policy is not to participate in, solicit, encourage or condone the use of torture, or inhumane or degrading treatment, for any purpose."

Claims were made this week that Google Earth's new ocean mapping feature had discovered the lost city of Atlantis. Images were produced of a series of underwater grid lines indicating a city. The find, 600 miles off the African coast, was thought to have solved the riddle of the fabled civilisation, first mentioned by Plato. However, Google explained later in the week that the features were just idiosyncracies of their data collection and were nothing more than the paths of boats that were recording their data.

It looks as though David Beckham's desire to extend his loan spell at AC Milan is on the rocks after the club refused to pay he £9 million valuation of LA Galaxy. Milan tried to extend Beckham's loan until his contract expires in November for a fee of £2 million. LA Galaxy have refused to budge, however, and want their star to return in time for the start of the new season. Claims have been made that Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi is lining up Leonardo to replace Beckham.

President Bush left office with a record high 73% domestic disapproval rate. The general feelings around the globe was that he was the worst US President in history. However, there are some isolated corners which felt that Bush did good service. Kosovo has named a street after him after he supported their independence. Many new children in Darfur are named George Bush and his extreme pro-Israeli support meant that he was given constant standing ovations on state visits there. The overall African approval rate, even in Muslim countries is a resounding 80% mainly due to the doubling of state aid during his time in office.

A memorial service has been held in Victoria state capital, Melbourne, to commemorate the lives of 209 people who lost their lives in the Australian fires. Many people from the grief-stricken communities had to be bussed to the service after their vehicles were destroyed in the fire, along with their homes. Princess Anne was present at the service to represent the Queen.

European leaders, gathered in Berlin, have agreed the need to regulate all financial markets, including hedge funds. Warnings were made about economic protectionism and German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, highlighted that they faced 'an extraordinary international crisis.' The meeting was seen as a precursor to the imminent meeting of the G20 where the rules of the global financial system are planned to be rewritten.

The Colombian secret police, the DAS, have been accused of allowing rogue agents to leak information to criminals. Magistrates, politicians, officials and journalists may have had phones tapped. Data on apparent rebel sympathisers has been passed to right-wing paramilitary death squads. There is an ongoing civil war in Colombia between government forces and left-wing rebel militia, the FARC.

The terminally ill reality TV superstar Jade Goody has married her fionce, Jack Tweed, to the echoes of a standing ovation by the watching crowd. The twenty-seven year old, bald from her chemotherapy treatment, is suffering from Ovarian cancer. She signed the papers with her two sons sat on her lap. Tweedy, tagged after being released form jail following an assault charge, propsed to Miss Goody immediately after doctors had diagnosed her with the incurable disease.

Banking minister Lord Myners has said banks were "foolish" to offer 100% mortgages, after Gordon Brown called for "prudent and careful" lending. Liberal Democrats and Tories claimed that the government's actions came too late. When chancellor, Gordon Brown said that Britain was strong because of its light-touch regulatory environment, which encouraged investment and created jobs and wealth. He has since changed his stance.

And this week's top story...

A bomb has exploded in a crowded tourist area of Cairo, killing one and injuring seventeen. A device was thrown from a balcony into a crowd of predominantly French tourists at a cafe in the historic Khan al-Khalili area. The are was the target in previous attacks in 2005. The Egyptian government has been criticised for its stance over over the recent conflict in Gaza and has many enemies.

That's all for this week. Thanks for tuning in. See you again soon.

Newslip Episode 4 01.02.09

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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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Newslip Episode 1 11.01.09

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.