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Monday, August 13, 2012

Chile students resume protests pushing reforms

Fri, Sep 23, 2011

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Tens of thousands of demonstrators have marched in Chile's capital, resuming street protests to demand that the government increase spending on public education and improve its quality.

Small groups of activists skirmished with police at the end of Thursday's 30-block march, and some people have been arrested.

The demonstration comes after negotiations failed to get the government to accept the demands of student groups.

Months of demonstrations and strikes by university and high school student groups have paralyzed classes at many schools.

The dispute has eroded the popularity of Chilean President Sebastian Pinera. But a government spokesman says the administration will stand firm despite the resumption of protests.

Back to reality: Britain bounces back after games

August 13, 2012

LONDON (AP) — Basking in post-Olympic glory, Britain succumbed to reality Monday with commuters venturing to work and Heathrow Airport bracing for one of its busiest day as some 116,000 people are expected to leave the country now that the games are over.

Heathrow opened a special Olympic terminal with 31 check-in desks to deal with the crush of departures. Some 6,000 athletes started trickling into the terminal just after dawn, many of them greeted by volunteers wearing bearskin hats.

The terminal will be decommissioned after three days and will go back to being a staff car park. On a normal day, Heathrow deals with some 95,000 passengers. Some of the athletes sported their medals as they checked in, including 27-year-old Esther Lofgren, who won gold for the United States rowing team.

"I have so many memories of these games besides getting this," she said, proudly holding her medal. "Getting to see the other athletes competing was just amazing. I got to see Usain Bolt run. And some of the random stuff, like hanging out in the dining hall meeting people from other countries, has just been amazing," Lofgren said.

"Everything has worked very well," said Sashi Singh, a retired businessman returning to his home in Fiji after coming to London for the games. "I didn't expect just to whizz through like this. Everyone has been so nice."

Traffic also returned to normal Monday — many commuters steered clear of London during the games after government pleas to use public transport. Some taxi drivers said they were ecstatic that the games were over. During the Olympics, many drivers were banned from using special lanes for athletes and officials.

"It's been brutal," said Shafiq Arjaz, a 43-year-old cab driver. "Customers were angry that we couldn't get them around. A lot of us barely broke even during the games." National Olympics security coordinator for policing, Chris Allison, praised the games as a success.

Some 250 people were arrested, but the games ended without any terror incidents or disruptive protests. "I'm very proud that we didn't have anything serious to deal with, but that was because of a lot of hard work done by a lot of people," Allison told The Associated Press. "The focus has been exactly where we wanted — on the sport and not security."

But the security operation isn't over yet, Allison said. Some 7,000 police officers will be working the Paralympic games, which don't end until September.

Wildfires threaten to burn precious parks in Spain

August 12, 2012

EL CERCADO, Spain (AP) — Fierce wildfires forced the evacuation of thousands of residents and were threatening some of Spain's most precious natural parks, including one that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, officials said Sunday.

Fires on the Canary islands of La Gomera and Tenerife led to the evacuation of more than 4,000 residents beginning late Saturday and the cutting off of many roads as precautionary measures, the regional government said.

By mid-afternoon Sunday, residents were still not allowed to return to 18 towns and villages that had been evacuated, eight on the popular tourist island of Tenerife and 10 on La Gomera, the government said.

Regional official Nancy Melo said there was evidence the fire on La Gomera was started deliberately because "it had two focal points three kilometers (2 miles) apart that began burning vigorously within a short space of time from each other."

A statement said firefighting crews working on the islands were "finding it difficult to limit the spread of fire." "We are living through hell, we have asked the central government for more resources with which to fight the fire," said Casimimo Curbelo, local government leader of La Gomera.

At the heart of his island lies Garajonay National Park, which experts say contains woodlands that have survived since the Tertiary age, 11 million years ago. Garajonay was declared a World Heritage Site by the U.N. cultural agency in 1986 and is a very rare example of the type of humid subtropical forest that once covered almost all of Europe before the arrival of humans.

"We are heartbroken, we feel we have lost our beautiful, irreplaceable island," said Armenia Mendoza, a wine producer who was one of the first residents to report the outbreak of the fire to emergency services.

