Premiership of Tony Blair which was an agreement to increase British contributions to the EU Development Budget for new member countries, which effectively reduced the UK rebate by 20% . On 6 July 2005, during the 117th International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Singapore, the IOC announced that the 2012 Summer Olympics, the Games of the XXX Olympiad, were awarded to London over Paris by only four votes. The competition between Paris and London to host the Games had become increasingly heated particularly after French President Jacques Chirac commented three days before the vote that "one cannot trust people [ie: the British] whose cuisine
Li Lingwei biennial Uber Cup (women's world team) competitions. She retired in 1989, and was inducted into the Badminton Hall of Fame in 1998. Li Lingwei never competed in the Olympics because badminton did not become an Olympic sport until 1992. However, she was chosen as one of the five retired athletes to carry the Olympic flag during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In July 2012, she was elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee, receiving 83 votes out of 94. IOC president Jacques Rogge presented her with an "IOC gold medal". Li Lingwei Li Lingwei (,