Smoking ban for Olympics `unlikely`

Smoking ban for Olympics `unlikely`	10.03.2008

Share this article:

03/10/2008		Malaysian PM sworn in after poll debacle
MALAYSIA`S prime minister was sworn into office in a colourful traditional ceremony, despite a dramatically reduced majority that makes it tough for his government to push through its projects

03/10/2008		Dalai Lama slams Chinese `repression`
TIBETAN spiritual leader the Dalai Lama attacked China`s human rights record, accusing it of "unimaginable and gross violations" in his Himalayan homeland

03/10/2008		Fugitive dad returns to NZ
ACCUSED killer Nai Yin Xue who fled to the US after dumping his child at a Melbourne train station was arrested by Auckland police shortly after arriving back in New Zealand this morning, and will be charged today with murdering his wife

03/10/2008		Xue charged with wife`s murder
NAI Yin Xue has been charged with the murder of his wife after arriving back in New Zealand this morning

Today`s Top Picks

Pink precincts to protect gays

FIRST there were nuclear-free zones, then alcohol-free zones. Now Australia will get "homophobia-free zones".
Obama and Biden lose the script Your say on this story

Search for more stories on this topic on Newstext, our news archive service. Click here

More Most Popular

Video

Watch this Video NOW!

Week in review

TAKE a look back at the stories that made the headlines this week.

Latest videos

Tools

Barack Obama, Joe Biden team up at rally
Crowd impressed, but Republicans focus on gaffes
Biden`s view of world`s hot spots

BARACK Obama and Joseph Biden both fluffed their lines today as the new White House running mates ceded an opening to their Republican enemies by veering off-script.

Perhaps it was the temperature nudging 100 F (37.8 C) that forced Senator Obama into a slip of the tongue as he introduced Senator Biden as "the next president`` before correcting it to vice president.

But the campaign of Republican rival John McCain was in no mood to be charitable, calling it a "Freudian slip`` that, it said, betrayed the 47-year-old Senator Obama`s unreadiness to serve as commander-in-chief.

If the silver-tongued Senator Obama does not often slip up, Senator Biden comes with a treasure trove of gaffes that is already feeding the Republican attack machine.

The Delaware senator, 65, was in full cry against Senator McCain when he botched his new boss`s name, saying "Barack America`` today.

That triggered corrective chants of "Obama`` from the crowd in Springfield, Illinois and a rueful smile from the VP hopeful.

Despite the heat, the audience was pumped up for the rollout of Senator Obama`s most important decision yet in an epic White House contest.

Senator Biden bounced onto the stage, jacketless with shirt-sleeves rolled up for action.

Just hours earlier, the Obama campaign had played possum with media organisations desperate to confirm the new VP pick`s identity.

The campaign had promised to divulge the name in an electronic blizzard of text messages and emails to signed-up supporters.

But Senator Biden`s selection eventually leaked across the TV networks, just 24 hours after Senator Obama first asked his veteran Senate colleague to come on board.

The hotly anticipated text message finally set cellphones buzzing at 2am Chicago time, rousing reporters from their beds for a frenzy of late-night writing.

Two spokeswomen accompanying Senator Obama on his plane confessed to being kept in the dark themselves, reinforcing signs that the announcement was kept under wraps by a very tight circle at the campaign`s top level.

"It isn`t like there was a staff meeting to say `this is the person`. We were all signed up for the text messages, like you,`` one of the aides said.

"Obama-Biden`` banners made their debut in Springfield as the 35,000-strong crowd gave a rapturous welcome to the two Democrats standing on the same steps where senator Obama launched his White House quest back in February 2007.

The two candidates, who flew separately into Springfield for their only joint rally before next week`s Democratic convention in Denver, posed together with their wives as the U2 anthem Beautiful Day rang out, just as it did on that far colder day last year.