The fire was raging out of control, said Mendoza, who wept and added that it was "almost unthinkable a native islander could have done this on purpose." Water-carrying aircraft that doused flames when the fire first broke out there a week ago were sent away after officials decided the outbreak was under control. But the blaze was rekindled by winds and high temperatures, Melo said.

Due to the islands' location, 1,380 kilometers (850 miles) off Spain's southwestern tip, it can take up to a day for propeller-driven firefighting planes to return once deployed back to the mainland. A dry winter has been followed by a scorching summer, with temperatures reaching 44 Celsius (111 Fahrenheit) in southern areas in recent days. The state meteorological agency has warned of "a high risk of fires in the country."

Regional governments reported 10 wildfires raging across Spain on Sunday. An outbreak at Cabaneros National Park in the west was causing concern because it is considered the largest surviving area of Iberian Mediterranean forest, pinelands that are home to an enormous variety of plant species and endangered fauna such as the Spanish Imperial Eagle.

Another fire was affecting Donana natural park in the southwest, an area of outstanding natural beauty which is also a valuable stopping-off location for Western Europe's migrating birds. Fires in Spain and other Mediterranean countries char hundreds of thousands of acres every year.

Heckle reported from Madrid.

Egypt's president seizes powers back from military

August 12, 2012

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Islamist president ordered the retirement of the defense minister and chief of staff on Sunday and made the boldest move so far to seize back powers that the military stripped from his office right before he took over.

Mohammed Morsi has been locked in a power struggle with the military since he took office on June 30. But after militants killed 16 Egyptian soldiers a week ago at a border post with Israel in Sinai, he has sought more aggressively to assert his authority over the top generals.

He fired the nation's intelligence chief a few days ago and made two highly publicized visits to Sinai in the company of top commanders. He also chaired several meetings with the military brass and made a point of calling himself the supreme commander of the armed forces in televised speeches.

It was not immediately clear whether Morsi's surprise decisions had the military's blessing. But the appointment of outgoing Defense Minister Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and Chief of Staff Gen. Sami Annan as presidential advisers and awarding them some of the nation's highest honors suggested they may have agreed, perhaps grudgingly, in advance.

Egypt's official Middle East News Agency, quoting an unnamed military official in a brief report, said late Sunday that Morsi's moves were "deliberated and coordinated" in advance. It said there were no "negative reactions" from within the military.

A few hours after the decisions were announced, Morsi called on Egyptians to rally behind him in the face of the nation's many challenges. "Today's decisions are not directed at certain persons or meant to embarrass certain institutions. ... I only had in mind the interest of this nation and its people," he said in a televised speech. "I want (the armed forces) to dedicate themselves to a mission that is holy to all of us and that is the defense of the nation."

After nightfall, thousands of jubilant Morsi supporters celebrated in Tahrir Square, birthplace of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak 18 months ago. Another crowd of supporters formed outside the presidential palace in Cairo's suburb of Heliopolis.

Adding to the sweeping changes in the military leadership, Morsi also ordered the retirement of the commanders of the navy, air defense and air force, but named two of them to senior positions. He appointed a senior judge, Mahmoud Mekki, as vice president. Mekki is a pro-reform judge who publicly spoke against election fraud during Mubarak's 29-year rule.

If Morsi's decisions go unchallenged, it could mean the end of six decades of de facto military rule since army officers seized power in a coup in 1952. But removing Tantawi and Annan does not necessarily mean that the military, Egypt's most powerful institution, has been defeated or that it would give up decades of perks and prestige without a fight.

Egypt's first civilian president acted at a moment when the military was humiliated over a major security failure in Sinai, the deadliest internal attack on soldiers in modern history. Several days before the killings, Israel warned that an attack was imminent. The intelligence chief was sacked after it emerged in Egyptian media that he knew of the Israeli warning but did not act.

Sinai has been plunged into lawlessness and the rest of the country has seen a sharp deterioration in security while the military ruled. Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, a fundamentalist Islamist group, won both parliamentary and presidential elections in the first free and fair votes in Egypt's modern history. The group had been repressed under Mubarak, who ran a secular state.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which ruled Egypt for 17 months after Mubarak was forced out, stripped the presidency of many of its key powers before it handed the office to Morsi. Tantawi was the head (SCAF) and Annan was No. 2 on the ruling council.

