Melting pot
1 America White Americans will be outnumbered by other ethnic groups
within 35 years, according to The New York Post. Census figures suggest that
by 2042, Americans who identify themselves as Hispanic, black, Asian,
American Indian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander will together form a
larger group than the whites. Hispanics, America’s new baby boomers, will
make up one in three of the population, which is expected to rise from 305m
now to 435m by the middle of the century.
“No other country has experienced such rapid racial and ethnic change,” said
Mark Mather, a demographer with the Population Reference Bureau.
French lesson
2 France The French National Front says “Keep France for the French”.
But not, it seems, in times of economic necessity. Last Monday L’Express
magazine revealed that the far-right party averted bankruptcy earlier this
month by accepting an offer of £11.7m for its Paris headquarters from a
Chinese university.
Jean-Marie Le Pen, the party leader, explained that the building would be used
as a French language school. The party has been in decline since its high
point in the 2002 presidential elections, when Le Pen came second. A heavy
defeat in last year’s elections left the party saddled with debts of £7m.
PM flees justice
3 Thailand The former prime minister of Thailand – and owner of
Manchester City football club – has fled to Britain with his wife. A Thai
court had allowed Thaksin Shinawatra, who is facing corruption charges, and
his wife Potjaman to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in
Beijing but the couple failed to return and instead flew on to London.
According to the Bangkok Post the Thai authorities are now preparing to freeze
£1.2 billion of the couple’s assets and seek their extradition under the
terms of a 1911 treaty between Britain and the kingdom of Siam, as Thailand
was then known. Thaksin said that he was the victim of “judicial
interference” and that unnamed “political enemies” were out to get him. He
returned to Thailand only six months ago, having gone into exile after being
ousted as Thai prime minister in 2006.
Railway sleeper
4 Germany A German man has been sentenced to nine months in jail after
living in left-luggage locker 501 at Düsseldorf railway station for nine
years. Mike Konrad, 29, had crawled into the locker when he walked out on
his girlfriend in 1999, and had slept there ever since.
Station staff finally decided to prosecute after they had evicted him from his
cubby hole 200 times. As accommodation it was remarkably cheap: the £1.50 it
cost Konrad to open the locker was normally refunded in the morning.
However, he told a court in the city that he had been locked into his
sleeping quarters “more times than I can remember” and then had to rely on
the station staff to release him. “I always went to sleep with the door
slightly ajar,” he said. “But kids like to lock me in for a laugh.”
Film fracas
5 America The Hollywood comedy Tropic Thunder has sparked protests from
the mentally disabled. The film, pictured left, which stars Ben Stiller,
Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr – and has a cameo appearance by Tom Cruise –
was targeted after its producers advertised Stiller’s character under the
words: “Once there was a retard . . .”
Andrew Imparato, the president of the American Association of People with
Disabilities, called the movie “tasteless” and “offensive from start to
finish”. A reviewer in the San Francisco Chronicle was more charitable,
concluding: “If you’re not offended by at least one aspect of this film,
then you’re probably not getting out enough.”
Wine dries up
6 Australia Production of Australian wine may have to be cut – which
could mean there will soon be a shortage of budget antipodean plonk on
British supermarket shelves. Vineyards in southeast Australia’s Riverina
wine belt are struggling to survive after a decade-long drought.
Worst hit has been the Murray-Darling river system – a vast expanse of land
the size of France and Germany combined where about 1,300 growers produce
more than 400,000 tons of mainly shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay
grapes (about a quarter of Australia’s total production).
Pyramids fenced
7 Egypt A security fence has been erected around the pyramids of Giza
as part of a £14m project to protect the site and get rid of pedlars,
hawkers and beggars, reports Egypt’s Daily News. Visitors have long had to
fend off a swarm of people hawking camel rides and souvenirs.
The 13ft, 12-mile fence is equipped with infrared sensors, security cameras
and alarm systems that will alert the control room if anyone gets too close.
“It was a zoo,” said Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s chief archeologist. “Now we are
protecting both the tourists and the ancient monuments.”
Tourists will enter through an entrance equipped with metal detectors and
X-ray machines.
Diplomatic thaw
8 Syria The Syrian and Lebanese governments have started to work on
establishing a common border between their two countries after agreeing
diplomatic ties and exchanging ambassadors for the first time in 60 years,
reported The Daily Star in Lebanon on Wednesday.
Relations between Syria and Lebanon deteriorated after the assassination of
Rafik Hariri, a former Lebanese prime minister, in February 2005. Many
Lebanese believe Syria was involved in the killing. Syria has denied any
involvement.
Glitter released
9 Vietnam Police will meet the former rock star and convicted child
molester Gary Glitter, 64, when he returns to the UK this week after serving
three years in a Vietnamese prison. Home Office sources said that Glitter,
real name Paul Gadd, would be required to sign the sex offenders’ register.
He was convicted in Vietnam of “lewdness with children” aged 10 and 11.
Back in the ring
10 Spain The only living Englishman to have earned the title of matador
is making a comeback at 65. Frank Evans from Salford is returning to the
bull ring at a charity event near Malaga today, only months after quadruple
heart bypass surgery. El Ingles, as he is known to his Spanish fans, retired
three years ago after 40 years in the ring, when doctors ordered him to
quit. His return is being filmed for a Channel 4 documentary.
