UN Food Summit

Leaders from around the world met in Rome last week for the UN food summit, which aimed to find solutions to the rising prices of agricultural products. A statement released by the participants stated that the world must significantly increase investment in farming so that agricultural output is doubled by 2030. In order to achieve this, there will have to be a new green revolution, which through science and technology drastically increased agriculture yields in the 1970s. UN Secretary General Kan Bi-Moon estimates that $15-20b a year will be needed for such a project; however only $1.2b in new food aid was announced at the conference.

The most contentious issue on the agenda was bio-fuels, which some claim are responsible for 30% of the price increase. Supporters of these fuels, such as the United States and some South American countries question this figure. In fact, US secretary of agriculture, Ed Schafer, argues that bio-fuels account for only 3%.

Crackdown in Zimbabwe

Any hopes for a fair second round of voting in the Zimbabwe presidential election were put in further doubt after a series of controversial moves by the government last week. On Tuesday, the government banned the international aid group CARE, which had been feeding thousands of people living in poverty. The government claims CARE was secretly supporting the opposition - a charge the aid group denies. On Wednesday, the opposition's presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, was arrested for ' violating public security'; however, he was released eight hours later without charge. On Thursday, diplomats from the United Kingdom and United States, who were investigating charges of political violence, were detained by authorities for several hours. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe was in Rome attending a UN food summit, where he devoted part of his speech to international leaders to accusing the West of plotting to drive him out of power. However, based on the Mr. Mugabe's recent moves, he seems to be more afraid of the voters than of foreign countries.

Australia begins withdrawing troops from Iraq

After five years in Iraq, Australia started pulling out its 500 troops from there last week. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd claims that the previous government had made a mistake involving Australia in the war and has been promising the withdrawal since last November's parliamentary elections, when he unseated John Howard the conservatives. Australian soldiers had not been involved in combat operations, but rather in training of the Iraqi army.

Obama Clinches Democratic Nomination

Despite losses in Puerto Rico and the state of South Dakota last week, Senator Barack Obama clinched the US Democratic Party's presidential nomination with a win in Montana and a wave of super-delegate support. Hillary Clinton conceded he race to him in a speech on Saturday. Obama will now face the Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, in a fight for presidency of the United States. The candidates will probably chose their vice presidential running mates in the next two months and then formally accept the nominations at their partys' respective national conventions in August and September. There will be at least three debates between the candidates in the autumn, before the American people chose their next leader on November 3rd.

Entertainment Update

Former French sex symbol and film star Brigitte Bardot was fined 15,000€ for "inciting racial hatred". The penalty was the result of a letter on her website in which she criticizes the slaughter of animals during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. In the letter she claims Muslims are "destroying [France] by imposing their ways". This is the fifth time Bardot has been fined for making comments about Islam.

The people who provide the English voices for the hit TV show The Simpsons have signed a new contract with 20th Century Fox that will guarantee them $400,000 per episode. Production of the show, which will start its 20th season in the autumn, was delayed due to the salary negotiations.

Former star of the American TV series The X-files, Gillian Anderson, is pregnant with her third child, her manager confirmed last week. The 39 year old actress will also reprise her role as FBI agent Dana Scully in the second X-Files movie due out this summer.

Actress Tatum O'Neal was arrested in New York on Sunday night for allegedly trying to purchase cocaine. She was released on Monday, but is due to appear in court to face charges on July 28th. O'Neal had problems with drug abuse in the 80s and early 90s, but claims that she is clean and was doing research for a role as a junkie at the time of the arrest.

Often referred to as Hollywood's most eligible bachelor, George Clooney is single once again. Gossip magazines reported last week that Clooney, who is 47 years-old, split up with Sarah Larson, who he had been dating for the past year.

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