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Prince Harry Ready to Return to Battle

August 29, 2008 8:01 AM

Eliza Browning, ABC News, London

Prince Harry is eager to return to fight in Afghanistan, according to today’s British tabloids.

Earlier this year, the 23-year-old served on the front lines for 10 weeks in Helmand Province but was flown home after his tour was made public, breaking a voluntary media blackout.

The news was leaked in February on the Drudge Report, which found the story on an online Australian women’s magazine.

When he returned home to the United Kingdom, Prince Harry told The Telegraph, that he enjoyed serving in Afghanistan more than he thought he would. "I enjoyed being out there, every element had something different about it," he said.

And although he expressed a desire to return to Afghanistan, it was ruled out for security reasons, according to The Telegraph.

But today, The Sun reports that he is "desperate to go back for another encounter with hostile Taliban forces."

The Sun says Harry is "eager" to return to Afghanistan and has "urged his Army bosses to return him to the front line."

The third in line to the throne is a Lieutenant in the Household Cavalry’s Blues and Royals, one of the oldest and most senior regiments in the British Army.

He was the first member of the Royal family to go to war since 1982, when the Duke of York served in the Falklands. In May he was awarded his first service medal for his mission in Afghanistan.

A spokesperson for the Royal Family said today’s articles were "complete speculation," and could not back up the claims.

"He has gone back to work with his regiment to resume his regular duties," the spokesperson added.

Since returning from Afghanistan in February, Prince Harry has traveled with soldiers to Africa to work for Sentebale, a charity he created in 2006 to help orphans of HIV/Aids. He also went on a two-month mission to build a school in Lesotho.

The Sun quotes an "inside source" from the British Army that says "Harry has made no secret of the fact he wants to be there when the regiment returns to the front line next year. With one mission under his belt, he has the skills and experience which will make him an extremely valuable member of the battle group."

But a spokesperson from the British Army told ABCNews.com that it is "inappropriate to comment on his future plans."

"He’s an officer and a troop leader and he is with his regiment," the spokesperson said, "but we cannot confirm whether or not he will return to Afghanistan in the future.

The Prince and members of his regiment will resume training at Windsor’s Combermere Barracks next week.

The Sun said Harry "will accept whatever decision the top brass make – and that he understands the difficulties related to his deployment." However they added: "It is clear he sees himself as a soldier and as such he is desperate to do the job for which he is trained."

His brother, 26-year-old Prince William, is also in training with the British military. He is serving on rotations in both the Royal Armed Forces and the Royal Navy.

August 29, 2008 in Eliza Browning | Permalink | User Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

A Piece of Cake: Prince Charles and Princess Diana's Wedding Cake Sells at Auction

August 29, 2008 7:38 AM

By Stephen Webb, ABC News London

How much is a cake wrapped in plastic and kept in an attic for 27 years worth? Well, if it is from British royals Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding, it may be worth more than you think. A mystery buyer has paid $1,830 for an elaborately decorated, 9-inch-square piece.

Moyra Smith, a cleaner at Clarence House, the home of the British royal family, was given the pricey pudding by a royal chef in 1981.

According to the cake’s auctioneer, Dominic Winter Book Auctions, based in southern England, the cake was in surprisingly good condition. The auction listing describes it as having white icing with a decoration of the royal coat-of-arms colored in gold, red, blue and silver.

Auctioneer and royal memorabilia specialist Chris Albury said in a statement, "The decorative icing of the royal coat of arms is very skilled and while there is some cracking and damage it is in remarkably good condition.”

The royal dessert came with a signed thank-you letter from Prince Charles and Diana.

“Whoever buys it is unlikely to eat it, as it will undoubtedly taste stale and be an expensive experiment!" said Albury.

Princess Diana and Prince Charles divorced in 1996. In 1997 Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris.

The auctioning of royal memorabilia is not unusual. According to the auctioneers, last month a collection of items belonging to William Tallon, a servant of the Queen mother, was sold for $914,000.

