The English flag hoisted over British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Downing Street office for the World Cup was lowered on Monday, hours after the nation’s crushing 4-1 defeat by Germany.
“It’s been replaced by the Union flag,” a Downing Street spokeswoman said, referring to the red, white and blue standard which normally flies above the central London address and represents the whole of the United Kingdom.
The change was made “early this morning”, after England’s World Cup dreams were shattered on Sunday by arch-rivals Germany in South Africa.
Mr Cameron had ordered the red and white flag of Saint George, England’s patron saint, to fly above his residence to show support for Fabio Capello’s squad.
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Fiji imposes new media controls
Suva (Fiji), June 28: Fiji’s leading newspaper, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. has three months to change its ownership structure so 90 per cent of its shareholders are Fijian citizens or it will be forced to close, the military-led regime said Monday.
Armed forces chief Commodore Frank Bainimarama launched a media crackdown after seizing power in a December 2006 coup. Foreign reporters and media managers have been expelled, and dozens of local journalists arrested and interrogated.
Military censors operate in newsrooms on a daily basis. Announcing the latest measures on Monday, Fiji Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum warned any news organisation that fails to comply with ownership requirements “shall cease to operate as a media organisation.”
Commodore Frank Bainimarama mentioned by name the Fiji Times, the country’s oldest and largest newspaper owned for the past 23 years by News Ltd.
—AP