The two men appointed to replace them were also members of the SCAF — something that could indicate either the military's agreement to the shuffle or splits at the highest level of the armed forces. Lt. Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi replaced Tantawi and Lt. Gen. Sidki Sayed Ahmed replaced Annan. They were sworn in shortly after the announcement.

Days before the inauguration, the ruling generals decreed constitutional amendments that gave them the power to legislate after the military dissolved parliament, as well as control over the national budget. It also gave them control over the process of drafting a new constitution.

With Sunday's moves, Morsi restored to his office the powers taken from him, seizing back sole control of the constitution drafting process and the right to issue laws. He decided that if the 100-member panel currently drafting the document did not finish its work for whatever reason, he will appoint a new one within 15 days and give it three weeks to finish its work. The draft will then be put to a vote in a national referendum within 30 days. Parliamentary elections will follow if the draft is adopted.

"There was a duality of power," said Saad Emara, a senior Muslim Brotherhood member. "This had to be settled in favor of one authority. The boat with two captains sinks." Omar Ashour, a visiting Scholar at the Brookings Doha Center who has interviewed SCAF members over the past year, said Morsi's decisions were negotiated with several of the generals who sat on the military council.

"The military council was not going to last forever," he said. "It is a critical battle, but this is not final." With power now concentrated in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood, some fear Egypt will only move from an authoritarian state to an Islamic state.

"Now the military returns to the barracks and Morsi has absolute powers," said Abdullah el-Sinawi, a prominent political commentator and longtime supporter of the military as the guardian of Egypt's fast-fading secular traditions.

Abdel-Rahman Youssef, a liberal popular TV presenter and a supporter of Morsi, said this is a historic opportunity for political reform in Egypt. "Egypt is now before a real test — to have a powerful president yet to stop him from being repressive," he said.

While Morsi's Brotherhood is considered to be the country's strongest political group, its base of support remains limited when compared to the respect enjoyed by the military. There is hardly an Egyptian family that does not include a member in active service or who had military experience. The military has a vast economic empire that accounts for about 25 percent of GDP.

But the military has been tainted in the 17 months they ran the country after Mubarak's ouster, with the SCAF accused of mismanaging the transitional period and committing human rights violations. For now, however, Morsi appeared the victor.

Hours after announcing the shake-up, a confident looking president appeared at an annual religious ceremony to hand monetary awards to young Muslims from Egypt and elsewhere who have learned the Quran, Islam's holy book, by heart.

Mohammed Aboul-Ghar, a founder of the new Egyptian Social Democratic Party — a secular group critical of the military as well as Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood — said the power struggle has now been settled in Morsi's favor.

"The military council was forced out of power and lost its position and this was inevitable," he said. "In the power struggle, the military council was increasingly weakened because of its decisions" and its failure to secure a more straightforward path to democratic transition, he said.

Syria refugees fear long stay as French aid reaches Jordan

By Kamal Taha | AFP
(August 13 2012 Monday)

French military medics started on Sunday to set up a field hospital at Jordan's main camp for Syrian refugees, as residents expressed fear that their stay could turn into a long one.

Refugees gathered to watch 85 French medical officers assemble the hospital of 30 large khaki tents as well as 80 tones of medical equipment and aid supplies at the desert camp outside the city of Mafraq in northern Jordan.

"We are all here, officers and civilians, for the same reason: helping Syrian refugees," Colonel Yannick Rio, head of the mission, told AFP.

An Antonov transport aircraft landed in Amman on Saturday with the equipment, in the first consignment of French supplies being flown in for Syrian refugees in Jordan.

"The material has arrived and for the surgical component, which is the core of our mission, we have got all that is needed. We are going to coordinate with international organizations and NGOs to see the needs of the refugees," said Rio.

"The core of the hospital's mission is war surgery, which means treating those who were injured in the conflict ... We are counting on Jordanian authorities to evacuate the injured and bring them here."

Jordan is hosting more than 150,000 Syrian refugees, and many of them came under Syrian army fire as they fled their country into the kingdom.