Photo Credit: Dominic Winter Book Auctions

August 29, 2008 in Stephen Webb | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

A Food Fight With a Difference

August 27, 2008 1:03 PM

By AMMU KANNAMPILLY, ABC News London

It’s a food fight that sees over a hundred tons of overripe tomatoes being thrown around.

Every year, on the last Wednesday of August, tens of thousands of people take to the streets of the Spanish town of Bunol, armed only with tomatoes, which they then throw at each other.

It’s called La Tomatina, and the celebrations last for a week, featuring music, parades, dancing, fireworks and plenty of good food.

In fact, the night before the battle of the tomatoes, participants compete in a cooking contest to see how can make the best paella (a rice dish typical to the Valencia region of Spain, where La Tomatina is celebrated).

No one is sure when the festival began, though many estimate that it’s been around for at least 60 years.

Today, thousands of tourists descend on the small town of Bunol. The town’s normal population is 9,000 and, by some estimates, up to 40,000 tourists turn up each year to take part in La Tomatina.

The days before the festival, as the town celebrates in preparation for the tomato fight, local shopkeepers cover their storefronts with plastic sheets to prevent damage. Participants in the tomato fight are also urged to wear safety goggles and gloves, for safety reasons.

Finally, the momentous occasion arrives, and once the town’s water cannons are fired, it’s every man for himself as the city’s streets are flooded with tomato pulp.

The only rule, other than the requisite goggles and gloves, is that everyone must squish their tomato before throwing them at anyone. Additionally, no one is allowed to throw anything other than tomatoes, of course.

An hour later, the water cannons are fired a second time – to signal an end to the fighting.

Once the fighting has stopped, fire trucks take to the streets, cleaning the last vestiges of the tomato war.

La Tomatina is ostensibly in honor of Bunol’s patron saints, Luis Bertran and the Mare de Deu dels Desemparats (Mother of God of the Defenseless – another name for the Virgin Mary).

In an interesting historical side-note, Spain’s General Franco banned the festival for its supposed lack of religious significance.

But, perhaps proving that you can’t keep a good food fight down, the festival made a triumphant comeback after Franco’s death in the 1970s.

Theories abound as far as La Tomatina’s mysterious origins are concerned – from a local food fight between pals, to an accident involving a ton of tomatoes falling off a truck. There is no dearth of stories regarding its background.

One of the most popular notions is to do with angry locals throwing tomatoes at town officials. However La Tomatina came to pass, it is now a staple part of the Bunol calendar and a must-see for tourists going to Valencia during August.

And, although some bloggers have criticized the festival for wasting food at a time when so many nations are battling food shortages, there seems to be no end to its popularity.

August 27, 2008 in Ammu Kannampilly | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Why Are So Many Germans Crazy About Obama?

August 26, 2008 2:01 PM

By CHRISTEL KUCHARZ, ABC News Germany

German-American relations hit a major bump in the road – to put it diplomatically – after the Iraq war.

And there seems no quick fix to resolve that issue despite German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s many efforts to heal the rift by building a good personal relationship with President George Bush.

For the most part, many Germans are simply disappointed and disillusioned by the present U.S. administration and, more than anything, they’re hoping for change.

That’s where Barack Obama comes in.

A couple of weeks ago, a German newspaper ran a poll in which 74 percent of Germans said they would vote for Barack Obama, if they could cast a ballot in the U.S. elections, while only 11 percent said they would vote for his Republican rival, John McCain.

The presumptive democratic presidential candidate is seen by many observers as a passionate politician, who may lack experience in foreign policies, but who would be able to change things – especially when it comes to German-American relations.

Click here to see more on international coverage of the Democratic National Convention.

