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
2005 Games of the Small States of Europe a white owl with multicolored glasses. Bagaleu was designed by an Andorran student. The student also composed a myth of Bagaleu's origins; in this story, he hails from the town of Llorts. Bagaleu publicly debuted in Parc Central in Andorra la Vella on October 20, 2004. IOC president Jacques Rogge and former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch both attended the opening ceremonies of the Games at Sonwell Field. Among the star athletes of the games was Andorran swimmer Hocine Haciane. Haciane won five gold medals and one silver medal, winning the 400 m freestyle, 200 m breaststroke, 200 m butterfly,