Top Stories
London to host 2012 Olympic Games London is to host the 2012 Olympic Games, it was decided today. The announcement was made by International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge following four rounds of voting, penultimately shortlisting London and Paris. 116 members of the IOC in Singapore voted throughout the rounds from a pool of cities comprising of Paris, Madrid, London, New York, and Moscow. European Parliament rejects software patents The European Parliament has rejected the directive on software patents sustained by lobbies of large software publicists such as the corporations Microsoft, Siemens, Nokia and Alcatel. Brazil threatens to break patent on AIDS drugs Brazil is threatening to break the patent of US-based Abbott Laboratories as it pushes ahead with its programme to supply its people with free AIDS drugs. Brazil has given Abbott a deadline of July 7 to cut the prices of its drug Kaletra or a Brazilian company will begin cloning it. This move would test recent World Trade Organization concessions allowing poor countries to produce generic drugs for local health emergencies.

Wikipedia Current Events
The International Olympic Committee names London, United Kingdom as the site of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Wikipedia Current Events
New York Times reporter Judith Miller is jailed for refusing to divulge her source in an investigation around the leak of a CIA operative's name. The European Parliament rejects the proposed Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions by a 648-14 vote with 18 abstentions, ending four years of intense debate and lobbying. In India, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party calls for a nationwide strike in protest of the Tuesday attack on the Ayodhya site. The police are on high alert in case of religious violence. In Bolivia, the senate decides to call for early elections. There will also be a referendum on regional autonomy next July. In Burundi, the former Hutu rebel group Forces for the Defence of Democracy wins 58% of the vote in parliamentary elections.

Pennsylvania man admits to June 25 beating of elderly woman

Joshua J. Goyette allegedly confessed to breaking into a Saxonburg, Pennsylvania retirement home and beating 86-year-old Gertrude "Trudy" Johanson in the early morning of June 25, 2005. The crime, which shocked the small community north of Pittsburgh, was not the only one which has occurred recently at area retirement homes. Goyette is also suspected in a May incident where another apartment at the Commons of Saxonburg was broken into through a first floor window and the 90-year-old woman inside was groped while she slept.

Goyette is currently being held in the Butler County prison in lieu of $300,000 cash bond.

Exit Festival 05 begins tomorrow

The biggest music festival in South Eastern Europe, Exit Festival, will start tomorrow. The festival is organized on Petrovaradin fortress in Novi Sad, Serbia and Montenegro, and will last from July 7 to July 10. This will be the fifth annual Exit festival.

The festival includes 21 stages, featuring a diverse range of music, from classical to techno. The program is scheduled to last from 6 pm to 8 am every night, with both domestic and foreign musicians.

It is expected that tens of thousands of people, mostly from ex Yugoslavian republics, will attend. Performers include Prong, Chumbawamba, Tricky, Stereo MC's, Rony Size, Moloko, Peaches, Sander Kleinenberg, Ken Ishii, Adam Freeland, Timo Maas, Soulfly, Cypress Hill, Iggy Pop, Massive attack, White Stripes, Gilles Peterson, Slayer, Apocalyptica, etc.

The organizers decided to commemorate the Srebrenica Massacre with one minute of silence on midnight between July 10 and July 11. The festival is in part sponosored by the city of Novi Sad, which is currently ruled by the Serbian Radical Party which is opposed to publicly recognizing war crimes committed by the Serbs in Bosnia in a way that Exit orginizers intend. The president of the Serbian Radical Party, Tomislav Nikolić said: "If that festival, which is intended for young people having fun, turn into any kind of political provocation, there will be no Exit next year."

New York Times reporter sent to jail in leak case

On Wednesday, in a case that toes the line between a search for the source of criminal activity and the right to freedom of the press, a New York Times reporter was jailed after she refused to reveal her confidential source to a grand jury investigating the leak of a covert CIA operative's name to the media.

Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan ordered correspondent Judith Miller to jail immediately and said she must stay there until she agreed to testify or for the rest of the grand jury's term, which lasts through October.

"If journalists cannot be trusted to keep confidences, then journalists cannot function and there cannot be a free press," she said in the courtroom.

"I do not make confidential pledges lightly, but when I do I must honor them. If I do not, how can I expect people to accept my assurances."

"Your honor, in this case I cannot break my word just to stay out of jail," Miller told the judge during the hearing which lasted about an hour.