August 26, 2008 in Christel Kucharz | Permalink | User Comments (12) | TrackBack (0)

What Baghdad Needs Is a Ferris Wheel

August 26, 2008 1:56 PM

By HILARY BROWN, ABC News Baghdad

‘Forget about electricity and running water, what Baghdad needs is a ferris wheel. And its gotta be the biggest in the world.’

That, in essence, is the latest Big Idea to come from the men of Baghdad City Council.

They have invited tenders, from inside Iraq and abroad, for a giant ferris wheel (at least 600 feet high) to be set in its own complex of restaurants, casinos, and playgrounds, right in the heart of Baghdad.

‘Any person who goes into it will be able to see the whole of Baghdad,’ says the Baghdad Municipality press release, adding that the ferris wheel will be much higher than the London Eye (which is a mere 410 feet off the ground), and will be able to take 40 people in each pod.

In the five and a half years since the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq has produced feelings of shock and awe, pity and terror, outrage and horror, but never has a news item evoked pure and simple ridicule.

That Baghdad’s town councillors think a giant ferris wheel should be a priority for their bombed-out city is beyond belief. There must be a hundred better ways to spend public money.

Take the public services, which in Baghdad is a contradiction in terms.

Most people in the city are still limited to less than an hour of electricity a day, which comes on without warning, usually in the middle of the night. People then leap out of bed, put on the washing machine, the iron, the cooker, the fridge, the fan and all the other modern conveniences that make life bearable.

The rest of the time, they boil to bits (it’s currently 115 degrees here). If they can afford it, they buy a generator, or club together with their neighbours to buy one for the street or the apartment building.

The water supply is even worse.

In many neighbourhoods there is no tap water at all. People actually dig down into the city’s underground water pipes and pump out what they can. 

Surely the restoration of public utilities is what the Baghdadis really need, not a ferris wheel that would only give them a depressing, bird’s eye view of  a field of dun-coloured ruins, blast walls and pot-holed, filthy streets.

Make no mistake, they’ve got the money. Thanks to the increase in oil prices, Iraq has the money.

According to the General Accounting Office, Iraq has accumulated 156 billion dollars in oil revenues from 2005 to the present. Yet last year, it spent only 28 percent of its own reconstruction budget, preferring, perhaps, to let the U.S. taxpayer continue to pay for rebuilding (approximately 48 billion dollars has been spent since the invasion). 

It’s true that reconstruction is difficult when there’s a shortage of qualified engineers and technicians (many have fled the country) and when conditions are often just too dangerous for those who have remained.

But the overall level of violence has gone down dramatically here, thanks to the so-called ‘Surge' of U.S. troops in 2006, the ceasefire called by the Shiite leader Moqtada al Sadr, and the estimated 90,000 former Sunni insurgents who are now being paid by the Americans to patrol their own areas and report on al Qaeda activity.

And that brings another terrible thought to mind. The Baghdad Ferris Wheel could be an irresistible target for terrorists.

August 26, 2008 in Hilary Brown | Permalink | User Comments (22) | TrackBack (0)

Budget Airline in Row Over Oxygen Masks

August 26, 2008 11:43 AM

By Stephen Webb, ABC News London

Europe’s largest budget airline, Ryanair, is denying claims that oxygen masks apparently failed to work during an emergency landing.

The flight - from Bristol, England to Barcelona, Spain - lost cabin pressure and plummeted 26,400 feet through the air above France at  11:30 p.m.  local time  Monday. Passengers today spoke  about  how they  believed they were going to die. 

A British medical student even sent a text to her mom saying,  “I love you and I am going down," according to the AFP news agency.

The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800,  was diverted to Limoges airport in central France. Sixteen people were taken to  the  hospital,  but all 168 passengers  survived and the plane landed safely,  according to Ryanair.   

British arctic explorer Pen Hadow and his wife and two children were onboard the troubled aircraft. The U.K newspaper the Telegraph reported that Hadow said a number of oxygen masks inside the cabin failed to work properly.