"We have implemented a medical and surgical service based essentially on a surgical unit specialized in treating war injuries," chief surgeon Patrick Tirolle told AFP.

"Another part (of the mission) will be operated by general practitioners to offer medical assistance to the camp's residents," said Tirolle, adding that a vaccination centre is being prepared to deal with "any risk of epidemic."

But while welcoming the French initiative, some refugees were concerned the new installations signal a drawn-out stalemate in the Syrian conflict.

"This is a priceless humanitarian work because there are many people here in the camp who need surgical operations and other medical help," Khalil Alkeh, a camp resident from Deraa, a flashpoint in southern Syria, told AFP.

"But I would prefer to see a military action to arm the rebels and help them topple the (Syrian) regime. We are sick of this situation that is taking too long," he said.

The UN-administered Zaatari camp, opened in July, has so far taken in 6,000 refugees and it can house up to 120,000 people.

"This French assistance is good," said Nawal, a mother of five from Homs, another hotspot in Syria's revolt. "But I am worried because this means our hardship is just starting. This situation would take a long time."

According to Colonel Gerard Dosseh, the head doctor, "26 people (in the French team) have experience in dealing with difficult health situations and catastrophes."

His colleague Patrick Tirolle believes the team's capacity is limited. "We have only one operations room, which can accommodate up to 10 people," but "for pure treatment, there is no limit," he said.

As work was underway to install the tents, a group of children gathered to watch.

"We thought they (the French team) were distributing shoes because yesterday (Saturday) some other people were giving shoes. By the time I arrived, everything was gone," said 11-year-old Muath Abdel Karim, staring at the French soldiers.

"Our shoes were torn off when we ran away from Syria," he added.

The refugees have complained about hot weather, dust and lack of electricity at the Zaatari camp, where average temperatures in the summer are around 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

Jordanian Information Minister Samih Maaytah said on Sunday that the tents in Zaatari will soon be replaced by caravans.

Iraq urges Turkey to deal with Baghdad, not Kurds

Sat, Aug 11, 2012

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's prime minister is urging Turkey to deal with his country through the central government in Baghdad, criticizing Ankara's direct outreach to Iraq's self-ruling Kurdish region.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in a statement Saturday that Iraq rejects efforts by Turkey to treat the Kurds' northern territory "as if it is an independent state."

He added that if Turkey wants to maintain good regional relations, it must do so through Iraq. The statement says al-Maliki made the comments during an interview with a Turkish television channel.

Iraq warned Turkey in July that a deal it has to import Kurdish-produced oil is illegal. Relations deteriorated further earlier this month when Turkey's foreign minister paid a surprise visit to the contested Iraqi city of Kirkuk after meeting Kurdish leaders.

US walks out as Iran delivers anti-US speech

WARNING: Article contains propaganda!

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By EDITH M. LEDERER - Associated Press
Thu, Sep 22, 2011

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — American diplomats led a walkout at the U.N. General Assembly Thursday as Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fiercely attacked the United States and major West European nations as "arrogant powers" ruled by greed and eager for military adventurism.

The two U.S. diplomats, who specialize in the Middle East, were followed out of the chamber by diplomats from more than 30 countries. They included the 27 European Union members, Australia, New Zealand, Somalia, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino and Macedonia, a U.N. diplomat said. Israel boycotted the speech.

Ahmadenijad's fiery anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli rhetoric has been a staple of the General Assembly's ministerial meetings.

Last year, Ahmadinejad provoked a walkout by the U.S., EU, and others when he said a majority of people in the United States and around the world believe the American government staged the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in an attempt to assure Israel's survival.

The provocative comments prompted the U.S. delegation to walk out of Ahmadinejad's U.N. speech, where he also blamed the U.S. as the power behind U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a technology that can be used as fuel for electricity generation or to build nuclear weapons.

Ahmadinejad's speech pitted the poverty and unhappiness of most countries against the riches and power of the U.S. and unnamed European nations that he accused of perpetuating wars, causing the current global economic crisis and infringing on "the rights and sovereignty of nations."