Miller also noted that she did not consider herself to be above the law and that she had thought long and hard over the July 4 Independence Day holiday about her decision.

She said her decision was necessary to help ensure an independent free press.

European Parliament rejects software patents

The European Parliament building in Strasbourg.

The European Parliament has rejected the directive on software patents sustained by lobbies of large software publicists such as the corporations Microsoft, Siemens, Nokia and Alcatel, grouped under the title of the European Information & Communications Technology Industry Association (EICTA).

648 MEPs out of 680 rejected the text, 18 voted for and 14 abstained.

A rejection vote became the expected outcome when the European People's Party, initially in favour of the directive, decided to reject it.

The European Parliament session hall in Strasbourg.

The European Greens and European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party also voted against the text, for the opposite reason that it might open the way to unrestricted possibilities to patent software. Michel Rocard, author of a number of amendments to the original directive, said that the adoption of the majority of the modifications seemed unlikely. "Better have no text at all than a bad one", he added.

Before the vote, rapporteur Michel Rocard had pointed at the irritation of the Parliament towards the Commission: "There is collective anger throughout the Parliament because of the way the directive was handled by the Commission and the Council".

During the debate on Tuesday, Commissioner Joaquín Almunia told MEPs: "Should you decide to reject the common position, the Commission will not submit a new proposal.".

The rejection was welcomed by small and medium software companies, as well as by Free Software supporters. The Directive had been subject to an intense Internet campaign by Free Software and Open Source supporters, which culminated in demonstrations in the days before the vote.

Anti-software-patent activists in canoes and a big lobby paid yacht

Tanzania accused of supporting terrorism to destabilise Burundi

The African news website www.abarundi.org has accused Tanzania of being a state sponsor of terrorism, by helping Hutu-extremists in neighbouring Burundi to destabilise the country's newly-elected government. As widely predicted, Burundi's ruling "Frodebu" party, which has close links to Tanzania, was heavily defeated in this week's elections. The former Hutu rebel group CNDD-FDD, now a multi-ethnic party, won a convincing victory with 58% of the vote. Frodebu polled just 22%.

It was the first national democratic vote since 1993, when a military coup plunged Burundi into a decade-long, ethnically-charged civil war. During the election campaign, CNDD-FDD accused Frodebu of stirring up racial divisions, and of employing members of the Hutu-extremist FNL to kill and intimidate voters. The FNL rebels have remained outside the Burundian peace process, despite the restoration of democracy, and a series of heavy defeats by the Burundian army. On June 16th attackers believed to be members of the FNL massacred six churchgoers in the Muhuta district of Rural Bujumbura. During earlier local elections, the FNL had attacked a polling station, killing a United Nations peacekeeper, and killed several people in "hit and run" attacks on the Burundian capital Bujumbura. Frodebu denied involvement in the violence, but have recently admitted "political collaboration" with the FNL.

www.abarundi.org reports that the Tanzanian government has offered material support to the FNL leader and helped formalise the "unholy alliance" between Frodebu and the FNL:

"With the assistance of the Tanzanians, [FNL leader] Agathon Rwasa has moved his HQ from the hills around Bujumbura, where he was already in difficulty, to the Tanzanian capital Dar Es Salaam, where he can enjoy the protection of the Tanzanian secret service."

"Rwasa, who has nothing more to lose, has accepted that the success of the elections mean political death for the FNL, and their position as 'Hutu defenders' has become obselete."

"But if Rwasa's strategy is merely his own survival, Frodebu's calculation is far more diabolical - they intend to perpetuate Burundi's bloody civil war and state of insecurity, in order to undermine the new institutions."

Brazil threatens to break patent on AIDS drugs

Brazil is threatening to break the patent of US-based Abbott Laboratories as it pushes ahead with its programme to supply its people with free AIDS drugs.

Brazil has given Abbott a deadline of July 7 to cut the prices of its drug Kaletra or a Brazilian company will begin cloning it. This move would test recent World Trade Organization concessions allowing poor countries to produce generic drugs for local health emergencies.

Abbott has said that Brazil's demand goes "against the spirit" of the WTO agreement, since it has the ninth largest economy in the world, and that this could damage future research for improved treatments.

Previous programmes have been negotiated between companies and governments to produce generic versions of AIDS drugs, but this is the first time a country has threatened to use powers negotiated at the WTO by producing the drug without the cooperation of the patent holder.