“The next thing the oxygen masks were dropping. My highest priority was to get a mask onto my son who was sitting next to me in a bemused and frightened state. Mine wasn't filling up with oxygen and neither was my son's. He was hyperventilating. I looked at the lady on my left and hers hadn't filled up either. From where I was sitting I could see about 20 masks and only a few of them were inflating,” said Hadow.

However, Ryanair denied that the oxygen masks were not working. In a statement, the low-cost airline said , “Ryanair’s engineers have inspected the aircraft overnight and have confirmed that the oxygen masks which deployed were working properly.”

Andrew Davies from Boeing, the manufacturer of the aircraft, told ABC News.com that it is very unlikely that there was any problem with the flow of oxygen.

“Speaking very generally,” he said,  “the bag sometimes doesn’t inflate,  but oxygen flow is still there. It all depends on the air pressure in the cabin.”

Charlotte Thorthon, a British medical student traveling  on the plane, criticized the crew for not making an announcement after the plane got into difficulty.   

"For about half an hour no one told us anything, we didn't know what was happening at all. We were quite panicky," said Thorthon. "After half an hour we were told to take the oxygen masks  off, and then the plane landed and we were fine, " said Thorthon to AFP news agency.

Ryanair said an announcement was not made immediately because of safety regulations.

Andrew Davies from Boeing told ABCNews.com that this was nothing out of the ordinary. 

“The priority is always to get oxygen masks on the crew so they land the aircraft quickly. It’s the correct action for the overall safety of the plane.” He said.

The Irish and French Aviation Authorities have begun a full investigation of the incident.

Photo Credit: Associated Press

August 26, 2008 in Stephen Webb | Permalink | User Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)

Iron Lady's Daughter Reveals her Mother's Dementia

August 25, 2008 12:38 PM

Eliza Browning, ABC News, London

The daughter of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has just published a book revealing details of her mother’s dementia The book, “A Swim-On Part in the Goldfish Bowl: A Memoir,” describes the Iron Lady’s mental condition, and many believe it offers too many details, too soon.

In an interview about her book this weekend, Carol Thatcher told the Daily Mail that her mother, now 82, is suffering from severe memory loss which has diminished her recollection of major world events.

Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister in 1975, when her daughter was 22. She served on Downing St.as leader of the Conservative Party for 15 years.

In the book, Carol Thatcher describes how her mother confused Bosnia and the Falklands during a conversation about the war in the former Yugoslavia, according to The Guardian newspaper.

"I almost fell off my chair,” she wrote, “watching her struggle with her words and her memory, I couldn't believe it. She was in her 75th year but I had always thought of her as ageless, timeless and 100% cast-iron damage-proof.”

Carol Thatcher said her mother’s memory loss has gradually worsened over the past 10 years.  This recent expose may color her mother’s reputation as a solid leader with a sharp memory and an impressive ability to retain and digest large amounts of information.

The woman who had dominated discussions for so long could no longer lead debates or keep up with the thread of a drinks-party conversation. On bad days, she could hardly remember the beginning of a sentence by the time she got to the end," Carol Thatcher wrote.

But British tabloids, often keen to exploit family rifts – especially when they involve celebrities and political leaders - aren’t taking the bait.

In a review of the book, Amanda Platell of the Daily Mail, wrote, “however difficult it must have been at times for Carol to live in her mother’s shadow, I couldn’t help but feel saddened yesterday to discover that she has written an opportunistic book in which she describes the terrible dementia Lady Thatcher is now suffering.”

To me and to many who admired or loved her mother,” Platell continued, “it felt not only like a terrible invasion of an old woman's privacy, but a personal betrayal.”

Margaret Thatcher is still highly-esteemed by the Brits. In July, she made her debut in British “Vogue,” as part of a feature on the celebration of the ageless.

Although she no longer speaks in public, her advisors say her work is confined to maintaining the Margaret Thatcher Foundation, a trust devoted to political and economic causes. 

