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DAVE KRIEGER: IOC ignores Iraq's atrocities Scripps Howard News Service (March 27, 2003 4:10 p.m. EST) - You might think the United Nations leads the mealy-mouthed parade, but the U.N. is a beacon of moral courage next to the International Olympic Committee. Institutional neutrality is generally a good thing for the IOC - its mission is to bring the world together, and it overlooks all sorts of grumbling, grievances and grudges to do it. But neutrality is not far from indifference, and the IOC is straddling this distinction as it continues to permit its most precious asset - the Olympic...

Filed at 5:08 p.m. ET LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) - Olympic chiefs handed Athens a blunt reprimand about their organization of the 2004 Games on Friday, just 18 months away from the opening ceremony. ``It is a serious situation,'' International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said. ``It is getting really urgent. ``Six weeks ago I was in Athens and delivered a positive message. I regret to say that since then there has been a slippage in deadlines. ``There is (now) a sense of urgency which needs to be found. ``We expressed our concerns and have sent a message to the prime...

THE fear of terrorism wrecking future Olympic Games has forced the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to set up a special $US52 million ($93.64 million contingency fund. The fund would allow the IOC to keep functioning if Games revenues failed to materialise. "International terrorism poses certain risks," IOC president Jacques Rogge told the 114th IOC Session in Mexico City. "Armed conflict and problems of the economic crisis may all have an effect on the staging and quality of the Games. "That is why we need to increase financial reserves to allow us to function if the Games are not allowed to...

Filed at 3:45 p.m. ET Being selected the U.S. candidate for the 2012 Summer Olympics was the easy part for New York. Now comes the true challenge -- winning the international race. Backers of New York's bid were ecstatic after beating out San Francisco in a vote of the U.S. Olympic Committee on Saturday to become the nation's official entry for 2012. It marked the end of a five-year domestic selection process that began with eight candidate cities. But that was just a warmup for the high-stakes global contest which could feature a dozen contenders. ``We're going to win,'' New...

<p>The board's 15 members discussed an internal report that recommends dropping baseball, softball and modern pentathlon, as well as specific events in several other sports, while adding golf and rugby in time for the 2008 Summer Games.</p> <p>The board wants to talk to the federations that govern the jeopardized sports.</p>

KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohammed said Monday, April 1, that the “state terrorism” that Israel is engaging in is much more dangerous than any other terrorist activity that any organization or individual carries out, news agencies reported Mahathir was talking to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on Monday, April 1, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. Answering a question, Mahathir said that “at this moment, yes… we see that the Israelis are escalating their terrorism.” He added that Israelis “are attacking civilians and a country’s...