He attacked the United States and European colonial powers for abducting tens of millions of Africans and making them slaves, for their readiness "to drop thousands of bombs on other countries," and for dominating the U.N. Security Council. He singled out the U.S. for using a nuclear bomb against Japan in World War II and imposing and supporting military dictatorships and totalitarian regimes in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

"It is as lucid as daylight that the same slave masters and colonial powers that once instigated the two world wars have caused widespread misery and disorder with far-reaching effects across the globe since then," Ahmadinejad said. "Do these arrogant powers really have the competence and ability to run or govern the world?"

The Iranian president answered by calling for "the shared and collective management of the world in order to put an end to the present disorders, tyranny and discriminations worldwide." Last year, he said "the future belongs to Iran" and challenged the U.S. to accept that his country has a major role in the world.

Ahmadinejad made no mention of his disputed re-election in June 2009 when security forces systematically crushed opposition protests, the current internal political turmoil that has sharply diminished his power, or Iran's nuclear program which the U.S. and its allies believe is aimed at producing nuclear weapons.

"While President Ahmadinejad is lecturing the world from the U.N. podium," Human Rights Watch's U.N. Director Philippe Bolopion said, "dissent is still being crushed ruthlessly in Iran and basic rights demanded by millions in the Arab world are brutally denied to Iranians who are demanding the same."

"The world assembly should take with a grain of salt the remarks of a leader who said nothing about the public hanging yesterday of a 17-year-old in his own country," he said.

In his speech, Ahmadinejad noted "the widespread awakening in Islamic lands ... (in) the pursuit of the realization of justice, freedom and the creation of a better tomorrow." He said "our great nationa stands ready to join hands with other nations to march on this beautiful path."
The Iranian leader accused the U.S. of threatening to place sanctions on anyone who questions the Holocaust and the Sept. 11 attacks with sanctions and military action.

Without naming the United States, he asked: "Who imposed, through deceits and hypocrisy, the Zionism and over 60 years of war, homelessness, terror and mass murder on the Palestinian people and on countries in the region?"

Ahmadinejad accused some unidentified European countries of still using the Holocaust "as the excuse to pay fine or ransom to the Zionists." He also said any question about the foundation of Zionism is condemned by the U.S. "as an unforgivable sin."

Mark Kornblau, spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, said: "Mr. Ahmadinejad had a chance to address his own people's aspirations for freedom and dignity, but instead he again turned to abhorrent anti-Semitic slurs and despicable conspiracy theories."

When the idea of an independent fact-finding investigation of "the hidden elements" involved in the Sept. 11 attacks was raised last year, he said, "my country and myself came under pressure and threat by the government of the United States."

"Instead of assigning a fact-finding team, they killed the main perpetrator and threw his body into the sea," Ahmadinejad said, referring to the U.S. military's killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in early May.

"Would it not have been reasonable to bring to justice and openly to trial the main perpetrator of the incident in order to identify the elements behind the safe space provided for the invading aircraft to attack the twin world trade towers?," he asked.

'Happy and glorious' Olympics come to rocking end

August 13, 2012

LONDON (AP) — With a little British pomp and a lot of British pop, London brought the curtain down on a glorious Olympic Games on Sunday in a spectacular, technicolor pageant of landmarks, lightshows and lots of fun.

The closing ceremony offered a sensory blast including rock 'n' roll rickshaws, dustbin percussionists, an exploding yellow car and a marching band in red tunics and bearskin hats. The Spice Girls staged a show-stopping reunion, and Monty Python's Eric Idle sauntered through "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" — accompanied by Roman centurions, Scottish bagpipers and a human cannonball.

It all made for a psychedelic mashup that had 80,000 fans at Olympic Stadium stomping, cheering and singing along. Organizers estimated 300 million or more were watching around the world. What a way to end a games far more successful than many Londoners expected. Security woes were overcome, and traffic nightmares never materialized. The weather held up, more or less, and British athletes overachieved.

It all came with a price tag of $14 billion — three times the original estimate. But nobody wanted to spoil the fun with such mundane concerns, at least not on this night. "We lit the flame, and we lit up the world," said London organizing committee chief Sebastian Coe. "When our time came, Britain, we did it right."

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge declared the Olympics over with praise for the athletes. "Through your commitment to fair play, your respect for opponents, and your grace in defeat as well as in victory, you have earned the right to be called Olympians," he said, adding: "These were happy and glorious games."