Carol Thatcher, now 55, kept a relatively low-profile while her mother was prime minister. After studying law at University College London, she became a journalist and worked for BBC Radio and The Daily Telegraph.

But her surreptitiousness ended in 2005 when she appeared in, “I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here,” a celeb-reality TV show set in Australia. She was filmed going to the bathroom and competing in challenges like eating fish eyes and kangaroo testicles.

At the time, she told the British newspaper, “The Independent,” that although she told her mother she was going to Australia, she did not explain the show because her mother wouldn’t have remembered.”

“It's pointless,” Carol Thatcher told the Independent. “She can't remember the beginning of the sentence by the time she reaches the end."

More than 4.5 million people in the U.S.are living with dementia, according to Alzheimer’s Disease International. And worldwide, more than 24.3 million people are estimated to have the condition.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s, however, are not interchangeable. Alzheimer’s is a disease, whereas dementia is a symptom. The two are often confused because many people who suffer from Alzheimer’s have symptoms of dementia.

The National Institute of Health reports that dementia is caused by changes in brain function; which typically occurs with aging. Symptoms include asking the same questions, becoming lost in familiar places, being unable to follow directions, getting disoriented about people and places and neglecting personal hygiene and nutrition.

Doesn’t this sound familiar? It’s a safe bet that most people know, or know someone who knows, someone living with dementia.

According to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, a leading research organization in the United Kingdom, 42 percent of the British population is affected by dementia through knowing a close friend or family member with the condition.

But not everyone is writing about it.

And although the British public was willing to put up with Carol Thatcher’s exploits in the jungle, they’re less willing to accept anything that will tarnish her mother’s reputation as the powerful Iron Lady she once was.

August 25, 2008 in Eliza Browning | Permalink | User Comments (25) | TrackBack (0)

Russia Votes For Independent States

August 25, 2008 11:31 AM

By CLARISSA WARD, ABC News, Moscow

The front page of Russia’s Kommersant newspaper today trumpeted, “Russia is ready for the independence of Abkhazia and S. Ossetia” and if the results of today’s parliamentary vote are anything to go by, that would seem to be true.

Both houses of Russia’s parliament voted unanimously to recognise the independence of Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The vote is largely symbolic as it is non-binding but it will now be sent to the Kremlin for approval. Analysts here say President Dmitry Medvedev may well use it as a bargaining chip with the West as negotiations continue over Russia's conflict with Georgia.

During the debates in the Federation Council and the State Duma, several speakers compared Georgia’s military action in South Ossetia to Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union in the Second World War. The dramatic rhetoric reinforced what many analysts here have been saying all along, that this conflict is less about the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkazia, than it is about Russia asserting its moral and military victory over US-backed Georgia. 

In a poll taken by the Levada Centre in July, before the short war between Russia and Georgia, 62% of Russians said that the national interests of the US and Russian diverge in almost everything. Certainly, South Ossetia and Abkhazia are no exception. Many Russians feel particularly vindicated in supporting the independence of the breakaway regions because of the US and the West's support of Kosovo’s independence, which was deeply unpopular here.

As news of the parliament vote broke out, Georgia’s government shot back, calling the vote a continuation of aggression against Georgia. Georgia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Giga Bokeria told Reuters, “we considers this decision another in Russia’s fight against Georgian sovereignty… It is, and will be, if accepted by the Russian president, a continuation of Russian aggression against Georgia and a serious violation of international law.”

Now the world will be waiting and watching to see how the Kremlin responds to the vote.

August 25, 2008 in Clarissa Ward | Permalink | User Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

Who's carrying Old Glory tonight? Georgian-American Khatuna Lorig, that's who.

August 24, 2008 9:01 AM

By Jo Ling Kent, ABC News Beijing Bureau

Hailing from the great melting pot of immigrants, Team USA cares about major events happening in the world today and hasn't been shy about making a statement about them in Beijing. Bookended by Sudanese-American and Georgian-American flag bearers at the opening and closing ceremonies, this Olympics is clearly about more than just sports for Americans.

