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 Lausanne,
Switz
Fears that facilities for competitors and spectators will not
be complete in time for the start of the 2004 Athens Olympiad
intensified yesterday as it emerged that a secret Greek request
to have a number of building related roles recognised as events
had been turned down by the IOC. In a statement the committee
told reporters, 'A request by the Greek authorities to have a
number of nw events added to the Olympic rosta has today been
turned down by the committee. The events included brick-laying,
welding, plumbing, quantity surveying and a number of others
and the proposal envisaged these events taking place before the
official opening ceremony, as a prelude to the games itself.
After due consideration the committee felt that these events
failed to qualify as genuine sports, despite the undoubted fitness
and skills of many of the participants." The Greek proposal,
which was seconded by the Republic of Ireland, has been seen
by critics as a covert attempt by the nation to bring in extra
help to enable the completion of facilities. Despite regular
reassurances
from officials of the Athens Organising Committee, fears have
been growing that many stadia, training camps and transport links
will not be ready in time for the opening ceremony. Papos Giannakopolous,
a spokesman for the AOC told reporters 'Most facilities are virtually
complete, we have only to add spurious extra floors for tax purposes
to finish the job, and we have the men here in Greece to do that.
The proposal to the IOC was a suggestion from a junior member
of the AOC who has since been dismissed.'
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London,
UK
CBeebies bosses are
said to be delighted with the audience response received
in test screenings of new 3-5 year olds
show 'Fluffies'. The selection of 18-23 year olds viewing
the pilot, in which 'Fluffies' Lint and Herbal argue over
ownership of a stray cat that has wandered into their purple
garden before deciding to share the cat and naming it 'Dog',
was received with riotous whoops of enjoyment by the mostly
male audience. Head of CBeebies Michael Plover told entertainment
reporters, 'We've tried to create a show that combines maximum
adult appeal with toddler appeasement and ample merchandising
potential, we also hope that the, as it develops, the show
will become educational in some way.' Harry Fraser, a Sociology
undergraduate at LSE told friends, 'the show had a brilliant
subtext, really radical and I thought there were at least
four references to hallucinogens.'
St
Louis, US
The governor of California,
Arnold Schwarzenegger was visibly moved at a rally to support
George
W Bush in St Louis this weekend as the present incumbent
of the post Schwarzenegger covets left the stage to Bruce
Springsteen's classic american anthem, 'Born in the USA'.
Schwarzenegger is prohibited from running for President as
he was born in Austria but his supporters
contend that, as the embodiment of the American dream, the
governor would be an outstanding choice as Republican candidate
in 2008. From the opening riff of the song it was clear that
the former body-builder and movie star was discomfited by
the song's chorus but representatives in the Schwarzenegger
camp were quick to suggest that the governor was not uncomfortable
with the sentiments of the songs title but rather with the
fact that the Bush camp had chosen an anti-Vietnam and lyrically
anti-american song by a noted Democrat supporter as their
show closer. The Governor and president were unavailable
for comment on Springsteen's lyrics.
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Preston, UK
The 14:15 train from Manchester to Preston became the unwitting
and unlikely venue for a tinny dance remix of Wagner's 'The Ride
of the Valkyries' last Wednesday. Concurrent incoming calls to
businessman Harry Dean, single mother Letitia Armstrong and unemployed
youth
Dean Webberley. Mr Dean, who's ageing Nokia 6250 phone carry's
the mono interpretation of Wagner's finest hour left the unit
for a full twenty seconds as the carriage basked in the unlikely
synthesis created by Webberley's polyphonic version of Dizzee
Rascal's 'I Love U' and Armstrong's 'The Muppet Show theme'.
The brief interlude of musical genre bending ended all three
became slightly embarrassed and answered their respective units.
The incident went some way to distracting passengers in the carriage
from the forty minute wait they had already endured on the Virgin
Cross Country service.
Manchester,
England
England cricketer Andrew Flintoff
was released without charge by Manchester police yesterday after an autograph
hunter had been left with mild concussion on approaching the
all-rounder. the incident happened after a heroic 54 not out
from Flintoff, featuring four sixes had guided England to a three-wicket
victory over New Zealand in the second test match at Old Trafford,
the boys father Henry Summers takes over the story, 'Michael
had been completely wowed by Freddie's batting and begged me
to let him wait for the players to emerge after the match so
he could try to get an autograph. I agreed because it was the
first time he'd really shown an interest in the game, usually
it's all football, football, football. Anyway, Freddie came out
and was excellent, laughing and joking with the crowd, he signed
Michael's program and ruffled his hair affectionately. It wasn't
until about twenty minutes later in the car that he started complaining
about headaches and blacked out. I told my wife Pamela that it
was an honour to be knocked out by Freddie but she insisted ontaking
him to the hospital and procedures being procedures we ended
up having to talk to the police. I only hope it won't stop Freddie
tousling hair in future.' |
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