But the night was about splash more than speeches. Festive and fast-moving, the ceremony opened with pop bands Madness, Pet Shop Boys and One Direction, a shout-out to Winston Churchill and a tribute to the Union Jack — the floor of Olympic Stadium floor arranged to resemble the British flag.

Monochrome recreations of London landmarks were covered in newsprint, from Big Ben's clock tower and Tower Bridge to the London Eye ferris wheel and the chubby highrise known as the Gherkin. Street percussion group Stomp built the noise into a frenzy. Dancers brandished brooms, in a nod to the spontaneous popular movement to clean up London after riots shook neighborhoods not far from Olympic Stadium just a year ago.

Liam Gallagher performed "Wonderwall," a 1990s hit by his former band, Oasis, Muse rocked the house with the hard-edged Olympic anthem "Survival," and Queen guitarist Brian May was joined by singer Jessie J for a crowd-pleasing "We Will Rock You."

The headline performers were each paid a pound, a little more than $1.50. The night ended with the extinguishing of the multi-petaled Olympic cauldron and a supercharged rendition of "My Generation" and other classics by The Who that had the crowd dancing in the aisles. Confetti rained down, and fireworks lit up the sky.

Prince William's wife, Kate, and Prince Harry took seats next to Rogge. They sang along to "God Save the Queen." There was no sign of the queen herself, who made a memorable mock parachute entrance at the July 27 opening ceremony.

Following Olympic tradition, the 10,800 athletes of the London Games marched in as one rather than with their nations, symbolizing the harmony and friendship inspired by the games. As the crowd cheered their heroes and flashbulbs rippled through the stadium, the Olympians cheered back, some carrying national flags, others snapping photographs with smartphones and cameras.

They held hands, embraced and carried each other on their shoulders, finally forming a human mosh pit on the field. The ceremony had something for everyone, from tween girls to 1960s hippies. The face of John Lennon appeared on the stadium floor, assembled by 101 fragments of sculpture, and just as quickly gave way to George Michael, Fatboy Slim and Annie Lennox.

Eight minutes were turned over to Brazil, host of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, which delivered an explosion of samba, sequins and Latin cool. Following tradition, the mayor of London handed the Olympic flag off to his Rio counterpart.

Britons, who had fretted for weeks that the games would become a fiasco, were buoyed by their biggest medal haul since 1908 — 29 golds and 65 medals in all. The United States edged China in both the gold medal and total medal standings, eclipsing its best performance at an Olympics on foreign soil after the Dream Team narrowly held off Spain in basketball for the country's 46th gold.

While the games may have lacked some of the grandeur of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, there were more than a few unforgettable moments. Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt became an Olympic legend by repeating as champion in both the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints. Michael Phelps ended his long career as the most decorated Olympian in history.

British distance runner Mo Farah became a national treasure by sweeping the 5,000- and 10,000-meter races, and favorite daughter Jessica Ennis became a global phenomenon with her victory in the heptathlon.

Female athletes took center stage in a way they never had before. American gymnast Gabby Douglas soared to gold, the U.S. soccer team made a dramatic march to the championship. Packed houses turned out to watch the new event of women's boxing. And women competed for Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei for the first time.

And then there was Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee from South Africa running on carbon-fiber blades, who didn't win a medal but nonetheless left a champion. And sprinter Manteo Mitchell, who completed his leg of the 4x400 relay semifinal on a broken leg, allowing his team to qualify and win silver.

Britons seemed exhausted and exhilarated after two glorious weeks in the world's spotlight, and just months after the country celebrated the queen's 60th year on the throne with a magnificent pageant and street parties.

Some at Olympic Park acknowledged happy surprise that not much had gone wrong, and so much had gone right. "I was a bit worried we wouldn't be able to live up to it," said Phil Akrill of Chichester. "But walking around here it's just unbelievable."

Even non-Brits were proud of their adopted homeland. "It's just been a really nice thing to see," said Anja Ekelof, a Swede who now lives in Scotland. "The whole country has come together."

Associated Press writers Fergus Bell and Jill Lawless contributed to this report.