angelica fernandes

The Syrian regime will fall, so says a Western diplomat to Syria, according to a June 16 Reuters article. Another Syrian-based diplomat states that the protest movement is broad-based and growing; in fact, according to the Jerusalem Post, they are widespread. The Syrian government is losing control and is running out of money. Thus, it may not be long until the realization of the predicted fall of the regime is achieved. In fact, on Thursday, a pillar of Syria's leadership was forced to step aside. Rami Makhlouf, a confidant of President Bashar al-Assad and the most powerful businessman in Syria, was forced out due to monetary pressure on the regime.

Ten years ago, 189 countries agreed to eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) designed to create a more equal, better life for all. Among the aims was to halve extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 and to reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate among children under 5. In fall 2010, the United Nations will hold a summit in New York to discuss the current situation. Only five years remain to reach the Millennium Goal targets, and there are reported fears that much has yet to be done. Progress is said to be "mixed," especially in regards to the status of global poverty. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who called for the summit in September, said: "It will be a crucially important opportunity to redouble our efforts to meet the goals. Our world possesses the knowledge and the resources to achieve the MDGs. Our challenge is to agree on an action agenda."

The opening ceremony of the summer Olympics is in my opinion if not that of any other person; one of the greatest spectacles on earth as it is one nation demonstrating through a city all that its culture has to offer that distinguishes it from any other. Dances, music, customs delight spectators both present at the place of the events and those who are receiving the image on their TV sets or perhaps computer screens.

The Tour de France festival opens on Friday 6th July with the presentation of the Tour riders to the public at Trafalgar Square. The Opening Ceremony is free to the public, and is an ideal chance to get to see the riders in their Team Colours before the hard work begins. ritish Cycling magazine hosted a 120-mile ride from Greenwich to Canterbury, taking in some of the route the Tour riders will battle it out on only seven days later. World Track Champion cyclist Victoria Pendleton opened the ride with Ian Wright and several members of the London 2012 Olympic Committee joining up to 5,000 other riders to take on the route.

Trams in Australia are now the main public transport systems only in Melbourne, and to a much lesser extent, Adelaide and Bendigo. Most Australian cities in the past used to have extensive tram networks however these networks were largely dismantled during the 1950s through to early 1970's. Many of these trams are now kept in local museums in the various cities. In 1881 Australia's first tram was introduced, this new system involved running iron tracks across major way routes in the cities and was a vast improvement over dragging wheels through the muddy tracks that were roads at the time. This first tram was drawn by horse along Sydney Pitt Street, running from the Railway station to Circular Quay. However as these early trams required iron girders to run across the roads and extending above the level of the ground, these quickly caused general up roar as they damaged the wheels of other vehicles and obstructed the road, the tramline was soon after dismantled and closed just 5 years later in 1886.