Just 13 months after he became an American citizen, Sudanese-American Lopez Lomong, a middle distance runner and a former lost boy of Sudan's civil war, marched into the opening ceremonies waving the Stars and Stripes.

Tonight, three-time Olympian archer originally from the Republic of Georgia, Khatuna Lorig will lead her teammates out.

Just as they did for Lomong, captains from U.S. sports team met in the Athlete's Village on Friday and voted for the Tblisi-born archer to carry the flag.

"Being named the U.S. flag bearer for the Closing Ceremony is almost like winning a gold medal, maybe even better," Lorig said in a statement. "I thought I could win a gold medal in competition, but I never thought I'd have this opportunity. I am truly, truly so proud to be an American citizen and part of the U.S. Olympic Team."

Lorig is one of nine foreign-born athletes competing for the United States and one of a few athletes ever to have represented three different countries in four Olympics.

In the 1992 Barcelona Games, Lorig competed for the Unified Team of former Soviet republics, for whom she won the bronze medal in the team competition.  In 1996 and 2000, she represented her home country of Georgia – the country, not the state.

Following Sydney in 2000, Lorig immigrated to the United States. She didn't obtain her American citizen in time to represent Team USA and didn't make the Georgian team. As a result, Lorig sat out of the 2004 Athens games.  By the time the 2008 Olympic trials rolled around, Lorig was a naturalized American citizen and made Team USA.

Here in Beijing, Lorig – the 26th seed -  advanced to the quarterfinals of the women's archery individual elimination round by upsetting the No. 10 seed Ana Maria Rendon of Columbia. She went on to lose to Korean world record holder Yun Ok-Hee, who eventually won the bronze medal.

Beijing is not the last time Lorig will represent the United States. She and her husband, fellow archer Archil Onashvili, hope to compete together at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

"I wouldn't want to compete for any other country," she said.

August 24, 2008 in Jo Ling Kent | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Kenyans Unite to Cheer on Olympic Athletes

August 22, 2008 2:54 PM

By Dana Hughes, ABC News Africa Digital Reporter based in Nairobi.

Kenyans have been pouring into bars and gyms and even leaving work early to cheer on their Olympic team in Beijing. The Games have dominated local media all week. This Olympics is especially poignant because of the turmoil the country experienced earlier this year. Post-election violence pitted tribe against tribe and exposed the deep disparity between the rich and poor in the country. But this week, there was no talk of Kikuyu or Luo or Kalenjin tribes -- it was all about unity and Kenya.

Kenya has a distinguished history of producing some of the fastest long-distance runners in the world, most coming from the Rift Valley. During the post-election violence, which killed more than 1,000 people in January and February, some Kenyan runners were killed and others accused of fueling the violence. It was questionable whether the country would even be able to participate in the Beijing Games -- and if it did, would its athletes be prepared?   

The country's runners haven't disappointed. Pamela Jelimo, 18, won the country's first-ever women's gold medal in the 800 meter race, just edging out another Kenyan, Janeth Jepkosgei, who was expected to win. Brimin Kipruto continued Kenya's tradition of  winning the men's long-distance steeplechase race. Kenyans have won the event in the last seven Olympics. Tomorrow, Kenyans will compete in the 3,000-meter race, hoping to bring home more medals. So far, the country has more medals than almost any other developing nation, with eight total.

Kenyans such as Nairobi businessman Joseph Wambugu say the success of the Olympics is helping the country to heal. "Anything that unites people helps them forget about the differences they have," says Wambugu. "It's one way to bring the nation together as a nation, rather than by tribe."

You can see how Kenyans are reacting to the 2008 Beijing Olympics Here:

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5635197

August 22, 2008 in Dana Hughes | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)