As the US Secretary of State Colin Powell prepares to arrive in Israel, the country’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has rejected pressure from Washington to end the military offensive in the West Bank. Mr. Sharon was speaking after the suicide bombing of a bus near Haifa which left at least eight Israelis dead. There’re reports that more than a hundred Palestinians were killed as the Israeli military strengthened its hold on the refugee camp in the town of Jenin. Eyewitnesses say Israel has been 1)bulldozing homes to make way for heavy armor. Three hundred Palestinians, some of them armed, surrendered to Israeli troops. Meanwhile Israel says it’s withdrawn from the West Bank villages of Yatta, Qabatya and Samua where weapons and explosive laboratories have been found.
2In Britain people are continuing to pay their respects at the final resting place of the Queen Mother. She is now 2)entombed in 3)St. Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle along with the ashes of her daughter Princess Margaret and alongside her husband King George VI. In death as in life the Queen Mother’s hold on public affections has been unbreakable. The numbers may have been down on yesterday’s momentous funeral, but the hundreds that came today did so out of genuine interest and respect. Whatever their reason for coming people who joined this queue have the next ten days to come and pay their last respects at the tomb of the Queen Mother, now 4)interred here next to her husband. The tomb itself lies within ornate iron gates in a corner of St. Georges Chapel, the simplest of 5)inscriptions marking the place they now share. In her own gesture of remembrance at 6)Westminster Abbey, the Queen placed her funeral wreath on the tomb of the unknown warrior just as the Queen Mother did with her wedding 7)bouquet in 1923. Her long life is to be 8)commemorated in a series of stamps originally issued for her 90th birthday they’ll be on sale later this month.
3Within the last hour we’ve been hearing that there’s been a plane crash in South Korea.The aviation authorities in Seoul say a Boeing 737 carrying more than 160 people has crashed near Kimhae airport near Pusan. They say the aircraft belonged to Air China and was 9)approaching the airport from Beijing. Visibility was reported to be poor.
Officials say visibility was very poor, there was heavy fog and rain and in fact many regional flights from the South Korean capital have actually been cancelled because of those poor weather conditions. Air China is saying 80 - 90% of the passengers on board were Korean. The figures of the total number of passengers still hasn’t been confirmed, but we’re hearing that up to 155 or 160 passengers could have been on board.
4Tiger Woods has become only the third golfer ever to win 10)back to back Masters titles along with Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo. Woods won his seventh career major after carding a final round 71 at Augusta finishing twelve under 11)par, three shots clear of his nearest challenger the South African, Retief Goosen.
5One of China’s top air carriers is planning to place a big order by the end of the day. Sources in China recent (recently) said the company plans to order twenty Airbus jets to expand its fleet over the next three to five years. China’s second largest carrier is due to sign the deal in Shanghai late Tuesday. Sources declined to specify the amounts of the purchase. But a China based Airbus official says the 12)sticker price for the jet in question, an Airbus A320 is $55 million apiece.
6Japan’s government is taking a ratings cut by Standard & Poor’s downgrading as both a slap in the face and a call to arms. Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs, Haruhiko Kuroda struck back at the downgrade. He challenged the credibility of ratings agencies saying they had foundered since the collapse of Enron. On the other hand Economics Minister Heizo Takenaka took it as a call to press ahead with reforms.