Several campaign groups are supporting the move, hoping that other developing countries will be able to take the lead of Brazil and produce generic drugs for their own populations. Michael Bailey, a senior policy adviser for Oxfam International, said: "The impact of breaking the patent would be enormous. If a major country such as Brazil goes through with this, not only will it help ensure sustainability of their excellent treatment programme, it will set a hugely important precedent for other countries."

The US Chamber of Commerce has issued a statement urging Brazil to reconsider and suggesting that the move could create a rift between the countries. Thomas Donohue, Chamber President and CEO said: "Brazil’s threat to strip patent rights from a U.S. company should concern all investors and every business around the world because of the precedent it sets for the treatment of intellectual property."

London to host 2012 Olympic Games

The announcement was made today by International Olympic Comittee president Jacques Rogge following four rounds of voting, penultimately shortlisting London and Paris. 116 members of the IOC in Singapore voted throughout the rounds from a pool of cities comprising of Paris, Madrid, London, New York, and Moscow.

The final tally was 54 votes for London, and 50 for Paris. The voting came after all five cities made their final presentations to the assembled members.

The news was met with screams of joy from the 15,000 people who had gathered in Trafalgar Square in London, while jeers and boos rang out across Paris, as rain began to fall in the French capital.

Former Olympic runner Sebastian Coe, who led the British bid, told BBC Radio Five Live afterwards: "I'm in a state of shock. The whole team has made a fantastic effort. This shows that the United Kingdom is a special place for sport, passionate about sport."

This is the first time the Games will be staged in London since 1948, while this marks the third failure by Paris to host the Olympics. London has hosted the Games twice before, making it the first city ever to host them three times.

The official announcement was given by the IOC at 12:46 BST today, after much speculation. The 2012 London Olympics are widely anticipated to bring about a revival of both sporting culture in England, and the much maligned Docklands area of London, where most main sporting venues will be constructed.

Present, physically or by video link, were several dignitaries of the participating countries, including the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, Queen Sofía of Spain, and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov.

Tony Blair is quoted to have said via a recorded video message "Our vision is to see millions of young people participate in sport and improve their lives. London has the power to make this happen."

Also present with the British campaign team were world famous soccer player David Beckham, athletes Denise Lewis and Sir Steven Redgrave, and Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, who brought with her a message from Queen Elizabeth II:

"I've been impressed by the way everyone has united behind London's bid. As a country we share a passion for sport."

French President Jacques Chriac was also present, along with actress Catherine Deneuve and singer Johnny Hallyday, both French.

"The heart of Paris and the heart of France are beating in unison in the hope of becoming Olympic host in 2012...you can put your trust and faith in France, you can trust the French, you can trust us," he said.

America's assembly consisted of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton and bid leader Dan Doctoroff, focusing on New York's multicultural make up and readiness. Mr. Bloomberg chose to remind the Committee of New York's recovery after the September 11 attacks.

"In our city's darkest hour, we asked ourselves, can we recover? ...New Yorkers stood up then and said, 'Yes, we can recover, we will rebuild and we must continue to welcome everyone.' That spirit will be given to your Games."

U.S. President George W. Bush and former President Bill Clinton spoke in a recorded video message.

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his case in a live video clip, urging the Comittee to take advantage of a "unique and truly historic opportunity", and to select Moscow for the games in 2012.

"Moscow is a meeting place of cultures. Moscow is perfectly suited to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games," he said.

Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero from Spain and Queen Sofía argued in favour of Madrid.

"The whole Spanish royal family is convinced that Madrid fully meets the conditions to offer to the world the best Olympic Games," said Queen Sofía.

Questions from the IOC regarding threats from the Basque extremist group ETA drew the following response:

"Absolute security is assured...It's our main priority. Those who have tried to attack our candidacy will see that this is something that is doomed to disappear in Madrid and all of Spain."

Protesters detained after violence near G8 summit

Protesters clash with police in Edinburgh

Eight police officers have been injured and more than 32 people detained after protesters made an attempt to block the M9 road and railway lines.

The violence occurred when residents of a camp site near Stirling in central Scotland began a mass movement towards the Gleneagles summit. A branch of w:Burger King in the Raploch area of Stirling was also vandalised.

World leaders from U.S., UK, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, and Russia are meeting in the 5 star Gleneagles hotel and golf course to discuss world issues. The presidents and prime ministers will debate, among other things, debt relief to Africa and climate change.

