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Monday, January 9, 2012

Olympics London 2012


The London Olympics countdown entered its final 200 days on Monday with government and organisers talking up the legacy Britain can look forward to long after the last medal has been won and the show is over. On the day three more Games venues had their future ownership announced, Prime Minister David Cameron was due to hold his first cabinet meeting of the New Year at the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London. “I want the message to go out loud and clear, from tourism to business, sport to investment, we are determined to maximise the benefits of 2012 for the whole country,” Cameron said in a statement. “Today, as we mark 200 days to go, and six out of the eight Olympic venues having already secured their future, we are well on track to delivering a lasting legacy for the whole of Britain.” Sporting legacy and the economic regeneration of a run-down area of east London, without the facilities becoming a drain on public finances after the Games, were central to London’s successful bid in 2005 but critics have questioned how much money the government can recoup. Details on the operators to take over the wave-shaped Aquatics Centre, multi-use Handball Arena and 115 metre high steel AccelorMittal Orbit feature will be announced by the Olympic Park Legacy Company later in the day. The new contracts will create at least 254 jobs on the Park, whose estate management and maintenance has also been secured, and means six of eight permanent venues now have a clear ownership beyond the Games. The government expects the Orbit, a landmark helter-skelter of a structure designed by artist Anish Kapoor and taller than New York’s Statue of Liberty, to attract up to a million visitors a year. They hope the Aquatics Centre could see 800,000 users a year as a local community facility accessible to all as well as remaining a venue for world class events. The multi-use Arena will become the capital’s third largest, hosting up to half a million visitors a year to concerts, exhibitions and sports events. The remaining two venues yet to have confirmed legacy operators are the main stadium, which has cost 486 million pounds ($748.81 million) to build, and the international broadcast and press centre. “To find operators to take over these world class facilities so far ahead of the Games and to secure their commitment to spread jobs and opportunities throughout the local communities is the icing on the 2012 cake,” said London mayor Boris Johnson. “We can now start the run in to a fantastic year of celebration with huge pride and optimism that London will stage great Games, delivering lasting sustainable benefits long after the athletes have departed.” Paul Deighton, chief executive of organising committee LOCOG, urged businesses and the public to embrace the Games and not squander the opportunity of a lifetime. “The thing that keeps me up at night is whether we will take full advantage of the extraordinary opportunity coming our way this summer,” he told the Guardian newspaper. “I know that by the time we get to the end of this most people will say that they had no idea of the scale and opportunity of this, if only. I don’t want too many if onlys.”

Iran: American sentences to death for spying


Amir Mirzai Hekmati, who also holds Iranian citizenship, was "sentenced to death for cooperating with a hostile nation, membership of the CIA and trying to implicate Iran in terrorism," the verdict said. Hekmati, who was born in the United States to an Iranian immigrant family, was shown on Iranian state television in mid-December saying in fluent Farsi and English that he was a Central Intelligence Agency operative sent to infiltrate the Iranian intelligence ministry. He had been arrested months earlier. Iranian officials said his cover was blown by agents for Iran who spotted him at the US-run Bagram military air base in neighbouring Afghanistan. But Hekmati s family in the United States told US media he had travelled to Iran to visit his Iranian grandmothers and he was not a spy. In his sole trial hearing, on December 27, prosecutors relied on Hekmati s "confession" to say he tried to penetrate the intelligence ministry by posing as a disaffected former US soldier with classified information to give. The United States has demanded Hekmati s release. The State Department said Iran has not permitted diplomats from the Swiss embassy -- which handles US interests in the absence of US-Iran ties -- to see Hekmati before or during his trial.

