November 12, 2007

Blaze Hits London's Olympic Park

Plumes of smoke rising into the London sky set the city on high alert today. The fire turned out to be located in an empty warehouse being demolished to make way for the site of the 2012 Summer Games.

Firefighters are still battling the blaze; no injuries have been reported. An Olympic official said an investigation will be launched, but "initial indications would suggest that this was an accident rather than arson." London police added that there was no indication the fire was an act of terrorism.

The Olympic Delivery Authority released a statement confirming that the east London fire was at the Olympic Park site. The main stadium was set for construction near the site of the fire.

London will become the first city to host the modern Olympics three times, and its potentially seizure-inducing logo has already stirred up some controversy.

Posted at 12:29 PM
Posted to: Europe, Olympics, U.K.
Share via

September 06, 2007

Bush And Hu Discuss Contentious Issues In Sydney

President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao met Thursday to discuss a range of contentious topics on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific summit in Sydney, Australia. The leaders reported a "friendly atmosphere" during the bilateral talks, but Bush admitted Wednesday that "our relationship with China is complex." If anything, it has become even more so in recent months, as China has come under intense international criticism for its failure to implement promised changes ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games, to be held in Beijing.

Australian President John Howard has made climate change the focus on this year's APEC summit, and on Thursday Bush and Hu expressed their shared view that global warming has the potential to affect the entire world community.

The Bush administration refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, the most significant international climate change agreement to date, in part because the treaty did not hold developing countries China and India to the same standards as the U.S. and European nations. President Bush has expressed willingness in Sydney to move forward on an APEC pact that would reduce fossil fuel emissions, but only if China is ready to do its part as well. Hu told reporters that "this issue should be ... tackled through a stronger international cooperation."

Continue reading "Bush And Hu Discuss Contentious Issues In Sydney"

Posted at 11:54 AM
Posted to: Asia, China, Climate Change, Olympics, President Bush
Share via

August 08, 2007

'08 Olympics: 365 Days And Counting...

Today marks the one-year countdown to the opening ceremony of Bejing’s 2008 Olympic Games, an event the communist superpower hopes will draw positive attention from the international community. However, the Chinese government has faced harsh criticisms on a range of issues, from food safety to human rights abuses to complicity in the genocide in Darfur, leaving many to wonder: Is China ready to open itself up to the world?

Immediately after winning its bid for the games, the Chinese government in 2001 released the Beijing Olympic Action Plan, a series of principles and objectives for developing not only the venues for the games, but also an environment conducive to hosting delegations from across the world. One provision was that China would clean up its human rights record and expand press freedoms for domestic and international journalists before the games.

Continue reading "'08 Olympics: 365 Days And Counting..."

Posted at 3:45 PM
Posted to: Africa, Asia, China, Climate Change, Congress, FDA, Health, House, Olympics, Sudan
Share via