More than 100 activists dressed in black, many hiding their faces with clothing, “streamed” from the temporary campsite early Wednesday morning, where close to 5,000 protesters are said to be staying.

Police gear up for protests

A camera man for the Associated Press Television said he saw a “group of around 100 smashing the windows of stationary cars and throwing stones at police.”

Bob Geldof, organiser of the Live 8 concerts and original Live Aid in 1985, has described the violent protesters as “idiots”. Many have criticised Geldof's overexposure in the news, especially as apparent spokesman of the anti-G8 protests.

Previous G8 summits that resulted in violent protests were situated in Genoa, Italy in 2001, and Evian, France in 2003. Police responsible for Wednesday’s summit have taken no chances: roughly 10,000 police are on standby in Gleneagles, among watchtowers and surveillance cameras. A five-mile (8 kilometres) long fence of steel surrounds the hotel, complimented by no-fly zone above.

Earlier this week protesters clashed with riot police in Edinburgh, the capital. As many as 100 appeared in court on Tuesday, as a result of police officials' promise of “zero tolerance”.

"Make no bones about it, if we encounter people who are prepared to use violence to achieve their aims ... we will take robust action," said Tayside Police Chief Constable John Vine in Auchterarder, the village closest to the Gleneagles hotel and country club.

Protesters and police officers numbering more than 20 were injured in over 6 hours of rioting in the Princes Street shopping area of Edinburgh, bringing the city centre to a standstill. Running clashes, baton charges, and mounted surges were some of the methods used by riot police at the scene.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair will, as the host, set the agenda of this years’ summit. He is said to want “breakthroughs in global warming as well as Africa”.

Blair’s Commission for Africa has proposed to double aid to Africa by 2010, as well as a second US$25 billion increase in aid to Africa, and US$75 billion annual increase in worldwide aid.

Three killed in Tennessee vehicle crash

Three teenagers were killed and two others were seriously injured near Dyer, Tennessee, United States early Tuesday afternoon when the driver lost control of her SUV, ran off the road, and struck several trees. Kayla Pate, 16, lost control of her vehicle when her right tires left the road and she attempted to swerve back onto it.

Two teens were pronounced dead on the scene and one later died in hospital. The deceased were identified as 17 year old Ryan Williams, 15 year old McKenzie Coble, and 15 year old Anthony Jones. Driver Pate and another passenger, Hope Jones, were seriously injured. None of the teens were wearing seatbelts.

Tennessee's Graduated Driver License stipulates that drivers under the age of 18 can have only one passenger in a vehicle unless they are accompanied by a licensed driver over 21 years old who holds an unrestricted license. Tennessee also requires seatbelts for drivers and all passengers.

This article contains first-hand journalism by a Wikinews Reporter.

Today in History
1456 - Joan of Arc was acquitted posthumously.

1846 - American forces led by Commodore John Drake Sloat occupied Monterey and Yerba Buena, beginning the annexation of California.

1898 - The United States annexed Hawai'i.

1937 - The Marco Polo Bridge Incident marked the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

1946 - Mother Cabrini, the first U.S. saint, was canonized.

July 07 is Independence Day in the Solomon Islands (1978); Tanabata in Japan; Running of the bulls in Pamplona, Navarre, Spain

Quote of the Day

"The more you love, the more you can love— and the more intensely you love. Nor is there any limit on how many you can love. If a person had time enough, he could love all of that majority who are decent and just." ~ Robert A. Heinlein

About Wikinews
We are a group of volunteer journalists whose mission is to create a diverse community where citizens from around the globe (including you) can collaborate to report the news on a wide variety of current events.If you would like to write, publish or edit articles, visit en.wikinews.org All stories on Wikinews are in the public domain. By making our content perpetually available for free redistribution and use, we hope to contribute to a global digital commons. Wikinews also aims to write stories from a neutral point of view.
Audio Wikinews
Audio Wikinews is a public domain, non point-of-view news radio program recorded daily. News Briefs are short, on-the-hours breaking news updates; while Full Reports are a thorough review of the day's news. http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews:Audio_Wikinews
About Wikinews Print Edition
For more information about Wikinews Print Edition visit: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews:Print_edition

Thursday, July 7, 2005	Wikinews	Page 6

If you would like to write, publish or edit articles, visit www.wikinews.org

July 7, 2005	The free-content news source that you can write!	Page 6

If you would like to write, publish or edit articles, visit en.wikinews.org

Wikinews Back Page

2005-07-06T21:13:37