Europe
Athletes arriving in London for Olympics
With 11 days to go until the Olympic Games are to start, thousands of athletes and officials have begun arriving at London’s Heathrow airport, which is expecting its busiest day on record. The first priority “Games Lane” on the main route out of Heathrow – the M4 motorway – is in operation, and work is beginning at the lab that will conduct around 6,000 drugs tests. Questions remain over security, however, as it emerges police have had to deploy extra officers at short notice. This follows news last week that 3,500 soldiers have had to be drafted in after private security firm G4S failed to recruit enough guards for the Games.
September ruling on eurozone bailout fund by German court
Germany’s Constitutional Court will not give a ruling on the new eurozone bailout fund until 12 September, despite concerns that the delay could exacerbate the debt crisis. German MPs have backed the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), but it has not yet been ratified and is subject to the Court’s approval, meaning weeks of nervousness for politicians and traders. Some politicians want to block the ESM.
North America
Research in Motion ordered to pay $147m in patent case loss
Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of Blackberry smartphones, has been ordered to pay $147 million in damages after losing a patent case. A San Francisco jury upheld claims by Mformation Technologies Inc that RIM infringed patents it took out in 1999, relating to software that enabled companies to access employees’ phones remotely. The loss is another headache for RIM, which has seen declining sales of its phones since the introduction of Apple’s iPhone in 2007 and the growing success of phones based on Google’s Android operating system. The Canadian firm is cutting 5,000 jobs – almost a third of its workforce.
Latin America
Mexican gang attacks Christian youth camp
Police in Mexico are searching for an armed gang that attacked a Christian youth camp outside Mexico City. Prosecutors said the attack lasted several hours, with youths beaten, property and cash stolen, and seven girls sexually assaulted. About 90 members of the youth group were camping in tents in the Colibri ecological park near the town of Ixtapaluca, about 22 miles outside Mexico City. The attackers assaulted the camp at around midnight on Thursday. Eruviel Avila, governor of Mexico State, has promised to catch those responsible.
Asia and Russia
North Korean military chief, Ri Yong-ho, removed from post
Ri Yong-ho, the head of North Korea’s army, vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission and a leading official in the ruling Workers’ Party, has been removed from his posts. In a short statement, the party said the move was “because of illness”, but there is widespread scepticism of this explanation according to the BBC. No mention has been made of a successor.
Russia accuses West of “blackmail” over Syrian sanctions
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said efforts by Western powers to get Moscow to discuss sanctions against Syria contain “elements of blackmail”, pointing to alleged threats to end a UN observer mission if Russia opposed a draft resolution providing for such sanctions. Kofi Annan is due in Moscow shortly as a peace envoy, and is expected to urge Russia to put more pressure onSyria’s leaders to begin a political transition. Russia, which has strong ties with Syria, has so far vetoed moves toward foreign intervention, and has circulated its own draft resolution extending the observer mission, which would run out this week. It does not provide for any sanctions against Syria, where fighting around Damascus has escalated even further in recent weeks.
Africa and Middle East
Hearing into alleged Kenyan torture by UK authorities begins at High Court
Three Kenyans, alleging they were tortured by British colonial authorities during the Mau Mau uprising in the 1950s and 60s, are having their case heard by the High Court in London. They are seeking an apology and damages from the British government, which has previously said it was not liable. Their lawyers have said they represent hundreds of Kenyans who were victims of brutality during the uprising last century.
UAE opens pipeline bypassing Iranian oil route
The United Arab Emirates has begun operating a new overland oil pipeline which bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil-trade route in Iranian-controlled waters which Tehran has repeatedly threatened to close. The new 230 mile pipeline will carry oil from fields in the UAE’s western desert toFujairah– a major oil storage hub on the east coast. Oil from these fields would previously have been moved by tanker ships via Hormuz, with the UAE – along with Qatar and Kuwait– entirely dependent on the Strait to export its crude. The new pipeline can handle 1.5m barrels a day.
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