I will be back to 'harm's way' by 30th : Musharraf


Addressing (via video link) a rally of the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) in Mazar-e-Quaid ground in Karachi, Pervez Musharraf, the APML chief and former president, said he would return to Pakistan because he is not the one who could be scared. He said he fought wars and never should anyone expect that he could be cowed down. He announced that on return he would contest elections from Chitral. He said he knows the culture and politics of Pakistan better than anyone else. The APML chief announced that he would return to Pakistan on January 27 or January 30. He said he would like to land in Karachi.  Pervez Musharraf said his government had brought about development in the country. He said the people should recall his tenure as president. “Daily-use items such as sugarm wheat flour, oil, gas and petrol were readily available on cheaper rates. Investment was increasing. The expatriates were finding opportunities in Pakistan to be able to return.” He said he played the innings for the country for over 10 years. “So all those who talk of playing innings must know that I have played a long innings and delivered,” Musharraf said, adding that he would return to Pakistan for the people of Pakistan. "Had it been for me, I could choose to stay abroad, but I intend to return and walk into difficulties because I want to steer the country out of mess."  Musharraf said that today trains are being closed down, the PIA is shambles, foreign borrowing is on the rise, the institutions are at odds. He said the people are disappointed in these circumstances. He said his party would tackle all these issues. Musharraf also said he knows that certain politicians are visiting Balochistan and trying to implicate him regarding the killing of Nawaz Akbar Bugti. He said he considered the Balochs and the Tribals as brave people. He said all such politicians want to keep the Baloch nation in poverty. He said he had always been against the anti-Pakistan people. "I will always be the enemy of people who hate Pakistan and who burn Pakistani flag," Musharraf said. 

‘Suu Kyi could get govt role’


She could be given a role if she got elected to parliament in April by-elections, a presidential adviser said on Sunday. The Nobel laureate, who could be propelled into a parliament still largely composed of the military and ruling army-backed party, would be given a "suitable" position, Nay Zin Latt. It is the latest gesture of reform by Myanmar s new leadership, but concerns remain about the fate of political detainees in the country also known as Burma. "There is also a possibility she will be appointed to the government," said the adviser, adding it would depend on Suu Kyi s wishes. "If she s more interested in legislative matters, there can be a suitable duty for her at parliament," he said. The comments come as Suu Kyi s National League for Democracy (NLD) party confirmed that the 66-year-old would contest the vote in a constituency near Yangon. "Daw Suu will contest from Kawhmu constituency. We will release final candidate lists for constituencies after January 11," NLD spokesman Nyan Win told AFP. Daw is a term of respect in Myanmar. "We do not know yet how and where she will serve her duty if elected," he said, adding that she would "just be a parliament member". Nyan Win said Suu Kyi will embark on a campaign trip soon, although details of the tour have not been decided. Nay Zin Latt said President Thein Sein would welcome Suu Kyi if she was elected in the vote and becomes a parliament member. "The president wants the coming by-elections to be free and fair," he said. Suu Kyi, who was freed from seven straight years of house arrest days after the November 2010 election, said she expected to live to see a "full democratic election" in Myanmar, in comments to the BBC last week. Her NLD also saw its party registration officially approved by authorities last week, clearing the final hurdle to its participation in the by-elections. A total of 48 seats are up for grabs in the April vote -- 40 in the lower house, six in the upper house and two in regional assemblies. The polls are to fill places vacated by those elected in the controversial vote who have since become ministers and deputy ministers in the government. But the number of seats available is not enough to threaten the resounding majority held by the ruling party. One quarter of parliament s seats are taken up by the army, while the Union Solidarity and Development Party, which is packed with former military men, holds about 80 percent of the remainder. Relations between the new nominally civilian government and the opposition have seen a significant thaw in recent months, with high-profile dialogue between former generals, including the president, and Suu Kyi. 

11 Syria troops killed in clashes


The riots left 11 of soldiers dead, human rights activists said. Another 20 soldiers were wounded in the fighting in Daraa province, south of the capital, while nine soldiers defected to join the rebel troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. In addition to the deadly clashes in the village of Basr al-Harir, the Britain-based watchdog also reported heavy machinegun exchanges between the army and deserters in the Daraa town of Dael. There was no immediate word on any casualties. Cradle of the protests against President Bashar al-Assad that erupted in March, Daraa has been one of the provinces hardest hit by the deadly crackdown unleashed by his regime. The latest deaths came as Arab League foreign ministers prepared to meet in Cairo to review the record of a widely criticised observer mission to Syria, in the face of growing calls for the bloc to cede to the United Nations the lead role in trying to end the bloodshed.